Classic and Vintage Bicycles: What's it Worth? Appraisals and Inquiries - 1193 Miyata 1000LT

http://i.imgur.com/tTRl3.jpg

This specimen is in good to very-good shape: there's no rust or missing paint anywhere, although the paint is a little scratched in a few places and the decals are peeling. The chain and cassette look almost new and there's just a little wear on the chainrings. As you can see in the pictures the components are all original (except for the brakes) but it seems to have a random collection of accessories such as a rear fender (but no front), a very basic Blackburn rear rack, an ancient cyclocomputer, and a custom-made suspension seatpost.

I've added all the images to an album here: http://imgur.com/a/3azrJ
And you can see the relevant page from the 1993 Miyata catalog here: http://i.imgur.com/O2lKr.jpg
(thanks miyatacatalogs.com!)

The most curious details about this bike are definitely the brakes and seatpost. The person I originally bought it from said that the brakes were "custom made" at a local bike shop a decade earlier, but the shop has since closed so there's no info to be had there. The brakes don't have any marks on them to indicate their provenance, but they function perfectly and have excellent stopping power. Does anybody recognize these brakes?

First, what do you think the bike is worth? Second, would it be worth more or less if the seatpost and/or brakes were swapped out with more traditional items?

edit: Of course the moment after I hit "submit" I notice the typo in the title... this bike is, of course, from 1993 and not the dark ages.

Would need better pics of the brakes to comment but its hard to believe anything would outperform the original Deore series.

Value? $400-600 and no, going back to OEM spec would make difference. Maybe in 25 years, but not now.

Only thing I would change is that seat post. Changing the post is cheap, and that hybrid post is a turn off.

I would spend the rest of my time polishing and cleaning up the frame. Given the scrapes on there now, I would put the value lower than Jim, perhaps $350. Pristine, cleaned up, everything freshened up, then towards the high end of Jim's range. It just depends how good it cleans up.

I bought and sold one of those way back when and here in Montreal they sold for $1,000CDN.

I guess `value` is relative. If I was looking for a touring bike I`d jump on one of those for long before putting out $1,500 today for a Kona Sutra. Everything it was designed to do then it`ll still do today.

I guess its hard to sell older bikes to most people, but IMO thats their problem. Cromoly framesets don`t age the same way carbon fibre will and and `new` doesn`t always mean better.

Are you looking to flip this or restore and use it?

Are you looking to flip this or restore and use it?

I bought it intending to tour on it, hoping (in vain) that I'd be able to get the fit dialed in even though it's a size too small for me. It's been gathering dust in my room during the winter, and I'd put it temporarily out of my mind until a friend made me a lowball offer. Still, it got me thinking about what it's actually worth.

Thanks for the replies so far. Does anyone else have an opinion as to the value?

Assuming the wheels are OK and that there are no dings in the frame I`d go for $350 assuming I`d have to clean it up, replace all cables and change the tires, tubes and bar tape.

Because of the age of the bike I`d expect to have to do a complete teardown and relube everything. Thing is - equipped with Schwalbes, a Brooks sadle, new bar tape and racks front and back - that would be a nice ride!