Classic and Vintage Bicycles: What's it Worth? Appraisals and Inquiries - Value of a early 80s Lotus Eclair?

hi all,

someone in my neighborhood is selling an early 80s lotus eclair touring bike for $100. i was thinking of picking it up for my wife, but wasn't sure if it was worth it. it would need some work. it's critical that i can get back what i paid for it without too much effort if she decides she doesn't like it, although i'm not necessarily concerned about flipping it for profit (that wouldn't be bad, however). so much about the bike points to a nice, mid-level bike. here's what i was able to gather about it:

- tange mangaloy 2001 frame, lugged (20.5 or 21", very small) with shimano forged dropouts and dropout adjusters
- tange mangaloy 2001 fork, lugged and chrome tipped with low rider threaded bosses
- double eyelets front and rear
- shimano deore groupset with triple chainring (date code points to 1981-82)
- aluminum rear touring rack (no identifiable make)
- SR laprade seatpost
- 27" rims (couldn't find make)
- sunshine hubs with QR skewers F/R
- dia compe cantilever brakes
- two sets of bottle cage mounts
- made in japan by tsunoda

no rust on the bike except for some light surface rust from scratches on the BB. original paint and obviously stored inside. the previous owner swapped out the original stem and bars for riser bars and replaced the downtube shifters with thumb shifters. so the stem and bar would need replacing, along with shifters and brake levers.

so is it worth $100?

Thats a super deal. Move fast before he changes his mind or someone else snags it.

A very good deal. The standover ht., if it's high for her, it could sell for more.

wrk101, a search for tsunoda revealed that you have a tsunoda-built lotus. do you know where this touring model would have fit in their lineup? the deore components seem top end for the touring bikes of the day, and the shimano droupouts are nice, but the mangaloy 2001 tubeset was a bit lower than typical mid-level bikes of that era, no? an unofficial "lift-by-my-arm" scale told me the bike was fairly light, but it's also a tiny frame.

It was second to the Classique, a Tange frame. A member here has one.

Mangaloy, a more magnesium leaning alloy than chromoly, was fairly strong and a little heavier than the better Tanges. Way lighter than hitens and most often lighter than como-tubed hitens/chromoly.
Centurion used it in forks after your bike was made as did Miyata. Way later in the '80s, some Miyatas used Mangaloy throughout, the mid-level models.
Yours is an especiallly early full Mang. frame. They weren't weak either. I recall not so old mountain bikes used it.
Ukai wheels was commonly used on tourers. The better tourers got 600 Shimano assuming that Lotus followed what Miyata and others did.

Lotus was a BIG bike in NY, Nj. Very respected, never cheap 'till a little later in the '80s. Even then, I rarely spotted a cheap one. Here I have & e-bay.

I
Lotus was a BIG bike in NY, Nj. Very respected, never cheap 'till a little later in the '80s. Even then, I rarely spotted a cheap one. Here I have & e-bay.

if i recall correctly, the bike had a dealer sticker that indicated NY or NJ, but i didn't pay too much attention to it. i'll see if the guy still has it tomorrow. if so, i'll grab it.

wrk101, a search for tsunoda revealed that you have a tsunoda-built lotus. do you know where this touring model would have fit in their lineup? the deore components seem top end for the touring bikes of the day, and the shimano droupouts are nice, but the mangaloy 2001 tubeset was a bit lower than typical mid-level bikes of that era, no? an unofficial "lift-by-my-arm" scale told me the bike was fairly light, but it's also a tiny frame.

Yes, I have both a Classique and the Eclaire. The Classique is a high end racing bike, with a Champion 1 frame. It weighs within 1/2 pound of my all aluminum 2005 Trek 1000.

The Eclaire is a touring bike, so you are comparing applies and oranges. I would consider it somewhere between a Trek 520 and a Trek 620 in quality (I have had both). So the Eclaire is a mid grade or higher vintage touring bike.

Lotus bikes from the 1980s were very good Japanese bikes. I grab every one of them I see.

hey, somewhere between a 520 and 620 in quality is nothing to sneeze at, in my book!!! i hope he still has it. the shimano deore groupset is kind of funky, with those wide platform pedals. i read somewhere that the deore cranks had proprietary threading, is that right?

i also hope that my wife will fit it, although at 5'8", traditionally my wife fits a 22" frame best. she's been wanting me to find a touring frame for her...

another question-- i had never seen shimano forged dropouts on a bike before. they look very good. were they found on higher end bikes?

well, i blew it. missed the boat. i knocked on the guy's door tonight, and he said a young german student had seen it after i had, and asked him to hold it for her until today. she picked it up before i arrived tonight.

this guy is just selling two-three bikes out of his house at a time. he doesn't even fix them up or "tune" them. he just finds abandoned bikes somewhere (probably for free) that look good and work well enough and sells them out of his house. i don't think he knows anything about them or makes any attempt at researching them ("those high bars make it really comfortable"). he had offered to put it away for me until i came back, but i declined... i didn't want to leave him hanging onto it if i changed my mind. stupid of me.

I wouldn't be surprised if the buyer cleans it up and puts it on Craigs List in a couple of weeks for $350 plus.

I wouldn't be surprised if the buyer cleans it up and puts it on Craigs List in a couple of weeks for $350 plus.

possibly, but i suspect the buyer was totally unaware of the bike's potential value and was purchasing her one and only bike. he told me that after she paid for it he held it for her for a couple of hours while she went out and bought a U-lock and some lights, and that she was giddy while setting up the lights before she left with the bike.