Classic and Vintage Bicycles: What's it Worth? Appraisals and Inquiries - 1986/87 Trek 2500. How much would you pay?

I went to look at an old cannondale mountain bike and asked if they had anymore bikes for sale. In the attic they had a Trek 2500 Composite full Dura ace that looks exaclty like the pic below except for the rims. The frame is too large for me (58.5) cm says the seller. I am not 100% sure about the size because it looked smaller than that to me but I didnt have a tape measure. Doesn't really matter because I am really only interested in the dura ace group and would try to sell the frame to re-coup some cash? Doesnt look like it was ridden much and the components are in great shape.

So how much would you pay?

http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss271/purebikes/trek2500.jpg

Depends on condition, Dura Ace groups from that era sell pretty high. So assuming it is "the got to have" group for you, I would just look at completed auctions on ebay, and pay a similar price (could be $400 plus). A couple of advantages to you over ebay: no shipping, and you can inspect in person (no surprises!!).

Don't count on much value on a 24 year old composite frame.

Would I pay $400? No, but I am pretty thrifty....

Is the large chainwheel resting directly on a rock? Yikes...

More like '88-'89. The 7sp 740x DA and those Matrix isoC rims worth some money. So do the Cinelli 1A stem and bars. It is worth more than $400-500, but you can always try to cut a deal.

it was in the attic? so it is just a bike to them? I might try a tactic like, " hey I was thinking about that trek. it really isn't my size but would you take $300? (maybe even start at 250) that frame has been sitting up here in this hot attic for a long time and it might not be any good."

all they can do is say no. and 250 to 300 for a piece of junk in the attic might be deal to them.

Well ,the guy has tried to sell it on ebay and did a little research so he wanted $600. It is definitely not a must have but if I could get it for cheap I would like the DA Group. I told him that the price was way too high, since I know that these frames aren't very collectible and people are a bit suspect of these older carbon frames. I think I am going to wait and see.

As for the pic, this is just one I found on the web, not the actual bike.

If you will give $600 for that, I'll sell you this for $500.
As you can see, those old carbon frames are just not worth building up.
:innocent:

http://velospace.org/files/P1140220.JPG

Go for Robbie's bike, its a better size too!!

Great looking bike Robbie but also not my style. I am not saying that these older carbon bikes aren't worth building up but they just seem to be kind of a hard sell. They don't really appeal to a lot of the C & V guys because they look "too" modern and they dont really appeal to more "modern" cyclists because the bike is 20 yrs old. Maybe I am wrong but it seems like there is a small group that are interested in these type of frames, well smaller than most of the C&V community that collect mostly lugged steel.

You are exactly right, I was being sort of tongue in cheek there.

The only chance of these bikes bringing good money is that rare person who just wants one.
They are fun to build and ride, but not very marketable, besides being few and far between.

Those that have them really like them. Those that don't are a pretty skeptical lot.
Bike shops bash them all the time.

They do need to be inspected closely before buying, but I'd buy an Epic, or that Trek, or a Cadex, no problem.
Though I've never had a problem with mine, I have declined to sell one to 200+ guy because I couldn't guarantee it 100%.

For now, they're just a great bike for the few people that have them, and it's fruitless to try and convince others of that. Unique item, small market, and reputed durability well below that of steel and aluminum. Doesn't make a good sell, but 60 miles into a century, doesn't seem to matter much.

I would imagine mine will someday fail. Not likely during my lifetime and usage, but quicker than a steel one would.

Does anybody know what the original MSRP for this bike would have been?