eschlwc

here's a 531 '89 trek, with tall frame near seattle.


Trek 531 1989 steel Restored

Bikedued

The 970 has a Hite-Rite seatpost adjuster on it as well. One of those "must have" components for an era correct 80's bike.,,,,BD


https://reviews.mtbr.com/wp-content/u.../hite-rite.jpg

smontanaro 

Pretty bike, but the price seems awfully optimistic...

1987 Peugeot PH18 Mixte

noglider 

That bike has received a lot of special treatment. It is now a lot of bike. $1,200 is quite for for all that bike.

KonAaron Snake 

I don't think he's got a chance in hell at half of that on eBay, let alone CL. At the end of the day it's a powder coated frame with some made in Taiwan/japan faux-vintage bits.

smontanaro 

Just enough of an issue with that statement that I'm not sure I parsed it correctly. I will assume (provisionally) that you suggest that's not necessarily too high a price. There's no question the guy has added a lot of nice parts to it. I question if that frame warranted those parts. It seems like silk-purse-sow's-ear territory to me.

rekmeyata

^^^ that's because you routinely under value and crap on things while confusing concepts like market value, flipper pricing and what things are worth to you."

SJX426 

You never know what the motivation might be. I over priced a bike because I made a commitment to try to sell it but put a very high price on it. I still had a couple of serious inqueries!

KonAaron Snake 

Dude - it's last week. I have nothing against you, you're a good guy, you're helpful and knowledgeable. It's just one thing I find annoying and others seemed to concur. I'm sorry I wasn't more polite about it. I think we can both move on...it's just the internet

The OP specifically mentioned value and others speculated as well. It's an odd bike, not a routine vintage bike.

noglider 

I left out a key word in my sentence. I think I meant to say quite fair or quite right.

I don't think it's a sow's ear of a frame. It was inexpensive to make, yes, but it makes a nice riding and nice looking bike. The equipment, even though it's not genuinely vintage, is great stuff. It's well made, and in some ways, it's better than the old stuff. As such, the equipment is not overpriced.

The finished product is refined and beautiful. Plus, the bike is ready to ride, not some used crap that the owner didn't know how to maintain and passes off as running great.

If you wanted stuff like that -- fenders, dynamo lights, rack, aluminum components, etc -- you'd pay. Why is it wrong to pay for all of that on an old frame? The frame hasn't gotten worse over the years. Yeah, you could get all this on a new frame, but that would cost MORE than this deal. Seems like a great bike and a square deal to me.

TimmyT 

+1

KonAaron Snake 

I'm pretty sure I could get a brand new Linus or the like similarly outfitted for the same, or less. To me that means a bastardized older frame that wasn't especially valuable to begin with, and which likely has French threading, should be substantially less. To me it's neither fish nor fowl.

rekmeyata

That was a very nice and well said post, thank you! I'm sorry too that I went that far with it, and hope we can move on and be civil towards each other.

What's funny is I agree with you about the bike you were discussing on E-bay! LOL!!!

gomango

I built one of these Peugeots for a loaner bike two years ago.

Maybe $150 tops into it.

Here's the interesting part to me though.

My wife loves the bike. She goes to the market on it several times a week, not to mention riding down to the pool for her lap swim sessions.

I told her I could really build a nice Betty Foy or Soma.

She said don't bother.

noglider 

Some people want neither fish nor foul. They just want a bike. This is a bike. It's also unique in the true sense of the word: one of a kind. No other bike has precisely this equipment.

Tell me if I'm wrong, but a Linus mixte would ride about the same, right?

The builder/seller has worked around the french thread/diameter issue, so the buyer doesn't need to worry about it for a very long time, if ever. Not everyone buys a bike to tinker with things like this.

Notice this bike has

- hand built wheels
- dynamo hub
- LED headlight and tail light
- a more-durable-than-factory paint job
- expensive, special tires
- expensive, high quality rims
- very pretty pedals, fenders, handlebars
- Brooks Cambium saddle
- cartridge bearing BB
- bell
- assembly by a guy who really knows what he's doing and probably did a better job than most

If that's how you want your bike equipped -- and this must be taken as a given -- then it would cost at least $1,200 to outfit a Linus or Biria similarly.

Add it up and show me where I'm wrong.

KonAaron Snake 

We cool ese.

Maybe there's a specific buyer for it tom, but I don't think so. I also don't think adding up the parts bought separately and new is a valid way to value this bike complete when similarly outfitted new bikes are similarly priced and vintage ones are much less (like gmg's example). If someone likes it, good on them - but I don't think a powder coated French thread frame and some faux vintage parts justify that kinda money.


I always have have less market for French stuff.


Hey, I've been wrong before!

TimmyT 

+1

I don't even know what that means.

As for the mixte, in NYC Peugeot mixtes are the bike for a woman to have. They ride great and they are stylish. Most women like pretty, shiny things and don't want to do maintenance. I think that bike could sell at that price or more with the right marketing in NYC.

KonAaron Snake 

Timmy - if that's true, we could probably all make money buying up pugs and rehabbing 'em. There really is something beautiful about a woman on a mixte.

noglider 

... with a long flowing floral-print dress and long hair. And semi-leaning on those Albatross bars!

If the only way to get this bike is to buy the parts and put them on, then it's the best way to evaluate it. What other ways are there?

No one makes real money flipping bikes, so the fact that this one won't be profitable proves nothing.

crank_addict

Pretty neat vintage Bottecchia in green. Needs a bit of correct period parts and decals. R-531 and a nice fork crown. Anyone have an idea what model it is?

Vintage Bottecchia Road Bike - (Reynolds 531 Frame)

crank_addict

Neato pub slug-
Antique 1938 Raleigh Tradesman's Bicycle - Vintage Cargo - Price Cut

Velognome 

Noglider's right on the money, go to shop, find a similar bike and it'll be $1,200-1,500 easy.

jburne

In the first place, look at the first photo, the one of 4 bikes. This guy has an eye for style as well as utility - and he captures the best of those who repurpose mixte frames a la Rivendell. Note that the frame was stripped and powdercoated - not something of trivial value. Nor does he scrimp on parts, Velorange is the primary source for vintage style, modern quality parts. In fairness, go price just the wheelset - that strikes me as at least half the price. I personally find all four of those bikes to be works of art, and the fact that they are all different raises my appreciation for the seller that much more. Would the bike be that much better built around a new mass-produced Rivendell frame? Perhaps, but only marginally. And as Tom points out, it would be more, way way more.

Now, I don't have that much free cash to buy that particular bike right now, but I have to admit that I've spent that much building up a bike for someone as a gift. So I guess I'd say that the opportunity to give such a bike to someone close to me is "worth it". The only reason I won't pay the asking price is that I enjoy the artistic process of the build itself - which is probably how most of the C&V forum members end up owning so many bikes in the first place.

So, is the bike "worth" the asking price, Yes, but probably not to any of us. Am I glad it was posted? Sure, I always like seeing the craft that others bring to the hobby I share. Maybe the issue is that it should have better posted in the "mixte thread" or another bike porn topic.

jeirvine 

The last two bikes I sold on CL (DC), (both upper-mid grade 80's sport tourers, which I thought were optimistically priced in the low $300s), the buyers handed me full cash before even taking them for a ride. I asked the second guy if he didn't maybe have any questions about the bike, and he said basically that he went to an LBS and was told their bikes started at $600. Lots of folks are getting into bikes, and many are learning that a well serviced old steel bike is a steal compared to starter LBS offerings. If buyer and seller are happy then the price is right.

toavii

1. That Raleigh Tradesman above is awesome.

2. As for the mixte, there's a few shops around my metro area that would absolutely build a bike like that and hang nicer components like the seller above did. The price would be every bit of what he is asking as well. At a certain point though, it would be a question of how comfortable one would be both buying and selling in that type of (private) market. As a buyer, judging by the build (and perhaps his other work) it would probably put you at ease a little more. As a seller, it would appear that he believes there's a market out there to sink that type of work and money into a bike like that. So...