russdog63

I have to admit that yellow Grand-Velo was the nicest Bridgestone that I have seen on ebay but I don't think it was worth $2,000. As far as vintage mountain bikes you can't beat a Tange Prestige MB-1. I have a MB-6 and I love that frame. I would love to get an MB-1 but I think the prices they go for might be a bit too much. Bridgestone has a great reputation. I think people get caught up in the reputation and end up over paying for them on ebay.

Check out the Grand-Velo that went for $250 on ebay. It was a whole bike and considering the components that came with it it was a pretty good deal.

russdog63

In response to spry. There is really no hoopla because nobody has bid on it.

HillRider

It was good enough for them because they had no alternatives and everyone else was on the same thing. You can be absolutely certain if they were racing today, they would be on the latest carbon frames with the most up-to-date components.

1920's medical care was good enough for your grandparents. Would they accept that level of care today? Would you?

seaneee

Man, that grand velo was up a few times and nobody went for it, I was surprised. I'm glad someone finally bought it. I think it was mislisted at first or something. I was in SoCal and asked about local pickup once, but decided to wait since I was working on another build.

If you are lucky, you can sometimes find deals on Grand Velos like that. Some people don't know the bridgestone connection since a lot of them never had any bridgestone markings or logos, especially the Keirin ones.

Poguemahone

I own an RB2 I found a couple of years ago for forty bucks at a Goodwill sale, and use it regularly (it's one of my daily beaters/riders/commuters). I like it a lot, but I believe the bike is a lot different than the current Grant Peterson/Rivendells. For starters, the geometry is more agressive and tight; it's my understanding that Grant largely hacked the design of them from Italian Race frames of the period. It is made to take 28 tires; that was standard equipment on the bike at this time, but clearance is pretty limited (especially compared to Rivendell's current design philosophy) and I am not sure I could comfortably get fenders on it. At the least, it would be tight with the 28s. From the Rivendells I have seen, the design philosophy is pretty different. In general, the RB2 is a really, really nice mid level road bike, very quick and responsive. It is nothing like the tourers, sport tourers or French bikes I've seen or ridden, and bears a limited resemblance to the Rivendells I have seen ( I have never ridden one).

I suspect Grant has come into his design philosophy (or marketing philosophy) over the years, in a gradual process.

Part of the reason B-stone retreated from the USA was the then unfavourable exchange rate between the dollar and the yen; they came to the USA market late and by then the exchange rate was far less favourable than it had been in the early eighties and late seventies.

The paint on mine is largely pristine; the bike was pretty much unridden when I found it. It's held up very well under my abuse. Mine's from about 1991, and some of the earlier ones I've seen have looked pretty ragged.

All that said, part of the reason the Peterson Bridgetones maintain a higher price is the mystique built around them, partly because of the Bridgestone owner's bunch and partly because of Grant's later success (?) with Rivendell. I'd certainly pay forty bucks for another one, but I doubt I would pay going ebuy/craigslist prices on them; I've seen RB2s go for ten times what I paid. Looking for them, you pay a bit of a prenium for the name, just as you would for a Bianchi or a Paramount.

x37

I've reached the same conclusion. The going rate for RB-1's and 2's seems to be about $450 to $900, which is too much to pay for a 12-year-old (or more) bike with so-so tubing. To be fair, the same can be said for a lot of vintage bikes -- strip the mystique and all you have is a heavy frame with funky components.

I think where Bridgestone really excelled was in their catalogs -- I have a copy from 1994 and it is beautifully designed and full of useful articles.

spry

+1

elishnaz

Hi,
Would you guide me? I apologize in advance if my question is not related to this topic.
I have a Bridgestone hello kitty bicycle in a very good condition and I want to sell it.
But I don't know how much I should sell the bicycle, Following is the data I have about it!
Color: red-white
wheels: 20*1.75 stainless
copr. 1976 SANRIO CO. LTD
under the seat it's been written 905 ksm 7882
on brake wire it's been written NISSEN 79/C
the bicycle has its original tires
made in Japan/Shimano
It is written on its stem "win 9886 CF MAX HT
a store owner wanted to buy it for 125$, Should I sell it to him?
Thanks you for your time and guidance

bikemig 

I've got no problem if you think the bikes are overpriced for what they are (that may be a fair assessment by the way) and I completely agree that the catalogs (I have the 92, 93, and 94) were excellent. But I'll disagree that the tubing on the RB-1 was so-so. The tubing changed over the years but it was always a seamless, double butted, chrome-moly frame with lugs. In fact the catalogs tell you exactly what kind of tubing was used, how it was made, and why it was good stuff.

bikemig 

I guess I'm a bit of a Bridgestone fanboy. I worked in a bike shop in the early 90s and we sold a lot of them. I liked them a lot because they were sensible bikes with a lot of neat features. For example, the forks were cut a bit longer than usual and the headsets used a few xtra spacers. That made it a lot easier to get the right set up with a quill stem. That added some cost and the value was "invisible" to the consumer (as opposed to up spec'ing a rear derailleur for example). The parts mix was idiosyncratic but it was good stuff and it worked.

I have 3 bridgestones from that era: a 93 RB-1, a 93 XO-2, and a BB-1 (which is my basic commuter). They're fine bikes with lots of clearance for tires (even the RB-1) and the like.

I doubt I'd pay the current used prices for one given that there other fine vintage bikes out there going for less. But they are, IMHO, cool bikes.

Corben

Tweeker Chucks 94' xo 4 frame still hangs in my garage's rafters. It was made in Taiwan. Thinking of selling it.

thinktubes 

Z@mB33!!!!!!!!!! Thread has be dead since 2007.....

roadandmountain

You have no citations or sales figures to back up your speculation.

roadandmountain

The bridgestone GP bikes were very much mainstream bikes. He liked to mix components from different groups for a weight and/or functional advantage. The geometry of the mtb's was a bit different but not radically so. The chainstays were a bit shorter and the head and seat angle were a little steeper.

GP launched the hybrid market essentially single-handed with the XO's and never got credit for it.

I never did buy a GP Bridgestone, but always wanted one. I opted for a similar bike a pound or two lighter at the same price point made with an alu frame.

The haters out there are conformists who can't stand anyone who thinks outside the box or challenges any form of authority or power. That's why the attacks are so personal, exaggerated and almost always devoid of facts. As in, real facts, not fabricated ones.

roadandmountain

GP's bridgestone always spec'ed expensive stuff, breaking up component groups at their cost, and almost always upspecing. In GP's era, a $900 MB-2 had 3 main triangle prestige tubes, while a similarly priced bike from specialized had the standard non-heat treated steel. The MB2 had expensive ritchey tires, lighter suntour canti's, lighter inner tubes, and just a whole host of extra touches that most people could not appreciate or at least not look for.

I miss those mtn bikes a lot, and it's really too bad that someone like him isn't in the industry now, at least not in the mainstream.

kc0yef 

What Size Grand Velo you looking for? I have one frame might be your size...

Chris Chicago

Check ebay to see if any have sold on there, and at what price

oldskoolwrench

Since you request might have been lost in the continuing conversation, I'll answer your question...

I think $125.00 is a fair price for the bicycle, if the tires and other accessories are in good shape. If the entire bike is original (including the inner tubes), I would consider swapping out the tubes for standard set of Schraeder Valve inner tubes; the Buyer may have a hard time inflating the tires with the Japanese valves. Other than that... go for it!

Uncle Randy

I bought this '92 RB-2 off St. Louis Craigslist for $150 a few weeks ago. It had been listed for 15 days. The wheels are true, there is one bent spoke on the back wheel, the seat post binder bolt was stripped (see my other thread for a solution) and the tires are original and will need to be replaced.

Uncle Randy

This 550 was listed on St. Louis Craigslist for about a week before it sold for $140. I regret not having bought it.

Uncle Randy

This 600 was listed on STL CL for about 2 weeks before it sold. Seller was asking $150.

Uncle Randy

I saw these Nashbar moustache handlebars for $12.99
Nashbar - Welcome!

I wonder if I could use my vintage Shimano bar end shifters with them. I'll have to call Nashbar for the inside diameter of the bars.

kunsunoke 

Bridgestone's exit from the USA market was for the same reason as the exit by Panasonic - who also built good bikes. It had everything to do with Yen shock.

If the majority of the parts you specify are built in Japan (because they're built better and work better) and the majority of your frames are also built in Japan, then when the Yen to Dollar exchange rate shifts (as it did during the Bubble Era) your bikes are going to sell at slim to negative margins.

The bikes that Grant stewarded were lauded for their approach to function, ride and fit. RB-1s and RB-2s were built from Ishiwata tubing, which rides better than Tange's oversized offerings of the time. Even Bridgestone's aluminum bikes (RADAC) rode a hell of a lot better than those by Cannondale or Trek. The one I have (3100) rides fantastically well (like a Vitus without the whip feel).

The mountain bikes were occasionally called out for their retro-grouch nature, but only by a few magazine editors. Most of the reviews at the time were astonished by what Bridgestone was able to accomplish - e.g. sub-twenty-four-pound bikes for well under two thousand dollars.

My old MB-1 with its old Mag 20 suspension fork hangs in the woods with anyone's modern carbon fiber wonder. In fact it rides circles around most of the twenty-niners I see on the single-track here in PA.

Bridgestones go for more on the vintage market because of what they brought to the table originally. The bikes were not for poseurs, but for people that rode and raced.

The Golden Boy 

He might have found one in the past 7 years.

Darth Lefty 

Your manners are perfect, but you can see that this thread is about Bridgestone road and mountain bikes in the 1980's, which are a polarizing topic for we bike nerds. You should probably start a new thread for this bike in the "What's it worth?" forum.