Blue Order

First, this Motobecane Mirage goes for $321; now this Gitane TdF frameset goes for $330. Spring/Summer price spikes? Collectors discovered the next big thing? Boomers flush with cash? Hipsters driving the prices up? All of the above?

big chainring 

Francophiles

retyred

Nah, you've got it all wrong. People are fighting over vintage bikes so they can join C&V!

jgedwa

I bet we do see some high prices this Spring and summer. Partly a seasonal thing. Partly because the coolness factor of bikes, especially retro/ss/fixed is really cresting. Partly because of gas prices.

cudak888 

Hipster SS crowd, I'd say. Locally, anyway. Used to be that there wasn't any cycling "scene" in the first place down here - hipster, C&V, or any other for that matter.

Three years later, I hear there are at least 50 fixie folk in town, and occasional Allycat races.

I'm putting my chips on the all-chrome Voyageur II project to prove whether this is the case or not locally.

-Kurt

bonechilling

Looking at the feedback of both buyers, it's obvious that these bikes are going to collectors. These are well-heeled buyers who can afford to drop some coin when they really want something. Attributing this stuff to "hipsters" is just kind of silly.

Rabid Koala

That looks more like a Super Corsa frame to me, with Campy dropouts and a Campy headset. The typical TdF has Simplex dropouts like mine does.

East Hill

My preferred belief .

East Hill

Blue Order

The question was posed not in the sense that hipsters are necessarily buying these two particular bikes, but more in the sense that hipster demand is driving up prices overall. Not necessarily all bad-- At least our beloved classic and vintage bikes are fashionable and increasingly sought after now.

The downside being higher prices...

robtown

They haven't bid up the stuff I'm selling on Ebay, sigh.

roccobike

There has been a big increase in the price of old road bikes on Craigslist Raleigh. The first time I saw a step-through frame Schwinn listed at $125, I thought the guy (or gal) was nuts. But it sold, and since then I've seen three more list for over $100, two have sold, the third was just listed. That's an indication of the kind of prices we're seeing here.

SoreFeet

I put two crappy old Mixte frames up for auction. I hope they go for a mint. I could use a new set of wheels!

Blue Order

Step-through and mixte frames and college towns go hand in hand, I think. In Portland, those bikes would sell quickly at those prices, so it doesn't surprise me that they're selling in a college town, either.

Word on the street is that college girls can't hand their cash over fast enough to one C&V regular when he flips a mixte.

bonechilling

Maybe, but I still think it's silly to attribute to increase in price to "hipsters," even if you mean "hipsters" as a generic qualifier for everyone who wants a bike for fixed gear conversion. It's equally if not more likely that demand is being driven up by interest from abroad, where strong currency allows bidders to push auction prices sky high. Also, with gas at near $4 per gallon, more and more people are likely to see riding as a useful alternative to driving everywhere, and that's increasing demand as well (certainly locally).

Blue Order

OK, fair enough. The original question was asking what's driving prices up, and listed some potential factors, including hipster demand. I agree that collector demand and currency values will drive auction prices up, as you described, but in some sense, hipsters are also collectors, even if their collection is limited to one or two prized examples. I think the price of gas will only drive up C&V values if C&V bikes are undervalued to begin with-- i.e., most people who want to get on a bike due to higher gas prices aren't going to start looking for a 70's-era Gitane Super Corsa; they'll take whatever is cheap, new or used. If C&V is undervalued, and therefore cheap, they'll go with that. If Magna mountain bikes are cheap, they'll just as readily go with those too.

Rabid Koala

I guess I should add that I sold a small 74 Super Course frame for about $320 several months ago, which even surprised me.

cyclotoine

There are a lot of young people (call them hipsters if you want, some of them are) who ride fixed gears and have an interest in nice steel and also have a couple other bike (i know lots of messengers who have apartments littered with frames and parts in every spare inch of space) and they guys are taking a shining to vintage racing frames and buying them and riding them on their days off on longer road rides with their friends. It's not just collectors anymore, people are buying VLW racing bikes and riding the pants off them.

Tacfarinas

I think the point about people wanting to join C&V is not far wrong (I know it was said as a joke). Reading your posts and looking at your pretty bikes and the availability of support all go to fostering an interest that I for one simply didn't have before. And compared with the cost of new road bikes a good C/V bike is a steal, even if overpriced, at least until you start upgrading all the components. And even that is in a way more fun than just riding a new bike out of the LBS.

bigbossman 

My ears have been burning all day - now I know why.......

BikeManDan

Don't forget the "free" money from the gub'ment

robatsu

I've been riding friction/steel bikes since they were cutting edge technology. Continued to do so simply because I liked steel and didn't have a need for index, on road bikes anyhow. Plus, through the 90's and the first half of this decade, it was cheaper. For example, about 8 years ago, for a daily commuter, I bought an old Trek 620 frame, build up wheels out of (then inexpensive) Campy Croce D'Aune hubs, and other NOS vintage, but cheaper than then current products. Have ridden the heck out of it.

Never thought of myself as a collector, or vintage enthusiast, just being pragmatic with money and what I was comfortable/familiar with.

Well, having been out of the market for about 5 years, I got a pleasant surprise when I decided to clean out my workshop and ebay off a lot of the stuff that had been accumulating around here. I couldn't believe the prices people paid for some of this stuff - the biggest shocker was USD 72 (not including shipping) for a ratty but functional pair of Specialized Touring Pedals I pulled off a bike some years ago and tossed on a shelf. A Nitto Hi Crown stem went for USD 100, a nice used set of Campy Croce pedals for 165. And so on. All this stuff you couldn't barely give away 10 years ago, well...

It seems to me the days of being able to have an ample supply of cheap old parts/bikes readily available is diminishing. They're still out there, but you have to look a little harder, which adds to the cost for me. Since I'm not a collector - I really don't care whether it is old, just whether it is simple technology, relatively cheap/durable, made of metal, shiny is good, etc - it adds to the cost and hassle. So that is sad.

But there is an upside for those who aren't collectors - the rising cost of vintage parts creates unfulfilled demand from those who bought vintage for reasons other than simply the vintageness and causes some of this stuff to get back into production. Places like Velo Orange popping up, Tektro long reach brakes, these are part of a trend that is driven by increasing vintage prices or outright unavailability.

The same thing happened with guitars. For a long time in the 60's/70's and into the 80's, nice production acoustic guitars were pretty much of a rarity. Even Martin's had some issues then, so everyone who wanted something fine bought vintage. But when prices went sky high, a whole industry of craft builders came into existence. The bigger names then recognized the market and got their acts squared away and these days the availability of fine acoustic guitars is unbelievable.

Same thing is going on w/bikes and bike parts. Again, it used to be that new lugged frames were a tough sell against boatloads of old Trek frames for $50. But when these things start getting up in the hundreds, and you consider possible repaints, refurbishments, etc, a strict cost equation is a lot less clear.

So while the price increases aren't good news for collectors, they are good news for those who appreciate simple, durable bike design and offer hope that some of this stuff will be making its way into new production again.

East Hill

We like to see new members here .

East Hill

dynodonn 

I agree that gas prices and summertime probably has an effect on the upswing in bike prices, but could be like the vintage car market, were some people want the bike of their youth that they let slip away years ago, or could also be from overseas buyers and the devalued dollar.

evwxxx

And remember, the (in)famous "bike boom" of the 70's was created to a large extent by a fuel crisis!

RK1963

+1