I'm not sure if this is the correct place to put this but thought i'd share a little experience about a place i came across recently... a little goldmine! Some of you may even know it so who knows.
Anyway, had to drive into Walthamstow at the weekend for various reasons, not a place i venture to often even though it's only 20 minutes away. On route I happened to pass an obscure looking secondhand bike shop. Old signage, window full of bikes/frames, obviously been there for some time looking. Bikes were lined outside for sale but at first passing glance wasn't exactly sure what the place was all about. Curiousity got the better of me so had to stop by on the way back for a closer look. Glad I did
On entering there were double rows of bikes on both sides, mtb's, bmxs, 24" bmx cruisers, roadbikes etc all for sale; there was some pretty COOL stuff there. The guy could see my eyes bulging so came and said hi. He's a really cool guy who obviously knew his stuff. I happened to mention i never knew the place existed where he replied "no, i've not been here long, only 58 years" lol cool!
We got chatting about this and that, he was real keen and liked to banter proudly showing off what he had. There were a few mtb's in what looked to be great condition, a couple of GT's, a Diamond Back, a Scott and a nice Raleigh Maverick sitting out front. The others i fail to remember. There could have been some real gems but all bikes were in original used condition. Had a couple of nicely restored road bikes there too... seemed to have a bit of everything. Just wish my mind was in one piece and had taken better notice of what was there.
The bmx cruisers are what caught my eye but priced beyond what i'd ever be willing to pay. There was an SE and a couple of others which looked great, omg! He restored one of them back to original in a dukes of hazard colour way. Can't remember what it was he called it but it looked ace.
I could tell he enjoyed having someone in who shared his passion. He was mainly into 80's bmx's himself though. It just amazed me that a place like this ever existed tbh, i couldn't believe my eyes. It was when he asked if i'd i like see some nice stuff that my mind flipped... "sure, ok then"
Out the back we went!! :shock: :shock: :shock:
He had two racks crammed full of bmx's! Some were restored but they were mostly original condition. There must have been a bit of everything you could have imagined.. GT, SE, Kuwahara, Haro, all top stuff... everthing. Reckoned to have over 30k's worth of prime 80's filth sitting there I didn't know where to look. None were for sale. All were his own private collection but it was a joy to see
I'll be going back again sometime soon to have a better look round and to fill in all the grey areas... have no idea what the shop was called or anything only that the owner introduced himself as Tom. There must be a hell of a lot of stuff tucked away in drawers and boxes too just waiting to be unearthed. I mentioned the Retrobike site to him so maybe he'll check it out.
Pleased i never drove on by anyway
Anyway, had to drive into Walthamstow at the weekend for various reasons, not a place i venture to often even though it's only 20 minutes away. On route I happened to pass an obscure looking secondhand bike shop. Old signage, window full of bikes/frames, obviously been there for some time looking. Bikes were lined outside for sale but at first passing glance wasn't exactly sure what the place was all about. Curiousity got the better of me so had to stop by on the way back for a closer look. Glad I did
On entering there were double rows of bikes on both sides, mtb's, bmxs, 24" bmx cruisers, roadbikes etc all for sale; there was some pretty COOL stuff there. The guy could see my eyes bulging so came and said hi. He's a really cool guy who obviously knew his stuff. I happened to mention i never knew the place existed where he replied "no, i've not been here long, only 58 years" lol cool!
We got chatting about this and that, he was real keen and liked to banter proudly showing off what he had. There were a few mtb's in what looked to be great condition, a couple of GT's, a Diamond Back, a Scott and a nice Raleigh Maverick sitting out front. The others i fail to remember. There could have been some real gems but all bikes were in original used condition. Had a couple of nicely restored road bikes there too... seemed to have a bit of everything. Just wish my mind was in one piece and had taken better notice of what was there.
The bmx cruisers are what caught my eye but priced beyond what i'd ever be willing to pay. There was an SE and a couple of others which looked great, omg! He restored one of them back to original in a dukes of hazard colour way. Can't remember what it was he called it but it looked ace.
I could tell he enjoyed having someone in who shared his passion. He was mainly into 80's bmx's himself though. It just amazed me that a place like this ever existed tbh, i couldn't believe my eyes. It was when he asked if i'd i like see some nice stuff that my mind flipped... "sure, ok then"
Out the back we went!! :shock: :shock: :shock:
He had two racks crammed full of bmx's! Some were restored but they were mostly original condition. There must have been a bit of everything you could have imagined.. GT, SE, Kuwahara, Haro, all top stuff... everthing. Reckoned to have over 30k's worth of prime 80's filth sitting there
I didn't know where to look. None were for sale. All were his own private collection but it was a joy to see I'll be going back again sometime soon to have a better look round and to fill in all the grey areas... have no idea what the shop was called or anything only that the owner introduced himself as Tom. There must be a hell of a lot of stuff tucked away in drawers and boxes too just waiting to be unearthed. I mentioned the Retrobike site to him so maybe he'll check it out.
Pleased i never drove on by anyway
