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Stella value input desired

Old 07-23-17, 11:18 AM
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Stella value input desired

I'm considering this Columbus SP-framed Stella for a project:



Seller is thinking $500. Too high, IMO. I'm interested in everything but the wheels (Schraeder). 175 crank, first-get brake calipers/levers (which need hoods, of course), no pedals, NR everything else.

What say you all?

DD
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Old 07-23-17, 11:50 AM
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All things taken into consideration, that is not a bad bike for $500. My opinion, of course, but add another hundred for fix up and you will have something special. And to me, something special is worth five or six hundred dollars in a heart beat.

Love the chrome lugs and socks! except for the handlebar tape, the bike is a treat to my eyes.
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Old 07-23-17, 12:02 PM
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-----

Fittings alone worth several hundreds.

Five for the complete/near complete machine seems well within reason.

Appears they have some 27" round things squeezed in there...

Our old ami, the Prugnat 62/d lugset. ;^ )

-----

Last edited by juvela; 07-23-17 at 12:11 PM. Reason: addition
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Old 07-23-17, 03:38 PM
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Last year or the year before there was an almost perfect one for sale on the Steel is Real FB page for $495. Top end model, all chrome under the orange paint, all Campy.

I had just purchased the Bianchi so it was a no go. But I was seriously tempted. Love the Stella bicycles.
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Old 07-23-17, 04:48 PM
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Worth hundreds.
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Old 07-23-17, 04:53 PM
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FWIW, that Record crank in 175mm is hard to come to by and pricey to obtain.

Columbus SP and full Campy bits... this ride looks to be worth every bit of $500 to me. Maybe a deduct for the schrader-valve wheels but not too much.
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Old 07-23-17, 05:09 PM
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I like it please save this bike from it's current owners. It is worth $500-600 even in it's current rough shape IMHO.
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Old 07-23-17, 05:11 PM
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Also what is the green one behind it looks to be a very similar bike and a bit nicer.
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Old 07-23-17, 05:21 PM
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Originally Posted by zukahn1
Also what is the green one behind it looks to be a very similar bike and a bit nicer.
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Old 07-23-17, 05:30 PM
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It's a fair price. You might be able to knock 50$ off the price through judicious bargaining.


This is the type of bike that if I am selling and am lowballed I just laugh and say no.
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Old 07-23-17, 05:37 PM
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.
...the top of the line Stella's are well worth 500 bucks relatively complete in my market. I can't recall what I paid for this one (bought from a friend here) which is older than that one, I think. But it was close to that, and I still had to find some stuff for it.

I think that's how it ended up with a flat bar.


Mostly, you don't see a whole lot of the top end ones for sale in your size....at least, I haven't.
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Old 07-23-17, 05:51 PM
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Cool responses. Thanks guys! I just figured with the condition (missing paint, scratched decals - no rust, however) and lack of pedals/really nice wheelset that I could work down to between $400-$450. If I went the full $500 I still have to buy pedals/clips/straps which will run about $100. Figure about $50 with shipping for a replacement decal set (as I've noted from Velocals). Time for the matching/prepping/shooting paint and I still need to find/build a wheelset in 120 or 126 (I'll get better measurements when I look at it again this week). Figure $100 on the low side for that.

I have a pair of gum hoods for the brakes and some bar tape, too, so those won't take anything out of my pocket, though still would be considered expenditures from my spares and thus worth something. We're conservatively approaching $800 at this point. Then I want some frame modification in the form of rack braze-ons front and rear. I have to budget something for that, too, and I have no idea - tho I know who I'd like to do the work: @gugie, of course.

I suppose I could always punt the 175s as I really don't feel like messing around with such a change at this point in my life. I once road a 165 around the block (I have run 170s since my very first road bike in 1979) and it felt like someone had jammed my seatpost all the way down. I expect that turning the 175s will result in some sort of very strange feeling going the other direction!

Hmmm... I'm going to have to think a little bit more about this. I am surely not going full-resto. It's not in too bad of shape. Here and there some pretty large flakes of paint have come off - understandable as the frame appears to be fully-chromed underneath - and those are what I'd repaint myself. Solid red is not too hard to color match, and I'm getting pretty decent at airbrushing.

Plus the fork has a pair of unnecessarily-long (I mean like 4") but so cool stiffening tangs in chrome. Pretty snazzy. In fact, this is the most Italian-looking French bike I've ever seen, if that makes sense. I love the details, and normally I am disappointed when I look really close at most French bikes (excluding the Herses, Singers, Moto Team Champions, things like that).

So, with my outlay described above, would anyone think I was lowballing if I threw out $400 as my lowest bid for the bike without pedals and wheelset?

I really don't want the wheels. For one, I don't need a spare set of wheels I'll never use cluttering up my small storage closet. Two, I don't want the hassle of trying to sell them. Three, I use Presta, full-stop.

Thanks!

DD

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Old 07-23-17, 06:48 PM
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Originally Posted by Drillium Dude
Cool responses. Thanks guys! I just figured with the condition (missing paint, scratched decals - no rust, however) and lack of pedals/really nice wheelset that I could work down to between $400-$450. If I went the full $500 I still have to buy pedals/clips/straps which will run about $100. Figure about $50 with shipping for a replacement decal set (as I've noted from Velocals). Time for the matching/prepping/shooting paint and I still need to find/build a wheelset in 120 or 126 (I'll get better measurements when I look at it again this week). Figure $100 on the low side for that.

I have a pair of gum hoods for the brakes and some bar tape, too, so those won't take anything out of my pocket, though still would be considered expenditures from my spares and thus worth something. We're conservatively approaching $800 at this point. Then I want some frame modification in the form of rack braze-ons front and rear. I have to budget something for that, too, and I have no idea - tho I know who I'd like to do the work: @gugie, of course.

I suppose I could always punt the 175s as I really don't feel like messing around with such a change at this point in my life. I once road a 165 around the block (I have run 170s since my very first road bike in 1979) and it felt like someone had jammed my seatpost all the way down. I expect that turning the 175s will result in some sort of very strange feeling going the other direction!

Hmmm... I'm going to have to think a little bit more about this. I am surely not going full-resto. It's not in too bad of shape. Here and there some pretty large flakes of paint have come off - understandable as the frame appears to be fully-chromed underneath - and those are what I'd repaint myself. Solid red is not too hard to color match, and I'm getting pretty decent at airbrushing.

Plus the fork has a pair of unnecessarily-long (I mean like 4") but so cool stiffening tangs in chrome. Pretty snazzy. In fact, this is the most Italian-looking French bike I've ever seen, if that makes sense. I love the details, and normally I am disappointed when I look really close at most French bikes (excluding the Herses, Singers, Moto Team Champions, things like that).

So, with my outlay described above, would anyone think I was lowballing if I threw out $400 as my lowest bid for the bike without pedals and wheelset?

I really don't want the wheels. For one, I don't need a spare set of wheels I'll never use cluttering up my small storage closet. Two, I don't want the hassle of trying to sell them. Three, I use Presta, full-stop.

Thanks!

DD
Torch on standby. Wheels could be part of a trade-out...
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Old 07-23-17, 07:53 PM
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Originally Posted by juvela
-----

Fittings alone worth several hundreds...Our old ami, the Prugnat 62/d lugset

-----
Agreed, tho I really wasn't thinking parting it out. If in fact I turn it into my fast-tourer bike, I'll keep most parts. But I intend to triplize it, add a Soma long jockey wheel cage and of course will need a wider BB spindle, too.

As far as the lugs, yeah! All my Colnagos have them, and these are chromed (only my Mexico's are chromed), too. Wrap-around stay caps...the frame really does have some nice details. It has a neat fish-mouth stay/fork end treatment as well.

I really have to pick this up, don't I?

DD
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Old 07-23-17, 08:35 PM
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Yep!
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Old 07-25-17, 10:52 PM
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I appreciate everyone's feedback, but unfortunately the seller and I haven't been able to agree on a price. Oh, well, huh? There are plenty more bikes out there, right? Right

DD
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Old 07-26-17, 06:53 AM
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Personally, I consider the worn decals to be "patina". I would much prefer a vintage bike with wear to have old decals, than perfect new decals. They look out of place on an older bike. Now if the decals are gone, then its a different choice.

Worn paint plus fresh decals looks weird to me.

Of course, I grew up around antiques, where I learned to appreciate original finish with defects over shiny new finishes. Furniture I refinished early on all lost value because of it.

Pretty easy to get up to the $500 point on parts alone. If so, that makes the frame "free". A savvy seller is going to realize he has that option, and hold to price.

As far as the wheels, just assume price is for the bike with no wheels. Donate the wheels to the co-op of your choice, or trade with another lister for a part you can use. Given the strength of the PNW vintage bike market, I bet you could find a willing trade partner.
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Old 07-26-17, 10:15 AM
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Originally Posted by wrk101
Personally, I consider the worn decals to be "patina". I would much prefer a vintage bike with wear to have old decals, than perfect new decals. They look out of place on an older bike. Now if the decals are gone, then its a different choice.

Worn paint plus fresh decals looks weird to me.

Of course, I grew up around antiques, where I learned to appreciate original finish with defects over shiny new finishes. Furniture I refinished early on all lost value because of it.

Pretty easy to get up to the $500 point on parts alone. If so, that makes the frame "free". A savvy seller is going to realize he has that option, and hold to price.

As far as the wheels, just assume price is for the bike with no wheels. Donate the wheels to the co-op of your choice, or trade with another lister for a part you can use. Given the strength of the PNW vintage bike market, I bet you could find a willing trade partner.
Well, my intention was to fix the worn paint issues; after all, I was going to have rack eyelets brazed front/rear and turn the bike into a tourer. I'd have had to re-paint those areas that were affected by the torch, so I looked into decals as well.

I don't know. There's a certain level of patina I will go for, but after a particular point I see it as abuse. The frame here just looks like it wasn't taken care of very well, and I have a hard time putting up money for something like that. For $150 more than his asking price I walked away with a virtually-unused bike with Zeus components in similar condition. I only had to swap out the stem (too short). Also, aren't we expected to haggle? If I were asking $500, I'd honestly expect to get nothing more than $450, always expecting that I'm not going to get my exact asking price.

We all know parting out brings more money, but that was not my intention here. I am not interested in flipping (well, not this bike). Therefore I was looking at it as a whole (without wheels, of course - the seller and I discussed this in person when I first saw the bike, and he said we could work something out about the price without wheels), and surprised when he would not budge on the price two days later.

This was a no-brainer for me to walk away, honestly. There is a certain level I like to reach for when I lay out cash and honestly (for me) this one just didn't have it in the end. It could've been a cool project, but simply do not feel $500 for this bike in it's current condition. I know my opinion is in the minority, at least in this thread, but it is what it is.

I've gotta be me

DD
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Old 07-26-17, 10:22 AM
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Originally Posted by Poguemahone
It's a fair price. You might be able to knock 50$ off the price through judicious bargaining...this is the type of bike that if I am selling and am lowballed I just laugh and say no.
This is exactly the price I was offering, and apparently it was considered a lowball. Oh, well - not my intention, so at least I walked away without feeling like an ass

DD
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Old 07-26-17, 11:08 AM
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$50 less is certainly not low ball. Its only 10% off asking price. Low ball to me is in that 25 to 30% range. And if the price is way too high, then 30% is not low ball, it may be very realistic. C/L or private sale sellers should expect offers. I offered 33% less than asking price for the DX-6000 below. I did not consider it a low ball, I considered it what it was worth which just happened to be much less than asking price. I paid full asking price for the Trek 850 and the Trek 710.

Given the amount of work you wanted to do to the frame, I think walking away made sense.

I too have a price in mind on any deal, where anything over that amount I just walk away. I always couch the discussion around what the bike is worth "to me", and I often add, "it may well be worth more to someone else". That way, there is not an argument on whether the price is too high.

I am surprised seller didn't drop the price without wheels.

I don't know what it is, but some of my favorite bikes and builds were of bikes that had been abused, tattered, and beat up. My three most recent builds all had that in common.



Any more, I am not seeking flips, I am seeking interesting projects to work on...

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Old 07-26-17, 12:39 PM
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Originally Posted by wrk101
I too have a price in mind on any deal, where anything over that amount I just walk away. I always couch the discussion around what the bike is worth "to me", and I often add, "it may well be worth more to someone else". That way, there is not an argument on whether the price is too high.

Any more, I am not seeking flips, I am seeking interesting projects to work on...
We drink from the same trough

This was shaping up to be an interesting project, but oh well. Maybe next time...or maybe there never will be a French bike in my collection. Time will tell.

DD
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