[The Watering Hole]

Just find me; I will be wearing a sweater with bicycles on it, and big yellow bicycle earrings. Happy to help out with the assessment process, as I get the thrill of bicycle shopping & buying without having to think about adding more hooks in the rafters. (There will be other bicycle clubbies present, some not as obvious.)

Bring a notebook and pen, and start at about lot #50. (Earlier numbers have more bids. By lot #100 some bidders have won their prize. By #200 the bidding war is more like thumb-wrestling. IMHO there's too much bidding competition for anything in the first few dozen. The auction goes quickly, so it won't take too much of your morning to get to the triple digits.)

Write down the lot numbers that you're interested in. Do not look twice at a Huffy, Murray, or other department store brand. Skip the Elves & More bikes (there are always a couple of those in the auction).

Look for frame size first, then overall condition. Look for bent frames (skip) or forks (ditto). A bike in otherwise good condition, but missing a few parts, is a better option than an intact ride that's wearing evidence of zebra mussels. It's pretty easy to get a replacement wheel or pedals or seatpost/seat.

Once you have your list, watch the auction, and see what the earlier numbers go for. While it might be a learning curve (combined with the thrill of the noisy auction and all the hot evidence in the electronics area), it's not a steep one.

PM me about a couple of niece bikes that might serve your first purpose. (I'm the family pedal pusher -- surely this comes as a big surprise to all reading this -- and there are extras at Chez Veloise.)

Maybe can go to the auction together this year it would be fun.