# You May Hate Me For This But...



## Nathan2307 (Nov 1, 2011)

This is a real nice pre-war Colson made Goodyear that I parted out on ebay recently. My though was, it's a girls bike, it's worth more in parts, and it's another project I'll never get around to. Pieces of her went all over the country! The frame is in Puerto Rico!! Please, don't be hatin...


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## bricycle (Nov 1, 2011)

I don't hate you...


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## Bicycle Belle (Nov 1, 2011)

*Well...*

I do.......


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## Mybluevw (Nov 1, 2011)

I don't hate you, but I do find it interesting that you felt compelled to confess.
 
Say some "Hail Sheldons" and rub a couple of links on a skip tooth chain and everything will be forgiven


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## Nathan2307 (Nov 1, 2011)

You're right, I did feel guilty doing it... But I really liked the $800 I made selling sell her off! Seriously though, I like the thought that the bike is living on here on this website and several others I post on.... As well as in the bikes of many other hobbyists. She might now be part of some Colson Commander!


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## bricycle (Nov 1, 2011)

Nathan2307 said:


> You're right, I did feel guilty doing it... But I really liked the $800 I made selling sell her off! Seriously though, I like the thought that the bike is living on here on this website and several others I post on.... As well as in the bikes of many other hobbyists. She might now be part of some Colson Commander!




...so we're talking Organ Doner...


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## scrubbinrims (Nov 1, 2011)

I don't see 800 in parts for her...maybe all of the stars were aligned...
I would have done the same thing, minus what I need from that housepainted Colson.
Chris


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## Nathan2307 (Nov 1, 2011)

I got a little over $200 for the rack alone. I paid $75.00 for it at an antique store at least 15 years ago... I was very happy!


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## slick (Nov 1, 2011)

You should have offered it here for sale first. I would have bought it and let a girl ride it again. That's a real shame. Girls bikes are going to skyrocket in value. That's why i'm snagging up what I can now. I don't part out anything. Sorry.


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## catfish (Nov 1, 2011)

Nathan2307 said:


> I got a little over $200 for the rack alone. I paid $75.00 for it at an antique store at least 15 years ago... I was very happy!




So $200. for the rack.... Than you must've got $300. for the stand and $300. for the chain gaurd.......


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## videoranger (Nov 1, 2011)

Parting out a nice bike that has survived intact just because it yields a better cash return is actually a violation of the sacred bike guardian code of conduct. Please refrain from such foolish impulses in the future. Go now and sin no more.


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## Nathan2307 (Nov 1, 2011)

Catfish, I would delete you if I could. Whats your problem?


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## vincev (Nov 1, 2011)

i understand your logic.In China baby girls are aborted because boys are more important.Same as the bike world.I know ,thats sick.


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## Larmo63 (Nov 1, 2011)

Now say three Hail Marys.....


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## kz1000 (Nov 2, 2011)

Good for you, You did NO HARM whatsoever by parting that bike out, you actually made many more bikes complete by sacrificing one.


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## Freqman1 (Nov 2, 2011)

I'm not a big fan of parting and avoid it. I have bikes that I've tried to sell whole where I know I could easily get my money in parts but then I'd have stuff I would wind up scrapping or hanging onto parts for a very long time. The problem I had with this post is that it appeared to be gloating more than anything. v/r Shawn


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## RMS37 (Nov 2, 2011)

Enough already!

I’ve gotten very tired of hearing people attack sellers on the morality of parting a bike when the next stop on their computer is eBay to find a part they need to finish their dream bike.

Barring the parts that were originally produced and sold as repair/replacement/accessories, all the old parts we use today are from some bike that was parted out.

People outside the hobby sell us bikes and parts because *we buy them*, no one else wants them. If we as a hobby didn’t buy and modify our bikes to make them “more original” then the world would be littered with old bikes until they rusted away or were hauled off by the scrap man.

If the hobby (well actually it would be a different hobby) were to embrace the original-bikes-are-sacred creed at its true core, then we would all aspire to display our bikes as found, be it missing a front wheel or with a BMX gooseneck because we could hear the cries of a dismembered bike in our dreams whenever we bought a “correct” replacement part off a vender at a swap meet or on eBay.

The Girl’s Colson at the head of this thread is reasonably intact and maybe a hard core scrubber could have found passable paint under the repaint but it is hardly a gem of an original. I’ve also noticed that people will get up in arms over a bike like this and then stampede to the carcass of a high-end bike being parted that can actually yield parts everyone covets.

Obviously we all have our own threshold of when a bike is too good or important as-is to part and that level is a personal call. Things can differ by kind or by degree. If you have never been party to moving parts from one bike to another or bought an old part to finish a bike that wasn’t still in its original aftermarket box then tell us your story. If your Colson is sporting a rack other than the one the factory put on it, then please understand this is just the nature of this hobby, your tears for this Colson look like the crocodile variety to me.


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## Nathan2307 (Nov 2, 2011)

Well, I started this thread with what I thought was a comic stance...And to show the old bike for what it was before parting it out. My thought was that maybe even some of you might have picked up a part or two. I'm sorry if I've offended anybody. From now on I suggest we all adopt the "don't ask-don't tell" motto and move on. Oh, stay away from the Buy- Sell- Trade section of this site.... lots of parting out going on there!


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## Bicycle Belle (Nov 2, 2011)

*I don't think..*

You really offended anyone Nathan. Most of the responses (including mine) were very much tongue-in-cheek. Phil makes a good point though. I always seem to start with just a frame and maybe one or two parts with my bicycles. Thank goodness there are people on here and ebay who have the parts I need to make my bikes whole again. My Elgin that I'm working on now literally came to me as just a frame and nothing more. I've had to buy every single part for her from everywhere across the country.
I will confess that I do cringe sometimes when seeing a really nice original bicycle being parted out..but that is no fault of the owners. Sometimes no one wants the whole thing no matter how nice it is and at least you can make other hobbyists more able to finish their projects.


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## Boris (Nov 2, 2011)

Yeah, and i have no qualms about parting out Phil's comment. I thought "stampede to the carcass" was funny and made for a good visual. This will be a great scene when the movie is made.


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## vincev (Nov 2, 2011)

Nathan,dont feel bad about what you did.You owe no one an apology.I have purchased parts and put bikes together.If you saw my post on the basket case I'm working on now you will see original but purchased parts on it.I enjoy the hobby and finding parts is part of the hunt.There has to be donor bikes.take care and enjoy.


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## ridingtoy (Nov 2, 2011)

With me, parting out is the last resort, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do, even if it isn't the way you'd really prefer doing it when selling off a bike. As mentioned, the up side is that through sacrificing this one bike several others are now complete or more nearly so than before - a much better fate than ending up being scrapped.

Dave


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## panther boy (Nov 2, 2011)

*Parting out--*

You owe no apology---to a purist, and you gotta love em since a lot of bicycle knowledge is gleaned from their desire to preserve--parting out a bike is a last resort. I have bought complete bikes just to get one or two original parts to replace missing or totally destroyed parts on bikes I'm restoring. you made a nice profit, which you can use to add more bikes to your collection. 

By the way, surgeons do this all the time--as in transplants--heart, eye, kidney, etc!


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