My unexpected bike business

[MagickMuffin]

Yep, my hubby and myself have accumulated an array of old vintage bikes. From Schwinns, to older single speed cruisers. We had such a blast picking out our stock.

The estate sale we went to had over 700 bikes. We spent two days searching and sorting through the piles of bikes and parts.

Here are a few pics to show you what the sale looked like! I tried just posting the url to all the photostream, however, when I clicked the link there was an error. So, these pics will have to do.










So, if anyone is in the D/FW area let me know, we would be more than happy to set you up. I believe we have a little over 70 bikes.

[boston bean]

1. That picker guy on the history channel

would have loved this sale. He is into old bikes and parts. Really into it.

Here is the link to the show. The guy who loves bikes is on the right.

http://www.history.com/shows/american-pickers

[MagickMuffin]

2. We've been asked if we were "pickers"

We weren't sure what they meant, however, we kinda figured the phrase referred to a tv show. We don't have cable anymore, but I think I saw the show at some point.

This sale had people coming from all over Texas. We didn't realize until that moment how many vintage bike enthusiasts there were that were willing to drive 400 miles to come out to a bike sale.

While making new friends there, we found out that the Texas Motor Speedway has an annual bike sale early in the Spring. They said people from all over the country come to it. Hopefully I'll be able to attend, which would be the only time I go to TMS.

There was one guy from Houston that wanted to buy everything. Thankfully the owner's son declined that offer. He wanted to be able to share his father's obsession with as many people as possible at a fair price. The Houston guy did buy the rest of everything left and he had another sale the very next weekend. We went to that one as well and bought more bikes.

I'm planning on keeping some of the most unusual ones we found. We have a few very space age looking ones. However, I'll have to be patient on getting them fixed up as we are fixing up the ones we need to sale first.

Thanks for the link.

A few more pics








A PeeWee Herman bike

[Gregorian]

3. Wow!!! I always wanted one of the more standard Schwinn cruiser male model bikes.

And even back in the early 80's I couldn't find one. That's California for you. All I could find was one of those blue girl's ones with stripes like in one of your photos.

I see some superb bikes in that bunch. I didn't know old stuff like that was still in existence.

[MagickMuffin]

5. Don the man who collected all these bikes Loved Schwinns

He had soooooo many Schwinns. The guy from Houston said that Schwinns were not very good sellers there. Go figure. However, in the D/FW area they are very collectible.

We manage to snag up a lot of them. Mostly 3 speeds. If you lived closer we would be more than happy to sale you one. Or if you wanted one shipped to you we could consider that as an option as well. Wouldn't it be fun to ride a vintage Schwinn through the forest? I would bet you would be the only bike rider with one.

So, far every one who has bought one has been extremely happy with their purchase. My hubby has kept in touch with everyone, so they usually write back how much they are enjoying their "new" bikes.

[Gregorian]

7. Parts for these things must be tough to find.

I don't even know what size wheels they have. 26"?

My forest rides are 20% grades in part. Suspension is pretty much a neccessity.

However, I might be relocating to a place where I could actually get on the road on a bike and not feel too intimidated. I might want to know what one of those male cruisers would go for. Dallas isn't too far from California.

[MagickMuffin]

9. We haven't had to much trouble finding parts

The tire size are generally 26" S6 for the cruiser bikes.

We've been selling most of our bikes for around $200 - $250. We break them down and service them, new grease, de-rust them, and make them ridable. We sold a bike yesterday and the buyer mentioned what a great job DH did with the Breeze.

And yes Dallas is just around the corner to California.

[RainbowSuperfund]

10. These are so cool MagickMuffin!

These are so cool MagickMuffin. I love your unexpected bike business! I've been wanting to get my daughter a classic red bicycle for her B-day. Are You in CA? Please share pictures of these beauties as you fix them up for sale. I can't wait to see them :hi :

[tkmorris]

4. If you have any steel butted frame touring bikes I'd be interested

Also, there were some quite old bikes that had multiple gears but were shifted not via a cable but rather by a mechanism like a long rod which usually ran from the derailleur to somewhere just under the seat. It's doubtful I know, but if you have anything like that give me a holler.

[MagickMuffin]

6. We do have steel butted lugged frames

We have some Raleigh Sports that are really nice for old vintage bikes. I have one that I totally LOVE It is a really smooth ride, however, when we bought it it was in such disrepair that it took a lot of effort to restore it to ridable condition.

I also have a Sears Roebuck that was made in Austria. It is also a very smooth ride. Both my bikes have fabulous front baskets for riding to the store and getting limited groceries.

We don't have any bikes with the rod brake system. Those are really hard to come by and around here they are pretty expensive. Good luck on your search.

We have both of the Raleigh's and Sears bikes for sale if you're interested PM me and I'll send you our email addy and then you could see some pics and get more info. Like I said they are very smooth and dependable rides.

[frylock]

8. did you get the yellow suburban from your third photo?

those are some nice bikes. sure would be a blast to go to a sale like this!

[Kennah]

11. That is freaking amazing!

I have an '86 Schwinn World--made in Taiwan by Giant. Not a Chicago Schwinn, so by law I'm not permitted to call it my "Old Schwinn".

My commuter is an '08 Kona Dew.

Once I discovered Sheldon Brown's website, I got interested in making my Schwinn go again.

My brain went numb reading about all the different sized 26 inch tires.
http://sheldonbrown.com/26.html

I thought I would climb onto a ledge as I read about rim and tire sizing.
http://sheldonbrown.com/rim-sizing.html
http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html

Once we move, I'll be back on a bike daily to and from work, at least.