jonwvara 

Complete success at the Onion River Outdoors bike swap in Montpelier this morning: I didn't buy anything. Hey, I'm trying to get rid of bikes, not add them (go the the For Sale thread and buy my Dawes Double Blue! Please!).

The only thing that halfway tempted me was this Schwinn Paramount--maybe a 1969 or so? Original Campagnolo factory triple (with a 54 tooth big ring). Paint a little beat, but no major rust, no evident frame damage. The awesome Gran Turismo rear derailleur. Fortunately, it was a size too small for me and was priced at $150. If the size had been right or it had been a hundred bucks cheaper I would have been in trouble. And since I didn't have a wrench to see if the seat post was stuck, I'm going to assume that it was stuck.

Victory!

Someone else's problem....

3alarmer 

...if I had seen that before you did, I would have not bought it before you could.

jonwvara 

Haha! Lucky for me you weren't there!

jbchybridrider 

repechage

Similar to- I found $500 on the street but left it there as it was too much trouble to pick it up.

Steve Whitlatch 

I would have taken that home even if it was too small. I could never walk away from a bike worth six times the asking price. The crankset and BB alone are worth $300.

gugie 

I do not approve of this message.

xiaoman1 

No help here....

Kactus

Yep, the parts are worth way more than the asking price.

SurferRosa

Yeah, that's not big enough. I woulda left it, too. Campy triples are a dime a dozen.

merziac

I thought this is what swap meets are for, find and buy stuff you don't need, especially when it's too cheap to pass up and even when its not.

iab

I also would have not purchased it. And to the condemnation of some, I would have told the owner that it would sell quick at a substantially higher price.

repechage

That is a reasonable assessment.
I do not understand the effort to present the deal that could have been.

RiddleOfSteel

I understand. A size too small is a size to small, and we buy a bike to ride with no exceptions to why it may it's in the fleet, not necessarily to auction parts off of to make more money. I was in a similar situation very recently--and people can call me a fool but whatever because I thought it through--1973 Schwinn Paramount P13....in my size. Great paint (green-blue metallic repaint at some point, with matching pump), decals and chrome were good. A number of period-correct Campy with an '80s Shimano 105 crankset. Looked in super solid rideable shape. $495 which is a deal for all of that. But:

1) I'm downsizing as well, which takes commitment as we know because we love all the bikes.
2) I have a rescued and restored (by me, outside of frame repairs) '74 Paramount P15 that's a fantastic bike already, behaves like a road/race bike when on the gas or out of the saddle, long chain stays and 35mm tires included!
3) I have a bunch of other truly stellar bikes, even if a P13 and its geometry are something I've been looking for (and have been ever since I wanted a Paramount in the first place).
4) Even if I have the money, I'm looking to not spend that big right now (if rarely ever...well, in one chunk...).
5) Given the non-original color and lack of full Campagnolo (though addressed easily enough), I would be outfitting it with a suite of different components (modern) most likely and I didn't have nor want to hunt for all of them and then sell the stuff I wasn't going to use.
6) Room for bikes in my place is near its limit, and I want to/am selling things to open that space up. I was initially trying to get to three bikes plus a rain/fender bike (down from eight or nine), but a Land Shark Road Shark frameset in my size and for a stupid price, fell into my lap. Sooo....we'll get to five plus one?

So I passed on it and someone else got a sweet deal. The bike was a very good deal, but it didn't need to be my good deal. That Paramount you looked at was an even better deal, with some truly valuable (and usefull) pieces. You stuck to your guns, and perhaps had a few other subconscious reasons that ultimately had you saying no. It's a mental battle for sure. Thankfully it's pretty much fixable by going home and looking at and/or riding a bike you like and plan to keep.

Steve Whitlatch 

Well if we all were so virtuous and paid everyone who was selling a bike too cheap, full value, we would not get all of the great deals we get and give in the C&V sales forum, now would we? I would not have any bikes.

repechage

I have it now, it was the splash- handlebar tape... aesthetics have an effect.

Fahrenheit531 

This right here.

iab

I sell things cheap all of the time. Come to the Madison swap for the best deals . And maybe the seller of that Paramount knows market value and just want to unload it. Where I don't abide is trading on someone's ignorance for a few bucks.

jonwvara 

Wow, tough crowd!

Here's how I figured it: I might have been able to sell the crankset and bottom bracket for $200, and the frame and fork for another $200. The rims were mismatched, but the Campy Record hubs might have brought in another hundred. So yes, as repechage suggested in post #5 , I basically $500 lying there on the sidewalk.

Well, maybe. Once you figure that the bike would have cost me $150, I actually passed up something closer to $350. Again, maybe. If the seatpost and stem weren't stuck and I didn't damage the frame after a hours of frustration trying to remove them. And if the bottom bracket cups and spindle weren't pitted, and the crankarm tapers weren't shot. Maybe I would have come out a hundreds of dollars ahead. Maybe I would have broken even. Maybe I would actually have taken a loss. Given that I don't like parting out old bikes (though I realize that someone has to do it sometimes) or dealing with ebay, and that have other projects of my own that I'd rather be working on, I was not at all sorry to let this one go.

Funnily enough, I was just reading a book by the psychologist Daniel Kahneman, which deals in part with something called risk aversion. Most people a tend to be more concerned about limiting losses than increasing gains, typically by a ratio of about two to one. That is, if you ask someone to bet even odds on the flip of a coin, they'll usually refuse the bet. If you ask them to risk $100 to win $150, they'll turn that down as well. Not until you offer $200 for a risk of $100 will most people consider it worth taking the chance.

I'm evidently pretty typical in terms of risk aversion. Since it seemed dubious to me (and still does) that I could have cleared more than $300 or so on the bike, I wasn't willing to risk $150 to buy it. I'm quite sure I would have gone ahead and taken the chance if the asking price had been $50.

Bandera

Finding an old machine that fits well, of a type significant to yourself in good enough nick at a reasonable price?
Why not?

An old "classic" in beater condition w/ no use for one's self as a good investment?

jonwvara 

At this particular bike swap, sellers drop their bike off at the store with a firm asking price. On the day of the sale, the bikes are all racked out in the parking lot, and buyers select the bike or bikes they want and pay the asking price, or they don't buy at all. So there's no way to advise a seller that the asking price is out of line with reality. Of course, that cuts both ways.

Lascauxcaveman 

Would have bought it for the Campagnolo triple.

Naw, I guess I would’ve bought a Red Clover triplelizer instead.

Steve Whitlatch 

I guess I won`t sell off my beautiful NR triple and BB on this forum then? That will go right to eBay.

nlerner

How dare you not sink your money into a black hole of a bike project! Have you no shame, sir?!

thumpism 

I also did not buy a yellow Paramount. Found one many years ago in a local trading paper (pre-CL) and went to look. Ladies' frame bike complete in nice shape that I would have bought for my wife for $200 but did not do so.