Nearly Got Away

Swap Meet was Held at LBS

Contrary to what I might like to believe on occasions, there are bicycle happenings around my location that are a surprise to me. As it turned out, I discovered yesterday there was to be a swap meet of old bikes this morning.

I don't often go to bike swap meets, but I do find it a joy to walk by old bikes and see the various ways people have preserved them and the different approaches the makers took to solve problems.

I took Frankenbike; the Falcon seemed in tune with the spirit of an old bike swap meet. The announcement may be found here.

Lots of Schwinns for Sale, Along With a Variety of Other Bikes

We walked through the parking lot and looked at all the bikes. While there were lots of interesting ones, all were either not what I was interesting in adding to the fleet, or were the wrong size.

Buckets of Interesting Parts

 Even the parts bins, while loaded up with cool stuff, didn't have anything I particularly need for any of my bikes.

Freewheel Crank!

Not to say there weren't things I didn't think about. Above was a bike that used a freewheel crank. The advantage of a freewheel crank is that you can change gears while coasting with derailleurs. No, this idea never did sweep the world, but it was interesting to see one.

Frankenbike attracted some interested looks as well. One vendor asked if I might be wanting to consider a trade for the Falcon, but I opined that Frankenbike was a "keeper." He nodded knowingly, but the Team Raleigh WAS a very sweet bike, as was a Cannondale. Both were quite affordable, but both were a skosh large.

Sweet Raleigh was just a Bit Large

 Anyway, after a few trips around to make sure I wasn't missing out on "must have" items, Frankenbike and I departed the old bike swap meet without having purchased anything. I thought I'd gotten away.

Tanks for Tank Bikes. Lights are Behind

And so it might have gone if I hadn't gone to our local non-chain coffee shop with my daughter. I'd gotten a little ahead and stopped to look at a garage sale. I saw a really cool Cannondale helmet, but it was too old (1996 vintage). ON THE OTHER HAND, that laser printer for the princely sum of $5 was irresistable. As a bonus, I got to ride the Gary Fisher for the rest of the trip. Those bikes with baskets don't handle real well with laser printers aboard, but we got it home without incident. Yup, we nearly got away. Now, we have a "new to us" laser printer as a result of visiting a bike swap meet.

Snagged by a Garage Sale on the Way to Get Coffee!