Classic & Vintage Bicycle Appraisals and Inquiries - Value of His/Hers Raleigh Sports?

I just bought a pair of Raleigh Sports at a garage sale for $20 each. I'd say they are in fair condition and could be made to look reasonably nice with a little TLC. Any thought on value individually or as a pair? The Sturmey Archer hubs on the boy's bike is a '72 model. I couldn't find a date on the girls, but I assume it's the same vintage.

I bought them mostly because of the Brooks B72 saddles. Do you think these are restoreable? The one on the left looks pretty solid, but the one on the right is questionable, from my untrained eye. Looking at E-bay, I'd say I could recoup my purchase price just selling the saddles, if I wanted to go that route. The bag is also in pretty good shape, although the leather latches have crumbled to dust.

Usually better to sell individually. Easier to find a buyer for each bike separately, than someone who wants both of them.

Great buy on the bikes by the way.

Bikes net more when they are cleaned up and ready to ride. But you have to be willing and able to do the work, otherwise the bill from your favorite LBS will probably exceed what the bikes sell for. And you have to manage the costs pretty carefully (ie, get parts and supplies cheap).

Your alternative is to just wash them up, shine them up and sell as is. Be prepared for buyers to expect a pretty healthy discount, but since you don't have much into them, you still will come out fine.

I hate to separate the good seat from the bike, but selling valued parts separately is how you can maximize your return.

I live in an area where vintage bikes bring a good price. I have sold Raleigh Sports, in very good conditioned, serviced & ready to ride for $125-$200

In NYC, $200 is the current going rate for the common Raleigh Superbe. Sports are older so might bring $250.

$125 each, cleaned, adjusted, and lubed, in eastern NC.

$100ish each in truly ready-to-ride condition in S/W Michigan.

Keep a look out for replacement Dare black hand grips & the right size frame pumps. The men's has a 23" frame, which is a plus. The prices indicated above give you a good idea of their value. As you know, it varies by regional market.

I'd say that you got a pretty good deal for the money you paid.

One thought would be to take the best parts from both bikes and make one super nice bike. For example, take the wheels with the gum wall tires and the saddle bag from the women's bike and install these on the men's Raleigh. I recently saw a pair on original Dare hand grips on e-Bay for under $10.

You could then either sell the women's bike complete or sell the components seperately to maximize your profit. Mud guards (fenders) and chain guards in good shape easily sell on e-Bay.

The mens bike has a bad dent in the rear fender and the red reflector on the fender is broken. It's also missing one grip. The girl bike is close to perfect. I would assume the mens would be worth more and it would be best to swap over the rear fender and sell it as complete. Maybe sell the girls without fenders and e-bay the spare front.

I'm struggling with the seats. I'm not a purist collector, and I'm inclined to use one on my regular ride - or at least try it. Both saddles cleaned pretty nice, if not perfect. I know the saddles sell for a good price. I wonder if replacing the seats on the two bikes with a similar vintage mattress/spring saddles would hurt the value significantly?

Here's the Brooks saddles after some light surface sanding to smooth out the cracks and then treatment with Neatsfoot oil followed by Dr. Jackson's Hide Rejuvenator.

I sold this one for $250:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ypsibikes/1974RaleighSports#
and this one for $300:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ypsibikes/RaleighSport#

Both sold last year, quickly, in Ann Arbor MI.

Respectfully speaking, I disagree with Dannyg1 about the Superbe vs Sports. The Superbe came with higher end features such as locking fork (never a key), Dynohub with full lighting, and often (as a pricey add on) a Prestube rear rack. They go from $100.00 as a Craigslist Bargain, to $400.00 on a better day on ebay. The Sports model was basic English three speed. They range from $5.00-yardsale, $125.00-Craigslist, and $200.00-ebay. Local prices and shipping may vary.

It is not criminal to "make a better bike" by shifting interchangeable parts... but I would only advise that if you intend to keep the bike for actual riding instead of flipping, and if the fading of the paint does not make the change noticeable. Flipping is okay, just so long as you are not doing something you would not like to know others have done to you. That's the golden rule isn't it? :thumb:

On closer inspection... I would say based on the decal of the girls bike... that it is from the 60's. I am sure that you can find a date on the rear hub unless it has been swapped out for a non - Sturmey. I think Sheldon Brown's website has, or has a link to rough dating by decals...