Early 30s
Selling the bike that was with me during the period when I rode the most,
this is a story about putting it up on the used marketplace recently.
I told myself I'd keep riding even after marriage/having a kid,
but just like the seniors before me warned, riding became hard for several years...
Every day commuting to and from work, I'd see the bike parked in the hallway and think I'd ride it someday,
and after a brief moment of hesitation I finally listed it on the marketplace.
Maybe because I priced it what I thought was pretty cheap,
a buyer showed up in really less than 5 minutes after posting.
After that, about 4-5 more people contacted me but the deals didn't go through.
The buyer said he was fixing one up for his middle-school kid,
and since the originally-installed tubular wheelset would apparently be hard to use,
he only took the frame. (He said he already rides and already has a rim-brake wheelset)
The area was right next door so he came and picked it up quickly.
We ended up chatting about how road would be better than fixie, and how these days a used higher-end model beats a new entry-level one,
going back and forth like that.
(These days even an entry-level bike costs 1.5 million won...)
Usually I don't feel much when I sell stuff,
but this time somehow this bike kept nagging at me with regret.
Felt like I'd sent off some memories along with it too... haha
I even casually cleared out the remaining wheelset.
For the past few days.. ugh, it wasn't even that much money,
but I kept thinking, did I sell it for nothing...
'Nah, glad I sold it, it was just taking up space'
'Ugh.. should've just kept it... this sale money doesn't even buy a wheelset...'
Thoughts like that kept going back and forth... haha
But yesterday, from the person who bought the bike,
'I'm really sorry, but would a refund be possible?'
a message like that came in.
Honestly, even if I parted it out and sold it piece by piece, I probably could've gotten around the same or a bit more than what he paid...
so I was secretly happy when the refund request came.
I immediately said I'd refund it,
and when we met up he told me the whole story...
Bottom line is,
his middle-school son chose a 'fixie' instead... hahaha
He said that when he bought it, he could tell I seemed a bit reluctant,
so instead of reselling it to someone else or scrapping it,
just in case, he decided to offer a refund first.
The deal is done now,
my bank account and the item are back to how they were,
but instead I've gained one more warm, funny memory.
I think I need to hold on to this bike a bit longer, haha
I don't have a diary
so I left this note here~
Take care of your health in this hot summer, and always ride safely~
Around this fall I'm slowly planning to get back into riding, so I'm building a new bike right now haha
