Classic and Vintage Bicycles: What's it Worth? Appraisals and Inquiries - Raleigh Wyoming Thoughts on Value

Hey all,

Sorry if this is in the wrong place; but, I had an appraisal/value question for a CL find.

I was looking at a Raleigh Wyoming (http://images.craigslist.org/3n93m43pe5T25P45X0a45cfae262638cf11bb.jpg) (entry level Raleigh touring bike from the eighties) today on Craigslist. Looks good, seller says it's all original except the saddle which was replaced because the old one was rotting away.

He wants $250. That was low enough for me to want to go out and see how it rides; but, under what conditions is this bike worth what he's asking for it? I ran an inflation calculation (http://www.westegg.com/inflation/) and basically if the bike was bought new today it would cost $375 so this is a 33% markdown (and it's been used, presumably)

Thoughts?

I'd consider it more of a day tourer than a loaded tourer. It probably rides nice, but he is probably inflating the price a bit by comparing it to bikes more fit for loaded touring.

I do see, however, that you're in a college town near Chicago, so it may be a totally reasonable price. That's a really good looking saddle, too. It looks to match the brake hoods pretty good.

I dunno. I think it depends on whether you need it or not.

Inflation calculator makes no sense to me in valuing a bike.

$250 is on the high end. The Wyoming was not really a touring bike. I know it was marketed as one, but it is missing the common basic features of a touring bike such as a triple crankset, cantilever brakes, etc.

Its a good, basic, entry level bike of that era.

BTW: All original is not a selling point for me. Would you be attracted to a 25 year old car that was all original, meaning it had 25 year old oil, hadn't been greased in 25 years, the belts and hoses were 25 years old, the gas in the tank is 25 years old, etc? All original to me = has not been maintained in 25 years. Cables, housings, tires, tubes, bearings, grease, brake pads all degrade with age, even when the bike is idle. I would make sure that these consumables have all been replaced recently, or you will be replacing them on your dime. Call around to local shops and find out what this type of service costs, around here, you could spend $200 doing it.

At that point, the bike is definitely a bad deal. At $250, that's at the high end for this bike if all of the consumables have been replaced.

Thanks all!

I passed on it for now. I'll keep having fun with what I've got.

-Alex

I just picked up a Raleigh Wyoming mixte today. I was able to get mine cheap but I think this bike is well worth $250. Mine comes with all the braze-ons front and back for fenders and racks! Also, if people would look they would see that the crankset - although only sold with two chainrings is actually a TRIPLE crankset. At least mine is anyway and it says Raleigh on the arm so I'm assuming it's original. AND, I've read about people saying there is only one water bottle braze on - NOT TRUE - look underneath and you'll find that there are in fact TWO water bottle braze-ons. The sidepull brakes are a disappointment but you can't win em all at $250 or less. I think it's a classy looking and fully functional bike for the money.