A friend loses some old "friends"

[barry1021]

Ok, not life and death but a bike shop burned to the ground in Kelowna BC yesterday. That's bad enough but it gets worse. My friend and our forum member Toomanybikes lost two of his classic bikes in the fire and a third that he had sold but had not shipped was also lost, so three altogether. Here is the link to the RBR thread.

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=124174

For those of you that have not had the good fortune to meet him, he is a great guy, the type of person that you feel like you have known forever and would trust with anything. He more than most will keep perspective, but I sure feel for him, especially because he was shipping two bikes to his new home near me in Arizona.

Like I said, not life and death, and there is a bike shop owner that is devastated, but I am raising my glass to TMB, hoping for a fair insurance settlement and some new classics in his life.

b21

[AgilisMerlin]

that's sad

hope everyone involved is coping.

[Blue Jays]

Horrible news. Hopefully the insurance claims can make everyone whole again.

[stevep]

ouch.
hope it ends ok

[Grant McLean]

That's bad news, I heard it earlier today from my Specialized sales reptile.
Two big dealers they've had burn down in the last month!
They lost Duke's Cycle in Toronto in another huge fire that started
a few doors down. Nothing left in that case either.
We've had a bunch of customers in for insurance estimates,
people sure lost some nice bikes...
-g

[zmudshark]

TooManyBikes is one of the nicest, and most generous folks I have ever met. I wish there was something I could say/do to make it a little less painful. The Butler was a labor of love, and irreplaceable.

News story and links to movies/photos of the fire here:
http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-story-37883--.htm#37883

There is nothing salvageable at all.

[TMB]

Thanks all,

I really liked that Guerciotti, but I loved the Geoff.

I found it on a scrap pile behind a local bike shop.

stripped it, sanded it and buffed it by hand.

Painted it and lined the lugs by hand with a teeny tiny little brush.

All these years later, the fork steer tube still bore the same serial number as the frame

The good folks at GB Cycles dug around until they found me a period correct set of decals

I just loved that bike.

It was going to get a re-birth as my around town putter-mobile and grocery getter in the sun.

I tracked Pat down this afternoon ( the owner of the store) and let him have good cry. Don't know what he does right now.

[Birddog]

Toomany, I hope you and the owner don't have to start a "I hate insurance adjusters" thread. Too bad about the loss.

Birddog