If all goes according to plan the mother of my children is being pampered right now by the simple act of being allowed to sleep in. The kiddo's have their gifts all made up (hand made ones are always the best) but they're letting her get some much needed rest, first. And hopefully, my Mom is planning a good day up North and get's some pampering, as well! Me? I got up early to open up shop for a special, seat of our pant's. last minute, relatively unplanned and poorly promoted "Mother's Day, "Day-Of" One Day Sale"! (yea...you can see how much thought we put into the title! Yeesh!) That's right! 10% off everything in the shop! Oh, no worries, if you're looking to buy two or more bikes, we'll cut even a better deal! And, yes, that discount goes for any repairs as well, but get 'em in soon, as the special sale ends at 3pm! That's when I empty the house of all kiddo's, take 'em to the park, and let mamma have some quiet time!
Yesterday was another relatively quiet one, but we did have a LOT of looky loo's! WOOF! I wish I had a dozen three wheelers sitting in the shop, as truly, that seems to be the ONLY thing anyone has been looking for lately. We had a couple repair pick up's and sent one bike to a new home. But, that ONE bike made my WHOLE week! I'd just finished up an older men's Huffy MTB. This one was a "Sub-DAILY BANGER SPECIAL" or what we call, an "AS-IS SPECIAL"! Basically, a bike that comes in that is mechanically sound, but not the prettiest of rides. However, due to there relatively low re-sale value, taking the time to go through, clean up, rusticate, and overhaul would not increase their over all value much at all. SOOOOO, we just make sure everything works right and put them out AS IS! They're for folks who just need a WAY cheap mode of transportation to get around. This one went out at $45.00 and no sooner had I put it into the line, did a nice gent and his little girl enter the shop. His first enquiry was as to whether we purchased bikes from folks. Now, I've been doing this long enough to recognize the inflection of that particular question. This gent didn't have a bike to sell, but in fact recently had one stolen, and was covertly trying to see if perhaps we picked it up. Yes, the sad side effect of buying bikes from folks is sometimes, some thieves are actually stupid enough to try and sell them to US! Heh. This fact has proven to be disastrous to many, as little do they know, we work quite closely with the local constabulary, and not only that, are pretty good at reading folks when it comes to who really owns what. To date, we have recovered 87 stolen bikes, returning them to their rightful owners AND gotten eleven would be crooks into the court system!
ANYWHO...
I let it play out and he did in fact reveal, that earlier that day his cherry Jamis Boss Cruiser had been stolen, and had we in fact seen it. Unfortunately not. This was clearly disheartening, as he revealed, that he only had his daughter a few days a week, and the weekends were when they enjoyed their bike ride together. He then asked if we had any cheaper bikes for sale, so they wouldn't loose that time together. I pointed him towards the Huffy, and he looked at the price tag, and even though he was impressed by the low price, when he opened his wallet I swear a moth flew out. Yes, as the majority of his funds went to child support, he only had $30.00 left to spend. Well, folks, call me an old softy but seeing the disappointment in both their faces at the thought of losing that special time together, I just said "give me what you can" and to please go and enjoy their evening.
Yes, even the most stalwart of men, bristling with masculinity can get a tad bit "misty" at a moment like that. We enjoyed the male equivalent of a supportive, sympathetic hug in the form of a firm hand shake, and he and a very elated little girl went off to enjoy their evening!
Yes folks, I've said it before and I'll say it again THAT is the kind of thing that makes this little enterprise SOOOOOO worth all the headaches!!
Well, I also had some time to start pulling through the pile out back and getting some other goodies started. My first victim is a six speed cruiser (as that's the second most popular bike folks are looking for right now) and given it's condition, thought it would be a nice candidate for "HOW WE DO IT!". Yes, another pictorial representation of the transmogrifying transformation each and every piece of scrap metal goes through around here before becoming a shining beacon of Veloist purity (oh, my...THAT doesn't sound egotistically ostentatious...does it?) so check out the before pics below, and later today we should have the "REVEAL!"
Okay, with that, I'm gonna git a crackin'!
See ya soon!
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HOPEFULLY, THEY'RE OUT RIDING TOGETHER AS WE SPEAK!
HOW WE DO IT!!!!!
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| FIRST, DIG A WRECK OUT OF YOUR PILE... |
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| THEN, STRIP IT ALL THE WAY DOWN TO FRAME (GOTTA GET ALL THE RUSTY PARTS OFF TO CLEAN OR REPLACE!) |
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| TAKE SAID RUSTY PARTS AND PUT THEM THROUGH THE WIRE WHEEL (OR STEEL WOOL AND PB BLASTER) |
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AND...OOOOOOO...LOOK AT THE PRETTIES!!!
NOW...STAY TUNED 'TILL LATER AND SEE THE FINISHED (AND VERY REASONABLY PRICED) RESULTS!!
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