Classic and Vintage Bicycles: What's it Worth? Appraisals and Inquiries - Voyager

The bike mechanic who sold me the parts for my Nishiki build has a couple of frames laying around he is trying to get rid of, one of which is a Schwinn Voyager. It is black with a couple different colors I guess. I have only seen it once and cannot remember it exactly. What I am getting at is: How high up on the line is this bike? I am aware that there are versions such as the 11.2, etc. I saw him today and he mentioned that it was like double-butted and a nice Japanese-made frame. It is around a 62 cm or something near that which is good for me being 6'2. He was unsure as to exactly what model, year, size it was. I tried to do some searching about this bike and ended up pretty much empty handed. He said its near mint and he would throw in a nice headset and BB with it bringing the cost to $150 altogether. What do you all think? Would this be a better bike for a flip this spring or summer or something more to hold onto? Sorry for the extent of the question(s) but I think its worth asking a lot about!

Thanks in advance,
Free

If it is one of the later models, with canti-brakes and full touring braze on fittings I would consider it to be a nice bike to hold onto and ride.

I stated in my OP that it was just the frame set. No brakes included. That's another thing I was very curious about. Lets say I bite the bullet and buy this frame set, it would be smart I know to put everything original on the bike as far as components go. Where would be a good place to by NOS stuff like that? Is there such a thing?

Well, the component specs for the Voyageurs (and other Schwinn models) are on-line on Bob Hufford's SLDB website and/or Tom Findley's website. Once you know what components you need, you can look for them at bicycle swap meets, LBSs, and eBay.

Schwinn catalogs and brochures links (http://www.trfindley.com/pg_schwinn_cats.htm)

At $150, that would be a poor candidate for a flip.

Alright yeah its kinda spendy I think too. He knows pricing and says hes giving me a really good deal. So idk, I need to find a tall donor frame because I have extra parts laying around I could throw on it. I hate riding my Nishiki in the wet weather because its nice and I dont want to have to clean it off every time I go for a ride lol. Therefore I need to commuter bike for the time being.

If you need just a basic commuter, why not pick up a decent rigid mountain bike? Can find them around here in the $50 to $75 range. Again, not flipper fodder, but a good solid ride.

Tough to buy a bike you want to flip from a flipper.

I have a newer Schwinn Costco Special MTB that I strongly dislike riding around. It slow, not so smooth, and clanky. I really would love to find a taller road bike to ride and possibly flip. Preferably a lighter frame...any suggestions?

Flipping is about buying right, not targeting any one model, brand, size or whatever. There just aren't enough good deals out there to limit them by such requirements. I pick up any garage sale bike that meets my criteria (priced right, alloy rims, cromoly frame or better, cotterless crank, no X-Mart, no kids bikes, no MTBs). Few of them are my size. If you try to dial in to a certain component level, a certain size, and brand, you are making the flip acquisition very, very difficult. Of the 25 flip bikes I have acquired over the last year, either through garage sales or thrift stores, only two were my size (and they weren't the first two).

I have bought bikes for myself (other than the two above that fit), and while I have gotten "good" deals on them, they did not meet my flip criteria. For example, I would not buy a mountain bike to flip, but I have bought them as riders. There just isn't enough demand around here to make anything significant on a mountain bike. Buyers want road bikes.

And when I am talking MTBs, I am not talking about Costco specials. By my criteria (and the criteria I have seen posted by others), any brand and model sold by a box store or X-Mart is not flip material. New Schwinn's are made by Huffy (at least that is my understanding).

New Schwinn's are made by Huffy (at least that is my understanding).

I don't believe that any Schwinns are made by Huffy. Most are made in China by Giant.

Schwinn is part of the Cannondale Group (since CG's recent buyout of Pacific Cycles which owns Schwinn, GT, etc.)

Lol, yeah I didn't buy the Costco Schwinn I am palling around on, my parents used some tickets at an arcade near our vacation home on the Oregon Coast to get it like 4 years ago. It was left their for like a year for renters and guests to ride until i took it to commute to and fro class. I know realize how nice and convenient it is to zip and a fast and smooth road bike to class. The MTB seriously does not go anywhere compared to my Nishiki lol. As far as my criteria, I think mine are very similar if not the same to yours WRK. Size does not matter if I am flipping, but it obviously does if I am going to ride it for an extended perioud of time. I really want this Voyageur my buddy is selling but I think $150 is a little steep for me. Although it does come with a $70 headset and nice bb he said. Maybe I could convince him to throw in a crankset and stem too lol!! Probably not though. :(