There are times in a person’s life when they need to get rid of some stuff because they need the space or they need the money to buy new stuff so they sell the old stuff. About 10 years ago I had to sell something because I bought something else. Money was a little tighter back then when the kids were young which meant sacrifices had to be made. Well this is all well and fine except for when the item is a bike. One should never sell a bike to get money to buy another bike. That would be like selling your first born so that you could afford a second child, the logic just isn't sound.
The thing with bikes is that they are closely connected to good memories and good memories should never be given up. The bike I sold was associated to the many mountain bike races I experienced as an Ontario Cup competitor and other local races. It was also the bike I raced in the World Police and Fire Games in Quebec. I sold the Rocky Mountain Vertex because I thought I needed a full suspension bike to be more competitive and the hard tail just wasn't up to the task. So with a heavy heart I parted with my greatest trophy of those races and moved onto full suspension. I watched it go out the door and with some final parting words I told the buyer to look me up if he ever put the Vertex up for sale. Ten years went by and I often would look at the photo of that bike hanging up on the workshop wall and I would say to myself, what was I thinking. In 2001 Rocky Mountain bicycles, a Canadian manufacturer built each bike by hand; the Vertex has the signature of the welder who built the frame on the down tube. I watched eBay for one like it to come up for sale but another one like it never did, it was too rare. A few weeks ago I got an email from the buyer who remembered those parting words; he was offering to sell the bike back to me. There was no consideration to be made, the answer was yes, and can I pick it up today. I brought the bike back home and gave it a good cleaning and some TLC. I got out the rubbing compound and brought the paint back to its original shine. Then the metal cleaning compound came out and the metal parts were buffed backed to a new like state. So there she was hanging there all shiny and bright and looking like she did when it rolled out the door. There was this box of newer components lying on the work bench. Should it keep it original or take it up a level; take it up a level was clearly the way to go. So the 2001 Vertex was married up to an XTR drive train, Crossmax wheels, wide riser bars and a few other little bits and pieces and now my hand built custom Blue baby is home to stay.
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January 2024
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