"Free" the Internet

With our web site, we get inquiries about vintage bike stuff every single day. Some are looking for an old bike that they had growing up or an elusive handlebar to finish their restoration. Some of the other calls are just from folks looking for someone who cares about their passion for older bikes and are just looking for someone who isn't hung up on the new crank arm that is 30% stiffer than its predecessor. We also get a fair number of people who don't have much interest in old bikes but just found an old bike when cleaning out aunt Millie's shed. Most of them are hoping they found a Ferrari in the garage but are OK when it turns out to be a 4 door Chevy. They just want to know what it is so they can tell their friends about it after finishing the rattle-can rehab. It takes some time to answer these questions but that is OK since they are "honest" inquiries.

Along with these questions have come questions of the "dis-honest" kind. Fortunately, they are usually pretty easy to spot. It often starts out as "what can you tell me about" which is code for "can you write my eBay auction description for me". The next most popular one is the "what is it worth" questions posed by folks putting it on Craigslist since they are too cheap to pay eBay fees. I guess this is their version of research. We have spent hundreds of hours studying catalogs that have cost us thousands of dollars to acquire. I often joke that I am studying for my PhD in vintage bikes. If I put the effort into a law degree, I could charge $300 an hour to talk to people about old bikes but I don't see that happening. For some reason, anybody that can be reached via email shouldn't have to be paid since somehow their time isn't worth anything??

What got me thinking about all of this was an email I received over the weekend. The guy wanted to know what bottom bracket he should mail order for his old mountain bike. He complained that if he took it to the local shop, "they would try to rip me off for $50". For some reason, our answer should be free?? Not to mention, the impossibility of really even answering the question without having the bike in the shop plus the need for tools..........I just don't get it. Where is the disconnect? Why should the Internet be "free"?

We have started to see this mentality invade the shop recently as well. These conversations usually start with "what size shoe do I need" or "what size bike do I need"? This is very lightly disguised code for I am buying something online but need you to do all of the work for me. We explain that bike sizes depends on style, brand ,usage, model and preference. Some bikes are measured center to center, some center to top and some along a hypothetical line somewhere in space. Some brands have odd sizes, some even.....riding off road? need more clearance? long legs? riding 6 hours? After all of this, they look at you again and ask "what size bike do I need" but with less patience this time. We usually see these guys back in a couple of weeks with their new pride and joy telling everyone what a great deal they got. Then they are back in another week since they can't seem to get their 6' 3" body comfortable on their 26" bike (which is really a 15" frame with 26" wheels) and wanting to know why the shock is spewing Valdez amount of crude on trail and why a tune up is $60 when they were able to put it together with Vice Grips.

Sooner or later, we'll all figure out that cheapest and smartest don't necessarily go hand in hand. I just hope there are still enough people around with the answers when this happens.