Article by Steve Griffith
After attending the recent Chalfont St Peters Cycle Jumble I found myself reflecting what a great institution Cycle Jumbles are. You could pretty much buy anything from an Edwardian Roadster to something modern with plenty of carbon fibre and everything in between! Chalfont St Peter (north west of London just outside the M25) meets all the criteria for a successful event. Space for sellers both inside and outside, excellent parking for all, easy access from the motorway network), an organiser who tirelessly promotes the event and great bacon rolls .
Someone once described the logistics of cycle jumbles as follows: a load of people turn up with boxes of rusty old bits which they swap and sell to other and then everyone goes how with different rusty old bits. There maybe some truth in that rather tongue in cheek description, however some of my best finds have been in the bottom of boxes whose contents at first sight seem to be junk and should be sent to the recycling . There is something very satisfying about rummaging (a key word in the cycle jumble world) and finding what you have been searching for.
I am both a seller (mainly for the National Cycle Museum in Wales) and a buyer (at the moment I have a strange compulsion to buy Carradice cotton duck saddle bags even though I have far more than I need).
To start with the preparation for selling; I will only book an outside stall in the summer our weather is just too erratic. About a week before I start sorting stuff out to sell I try and tailor my stock to the event. For example, the jumble before the annual Benson Rally in Oxfordshire is good for selling older parts ie pre WW2 and Roadster bits. Other jumbles are predominantly for lightweight bikes so it would be a waste of time to take rod brake parts. I always have a £1 box with small parts eg cable guides, cotter pins, seat pin bolts, chainwheel bolts etc. I always sell something out of this box as I think people like a rummage and I notice other sellers don’t want to be bothered with small parts. I will only price up items I want to achieve a specific price for. I expect punters to bargain; how un-English you cry! Blame it on several years living in the Orient and being married to a Chinese. Once at the jumble, presentation is important with similar items displayed together. Until a few years ago a posse of dealers would descend on the virgin seller and seek to take all the desirable stuff for a pittance. Fortunately, those days are long gone as prices have been steadily falling. I found it very amusing at the recently Ripley Jumble to overhear a group of my not so favourite dealers moaning about how they were losing money. Serves them right, that’s payback for elbowing others out of the way to get those Harden Hubs or other desirable items.
What I haven’t mentioned is what a great social occasion jumbles are. It’s also a great place to increase your cycling knowledge. I never cease to be amazed at the sheer breadth of cycling knowledge that people have. An obscure name on a frame will usually bring forth someone with some specialist knowledge and you leave wiser than when you arrived.
My advice to buyers is have a list of wants to hand. Before buying anything inspect it carefully checking dimensions and looking for flaws. I once nearly bought a pair of stunning Campagnolo track hubs until I noticed one if the spoke holes were broken rendering the item behind repair and display only. Always bargain hard most sellers do want to get rid of their wares and it is certainly a buyer’s market. If you want proof of it just look at eBay the amount of over priced items that never sell. It’s one of my pet hates when someone says it’s on eBay for £x, yes, but it hasn’t sold and will only sell for £x-y.
So in conclusion get yourself along to a jumble – listings available in the Veteran-Cycle Club’s News & Views magazine and online – and if there isn’t one locally then arrange one.
