Originally Posted by
noobinsf
I'm sure your advice was welcome and helpful, but the indignation is misplaced.
Well I disagree. If I were to come into a forum and ask people for advice about how to fix a mechanical issue with my bicycle then I would consider it disrespectful if someone replied and actually did not know what they are talking about and offered unhelpful advice that led me to do something stupid. Don't reply if you don't know. The same goes for asking for someone to attach value to an object in an objective manner. If you don't have experience buying or selling or watching the market for a particular bicycle, it's easy enough not to reply. You might be costing someone hundreds of dollars because they trust your judgment.
Just because we all sit around here staring at old bicycles all the time and all have a threshold for what we're willing to pay for something doesn't make our opinion valuable in every particular case. I hardly ever respond to threads in the appraisals forum despite reading through loads of them - because in most cases they're not the type of bicycles I watch the market for and I'm not qualified!
-Gregory