Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Craigslist Surprise

A visit to any vintage bike forum quickly reveals that a favorite topic of discussion is the rampant herds of idiots and charlatans that range freely on Craigslist and Ebay.

Me, I've never had a truly awful experience on either of those sites, but maybe I'm just lucky. And today, I'm feeling even luckier. Sunday evening, I posted a Craigslist ad for my lovingly restored 1984 Fuji Del Rey, as it has become apparent that it has zero chance of making the cut for transport to Japan incident to my move there.

Either I write super good ads or people are just a lot nicer than you think. Here is one early response to my ad shortly after posting late Sunday evening:

"Hey, Not buying, but.... Beautiful, and... beautiful job! -great price, good luck. Very nice resto. I don't usually bother commenting, but.... What an awesome bike"

First thing Monday morning, this is in my inbox:

"Beautiful bike, it looks pristine. "

All day long, things like this:

"That is a gorgeous rebuild"

"Excellent job on the "Fuji Del Rey" restoration!"

Finally, this evening, this bittersweet missive:

"That is one lovely bike. My 1983 Motobecane, also rebuilt, was stolen last fall, and I wonder if your Fuji might dry my tears. Is it still available? And, I'm not familiar with the geometry. I'm a 5'5" woman. Is it too big for me?"

Alas, as much as I avoid giving sizing advice and as much as I would like to see this bike go to where it is cherished, this one is clearly too big to dry this lady's tears.

But these sorts of messages help keep me dry eyed throughout this unpleasant parting. So, to all you out there in Craigslist land, you folks really showed your good side today.

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