rootboy 

Me too Ed. Glad you said it.

I'm not going to mention what I paid for stuff.
But I got a very nice deal on my Frejus, I think.
But the best part of the deal was meeting the guy who sold it to me.

Bill Kapaun

About 12 years ago, my brother picked up a pristine 86 Rockhopper with updated wheels & 7 speed cassette for $50.
I was using his old 73ish Takara 10 speed that he wanted back, so the Rockhopper was mine.
I've made a lot of changes to it for my various medical problems, but it's my main grocery getter/wet street bike.

iab

Agreed.

The seller of my Viscontea had a great story. Made the deal that much sweeter.

sloar 

One of the first bikes that I built was an early 80's Colnago Super. I had everything ready except a freewheel. My wife convinced me to go into a Goodwill, while I was walking around I noticed a freewheel on the shelf mixed in with a bunch of junk. It ended up being an NOS Regina 6 speed for $1, perfect.

easyupbug 

Over the years I have lost a lot of money restoring nice but poor condition bikes and giving them away or selling cheap. In 2013 I went slightly positive by buying a Craig's list bike and selling for +1,200 and a Goodwill +200. This year I am already back in the hole.

modelmartin

A friend who managed a bike shop called me up one day and asked if I wanted a Raleigh Olympian for free. Someone had bought a new bike and din't pay the place a recycling fee for taking the old bike and my friend didn't want to hassle with the owner about the missing fee. I have over 6000 miles on that bike now.

nlerner

My favorite deal was buying a carload of stuff, including a cabinet of small parts, for $100 from a bike shop north of Boston that was moving to a new and smaller space. It wasn't so much that I sold things off and made a tremendous profit, but that the various small parts years later continue to offer up all kinds of things I need right when I need them.

oddjob2

Bikeforums membership for $12 is near the top. However, since 1972, I've had lifetime membership in REI, when I probably paid $10.

My collection grew out of the experience of selling my girlfriend's Trek hybrid about 7 years ago and then a few years later spotting the same bike at a yard sale for $35. So those two transactions taken together are my best deal because of the learning.

All of my collection has been funded out of repeating the process many times, learning more and more about restoring and rebuilding vintage bikes with each frame that passes through my basement shop.

Wanderer

A NOS Specialized Sirrus Comp, a 2004 in 2014, for $150 from my LBS..... Found in the back of their BIG storage building while cleaning out. Of course, I put another $500 into it, (tires, fenders, grips, bar ends, rear derailleur, brake pads, cassette, seat, rack, trunk bag, basic cadence computer, mirror, pedals, bottle cages, pump) making it mine..... Still a great deal, and still have warrantee.(and NOS parts)

theblackbullet

I bought this Nishiki Altron 7000 for $225 a little while back. Not a screaming deal, but I was able to trade the Sante group for some 9 speed bits and parts needed to complete my track frame. It was the first bike I ever raced on the road, and ever since, I have been hooked to the sport. I've progressed to better racing bikes, but none have I enjoyed as much as this one. Unfortunately the chainstays gave out on me after a season of racing. It still makes a nice wall hanger.

jmeb

If deals are defined by dollars:miles-enjoyed it is probably a close call between my $40 most-often-commuter High Sierra in smoked chrome. Here just frame and fork, but it was complete in mechanically decent shape.



The other bike in the running would be my $120 Trek 620. It was my tourer when I had time, now its my long Sunday ride bike. However I have dump a good bit more money into it--mostly because I wanted to test my mettle by building my own wheelset for the first time.

bmthom.gis

My '89 Schwinn Prelude was $20. Probably my best deal, without it being free.

Sixty Fiver

What about dumpster finds ?



100.00 for my Cooper frame and fork probably stands as the best deal ever.

Lascauxcaveman 

$30

bikerdoug73

My 1973 Bob Jackson frameset $220.00

b dub 

Got a Gary Fisher late 90s steel MTB tank last night for $100 with a FREE Brooks Cambium saddle.

fender1

A son and a daughter. Each for about the cost of a bottle of wine and some sweet talk....

Pompiere

Several years ago, I got a few boxes at an estate sale for a bike shop owner who had passed away. There were a lot of small useful items that would have cost a lot more to buy as needed. This was the beginning of my spare parts stash.

Lance Dentyne

Did I get a good deal. A friend just gave me this Nishiki today, the frame was too big for him. The serial number tells me it's a 1985. I know nothing about these bike, in fact this is the first road bike I have ever had. I have always been a mountain bike rider. This cleaned up well and rides good.

jmeb

You got a great deal. 80s touring bikes (as indicated by the triple crankset, canti brakes, and braze-ons) are usually in high demand. Although this doesn't look super top-of-the-line it's still a really solid bike worth at least a couple hundred dollars in good shape.

Cool RD, is it some weird Suntour?

dweenk

I picked up two Chinese road bikes like new for $25 at a yard sale. I don't remember he branding, but think GMC Denali. I parted them out and made $275 to purchase three bikes I really wanted.

Lance Dentyne

It is a Suntour, kinda scrapped up something like LPR12. I thought the extra cog was a little different.

non-fixie 

This is actually quite a difficult question, come to think about it.

I have bought bikes and parts from some really nice and generous people, and made some new friends along the way. It would be easy to list those as best deals.

I probably made some good deals in terms of resale value, and even more probably, some bad ones. I don't find that aspect particularly interesting in the grand scheme of things.

As far as I'm concerned the best deals I 'got' were the bikes or frames that I enjoyed most (re-)building and riding. Those I consider to be the biggest bang for my buck.

This is my favorite so far. Bought as a complete, but beat-up bike. I took it apart and spent a lot of time thinking about the rebuild and it turned out even better than I'd hoped. If I could only keep one bike this would be it.

nlerner

Yeah, except mine are teenagers now. Those hidden costs are becoming not so hidden.

horatio 

Got a nice Basso Gap frame and fork for $25. Second best deal was a Univega Sportour for $35.