Saved a vintage Raleigh Sprite from the crusher today, yes please!
 

Was driving home from running errands this afternoon and three blocks from my house was this Raleigh Sprite sitting out with the garbage. I was in the right place at the right time because there are multiple scrapper trucks that drive around looking for metal.

Both tires and tubes need to be replaced. Paint has scratches all over the frame. The seat looks like a Brooks but the tag is missing, its a ladies 5sp. Need to know where to look for the serial number so I can research how old it is. Any comments on value would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

There's nothing special about this bike but you can flip it fast on CL after you get it rideable; your sunk costs are pretty low on this bike, :). $100 maybe on this bike since you live in Chicago I assume a rideable bike is probably worth that much and it does have the raleigh name.

Look for the serial number on the back top of the seat tuube or the bottom of the BB. It looks like 75-76 with the cottered cranks.

browngw, the serial # on back top of the seat post is "192817" and stamped on the bottom of the frame is the letter K.

Even with the six digit serial number im not sure what year it is?
If I had to guess it would be a 1973.


http://www.kurtkaminer.com/TH_raleigh_serials.html

Found some tires and tubes for $31.50 shipped from Niagra cycle, but have not purchased them yet.

If you're looking to flip, I'd head down to the local bike co-op and see what they sell.

Im not really sure what im going to do with this one just yet. Here is one that was in better shape than mine and only sold for $43....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1974...p2047675.l2557

You can probably find some new tires and chrome fenders online for less than $40 and sell that baby in the spring for $150 or so since Chicago is a pretty hot market. I have sold dozens of women's bikes like this and Raleighs always get a bit more money since they are a well known brand.

In Toronto, with new tires and fenders, I would ask for $225 in April.

The ebay seller could have done better with a local sale on CL, since he's just over the Hudson from NYC. I just picked this one up for $40 near Detroit, which has better paint than the ebay one. It will get refurbished and sold in the Ann Arbor or NNJ/NYC market for $150-$200.

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/isujwqg8x03...2009.09.35.jpg