robatsu

Some of the marquee stuff seems up, but that may just be the normal ups and downs of the shifting fortunes of fashion.

I sold off most of my stockpile of C&V parts a few years back. Prices, generally but with some scarcity exceptions, seem off from 2009-2010, when I was really pleasantly surprised how much some of that stuff was going for.

I observed this directly last fall when I pretty much cleared out my remaining stock of vintage parts, I had pretty high expectations from the previous sale-a-thon and they generally were not met, again, except for marquee stuff.

My theory to explain what I see as the trend of plateaued or declining prices for undistinguished C&V but high prices for marquee:

C&V market for years was driven by two constituencies, which often overlap in the same individual:

1) Collector/connoisseur of vintage stuff, restoration, reenactment, etc.

2) "Sensible" cyclist who likes simple, rebuildable silver parts.

Again, I emphasize that 1) & 2) often overlap in the same person and are equally valid pursuits - nothing I write here should be taken to mean that one interest is better than the other.

Anyhow, 1) is alway going to reach for the C&V and is driven towards "grail" stuff. 2) used to have to resort to C&V market for the most mundane stuff - long reach brakes, friction thumbshifters, etc.

The market the past few years has been saturating 2) with new products that meet the silver/simple/metal retrogrouchery impulse. So these guys, which includes a lot of my motivations, don't have to seek out old parts when I want, say, a freewheel compatible rear hub.

Comparing the "sensible" parts market now and 5 years ago is like night and day. So this draws off some price pressure on non-collectible C&V stuff and I think prices there reflect some discount for old/used vs. new, customer service, etc. FWIW, prices on the old stuff were going to go up in general because of larger markets like ebay/CL, again, the demise of 5 dollar yard sale bikes is over no matter what. But a couple hundred bucks for a used, nice condition, undistinquished, Japanese 80's bike seems like fair market value for the function (and trouble....) it provides for a rider.

But the marquee stuff will always draw collectors, and those prices will always be a wild card.

This is my theory...

gomango

Hopefully it is accelerating at a dizzying rate.

I am officially down to five bicycles to "market" by June.

I want top dollar.

I am ordering a custom Dave Anderson as soon as I get my $$$ from a forum member on another board.

I doubt that I could have owned the nice bicycles I have without an aggressive flipping strategy.

Now that the process has just about run its course, I am left with a smallish stable of bicycles I really enjoy.

I never set out to be a collector anyway.

ilikebikes

and that. ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

miamijim

With exception of NOS and boutique type items prices are down across the board compared to a few years ago.

wrk101

Prices are pretty much flat here. Maybe they are down overall, but I am doing a better job on pricing and marketing. I still find deals, as long as I am willing to drive. 2012 was my best year for pickups, and 2013 is even better so far.

rccardr 

There are deals out there, you just have to look and look and look and be ready to act when something comes up.

ilikebikes

Yes there are deals out there, but flipping is the problem, well unless your willing to take a loss. (in Philly anyways)

3alarmer

We are still in agreement, amigo. I, too, have found some wonderful bargains.
My comments were toward what i see as the general Cl pricing trend for this stuff.

Most of my focus has been on the 400 and up stuff the last few years, and in that market,
I see many fewer things I follow up on with an inquiry. If something is completely up
into the "I saw one sell for that on e-bay" price range on CL, it's generally a complete
waste of time and effort to get entangled with the seller.

There was a ton of really desirable, high end stuff in the Bay area as recently as a year
ago .........top of the line Columbus and Reynolds with full Campy and Dura Ace component
groups in the 5 and 6 hundred buck range. Now, the majority of it appears to be priced
considerably North of that, and i see a lot of stuff that is more middle of the road with
Shimano 105 and 600 stuff listed at 500-600 bucks.

But yeah......that FUSO I bought a few months ago was a 500 dollar bicycle, if you don't
count the drive to Tahoe.

chicken0207

To me there are some amazing deals to be had on vintage in my area but the sizing is wrong for me , i almsot bought a flawless stock schwinn letour with everything stock and purfect for 45 but it was a 49 and im a 54 so i didint need it.you just have to make contact ans work with them on items, thats how i operate .

DavidW56

My post probably belongs in the Wacky Craigslist Ad thread, but since this thread topic is about the prices of C&V bikes creeping upwards, while the prices of project bikes are shooting sky-high, I offer this evidence in the Metro Detroit area - a seller asking $450 for a 1970's LeTour that has seen better days...

https://detroit.craigslist.org/wyn/bik/3603949661.html

[h=2]vINTAGE SCHWINN Le tour - $450 (belleville)[/h]
Has aluminam pump and generator with light...734-658-0686

• Location: belleville

wrk101

+1 I need to adjust my earlier comments on a flat market. While I still find deals, I am finding more and more crazy prices. Not sure if the sellers are getting them, but some of the bikes are not popping back up, so I guess some are selling. Others keep showing up again and again and again.

+1 The vintage SS conversion has tapered off, a lot. That was consuming a lot of the lower end stuff.

Lenton58 

I agree with this statement. IMHO, the initial silver/simple/metal retrogrouchery impulse — as you put it — put some pressure on vintage parts, but this has been offset by some very respectable new product thereby modulating the C&V parts sales. Of course, this new stuff will not be attractive to restorers. But to so many others, the price of the new may be often comparable with old when shipping is factored in. And of course you get the advantage of newness because it's ... er ... new. DR's will not have weakened springs, pedals, headsets and hubs will have clean cones and races. DT shifters will have fresh shims — and so on.

I don't think that we've not seen the end of this story yet. I recently pulled a Cellini 1R quill stem (to get a better fit) and replaced it with a new Nitto model. It didn't hurt me a bit.

bibliobob

The market for average bikes has definitely slowed down here. I used to be able to regularly sell nice 80s steel bikes (400 and 500 series Treks, nicer 80s Schwinns, etc.) for $400 or so on the local CL. In the last year or so, I'd say that the price has dropped around $100, at least if you want to sell them quickly...

Like others, the occasional flip (4-5 per year) has almost completely financed my collection over the past 7 or 8 years. The first few years were a loss, but I've been basically breaking even over the past 4-5 years. Patience, and the willingness to strike when the opportunity presents itself....

The higher end and more interesting stuff is still moving, though. I recently picked up a NOS 3Rensho jersey for $10, and sold it for $160

rootboy 

Might have gotten a bit more for it if he had spelled it correctly

gioscinelli 

In Chicago land most of the good bike (CV) are high and languish for weeks to months on CL. The best choice to have for inventory is anything of European quality and Campagnolo which hold their value and go up in like gold. Stay away from the plastic and alu bikes for collecting or selling. Steel and TI are the only choice!

RaleighSport

Very nice, and I will admit that Premis was an exception it had apparently been up for 3 days, the pic was bad but it was accurate and it was correctly listed.. was rather shocked when I got a call back confirming I could go see it! There was a viscount aereospace pro for a while as well, full dura ace for 185 I passed on it since it was a fairly old gen 80's dura ace group but there still seems to be deals.. but then again there's also a 1980 Raleigh Olympic Track bike listed for 1k.. and has been for the last year.

RaleighSport

You're lucky Bill, here they started using fancier and fancier frames.

Grim

Its been quite a while since I have actually landed a deal.

So much competition and there is actually a place that has a store front now that just drives around all day long grabbing the deals in town giving them a clean up and selling them at twice the price.

I have several people around here that are flipping that I guess dont have day jobs so they nail anything that's hitting the thrifts while I'm at work. The Thrift that I got some of my best scores has jacked up their prices as well. They are asking $90 for beat to crap Schwinn's Hybrids that sold for $175 new. No meat in those bones.

Several Trek 800 series mountains on CL at 150-200 asking prices and they disappear so I guess they are selling. 2 Years ago I was doing good to get over $100 for one with good tires an a full tune up.