bikemig 

I own two vintage racing bikes from roughly the same era; both are custom bikes but neither was built for me. One is a 56 cm (C-T) Davidson with a Super Record group built in 1979. I bought it 2d hand from the original owner in 2002 for $200 with a 2d set of wheels built up on NR high flange hubs. I have the original sales receipt from Baker's Bikes in Seattle; it went for the princely sum of $1400 in 1979. The other is a 56 cm (C-T) Roe racing bike probably built in the early 80s. Phil Roe had worked for Falcon and built bikes for a short time in the early to mid 80s in Hull, England. This bike showed up in New Orleans in the bike shop where I worked and I paid $300 for the bike with a Superbe group. I raced and commuted to school on the bike and when I got a bit of extra money I had it repainted cuz it badly needed painting and no one cared about original paint jobs in the 80s. I also rebuilt the bike at that point with a NR group which had seen almost no mileage since I bought a new racing bike around the same time.

So the question is which one should i sell and which one should I keep. I have 20 plus bikes and it is time to pare down the fleet a bit. I imagine that the Davidson is worth more money since it has the original paint job and I have all the records of the sale. The Roe is in better shape (both frame and parts) cosmetically speaking but either would be easy to bring up to snuff. Both have nice fork tab reinforcements and cut outs on the lugs. How much is the Davidson worth? How much is the Roe worth? Does it make sense to sell the parts separately from the frame? Here are some pics of the 2 bikes:

Ex Pres 

Which one fits you better as you're now older?
Which one do you ride more?

If the answer to both questions is the same bike, sell the other one.
And in most cases, parting out gets you more money than a complete bike, unfortunately.

Which will bring more $? Probably the Davidson, as almost no one in the States will have heard of Roe, and Falcon is not necessarily associated with high-end frames here, either.

wrk101

Don't look like riders, both have no rear freewheel, one is missing chain. They are projects, a fair ways away from pristine, ready to ride. And since a part out brings you more $$ anyway, that's the way to go. Of course, part out means ebay. What experience do you have marketing on ebay, feedback on bikes sales with shipments, etc?

+1 Falcon gets zero response around here. Davidson will bring quite a bit more.

Search completed auctions on ebay to see what sellers are getting, and how the ones that do the best are creating their listings.

From your story above, if I was going to keep one, I would keep the Roe. Its the bike you raced, and the bike you used in school, sounds like a closer connection to me. It will be a tougher sale anyway, and may well be worth more to you, than to the general market.

But if I kept either, I would get it ride ready and use it. If you don't feel the urge to ride either one, maybe its time to pass them both on to a new home.

bikemig 

I have plenty of NOS suntour winner freewheels sitting around so finishing off the bikes won't be much work. I haven't been riding them since I have modern racing bikes I ride more often and these have just been sitting around. I have zero experience with ebay so that may be a problem for me. But it sounds like selling the Davidson as a frame and the parts separately makes the most sense. I realize that there is no settled market on these things (and one's reputation matters on ebay) but what is the range on an older frame set like the Davidson?

wrk101

I might start my ebay selling with those NOS freewheels. Easy to pack, good demand, sell those for a bit, then onto the bike. Warning, the variance on ebay is HUGE! Part of it is your reputation and marketing ability, part of it is luck.

zonatandem

Suggest keeping BOTH bikes and selling one of the other ones in your collection.

bikemig 

Thanks, I know what you mean; these are great bikes and not really replaceable. I'll keep this in mind as I think about thinning down the herd.