She’s Ebaying All Her Nike Stuff b/c of Vick Signing

My stomach still feels flipped.  My nose is turned up and my bottom lip down.  It was disgusting, grotesque, sickening, heartbreaking, angering, sad.  Along with the link to her Nike eBay auction, she sent a photo of one of the dogs that died in the Michael Vick dog fighting ring.  If you didn’t hear, after a brief hiatus, Nike resigned Vick to a sponsorship deal.

She was right, people tend to shy away from the picture, me included.  At first I thought, there’s no way I can post that picture to a bike blog that for the most part is a pretty happy place.  People come here for goofy stuff. Then again.  What do I have to lose? I doubt you'll stop reading if you see this.  I'm sure I'll write something funny next week.  Dogfighting is much more tolerable when you don’t see a dog with both ears, bottom lip and half its face missing. So, in protest, my cycling friend Bridget is selling all her Nike stuff for one price.  All sale proceeds with go directly to Best Friends Animal Society, the organization that cared for Vick’s rescued Pitbulls a few years ago.  That's quite a statement, considering there's two dozen items for one price.

Nike’s statement as quoted on Oregonlive.com, "We have re-signed Michael Vick as a Nike athlete. Michael acknowledges his past mistakes. We do not condone those actions, but we support the positive changes he has made to better himself off the field." The company's statement added, "We don't have any comment further than the statement." 

“Mistakes” and “actions” are much easier words to look at than bloody dogs.  Thankfully a Facebook friends lightened it up by posting “Eat poop and die Nike!” when she put up the link to her auction.  Another who works at a shoe store said, “I had a customer tell my co-worker… not to bother bringing out any Nikes because they re-signed Vick.”  Coming from an advertising background, sadly I’m sure Nike has crunched the numbers and realized that the benefit of having Vick as a Nike athlete is worth the fallout from animal lovers turning their back on the swoosh.

It made me look in my closet.  I have a cycling under jersey and a set of running shoes.  I’m not married to them.  Both are take it or leave it items.  There’s at least 5 other brands that I can easily turn to.  Since seeing the bloody dog, I’ll have a hard time disassociationg those shoes with Vick.  I’ll likely never purchase Nike again. 

However, there’s a way to change that.  Click on the auction and bid.  There are 7 pairs of shorts, 2 sports bras, 3 caps, a baselayer, hooded pullovers, and a pair of cycling shoes and sadly a branded Livestrong duffle.  At least you’ll know that the money you spend on this merchandise will go to helping rescued dogs and not end up in a check made out to Michael Vick.

Ask This Old Bike: Klein Kunundrum

Dear Ask This Old Bike,

Do you know of anybody that would be interested in this bike?  It is (my brother’s) Klein and was bought new for $2000. I could be wrong but thought he said it was a 60 inch frame.  I could get more info from him if you want.

Hugs & Kisses,

Your #1 Fan Forever

Dear #1 Fan Forever,

I can ask around and let you know.  You’d be looking for someone just getting into cycling…a really tall guy on a budget getting into cycling, like maybe one of the college basketball players whose NBA dreams were crushed in the NCAA tourney last week.  This is a 60cm frame.  If it was 60 inches, you might have to sell it to Godzilla.  Although I can’t see the model name on the top tube, Klien is/was a nice brand.   This is a road bike, with time trial bolt-on bar extensions.  I’ll guess it’s probably 10-12 years old, judging from the brake/shifters, quill stem, and standardish spoked alloy wheels.  Even though it was a relatively decent bike in its day, it shows it’s age and is missing a few parts that could be important to riding a bike, like, uh, pedals and a saddle. 

On the plus side: it has middle tier Shimano 105 components, appears to have newer tires, is clean and white (which is very “in” right now like Lady Gaga.)  I’d suggest buying a saddle and pedals, even used.  Most bike shops have used saddle and pedal bins where you might be able to pick up something cheap.  Also, I’d get a bike shop to put some new handlebar tape on it.  That faded pink speckled bar tape, although nicely done, is Ugly Betty and very personal.  I’d suggest white, black or blue tape (to match the tires).  Switching bar tape and finding some used pedals and a saddle is very inexpensive and the money invested would result in a quicker sale and higher price.   Lastly, I’d suggest taking the TT bars and elbow cups off.  They’ll have no impact on the bottom line sale of the bike and you might get a few extra bucks selling them separately.   

I’d guess you might be able to get $325-450 for it.  That’s $325 as-is but WITH some sort of a saddle.  It’s acceptable to sell road bikes without pedals.  I think $450 is possible if you follow my suggestions, find a racer-ish saddle, some decent clipless pedals, clean up the bike, take great photos of it and provide a full list of components and specs to buyers on ebay.  In the meantime, I’ll throw it to the sharks.  I mean I’ll ask our readers on Facebook and see what they say.

John  is the Ridgid Shop Vac included?

Brett fixie project?

Fred First generation 105 8s STI. Wouldn't ask much for it.  If it's in reliable shape, $400-$450. (less if components are rough.)

Jaden (I know someone who) would probably pay $50 for the crazy bar tape, even used.

Dave Reflectors still intact.  I'll guess 1995.  Shifters are worth a surprising bit. $250 complete. Parts could fetch 400.

Jason‎ 150-200, tops. You guys should have noticed that it is missing the saddle.

Kevin no pedals?? Now how are going to ride a bike without pedals or seat. ;) 

Corey…it appears to be a threaded steerer with a quill stem.  Wait...is that a Thomson seatpost? That would increase my bid by $40.

Zach ‎$10,000. it's a Klein, not made anymore, so very collectible. And it's got collectible Scott Neon Lay down bars.  Total bonus.

Rick I did have that bar tape on my bike about 15 years ago.

Andrew Looks like someone made the mistake of locking their bike up by the saddle.

Tom you need to take it Iowa and have Mike and Frank at Antique Archaeology apraise it, it looks farm fresh so it it good pickens:)

If interested, message us on Facebook by clicking here

U Pull & Save on Used Campy Record 10

At Joe Biker's "You Pull And Save" you can snap up Campy Record 10 Components for cheep cheep! We don't put on the chicken suit for nothing! Best of all we pulled all the parts off the bike for you, so all you have to do is buy 'em for cheep cheep. Get it! It's Campagnolo Record 10, made by an army of meticulous organic Lasagna-fed Italians and christened in 100 percent pure Grappa. Snap it up now for cheep cheep from a reliable mechanic slash bike dork in a chicken outfit slash gosh darn good guy before it goes up on eBay where I will milk it for every penny it's worth and charge astronomical amounts for shipping. Kidding. Here are the pure bike porn goodies:

Campagnolo Record 10 Carbon Fiber Ultra Shift Levers

Ergopower design. Right hand shifter rebuilt in Summer 2010. Clean, smooth working condition, slight cosmetic wear on top of hoods, lightweight. Shifters allow multiple up/down shifts with one throw of lever. Don’t worry about cross gearing, left shifter has multiple trim stops for quiet shifting and multiple gear options. Campy box included.

Asking $200 ($10 Shipping in Continental US Only, Accept Pay Pal or Cash, click here to email for inquiry or more information) 

Campagnolo Record Carbon 10 Speed Clamp-on Front Derailleur 34.9mm 

Carbon/Ti. Can be shimmed down to 32mm with Ti shims available at your local bike shop to fit and spread clamping force on 32mm carbon seat tube. Campy box included.

Asking: $60 ($10 Shipping in Continental US Only, Accept Pay Pal or Cash, click here to email for inquiry or more information) 

Campagnolo Record Carbon/Ti 10 Spd Short Cage Rear Derailleur 

The body is titanium, and the parallelogram and cage are carbon fiber. 189g. Short cage is standard for most road bikes, 57mm axle to axle. Campy box included.

Asking: $135 ($10 Shipping in Continental US Only, Accept Pay Pal or Cash, click here to email for inquiry or more information)

Campagnolo Record Titanium 10 Speed Road Brakeset 

Great feeling modulation. Front brake rebuilt with new pads, spring and hardware in Fall of 2010. Clean. Campy box included.

Asking: $90 ($10 Shipping in Continental US Only, Accept Pay Pal or Cash, click here to email for inquiry or more information)

Campagnolo Record Titanium 12-25t 10speed cassette/cogs & Chain 

Practically brand new. New in Summer of 2010. Largest four cogs are Ti. Campagnolo steel lockring. 215g. 12-13-14-15-16-17-19-21-23-25T. Includes: Campagnolo Record 10 Chain purchased same time as cassette (pictured at bottom). Campy drilled for super lightness. Cut to fit 50/34-12/25 Compact Gearing. Campy boxes included.

Asking $125 ($10 Shipping in Continental US Only, Accept Pay Pal or Cash, click here to email for inquiry or more information)

FSA Pro Road Chainring 50t Big Ring for Compact Gearing 

New in summer 2010. 10, 9 or 8 speed compatible. Fits FSA, Shimano, Truvativ and other non Campagnolo cranksets. Ramped and pinned for super smooth shifting. CNC black anodized 7075-T6 Aluminum. FSA packaging included.

Asking $30 ($10 Shipping in Continental US Only, Accept Pay Pal or Cash, click here to email for inquiry or more information)

FSA Pro Road Chainring 34t Inner Ring for Compact Gearing 

New in summer 2010. 10, 9 or 8 speed compatible. Fits FSA, Shimano, Truvativ and other non Campagnolo cranksets. CNC black anodized 7075-T6 Aluminum. 34g. FSA packaging included. 

Asking: $25 ($10 Shipping in Continental US Only, Accept Pay Pal or Cash, click here to email for inquiry or more information)

Campagnolo Record 10 Chain 

Purchased same time as cassette (pictured and included with sale of cassette above). Campy drilled for super lightness. Cut to fit 50/34-12/25 Compact Gearing. Box included. 

The Best Bike Trades EVER: Skinsuit Edition

I once traded a brand new Cuisinart Coffee Maker for a set of Ultegra brakes.  (click here for story) You think that was sweet?  A few years ago I traded a leather anniversary edition Harley Davidson jacket for a bench-top vice.  (Read: Being The Office Bike Bitch Here) My bearded chrome lovin’ motorcycling co-worker got a jacket for his bitch to hold on to at top speed and I got a vice in the shop to make it easier to swap cassettes.  In these tough economic times, maybe EBay isn’t the best way to get the most bang for your crap.

My recent score revolved around the 3 year old BioWheels team skinsuit in my closet.  A teammate was moving out of state just before cyclocross season.  Within a week, he’d be in a whole new world of CX hurt.  Moving is tough enough.  It’s even tougher being in your 20’s with the income of someone in their 20’s.  You have to make tough choices between racing in a skinsuit and not living in a van down by the river.  So, he asked about my old skinsuit.  I had worn it maybe a handful of times, the team switched designs and it’s been in the closet ever since.  Brand new I think I paid north of $120.  Since my boys had already called the chamois home, despite its great condition, the street value of it is practically nothing.  Practically.

On one of his last days in town, he showed up at my house and picked it up.  We said our man-huggy goodbyes.  “Do ya want anything for it?” He asked.  I thought.  The angel on my left shoulder said, “Well he is a good friend, shake hands and wish him well.”  The devil on my right poked back, “you paid $120 and now you’re giving it away?  You raced against Jeremy Powers in it and won a payout in a UCI race.  If anything, it does have sentimental value.”  I replied back with something like, “I tell ya what.  When you get settled with a new team, sponsors and your job, send me a care package.”  (pictured above left: my buddy in his "new" skinsuit)

It arrived yesterday.

I sliced the box open with a razor blade.  Inside was a sweet pair of black and white herring-bone Panache Cyclewear brand patterned socks, a bottle of Optygen pills and a brand new water bottle.  Perfect, I thought.  I just ran out of my Sport Legs and that’s a tough pill to swallow at $50 a bottle.  To save money at work, management stopped buying paper drinking cups, so the water bottle will come in handy in the office.  And, these are some of the coolest socks I’ve seen in a while.  Herring-bone is the new argyle.  Even though I already have 27 pairs of cycling socks, if I saw these babies at the shop, I’d probably buy ‘em anyway.

Only problem is, looking at the photo of the crisp new socks, now I need some better looking road shoes.   I’ll trade ya.

What’s It Worth? Not As Much As You Think

Just like watching a home show on HGTV, the first step in selling your old crap, is to realize it’s no longer your old crap. What you paid, what you think it’s worth, and how cool you think it is really doesn’t matter. So, what’s this used Easton EC90 SLX Carbon Fork worth? $450? $250? $125? I’ve learned, the trick to selling off your old bike components and parts is to realize that they're worth only as much as you can get for them. It doesn’t matter if full retail was $450. No matter where you sell it, you’re going to get market value for it. Right now, sitting on the bench in my man cave, this fork is worthless. The first step is to come to grips with that fact.

Some people have told me they use half of retail to gauge the worth of their items. These are the same goofballs on HGTV that don’t realize that not everybody digs their drapes. They say if it’s just a few 2- 4 years old, you should be able to get half of retail for it. Consider this; a brand new Easton EC90 SLX carbon fork has a retail list price of around $450. Retail mark up just about anywhere is somewhere between 40-50%. Pretty much, that fork was worth only about $250 brand new, half of retail, the day it was purchased. Secondly, with manufacturer retail employee purchase programs, chances are quite a few people picked up the fork brand new for somewhere around $250. Lastly, it’s pretty evident, because there’s plenty of brand new Easton EC90 SLX forks on eBay right now going for $250-$300. Now what’s half of retail? $125-150.

However, when pricing used items, you can’t start from the top down. Start from the bottom up. That is, just like a house, if you really want to sell it. So let’s do it. As the Easton EC90 SLX sits on the shelf in my garage, it’s worth $0. Sh**! We need to make that go up and get a realistic idea of what somebody might pay for it.

So, I watched identical or similar items on eBay to see what they’d actually sold for. Keep in mind the “buy it now” price or the starting price doesn’t count. That’s not what the item sold for. Those are the yahoos from HGTV who have this lofty number in their heads based on coffee talk with the girls. So, like selling a house, I took the time to get a few comps. I watched a few auctions until they ended. Recently there were about 20 Easton EC90 SLX forks on eBay, most new, a handful used. If by some weird chance there weren’t any Easton EC90 SLX forks on eBay, I’d find something similar, a top of the line fork from another manufacturer and/or the next step down from Easton like an EC90 SL to use to gauge a selling price.

When my watched items ended, two forks sold for $119 and $135, both with uncut steerer tubes. One listed at $199, didn’t get any bids. Right there, HGTV be dammed, that tells me at this moment, the fork isn’t worth anywhere near $199. At the very least, I should be okay with getting $119 for the fork, right? Wrong. If you sold it on EBay for $119, after you pay your EBay realtor fee, you’ll get around $110 or less in your pocket. At the very most I could expect $135, right? Nope. Consider that those buyers paid shipping closing costs too. If shipping was $10-$15, you might be able to sell the fork outside of EBay and get up to $150. So, now we know…an Easton EC90 SLX fork, in decent shape with an uncut steerer, is worth between $110 and $150 on the open market. That’s a $40 window for my fork. Or, is it?

Really, the window is a bit smaller and, considering my steerer is cut to 213mm, probably lower. For starters you know that the very least someone paid was $119 plus $10-15 shipping. That makes the out of pocket for the buyer $130-135. You also know that the most someone recently paid with shipping was $150 out of pocket. So the window is now about $20, between $130 and $150. Unfortunately, my fork has a tiny cosmetic nick on it and the steerer is cut to 213mm, a useable amount for most people, but still cut. To price my fork competitively, I’m probably looking at $120-$140. I’d list the fork for $140, and first try to sell it on Craigslist, Facebook, this blog or a cycling group site where I don't have to pay the eBay fees.

So how’s $140 sound to you. Seriously. Email here if you’d like to buy it. Click here for all the details.

Heave-Ho The Boat Anchor, Buy My Easton EC90 SLX Fork

Was it you that left your road bike fork behind at the bike rack? I don’t blame you. That thing looks heavy. You’re probably sick of delivering the mail up steep climbs and heaving that massive thing up a curb or over a pothole. What a bitch. Sure, it’ll never break…simply because you never want to ride your bike with that thing on it. Even if you don’t have a fork that was made in a shipyard, maybe you have a boat anchor masquerading as a “carbon” fork with a clunky aluminum steerer tube, crown and/or dropouts. It’s time to heave-ho! I’d keep the rest of the bike and leave that relic behind at the bike rack too.

Consider this Easton EC90 SLX all carbon fork. It’s CNT Monocoque technology. Which means its soo light; it couldn’t be handled by humans. Instead, every Easton EC90 SLX is crafted by tiny gnomes that meticulously mold the tiny carbon nano tubes into a 350 gram wonder fork. Yes. 350 grams. That’s like the weight of two and a half boxes of fluffy soft tissues. The little guys with pointy hats raked the fork at 43mm for the perfect marriage of quick, yet precise handling and optimal comfort.

For an asking price of only $175, it could be the best gram saving/dollar investment you ever made on your bike. New EC90 SLX forks retail for around $450. This is practically a third of retail. In order to save you time and money at the shop, the steerer tube has been cut to 213mm. Just measure your set up closely, to make sure it’ll fit your ride. It already has it’s first cosmetic nick, (on Easton logo of right fork leg) so you will never have to worry about the next rock that gets kicked up by the wheel in front of you in the paceline. More than likely, you’ll be so fast; you’ll probably be well off the front riding solo anyway. It includes compression wedge for quick and accurate installation. All you really need to do is whine to your spouse about how much your current fork sucks, buy it and swap the crown race. If you’ve been kind to the guys at your local bike shop by feeding them donuts and bringing over 6-packs on Friday evenings, they’ll likely change over that crown race for free on the spot.

Toss your boat anchor overboard, buy this Easton EC90 SLX carbon road fork and put an end to your group ride embarrassment. Send me a message here.

More photos here. Easton specs here.

SOLD: Jamis Xenith Pro Road Bike

2006 Jamis Xenith Pro 54cm Carbon Ultegra Road Bike

Asking $1000

THE BASICS

Black with Orange Panels and White & Silver Stripes

Weight: 16.25lbs (as pictured)

Fork: Jamis branded Easton EC70 Carbon (like new condition)

Wheels: Mavic Kysrium SSC SL

DRIVETRAIN

Levers: Shimano Ultegra 9sp

Cranks: Shimano Ultegra

Bottom Bracket: Truvativ

Rings: Shimano Ultegra 53/39

Chain: Dura Ace (new in ’09)

Brakes: Shimano Ultegra (lots of pad left)

Fr Derailuer: Shimano Ultegra (braze on)

Rr Derailuer: Shimano Ultegra 9sp

Cassette: Shimano Ultegra 9sp 12/25

COMPONENTS

Saddle: Fizik Aliante (new in ’09)

Stem: Ritchey WCS

Headset: FSA IS2 Integrated

Bars: Easton EA70

Tape: Fizik

Seatpost: Thompson

Tires: Vittoria Fortezza Blue Sidewalls/Black Tread

Skewers: E3 Systems Carbon QR