Classic and Vintage Bicycles: What's it Worth? Appraisals and Inquiries - Yard sale Find. 1975 or 76 Raleigh grand prix in decent condiont. worth it??

This morning driving by found a yard sale by my house. the guy is selling a
1975 or 76. Silver and blue frame. i will post pics on Tuesday. The shifters
and brake calipers look like new. i think this bike has been in storage the last 30yrs.

Here is my dilema for sale for $50.00 its not my size im a 52cm and the bike looks
like a 58 or 60cm. im thinking to buy it clean it up and resale it. but are releigh old bikes worth the money and time to restore.

Any advise is welcomed.

The fact that you are asking this question on here indicates
you are probably not accomplished enough in the areas required
to service and refurbish this to make it worth the time involved.

Sounds lower end anyway.

So my guess would be no.:thumb:

Have a look at Vintage Bicycle Value (http://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpeeds_1/FREE_SITE_VALUE/VALUE_1_Start.htm) and apply the information contained there. The nut shell answer, is you might make a buck or two, but you have really failed to supply enough information for anyone here to make an informed call on the final value.

if its in decent shape I'd get it.cleaned up you could probably get $125-$175 re selling it.

Not worth it unless you have the time/tools/aptitude/interest/access to affordable parts and do all the work yourself. Even then, around here, it might bring $125 when you are done. Lets see: $50 for the bike, $40 to $50 in consumables (tires, tubes, cables, bar tape, new chain, possibly new freewheel), that leaves you $25 for your time and to cover any surprises.....

pass

Thrifty Bill is right on the money.

If you see a Super Course, or better, for $50 ... grab it.

"Look for the Reynolds 531 label."

Then it is probably worth the effort.

Cool thanks. I talk the price down to about $25.00 just for the components. they seem to be in great shape. In my local Craigslist theres always Vintage bikes that pop up but are pretty beat up with missing parts and stuff. Palm springs area or gods waiting area. Jajaja. the tires are new i think i can justify the purhase at a lower price.
I will post pics on tuesday.

The bike has the Raleigh Weinmann 610 groupset that is mint. is that any good?

Thank you for the reply's.

Its an entry level bike, high ten steel frame, steel rims, cottered crankset, from the bike boom, with unique Raleigh threading on the bb and headset.

Those brakes are probably the best item on it and they are not worth much. A set with levers just sold on ebay for $4.99.

Tip to finding deals, look beyond C/L. Deals on C/L when they do pop up don't last long as there are always people out there ready to pounce.

nice. thanks. i will pass on the bike.

I guess the guy wanted to get rid of it bad. Sold it for $10.00 bucks.
Now so you all know im 33yrs old been into cycling for about 4 year and so far i had a scott s60 flatbar converted to road bike when i realized i had found a new passion. sold it and got a 2004 treck 1000 the discovery model it was too big so i sold it purchased a light weight Scott CR1. Than i got the itch for vintage. kept the CR1 and got a 1988 schwinn ontare frame and with the help of youtube and other "how to" got my first complete build under my belt but that was too small so i sold it on ebay for $375 now i have my CR1 and a Calfee carbonframes vintage 7 speed and for 10 bucks picked this up.
Could not pass it up.

Needs some work but hey Most forum members started green at some point right. plus i can learn more about build and repair.

We all stared somewhere right.

Here it is. For what i have see online its all original shifters, calipers, saddle, rack

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb372/desertrats97/1975%20raleigh%20grand%20prix/DSCN1951.jpg


http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb372/desertrats97/1975%20raleigh%20grand%20prix/DSCN1953.jpg

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb372/desertrats97/1975%20raleigh%20grand%20prix/DSCN1957.jpg

Correction. Brake pads are not original. J/K

That's basically the price point where I will pick up a bike like this ($10). Refurbished around here, maybe $125. If no surprises, rehab parts will run me about $25 (I buy most of the stuff in bulk). So I would not be making the standard $100 margin.

+1 To below, rear rack should bring you $10.

You seem to indicate that you have bought a couple of bikes only to find out later that they didn't fit. What size do you think you need? That Raleigh appears to be pretty tall. First thing to check is the stem. It is common to find bikes such as this where the PO raised the stem past the minimum insertion mark in order to raise the bars to be more comfortable. This is a life-threatening condition! Check it out first.

The way the seat is all the way down, it is obvious that the bike was way too tall for the PO. Typically a vintage frame will allow for at least a handful of seatpost to be exposed.

As far as price. You could probably list that rear rack and get somebody to give you $10.00 for it and recoup your investment.

i now know im a 52cm finally got away fitted by my LBS the whole buy/sell was my first year in the sport my scott fits perfect and the Calfee is 53cm but its custom frame so with a shorter stem and seat adjustment fits me as good as the scott. This one is just For kicks. will take it apart, clean it up and maybe resale it. you never know when a buddy wants to go on a ride.

Final product
http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb372/desertrats97/raleigh%20restored/Picture008.jpg
http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb372/desertrats97/raleigh%20restored/Picture002.jpg
http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb372/desertrats97/raleigh%20restored/Picture005.jpg
http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb372/desertrats97/raleigh%20restored/Picture010.jpg

Nice job, I love those old Raleighs and do pretty well selling the ones I rehab.

I know just posted bike on craigs and within 2 hrs 8 guys all over it. 2,500 % profit. nice. I hope next time i find one my size about 51/52cm
to restore for self. a 63cm was waaaaay big. the buyer was 6 foot 4 inches. tall dude.

Good job!

I like what you did on the $10 buy. If I were you, I would get rid of the turkey levers. I just sold a similar bike that originally had them, took them off and got $80 for it! They are often boat anchors for bikes that you want to move in a flip. The buyer didn't mind at all that they were taken off, in fact, seemed to appreciate the extra effort.
I would also take off the kick-stand and bash guard on the crank. They also make a bike look less desirable and add weight to an already relatively heavy bike, but, that's just me...

Fine job matching the saddle and bar tape. It looks nearly new!

Funny thing is, I've had buyers ask me to install turkey levers. Its all about the market/potential customer for the bike. Items like side stands, turkey levers, chain guards, dork disks, stem shifters, and so on, are attractive to lower end buyers. Any more I have learned to not rebuild bikes for my tastes, but rather, for the potential customers for the bike. Of course, every market is different, so what people like here, they may hate where you live.

I know what you mean where i live there a tons on Snowbirds and most of them go for vintage builds and due to their age the turkey levers bring more lookers. I know what you mean.