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

Saw one of these on local CL. Seller is saying upfront it needs new tires. The guy is asking $100, though I might be able to negotiate the price down.

My wife recently expressed an interest in riding an old school road bike with friction shifters again after 3 years on a Trek comfort hybrid. The problem is, her '78 Peugeot has a lot of problems, and I fear a full rebuild/restoration may cost quite a bit more than it is worth.

Going tomorrow morning to take a the Kabuki. It is a Super Speed. It looks like a pretty entry level road bike, but it looked clean in the picture and I thought it might be cheaper, if I can get it for the right price, than fixing up my wife's '78 Peugeot.

I know this Kabuki is probably heavy, at least by modern standards. Anybody have any opinions, good or bad about these?

The bottom end Kabukis were really bottom end. Without more details, I would have zero interest in it. Your wife will enjoy riding a good bike a lot more.

The bottom end Kabukis were really bottom end. Without more details, I would have zero interest in it. Your wife will enjoy riding a good bike a lot more.

So no good at this price, or no good at any price? I am wary of getting a bike that is really heavy and if this one is old Schwinn Varsity type weight, I will probably pass. If, on the other hand, it is at least comparable to better entry level Japanese lightweight bikes of that era, I figured I would offer him less than he is asking and see if he bites. To tell you the truth, my wife's old Peugeot is a tank. If this one is comparable in weight to the Peugeot, but has better components, it might be an improvement. I thought I read somewhere that these bikes, though lower end, were equipped with decent quality Suntour components, which should at least be somewhat better than the Peugeot's Simplex components. Here is a picture of the bike from the seller.

http://images.craigslist.org/3o23p73l65Y55T25P5a7d806b2ec92d3b1797.jpg

It is all a matter of budget. If I was trying to interest my wife in riding, I would shoot for a mid level Japanese bike. I would not get her a bottom end anything. Too many decent bikes out there. I would want the bike to be a pleasure to ride, something light weight, and in my wife's case, something with indexed shifting. So that would put me into a late 1980s Japanese bike.

As far as picking up the bike at some low price, it depends on the components, what the frame is made out of, what market you are in, how much work it needs, etc. The bottom end stuff around here fully refurbished will sell for about $100. So if I got a project free, but it needed everything: tires, tubes, cables, bearings and grease; at that point, there would not be much left for margin. Myself, it takes the same amount of effort to refurb a junker as it does to refurb something nice. So I focus on something nicer.

Just about anything component wise is better than that plastic Simplex stuff IMHO, so I definitely agree with you. I have bought bikes similar to the Kabuki super cheap (like $10), just for parts: seat, pedals, derailleurs. I bought a crappy bike a couple of weeks ago for $2.50 for the seat and hand grips. That was about all that was worth anything on the bike. It will end up being donated off.

It is all a matter of budget. If I was trying to interest my wife in riding, I would shoot for a mid level Japanese bike. I would not get her a bottom end anything. Too many decent bikes out there. I would want the bike to be a pleasure to ride, something light weight, and in my wife's case, something with indexed shifting. So that would put me into a late 1980s Japanese bike.



Actually, she already is into riding. She wants an old school, friction shifting road bike, not a modern bike with brifters. Even if I had the budget to buy her a brand new road bike, she would prefer an old school road or touring bike. If I can't find a clean vintage road bike for a good price soon, I may just wind up looking into fixing up her old Peugeot.

I would love to find a mid level or better mid 80s touring bike, like my '85 Schwinn Letour Luxe (purchased 3 years ago for $65) or a higher end vintage Miyata, Trek, or Cannondale for $100 or less on CL. Even just average condition bikes like these are going for a fair amount these days. Certain names, like Trek, command high prices as people buy them just for the name. I thought maybe I could find something a little under the radar like Bridgestone, but maybe this isn't the right bike. I accept as a given that any vintage bike will need some work, even if it is just new tires, tubes, brake pads, and chain. And it isn't out of the question for it to also need work in other areas like wheels, BB or derailleurs/freewheel.

So even a really clean vintage bike will require some time and/or money to get it ready to ride the sort of distances we have in mind, which is 15 to 30 miles on MUPs or roads.

The Bridgestone caught my attention because it reminded me of the old Nishikis, Panasonics and other basic Japanese road bikes of my youth. But you may be right. In my enthusiasm for vintage bikes, I risk turning my garage or basement into a museum of low end 70s or 80s 10 speeds. So, it may be a waste of money if it really is that bad.

Go see it in person. If it has a high ten steel frame and steel rims, its the bottom. I would walk away at that point. You do risk ending up having a mess like this on your hands (this is just half of my workshop, the other half is worse, then I have a two car garage full as well). Since she already has a bike, use this as an opportunity to upgrade. The harder you look, the better deals you will find. Lots of great Japanese and US bikes (Treks and Schwinns) from the 1980s out there.

Despite the mess I have below, I actually just have a relatively short list of keeper bikes. So whenever I find something nice in my size, I just evaluate it against my current keepers, and drop one to add one. So for instance, I just picked up a 1995 Fuji Roubaix. I will be adding it to the fleet, and dropping my Giant Kronos I keep at my vacation house. The sale of the Kronos will more than pay for the Roubaix. So I don't tap into the bike fund to pay for upgrades. If you do this for a while, in a year or two, your keeper fleet will have some really nice bikes in it, funded by moving other bikes out. But don't go nuts like I have, or you will have bikes and parts everywhere....



http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4008/4206277171_1ba752f50c_o.jpg

Go see it in person. If it has a high ten steel frame and steel rims, its the bottom. I would walk away at that point. You do risk ending up having a mess like this on your hands (this is just half of my workshop, the other half is worse, then I have a two car garage full as well). Since she already has a bike, use this as an opportunity to upgrade. The harder you look, the better deals you will find. Lots of great Japanese and US bikes (Treks and Schwinns) from the 1980s out there.

Despite the mess I have below, I actually just have a relatively short list of keeper bikes. So whenever I find something nice in my size, I just evaluate it against my current keepers, and drop one to add one. So for instance, I just picked up a 1995 Fuji Roubaix. I will be adding it to the fleet, and dropping my Giant Kronos I keep at my vacation house. The sale of the Kronos will more than pay for the Roubaix. So I don't tap into the bike fund to pay for upgrades. If you do this for a while, in a year or two, your keeper fleet will have some really nice bikes in it, funded by moving other bikes out. But don't go nuts like I have, or you will have bikes and parts everywhere....



http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4008/4206277171_1ba752f50c_o.jpg

Update. I did go check it out this morning. It was pretty entry level, hi tensil steel frame, shimano altus derailleurs. It reminded me a lot of the Nishiki Sport I rode through my high school years in the early 80s. It didn't even have quick release wheels. RE: weight. It didn't seem too bad, but it was on the heavy side. The shifting was adequate, but not nearly as smooth as my Suntour equipped LeTour.

It did come with a nice rack though. I thought for a second or two about making the guy an offer just on the rack, but then just thanked the guy for his time and told him I didn't want to insult him with a lowball offer and left.