dddd

There have been times that a GREAT deal was possibly imminent, even great when the tavel expense was fully factored in, but I held back.

Something about burning even a half-tank of gas just to make an albeit-good profit doesn't fit my targeted business model.

I let a complete Super Record gruppo go to someone else who no doubt could have doubled their money, but my truck stayed parked and I ended up going for an early-evening ride.

Of course when multiple complete bike purchases can be done within a few hours of driving, that's a different story.

CliffordK

How far away was it?
I can drag all sorts of stuff home on my bicycle. Get the goods, and enjoy the evening ride.
No doubt the shifters and cranks would fit just fine in my pack.

fureshi

My biggest miss was a new in box '83 3Rensho Allez. I was with my wife having breakfast so I didn't respond to his email right away. When I called him, someone else was already on his way to pick up the frame. It's a grail bike for me as I already have a '86 Allez and it would've been amazing to pick up one of the first Allez ever built. Sure you can find them on eBay but how often does one run into one that's NIB?

Luckily for me, a Colnago Nuovo Mexico was also listed on CL at the same time and the seller wanted much less for it than the seller of the Allez. The frame was in amazing condition as the owner was a collector and hardly rode it. At the end of the day, I got something else that is probably just as good, if not better than the Allez but the 3Rensho Allez is still a bike that I'd like to own one day.

Like everyone is saying, if you find something on CL that seems to be going for a price that you're wiling to pay then you need to move quickly. You never know how many other people are looking at it as well.