Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Please click here to visit their fine E-Bay store
The Budget Bicycle Center Company
I'd been looking at bicycles for a long time on the Net. My wife Heidi bought me a fine Specialized Allez road bike on my 60th birthday. At that time, I had looked to see what I would like and decided on this particular model. Recently, I've been looking at bicycles on E-Bay, and specifically Schwinn.
Schwinn is an old Amercan company that is now owned by a Montreal,Quebec (Canada) company called Dorel. They also own Cannondale.
Everyone at one time or another either had a tricycle or a bicycle or rode one. I had a tricycle or I rode my brother and sister's one. Then my father got me a bicycle with just 1 gear,and the brakes were applied by pressing the pedals backwards. Eventually I got a fancier 10 speed by the name of Torpado.
In the 1980's, I had lots of time because of my teaching schedule,and purchased a used Montreal brand called Marinoni. Marinoni has a great reputation for hand-built higher-end bicycles, and even sells in the USA.That was the time when Greg LeMonde and his American cycle team were starting to get a reputation in the cycling world,and North American television started to televise the Tour de France.
In the last week, I had e-mailed a few E-Bay sellers and stores to ask for permission to write about them. Eventually, I had to select another seller, as nobody replied to my requests. The Budget Bicycle Center company on E-Bay (titled BBCBikes) caught my attention since they happen to sell vintage bicycles. I wrote to them, and had a "yes" reply within a couple of hours.
Today's post is just an introduction to the Budget Bicycle Center. They have an ebay store and their own website. Their store is a full service bicycle shop in Madison, Wisconsin, (USA), located near the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. They have 4 different stores on street that have lots and lots of bicycles of all kinds, makes, prices, and ages. They also repair bikes, and have parts.
Their 4 stores are: New, used, specialty, and parts that include clothing and car racks.
I'll be writing more about bicycles and the Budget Bicycle Center in the future , but for today, I just wanted to introduce you to them,and present only 5 bicycles. If you've been reading my blog, you will already know that I like to present all items against a white background. In the case of bicycles, the triangular and rectangular spaces between the spokes of the wheel present more work and effort to remove the off-colour or background. I use Photoshop, but for this type of work, I find that there are other better programs. I was stubborn though, and decided to stay with Photoshop. Eventually, I'll return to my "other" program.
In the case of bicycles, their presentation against white illustrates the pure design and engineering of the bicycle, as well as the features and colours. Since presenting them against white, and removing the floor stands that hold them in the original photos, I only have 5 photos today, but the bicycles are certainly "works of art".
I'm thinking that you needed a high place to be able to get on to this bicycle, and a high place to get off. Also, there doesn't seem to be a height adjustment for the seat. Yet this bicycle was popular way back, even when most of the roads were dirt and unpaved!
I accidentally left the clamp that hold the bicycles on their stands. That's the item on the stem between the seat and the pedal.
Not all of the vintage bicycles are in pristine condition. However, there will always be collectors who specifically want items in their "as is" found state.
Here's a nice 60+ year old bicycle for a lady.
The short description that I copied from the ebay store is quote interesting for this futuristic bicycle.
Again, I forgot to remove something in the photo. It's the yellow plastic tightening strap that kept the front wheel from spinning as the photo was taken. It's a great-looking bicycle from 1946, and it is made from fiberglass. It's quite rare, and certainly priced high. But if you're a collector, you'd certainly want to have this one in your collection!
So this is my post for this day. I'll be presenting more posts on the Bicycle Budget Center in the future. And maybe, I should get back to doing more cycling. It's going to be September in 5 days.Where has the time gone?
Thanks for dropping by,
and as always,
have a great part of the day or night,
wherever you may be.
Stacey
(toysearcher@gmail.com)
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