Classic and Vintage Bicycles: What's it Worth? Appraisals and Inquiries - Viscount values these days
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Snowden
06-16-09, 10:50 PM
As a dead and gone brand of interesting bikes, I would suspect that Lambert/Viscounts would be worth a pretty penny, but it seems that they're not. Is there much reason for this, other than general lack of knowledge about the brand (and the nearly guaranteed replacement fork issue)? I'm interested in this both generally (see all previous) and specifically: how does $180 sound for a Viscount Aerospace GP that looks to be in pretty great condition?
Snowden
06-16-09, 10:55 PM
I ask all that, realizing that seeing a viscount near my neighborhood on craigslist I got all excited and overly want-y... $180 IS a bunch of money for a 20-30 year old bike, regardless...
Snowden, did you pick up that $20 Viscount of CL on Sunday? If so, Congratulation!
Edit: Just saw that ad on CL. I don't think $180 for a Viscount in that condition is out of line. She is beautiful.
http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/bik/1225371159.html
Snowden
06-17-09, 01:21 AM
I missed her.
I was going to go by in the morning... should have cancelled my plans tonight!
It depends on who your market is. I got a 23 in aero space from a local garage sale cheap with two sets of wheels a couple of years ago. I cleaned it up and tried to sell it locally for $80, no takers and most people looked at me like I was crazy for asking $80. It was pointles to try to explain the hand brazed frame etc. That was before I found craigslist. I put it on craigslist and had a family drive 2 hours and buy 5 bikes, they knew a good deal and appriciated what a Viscount is.
Not familiar with that particular model, but a good basic lugged steel cromoly frame bike, with alloy rims, alloy crankset, with decent components, sells around here for $175 in clean ready to ride condition.
Bump it up for better components (indexed shifting, 105 or better, aerolevers, etc) or a higher end frame, bump it down for any defects or mechanical needs. Also bump it up for a better/stronger market, which I think Seattle qualifies for.
Buyers do recognize certain name brands, which makes selling one of those brands easier. I offered a seller a choice of two bikes I had in the same size: a Carbolite 103 (gas pipe) Peugeot, or a really nice cromoly Trek with much better components. He chose the Peugeot, and had zero interest in the Trek. Buyers get fixated on a certain brand, for some reason I have never figured out.