I don't think you are (bad at hunting bargains). I think there are places in the US that are gold mines for low price, classic/vintage, pieces of poop AND grail barn finds. South Carolina is absolutely not one of them. Then there are those areas where great vintage stuff is available, but in a high demand area. That would be you, Seattle, NY, San Fran, etc...
Boston (old houses and barns), Pennsylvania, Kentucky, NC piedmont/mountains, Florida, Minneapolis seem to be the places.
@
Clang finds a bundle everywhere.
Originally Posted by
Andy_K
Every year, this contest reminds me just how bad I am at bargain hunting. I was just looking at the "after" pictures of this bike and thinking, "Wait! How is that under $108?"
Meanwhile, I'm looking at Craigslist trying to decide between a "rare" 35 pound Pegasus described in
this review with such glowing terms as "durable" and "adequate", an unbranded thing offered as "old steel frame road bike" complete with large rust patches on the seat tube and down tube, an equally rusty Schwinn Suburban 5-speed with the largest front basket I've ever seen, or a Nishiki Japan Champion with stem shifters and turkey levers. And, frankly, all four of those are better than I expected to find. I'm going to look at the rusty old steel frame road bike today and thinking about trying to buy the other three too.
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1987 Crest Cannondale, 1987 Basso Gap, 1992 Rossin Performance EL, 1990ish Van Tuyl, 1985 Trek 670, 1982 AD SLE, 2003 Pinarello Surprise, 1990ish MBK Atlantique, 1987 Peugeot Competition, 1987 Nishiki Tri-A, 1981 Faggin, 1996 Cannondale M500, 1984 Mercian, 1982 AD SuperLeicht, 1985 Massi (model unknown), 1988 Daccordi Griffe , 1989 Fauxsin MTB, 1981 Ciocc Mockba, 1992 Bianchi Giro, 1977 Colnago Super