Frank the RetroBike king

SantaHul

Retro Guru
Just went to pick up a Marin frame I won off eBay the other day, £25 BIN so a bit of a bargain. The guy lived out on the sticks (near Stroud which is north of Bristol) and was this quirky foreign guy, not sure what his accent was but his english was very good. It was pitch black when I got there and he was waiting by the front gate with the frame, I was pretty tired so I took him up on his offer of coffee. As I walked through the gate I could make out quite a few old bikes piled up to the left and right off the path, I asked him if he was a cyclist but he said he just liked buying bikes.

Then the security light came on.

Ahead of me I just saw a mountain of bikes, old and new, literally hundreds, in a pile about five feet high. I just stood there and went "oh my god". He explained that when he retired he apparently made a conscious decision to start buying bikes because he didn't have anything else to do. I couldn't see the end of the pile but it stretched into the darkness as far as the light stretched.

The inside of the house was the same, pathways through the house carved between piles of bikes and parts. Every surface in the house, even the steps on the stairs, had bike parts on them. My phone camera couldn't catch it very well but here it is.

The yard, that's his front door on the right.
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The pathway that leads to his house. This is pointing towards the road, that's another mountain of bikes to the right.
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The moral of the story is if you want any kind of old bike or parts, I suggest you contact him because he's willing to sell pretty much any of it by the sounds of it. He kept saying to me that if I wanted something to get in touch, he doesn't have an archive or anything but I think he'd willing to have a look around to see if he could help you out. His eBay username is mg1one.
 
Santa thats a legendary tale what did you buy dude..I have just rebuilt a Marin Team I love the Marins from the early 90`s if you need a hand just pm me I am in Derby too and dont be a stranger get over to Ticknall on Tuesday nights the rides are a blast....do you think that guys got any Breezers ??? I think that may be my next build :lol: :shock:
 
Yeah I only just heard about your crew but I'll defo join you on my late eighties(ish) CB Cape Wrath. I've snapped a tendon on my left arm (thanks to said bike) so I need to give it at least a couple more weeks before I hit the trails again.

I was picking up a rusty 93 Eldridge Grade frame from Frank, gonna get it powder coated and build my perfect commuter. One that can handle being hammered all the way to work without bending like my 81 CB Majestic :roll:

As for the Breezer, give him a try, I wouldn't be surprised.
 
captaincosmic":1ixx2o8g said:
What size bike do you ride .....?
I have ..er ...one or two you might like to try until the Mazza is up and running :lol:

Ha don't worry, I'm already in trouble for too much bike stuff. And car stuff.
 
Get used to being in trouble I used to wonder what the guys meant when they talked about having "a pass for the ride" I now know exactly what this means :lol: Attention to SWMBO = ride passes :lol:
 
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