Classic and Vintage Bicycles: What's it Worth? Appraisals and Inquiries - 1990 Bridgestone RB1

I think I'm going to have to part with my RB1 in order to get a new bike. I've seen these in varying conditions and varying states of componentry from $500 to $1000. This bike is all original Shimano 600, Suntour GPX front derailleur, specialized hubs, mavic open 4 cd rims, ritchey force stem. Black with a few minor paint blemishes. Overall excellent condition. Any idea what it might go for? I'm asking $750 on another site but that was just an estimate.

You may have to go eBay to find the right buyer and maximize your sale.

The RB1 is a great bike, however, the guys here likely wouldn't pay that much.
I recommend you find a matching front derailleur. GPX is great, but for $750, it should all match.
It's probably worth the trade or the $10-$15 diference.

What size is it? and if you included pics, you'd get more accurate responses.

I'm saying $600 if you change the FD out, but that's just guessing. The right guy with a jones for an RB-1 would probably go that high, at least.

I'd say higher, but I just paid $850 for a Kestrel Talon w/Dura Ace 9-sp. It's not classic/vintage, but it can serve as an example for what the market is doing these days... A non-C&V person in the $500-$1000 range is going to go as new and equipped as possible. A C&V person, you just need one that wants that particular bike.

What made the RB-1 a great bike was that it represented a good value vis a vis its European and hand-built American competitors. Much of that has to carry over to the used market, especially in these conditions. I think $750 is a bit optimistic relative to say a Bianchi, Bottechia, Gazelle, Merckx, or even something along the lines of a Fuso. The RB-1, while very nice, was not particularly rare so it would need to be in exceptionally nice condition to stand out from the herd and command that much (as Robbie said, without pics it's hard to judge). I've been seeing some decent RBs under $500 lately ($450 for a nice 600 and $300 for a restored 105 RB-2, just for comp). I'll also agree that it should have a 600 FD. True, it's not a big deal for the new owner to source but you'll get a bit more for it as a complete group. But hey, it's worth a shot. Put it out there at $750 and see if you get any bites.

You may have to go eBay to find the right buyer and maximize your sale.

I'm saying $600 if you change the FD out, but that's just guessing. The right guy with a jones for an RB-1 would probably go that high, at least.

I'd say higher, but I just paid $850 for a Kestrel Talon w/Dura Ace 9-sp. It's not classic/vintage, but it can serve as an example for what the market is doing these days... A non-C&V person in the $500-$1000 range is going to go as new and equipped as possible. A C&V person, you just need one that wants that particular bike.

+1 Around here, $600 max (and it would take a while to get that amount), and everything needs to match.

+1 A non-C&V rider will go with a newer bike, one with modern components, brifters, etc. So you are really targeting the collector.

Similar to Robbie: I paid less than your target for a Colnago Master Lite, all Ultegra 9 speed. And it was on C/L in this area for several days, so its not like I swooped in and got some unique bargain.

Around here, the market for mid-grade and higher bikes has softened up a lot. Buyers are transitioning to the lower end of the market, so that level is hanging in pretty firm ($150 to $250). Its kind of like the retail market right now. Walmart is setting sales records, while the midgrade and higher retailers are all struggling.

But I don't know where you live. Some parts of the country are hotter for sure, so maybe you can get your price.

If it's in great shape $600 or a bit more seems about right to me. 1992 and 1993 models sell for a bit more, actually - Grant called the '92 the best built year and the '93 has the Ritchey fork, so both models sell for a bit more to collectors, generally.

I recently picked up a '92 in near mint shape w/ 7400 Dura Ace components for approx $650 here in Seattle and there was quite a long line to buy the bike. I would think on Ebay it would have fetched considerably more.

Thanks for all of the responses. I was just putting it out there to see what would happen before I found BF to ask for some input.
I'll have to get some pics on here tomorrow.
Thanks again.

I cant say much for the value but i'll trust what everyone else has said.

What I'll speak up one is the condition and specification. Any bike with the smallest of followings needs to be as close to OEM specification as possible to maximize revenue. The bigger the following the closer to OEM spec it needs to be.

Although it may not seem like that big of a deal changing out the front derailleur or the stem or any other $10 part can help alot. If you placing it on CL proper presentation is key. You'll want the seat, bars and stem properly adjusted and you'll want to host the pics on photobucket or flickr.

Make sure he front and rear tires match. Flashy bar tape may be cool for the weekend peloton but it'll kill a sale. Throw on some cheap neutral black tape.

Small details can make a huge difference.

FWIW, a pretty nice one just showed up on Seattle CL (http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/bik/1125967920.html) for $450 (albeit needing new tires and, I would add, a saddle):

http://images.craigslist.org/3nd3p33laZZZZZZZZZ94g3335bb27883d13a1.jpg