eBay! Save Me From Myself!

So, my eBay “shopping” seems to come in bunches; nothing for a while, then ‘zip, bang, boom’, I’m buying stuff!

When I resigned myself to the fact that I have to buy another fixed gear bike, I knew that this meant I’d need a few components. I’ve found eBay to be the place to go for good deals on such things.

When I bought the Pista, I got the brake levers, front brake, pedals, and chainring from eBay.

So, anyway, I’m looking around for such things when I come across a Campagnolo “peanut butter” wrench. Naturally I decide I must have this. I’ve been needing a 15mm wrench for the Pista’s track nuts anyway. My stubby Craftsman combination wrench is perfect for carrying along, but something with a bit more leverage would be nice when portability isn’t an issue.

So anyway, I decide to bid on the wrench, it looks well used, but functionally fine. I decide I’ll go as high as $22.00 for it. I make my bid, then do a little research. The first place I find that has them wants just under $30, so I’m feeling pretty good about my bid, but then I discover that Excel Sports has it, brand new, for $21.95.

D’oh! I should have looked first. This puts me in the position of anxiously watching the auction, desperately hoping to be outbid. Which, mercifully, I was.

So, I dodged that bullet, plus, I bought a set of brake levers ($25) and hopefully I’m about to get a really good deal on a set of Dura Ace (7700) brake calipers. Why a set, you wonder? I can swap the rear brake’s fixing bolt with one from a front brake and have D/A front brakes on both fixies!