I have long been fascinated by things from the past, whether they be bicycles, coins, furniture, ghost towns, "B" movies, mechanical banks, rare books or fossils. I have always been drawn to old artifacts, as they are almost always better made, have more style, and are a direct link to our historic past.

  As a kid growing up in the 1970's in Southern California, my first real connection to collectibles was the Balloon tire bicycle, but it was certainly not the first. By the age of 14 I had built my first, and summers were spent delivering newspapers on a 1950's Schwinn Hornet during the week, and cruising between Huntington and Newport Beach on the boardwalk on weekends, and pedaling everywhere throughout the "OC". I purchased bike parts whenever I could, always planning my next build, and began entering many bike shows that were common during the 1980's. I built my last bike in 1995. Several hundred swap meets and antique shows later, I realized things had gotten out of control, the number of collections I was feeding became somewhat unreasonable.

  I first started selling on ebay in 2003, mostly to thin out some of my acquisitions gained over the years, but it has only increased my overall level of collecting, much to the chagrin of my better half. However, the experiences I've had so far on ebay with interesting people all over the world has certainly been rewarding. I think I will be here to stay. I now consider myself a sort of self-taught student of American pop culture, and am constantly searching for cool items. More to follow (pics. too) on other interests, exploring the desert, anything JEEP, and off-roading.

  Beginning in Summer 2008, I will start building custom bikes again, specializing in deluxe prewar balloon tire bicycles, offering faithful restorations to wild customs. Look for AeroCyclery to make its small mark on the hobby in the near future. Just working out the logistics now. You can contact me at mike@aerocyclery.com anytime. 
  With regard to collectors and collecting, we are all just caretakers of these fine things for a relatively short time, you can't take them with you.  Mike