Classic and Vintage Bicycles: What's it Worth? Appraisals and Inquiries - 80s Nishiki, bought used, unsure of specs and year, pictures inside

apologies for so many pictures, tried to capture all the relevant details visually
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I bought this bike used back in the summer and I'm looking to sell it on craigslist but don't know the specs.

I paid 260 for it, and modified the handle bars, as this bike is actually too long for me and I was getting numbness in my fingertips

The handlebars are not original, but I don't expect that a person buying used will notice or care. If they do, oh well, because I don't have the handlebars anymore

In any case the brake lines have been redone, the front brakes are brand new, sunk about 180 in parts and labor unfortunately, I don't expect to recoup that much.

Any information would be a great help, ideally year and directions how to find an image of that year's catalogue. I'm 5'10, I hope that helps identifying the size of the bike, it's fine for my height

Where do I start? Well, first, pictures sell bikes. The action is on the drive side (the side with the chain). All of your pictures are the wrong side, so buyers can't see details. Cromoly frame is a good sign, nutted rear axle is not. Specs don't really matter, its what's on there now that counts. A bike like this one is not going to go to a collector, its going to be bought by a rider. A new rider will mainly be concerned about appearance: cleanliness, tires, and so on. Simple things like that rear inner tube valve being at a severe angle will hurt sales. An experienced buyer will want to know a lot more, the model (not the brand) of parts on the bike, the tire size and the wheel (rim) size, number of speeds. Unless you are in a red hot market, that bike would not usually sell for $260. Around here, it would be about $150 in pristine, ready to ride condition.

Need to use a hosting site like photobucket or flickr, and take some really sharp pictures.

Also need to measure frame size, and put that in your ad. " Fine for my height" will work OK with newb buyers, not work at all with experienced buyers. Why eliminate a whole group of potential buyers? Frame size? 10 second job with a tape measure. Google how to measure a frame size if you aren't sure.

Lots of variance in what bikes sell for. Its very hard to get full value out of a bike. And this time of year, its even harder. You want your ad to stand out compared to the average C/L ad.

Some buyers would consider your handlebar change an improvement, I would not sweat it for sure.

There's also a thread on how to decipher serial numbers on Nishikis. Realize Nishiki did not build bikes, they were a marketing company that had others build bikes for them. Nishiki made a full product line, from top end great stuff, to good stuff, to bottom end entry level bikes. I would put your bike a notch up from entry level, as it has some features that don't show up on many entry level bikes. But the nutted rear axle means it is probably real close to entry level (or the wheels are not original and someone put cheaper wheels on it).

Now I see the model name is right on the top tube: "Olympic". The quality of the Olympic changed year to year, but it was a low end bike. Are those rims aluminum, or steel (chrome)? I can't really tell for sure.

Also google bicycle component codes, almost all of the parts on your bike have such codes, so you can quickly find out what year the bike was made.

$260 is more than I would have paid for it. The $180 in extra parts will never come back to you. If you can put the original parts back on, you might want to keep those. I find it hard to believe that is too tall for you; looks like like a 23" frame. Could be a fit issue. You can get a clue about the date of the bike by looking at the serial number on the bottom bracket. There is a Nishiki serial number thread around here (you can search for it). The serial number should be on the bottom of the bottom bracket. I had a 1983 Olympic 12 with a serial number starting with KC, where the C meant 3, as in 1983. I expect that yours might be earlier than that, perhaps just before they adopted the 6 speed freewheel in the back (which is what made mine an Olympic 12).

EDIT: Yeah, $120 is about the right ballpark, but you may be able to get more than $150 for it.

+1 That is a $125-$150 bike in the summer months. Now? Good luck. I can't sell anything up here in Wisconsin at the moment.

Based on the poor pics all I can tell you is that it iappears to be an early 1980s Nishiki Olympic, which was an entry level model. Given the era. it's probably CrMo only in the main triangle, with the forks and stays being hi-tensile steel. For more accuracy, we need to know the serial number, which will tell us the exact year.

why is the front brake new? do you still have the old bar, stem and brake cables/levers? if you do and can do the work (or find a friend to do it for a 6pack) it may be worth the efort. then you can use this new bar/stem for a different bike

FWIW judging from the saddle and the fact you needed a shorter stem I would say this too big

found the serial number: CC 04016

how do I go about using that to find the year and model (and ideally size as I currently don't have a measuring tape)

Serial number will neither tell you the model nor the size. Tape measures can be bought at the dollar store for $1.

Since the model name is on the bike "Olympic", not sure why you are looking for the model. Google component codes, that will walk you through the process of dating that way, or google the Nishiki serial number database.

As noted by others,. Market and time of year impact selling. Last spring while in Phoenix, I needed a "rider" for 30 days and went searching for something old, steel and reasonable. I found a relatively clean Nishiki Olympic 12 very similarly equiped. I paid 120 and it performed admirably, but it isn't a real lightweight collector item and is midrange at best from their line. 150 in spring.

The serial number indicates it a 1983, Canadian market model. Being an Olympic, the frame that year was plain gauge CrMo (Tange Champion #5). Derailleurs should be SunTour AR. Crankset should be Sugino Aero cotterless (swaged). Wheels should be Araya 27" laced to aluminum, QR hubs. Advertised weight was 27 lbs.

This would have been an upper, entry level model for the era. This would be about a $125-$150 bicycle in my area. The only way I could see it hitting $200+ would be in the summmer, in one of the large metropolitan markets like Vancouver, Toronto or Montreal. Your modifications add negligible value and for a knowledgeable buyer would actually devalue the bicycle.

The serial number indicates it a 1983, Canadian market model. Being an Olympic, the frame that year was plain gauge CrMo (Tange Champion #5). Derailleurs should be SunTour AR. Crankset should be Sugino Aero cotterless (swaged). Wheels should be Araya 27" laced to aluminum, QR hubs. Advertised weight was 27 lbs.

This would have been an upper, entry level model for the era. This would be about a $125-$150 bicycle in my area. The only way I could see it hitting $200+ would be in the summmer, in one of the large metropolitan markets like Vancouver, Toronto or Montreal. Your modifications add negligible value and for a knowledgeable buyer would actually devalue the bicycle.

yeah, bought it in Toronto market, selling in same

I'm in no rush to sell, as the ad is free and I'd like to at least get my 260 and go. I knew from the start that my modifications would be a sink, but I was pretty set on a new bike and some repairs for the summer were cheaper than a new bike at the time

thank you very much for the specs

Good luck. Hopefully the T.O. market will be very hot this spring/summer.

Next time look for a better deal
http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/tor/bik/2722734146.html