SM #6 - ON-LINE OPPORTUNITIES

One of my favourite bicycles was acquired through an on-line advertisement.  Fortunately, there was someone, far far away, who was willing to facilitate the purchase.

The Buy/Sell local periodical might well be supported On-Line.  If so, there is where you go first.  When in a city that has an on-line Buy/Sell, I review the offerings daily.  How often do you get a chance at a Campagnolo Nouvo Record equipped Olma?  Not very often I’ll bet because there is no such bicycle that I know of called an Olma.  However, there was a very nice 1980 Olmo Grand Prix waiting for me at the other end of the Buy/Sell on-line advertisement.  Price?  $40.00!  There is, of course a point here.  Unless the advertisement specifically indicates what kind of bicycle is offered, investigate.  An advertisement that offers a “man’s bicycle” might be something special that can be had for a song.  If I hadn’t investigated the Olma, I would have missed a golden opportunity.

And the pride of my collection came from an On-Line purchase opportunity but the price was high.  So what!  I had been looking for a CCM Tour du Canada for a long time and finally one came my way through Craig's List and word of mouth.  The two combined can be a powerful bike hunting tool.

There are serious risks involved when vintage bike hunting On-Line!  You will be presented with the opportunity to send what could be a good deal of money to a complete stranger.  This sort of risk is lessened through venues like Ebay but not so with many of the other purchase options.  Exercise caution when buying over the Internet.  My story surrounding the purchase of my CCM Tour du Canada could have had a much unhappier ending and I know it!

With the exception of hunting in Local Bike Shops, Search Procedures One through Six can be conducted from you own home.  There are, needless to say, other methods that will produce results and be a heck of a lot more fun to implement.  Let’s get out of the house and go bike hunting…

NEXT - SM #7 - YARD SALES