ElliotSF

Two days ago a 57cm Austro-Daimler Vent Noir (the matte black model with black Dura-Ace) in very good condition sold on eBay for $455. I'm thinking that a few years ago it might have fetched a higher price. So that got me to wondering: Which C&V bikes and components do you think are "trending upward" lately? And which ones trending downward? I'm just curious, is all. It seems Suntour Cyclone derailleurs remain perpetually warm--especially the GTs.

randyjawa 

None, in my opinion. The bottom fell out of the vintage bicycle market a few years ago. That said...

I am focusing on collecting only old Italian and French high end road bicycle, these days. I see them increasing in value, in years to come. They are well known. They are pretty to view. They offer good ride quality. And the supply is limited, while demand is growing.

Everything else will remain affordable for a long time to come.



Of course, there are exceptions to my opinionated comment. Just ask yourself - what do you want most and that is, most likely, what will climb in value.

miamijim

Entry to mid level lugged anything...down

High end Italian....holding or up

Campagnolo Record, Nuovo and Super....holding or up

daf1009

+1

I would add...

"Very" High End (Hetchins, etc) - up

A couple of "good" manufacturers' (i.e. Centurion) - seems to be up a little

Touring frames/bikes - up a little

But again, these all seem to be supply/demand...like any other economic cycle...

gioscinelli 

I'll ad Titanium to the list, too! Especially Merlin, Moots, Litespeed (TI early models), Seven, Lynskey, Dean, Spectrum by Tom Kellogg! These bikes remain in value, and Campagnolo anything, Dura Ace, and Sun Tour for Components are steady and will go up in price!

USAZorro

Tried pricing a Raleigh Competition or International? The asking prices on them seems to be up considerably over 5 years ago or so.

icepick_trotsky 

I think the rando/all road buzz has renewed interest in French stuff. French bikes were worthless a while back because you couldn't get parts, but now reproduction stuff is widely available.

tmh657

I found this recently when trying to source a few missing parts for a mid 70's Italian. Now I know why hoarders keep all those small Campagnolo parts in a drawer.

repechage

There was a flight to quality, or at least name recognition that started in the downturn, still exists.
Marginally known Marques are probably undervalued.
Some bikes appear to have surged forward in value, Masi is doing pretty well.
Colnago is doing less so for bikes after 1972. Neglecting bikes like the Tecnos and a few others.
Bikes that were lusted over way back still are, young guys who desired but could not afford, now can in their middle age.

Lower priced bikes have a tougher time doing any big appreciation, they are still viewed for their utility, not an object of desire.
I was reading some old postings on another forum and guys were complaining how much more could a Confente at $2,600 be worth?
The market now is almost a lock to achieve five figures.
Consumables even can vary, the market for original Campagnolo brake lever hoods has peaked, nice reproductions for reasonable sums have burst the tulip bulb demand.
If Campagnolo was smart they would crank up production of the old cable and housing sets and other key parts. With all the units in operation, the market is there.

crank_addict

Its bewildering to see Raleigh DL-1's priced equally or more than some decent equipped steel Italian lightweights.

As for 'hot' components -
Quirky, obscure old French stuff, vintage racks, decaleur's, vintage Campy NR, and oddly vintage tubular rims are making a comeback.
(side observation: vintage BMX is red-hot)

I don't define 1990's as vintage but anything aluminum, regardless of brand is weak. Add Tri-bikes to the weak list.

repechage

NOS tubular rims especially.

masi61

Desirable components that let you modernize 1980's road bikes are trending up it seems. If you look at eBay, at 7 speed shift levers for example: the really good examples that are new & complete like Shimano Ultegra 6400 7 speed down tube levers new in the box - they want ridiculous sums of cash for the. Often that leads to scrounging through pitted, corroded, variants that small parts &aren't worth the money.

bikemore 

And this is what continues to make the sum of the parts worth considerably more than the whole. This has been the case for a long time, but the difference in the two sums seems to be getting wider.

due ruote 

I sold some used Mathauser brake pads recently for 2/3 of what I paid for the bike they came on; BIN listing that lasted only a few hours. So I think those are good, although to be accurate I don't know which way they're trending. I think they were popular with the BMX crowd, so maybe that's to CA's point.

miamijim

Some of those small parts are out of hand. Headset pieces, seat post pieces, certain calipers pieces...all exorbitant. Luckily hood prices have stabilized in the low $30's for the nice Italian reproductions and brake pads are finally available, expensive at $40/4 pads but that price should stabiles in the high $20's.

I've found Schwinn Paramounts to be up considerably, a few years ago they were $299 framesets, this year they've been in the $450-500 range...that's middle of the road Italian money.

cyclotoine

Agreed. Right now the money is in retro MTB. and the money is big, it's similar to what the vintage road market went through about 10 years. problem is I am swept up in it and got in pretty high. I'm building a 1993 rocky mountain the edge with amp rear suspension.

I have collected most of the parts and got some pretty cheep, but I paid over $100 for dia-compe cantilevers (cheap compared to grafton, machine tech, paul, etc..) and I got a pair of Avid SD ultimate red ano lever for $75 CND on C/L if they were purple or blue I could get $150 USD for them in a heartbeat. Original Race face turbine IB cranks are worth good money as is any pre buy out syncros, especially stems with noodles which sell for over $100 US easy...

And Grafton, paul, precision billet, machine tech, top end avid, top control tech, ringle, middleburn, SRP, race face, xtr M900, xt 735 (7 speed stuff), critical racing, some x-lite stuff.. caramba, bullseye, topline, cook bros. (and QBP and cook's) the list goes one.. stuff from 1980s to early 1990s is fetching a mint right now.

miamijim

So true. I wish I knew that market much better than I do. My shop days from '84-'96 were in upstate NY, unfortunately for me now, the niche brands were never big up there thus I have a minimal knowledge base. Tampa's no better. In the past 8 years I've stumbled across 2 collectibles. Klein's with MC1 and fancy paint bring nice money.

noglider 

Schwinn Paramounts sell for a lot more than original price times inflation. So much that I think it's nuts. I think the driving force behind that is that the people who are buying them lusted after them when they were teenagers and could only dream of owning a Paramount.

Your question could be interpreted two ways: what's a good bike to make a profit on? And what's a good bike to own? If you get an under value price when buying a Paramount, it's a good bet. But if you're looking to get something to keep, look at the small production, less-known makers, i.e. the opposite of Paramount.

nlerner

I always thought that gal in the Crescent ad was hot.

Velognome 

She was, but that was 45 years ago. I think she does the Hover-round commercials now.

KonAaron Snake 

Even more inexplicable to me are the values of the international and professionals.

The smaller name high quality brits seem to be ascending, especially Jack Taylors. The tandem market seems more robust than it has been. The high end production rigid MTBs seem to finally be getting some respect in the market place.

Varsentinals are off a cliff near me - you can't get rid of them. Raleigh 3 sports have also gone down even more.

noglider 

@KonAaron Snake, all good points. But Jack Taylor was well known enough for there to be widespread respect and thus value. The same goes for Bob Jackson. But bikes like my McLean might always be sleepers, because the builder died at a young age before he was able to produce many frames.

How much do Raleigh Internationals and Professionals sell for? Last time I checked, a Pro went for about $900. That's more than I would want to spend, but I wouldn't call it insane.

Raleigh Sportses in good condition are selling for $200 here in NYC and sometimes much more. I think NYC is special when it comes to English 3-speeds. They are seen as workhorses, and rightly so.

The Raleigh DL-1 (aka Tourist) is interesting, and I understand why some are sentimental about it, but it is such a dog. I would rather have a Schwinn Varsity!

KonAaron Snake 

Tom - I should have been more clear - smaller name compared to holdsworth, raleigh and Carlton. Taylors seem to be going through the roof lately. I don't think Bob jackson demands anywhere near the premium taylor gets. McLean is interesting...not many people looking for one, but not many to be had either.

The Raleigh pros seem to go $1000+, which seems high considering other bikes that sell for that. Internationals seem to go for the same cash as pros...and I think based on quality it's pretty nuts.

Raleigh sports bikes seem to sell for about 75-125 near me, which seems slightly high for what you get in relation to MTBs.

J T CUNNINGHAM

May I suggest that anything Corsa Record (C - Record) will always follow '80s/'90s high end marques.


Regards,
J T

72Paramount

I think what happend is that all of the hipsters that wanted a trendy fixie snatched up all the steel frame road bikes that were available. This created high demand for low end steel. Newbies entering the market started snatching this junk up, outfitting it with origin8 bits etc, creating even crappier customs. The steel bike craze has come and gone, but from this bike boom, some of the newbies have become educated enough to know that a period correct 20-24lb vintage roadbike slaps all over their 45lb schwinn varsity fixie. So now the people in the market place have a much more discerning eye, and the low end stuff can't be given away. With road bikes pre- 1985, if they are not fully Campy equipped and I'm talking top tier matching groupo, then the value is only going to be as a rider, not a collectable, investment etc. right now what I look for is high end low production hand-made Italians. I think I'm over anything Chicago Schwinn in general, and truthfully the paramount market is fine. All of the overpriced paramounts on eBay have been there for months and will be there for many more.