New guy here. Now with picture.

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JamesPerrin

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Hi guys,
I am mostly a car geek but I like pretty much anything with wheels or wings.

I am currently looking for a suitable frame to start my first build on. My only bike right now is a Schwinn LeTour and it is too nice to cut up. A neighbor a couple streets over has a VERY old looking bike frame sitting in their planter on the side of the house. Looks like it could be early 1900s. I'm going to go over there to see if they will sell it to me and if it is still salvagable.

-James
 
Re: New guy here.

I went over there yesterday, this time walking instead of driving by. Nobody was around but I went into their yard to take a look. It was better than it looked from the road. It still had some paint on it and the bottom half of it wasn't buried in the dirt like I had feared. It also still had the cranks and fork.

I hope they aren't too attached to it.

I really want it but I'm afraid that when I come buy asking about it, they will immediately assume it has some sort of large value and that I am trying to lowball them. I don't think I will pay more than $40 for this frame. I don't even know what it is.

-James
 
Here it is. Took a pic this morning:

old_bike.jpg


I know it's hard to see much, but the handle bars, grips and apparent angle of the fork tube are what make it look vintage to my uneducated eyes.

-James
 
So, basically people are stupid.

Went to the house and rang the doorbell. A lady answered and I asked "Would you consider selling the bike frame that's on the side of your house?" She said "No, sorry that's my husbands. It belonged to his grandfather and it's really old." I said "I know it's really old. I guess it just breaks my heart to see it rusting away into nothingness instead of being restored." She said "It was already rusted when he got it. We're going to clear that brush away and plant some beets. He wants to use it for the landscaping."

Man I am really bummed right now. I've taken a peak at this bike before and it's still in restorable shape. It's from somewhere between 1890 and 1900, and these people want to plant beets around it. People are so freaking stupid.

-James
 
find them a replacement - show up with a tiller and some gardening tool, tell her you will prep & plant the entire beet bed for the bike - AND you will bring it back when you are done, and let them take pics to post of the infamous world wide web.

If it is what it is, it's worth fighting for! Ask her to give you the history on the bike, tell her your "writing a story for a fancy web forum" on restoring old bikes.

Worst case find out what it is for us! Even worser case - if it's something valuable offer her a pickup load of beets & bypass the garden work altogether - Good luck -I say keep trying....
 
I was thinking I should try to write the husband a letter. The wife wasn't worth talking to. I think I might have a chance if I respectfully argue a case that his grandfather would most likely rather see the bike restored rather than sitting in a garden rusting back into the earth. However, once I've made the case that the bike should be saved, the guy is probably going to think it's worth a fortune. I would offer to put the thing on Ebay for him if it would just move the bike along to someone who is going to restore it.
 
I say keep going over there and talk to the husband. Tell him granpa wouldnot want his bike buried like that. g/l Tony l.u.k.what happens 8) :D
 
Just swipe it when theyre gone :mrgreen:
Haha.. no j/k but that stinks theyre just wanting to let it rust away?!?
 
IMHO, I think you should leave the grandpa out of this - just say "its a great old bike that should not rot away, and I want to fix it up" - tell him (not her) you are not an antique guy, or looking to resell it or anything, you simply like bikes, plain & simple.

I have many things that are sentimental to me - that look like (and are) junk, but I would never part with them. Sentimentality runs deep. Needing gas money (or beets) runs deeper these days - take a crisp $50 bill just in case.
 

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