Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - to buy or not to buy...

1987 bianchi strada, already converted with an iro/formula hub. not a lot of details about other components and i don't have a picture, but it's in "good" condition. i'll see it in person tomorrow. $300.

do it?

1987 bianchi strada, already converted with an iro/formula hub. not a lot of details about other components and i don't have a picture, but it's in "good" condition. i'll see it in person tomorrow. $300.

do it?

Will you really do what we tell you to do?


AWESOME!

Oooo Ooooo, my first.

OK...um...

i'm pretty stubborn, so i'll most likely do what i want regardless of concensus here :p but it would be nice to know how much i'm getting ripped off when i do it. haha.

OK. Just kidding.

Buying a 20 year old bike is a lot like buying a 20 year old car...a lot really depends on the details. The more details you get the better decision you can make.

$300 for a 20 year old bike doesn't sound like a good deal unless it's something super-duper special.

I'd pay $200 for it if it had all the gears and shifters.

I had a strada conversion. It has a REALLY long wheel base. Makes for a nice comfortable ride, but not a super quick handler. I paid about 180 for mine and it had already been converted to a single speed. Maillard f/r hubs, shimano 105 cranks, shimano cantalever brakes, flipped and chopped bars, dura-ace brake levers, etc. I think 300 is too high unless the components are really nice and you wouldn't want to change a thing. (btw, you'll always want to change stuff.)

yeah 300 is steep.

no. too expensive

trashalicious,

Did you get to see the bike today? Tell us, tell us, tell us!

alright, so i saw and rode it today, and didn't buy it. took some pictures, but looking at them now they're not really detailed enough to bother posting.

i went in with the criteria that if it had some amazing components like full campy record, i would throw down the 300. i'd offer 250 if it were nice shimano or something.

sadly, the cranks were sekai and every other component was unmarked. he said it was all "original" except the pedals, but nothing had markings and he didn't know what the bars, stem, etc. were. he also couldn't remember the brand of the wheels but said he paid $200 for them. really cool kid, just built it up and is selling because he's moving away on short notice and doesn't want to pay to ship it. it has less than 100 miles on it.

it was a nice ride and my impulsive side really wanted to go for it, but i know in my gut that it's not the right one. too many little things that were just so-so about it. front tire is blue but the rear is black and the frame is red and black. the frame still has the cable guide braze-ons on the top tube. the right dummy brake lever rings and rattles. nit-picky **** that makes it not worth 300.

if it had matching tires and the wheels were still marked and known to be good, i might have gone for it just because i know that i, too, will end up spending around 200 for wheels if i decide to convert my raleigh. overall, though, too much sketchy stuff.

so now i'm s.o.l.! it seems like all of the used bikes in seattle are priced really high. there are several fixies on craigslist right now, all 300 or above and the others are even more generic than this. at least this has a nice frame...