Pcampeau

It really helps to be in a great bike market. Free and cheap bikes are your friends. I can usually find serviceable parts on them (brake levers, derailleurs, hardware, sometimes saddles, and often alloy wheels...etc). Don’t be afraid to cobble together single speeds and fixies from cheap frames. It seems around here more people prefer that anyway. I still often need to buy rubber, bar tape or grips, cables, housing, and brake pads. I avoid most low end mountain bikes with suspension. I’ve learned to deal with cotter pins and 1 piece cranksets so I can service bottom brackets. At first I didn’t make much money and anything I made went straight into buying tools. I talk about all of the work I’ve done in my ads and enough people see the value of a properly serviced bike. Low end 80s Schwinns and Raleigh’s in good condition sell better than anything else I have. Early low end Raleigh Techniums are often available for cheap and will fetch $250-$300 when refurbished. Peugeot UO8s are great too. Low end French bikes are too big of a pain for most people to deal with but I have the proper tools. Timing and location and patience are everything. Here in Minneapolis I sell out of bikes completely in the early spring. None of this would make me a living but I enjoy it. The high end bikes that come along are a completely different game. I rarely make money at that game and I’ve got a nice collection of my own because of it.