robinkd2029

I'm going to keep my eyes out for the next few days until I decide if I want to import or not. I've shopped for used vehicles before. After travel costs, time, fast food out when searching,then add in actual labor and repairs etc I probably won't save more than $100-150 if I don't find a bike in the first few weekends of searching. Plus there is the possibility of buying a stolen or damaged bike that I think looks good...

Finding a used frame in my size is also something that might be difficult. I'm 5'4" which puts me in a xs or s frame...
Jamis is having a sale though. Some of the bikes are listed as 2011 and new are they actually likely to be new, 2011 NEW JAMIS TRAIL XR LTD $255 all in.
Kijiji : Poster's Ads.

Bandera

Reasonable, using the "US Inflation Calculator" $350 1972 dollars are equivalent to $1,985 2014 bucks.
Add in the scarce/condition/demand premium and there you are.
Finding an immaculate genuine '70's P15-9 in "your size" will be a lengthy and costly proposition.
This is where knowing what's what matters.

-Bandera

redcaymatt

$200. for a tool for travel that you can use everyday for the rest of your life with basic maintenance is a bargain. Used and vintage are not the same thing although many here don't mind using the term vintage on any old bike. This is not meant as an insult to anyone, but for me For an object to be considered classic or vintage (the heading of this forum) it needs to be a cut above average. Figure out what you're cycling intentions are then spend as much as you can to buy the best and cleanest example of what you want.

howeeee

you are likely to get a bad deal on craigslist , unless you are very versed on the bike you are buying.

The better way to go is to visit garage sales till you find something good, it is the way most flippers get their bikes that they multiply by 3 or 4 times what they paid and most dont even do any work to them. Second hand stores could be a good way also,,though now they go on EBAY see something similar and might price them very high too.

Unless you are mechanically inclined and versed on used bikes,,,you are probably better off going to a local bike shop and buying one new.

Mos6502

And sellers are only sellers if they sell anything. A lot of "sellers" though are deluded morons, or just hoping to pull a quick one on a victim who doesn't know better. Willing to pay and stupid enough to pay are also two different things. Some "sellers" end up having to re-list the same bike several times because it's hard to find a buyer that is at least as stupid as they are.

The Golden Boy 

That is the truth.

robinkd2029

i stopped looking for a while- I found that it wasn't worth the hassel and continued to use the Toronto bike share program. I recently saw an estate auction and decided to buy. It was for a set of 2 bikes, set of 2 Kryptonite U locks and 1 heavy chain for $105cad (85usd). So far the additional bidders fees, taxes, relocation, tune up, and additional parts were another $20 (10+ hours of labor, pay what you can and help at a community bike center). So about $125 canadian. My original plan was to sell the mountain bike and use the cash to fix the miele, but it's unlikely that I'll sell it for more than $50 so I'll probably just keep both bikes. I'll have to take a closer look at the miele catalog to figure out the model it is, but ascetically i'd say fair-average condition some of the decals are completely missing scratches/paint nicks throughout- which doesn't bother me, it fits in with the other10 bikes on the porch (roommates) and is probably less likely to get stolen

CroMo Mike 

MTBs are great city bikes. If it's in good shape it may be worth more to you than you think.

oldroads

MTBs with no suspension make great commuters. The brakes are fantastic. Put smooth street tires on them.
In Boston you're talking $200 for one all tuned up.

jon c. 

The Miele is a bit rough cosmetically, but appears to be a nice frame. Should be well worth what you put into it.

bmthom.gis

I try to look for #3 . That's how I got my Prelude. Which I rode for the first time today, and it was a sweeeeeet ride
I won't pay a lot for any more bikes...the wife won't allow it and I would rather spend my bike fund upgrading what I have, plus i want to keep the stable manageable without having to disassemble any bikes to make room. Butif I come across a helluva a deal,I wouldn't say no.
over the weekend, on CL in my parents area someone was selling a bianchi and a nishiki road bike for 75 each or 100 for both. I *almost* told my parents to take a ride, but I was just finishing a restore and I am not up for another quite yet...I want to now enjoy the fruits of my labor.

I'm also waiting for a coworker to sell me his motobecane, in my size for a really good price. He just has to get it from his ex's house

bmthom.gis

I disagree in that I call stem shifters nut catchers. I had one and never want another.

revcp 

My wallet likes number three. My heart loves #1 .

randyjawa 

I realized, years ago, that lots of people don't know how to tell a good vintage bicycle from a not so good one. With that in mind, I published this article on my website - Vintage Bicycle Quality.

There are tell tale features that help to define a poor quality bicycle from a middle of the liner to the best doggie in the pack. Take the time to learn what those few frame features are and you will be much better prepared to differentiate between bicycle quality levels.

Good luck and welcome to the Bike Forums.

kunsunoke 

Not all old bikes can be vintage, though. Not all of them are collectable, or worth restoring to ride.

You want cheap, go to Wal-Mart.

Alternatively, try to buy a used late '80s / early '90s mountain bike or hybrid with rigid forks. If it's a Mongoose, Diamond Back, Haro, GT, Iron Horse or Schwinn, chances are it will be ugly and have the modern-era big-box taint thanks to branding/bankruptcies/buyouts. As a result it will be priced low, as the seller likely bought something newer/more fashionable and wants to dump it or is moving to Florida.

Or you could look around for a broke-ass desperate hipster and low-ball for his fixed gear.

Old does not necessarily equal inexpensive. Some of those bikes you may be looking at have racing pedigrees, or were made by people that cared about what they were doing. As such, they are collectable. Competition is higher for those items, so you will pay more.

'87 Tommasini Prestige or Super Prestige bikes hold their value. If you're interested in finding out why, self educate. Start here -

Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Page
https://sheldonbrown.com/bridgestone/1992/1992.pdf
Lugged steel frame construction - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...85464276,d.aWw
VeloBase.com

Some of those bikes are bargains at the price.

Before you shop, you need to understand the differences between construction methods (lugged construction, fillet brazing, TIG or ARC welding for frames; CNC milled vs. cold forged vs. drop forged vs. cast vs. stamped/bent), metallurgy (aluminum, titanium, mild vs. high-tensile vs. chrome-moly vs. heat-treated chrome-moly vs. Manganese-Molybdenum steels) and parts groups (Shimano vs. Suntour vs. Campagnolo vs. Simplex vs. Huret vs. PROC-built excrement).

Some of those old bikes you're denigrating ride better than new bikes - and they were collectible / desirable because they were made by people who were concerned about their customers.

For doo-doos and giggles, try an eBay or CL search for Petersen-era Bridgestones - e.g. the RB-1, RB-T, XO-1, MB-zip. Try not to be shocked when you see what they're currently selling for.

RandolphCarter

An RB-1 hit Craigslist here for $125. Gone in less than 30 minutes.

As far as responding to the original post - why do you want the bike? Commuting? Club rides? Touring?

An old beater might be acceptable for one of these purposes, but probably not all of them. I'm usually wrenching on 25+ year old bikes, because that's what I usually drag home from thrift shops/yard sales/curbside garbage piles. The most I've paid at one time for anything bike-related in the past 20 years is $40 for a Haro BMX bike. So yes, you can get bikes to work on and eventually ride with very little cash spent. The flip side of the coin is that you have to spend a LOT of time looking for the bikes, and sometimes spend time researching whether or not a bike is worth buying, and then a lot of time working on them.

Do you have enough space to tear down multiple old bikes for parts, while you work on your project bike? Do you have space to store the inevitable collection of 'maybe someday' old parts you will accumulate? Do you have the tools needed to take apart and overhaul an old bike? Do you have the patience (or stupidity) to take apart 35 year components and work on them, because replacement parts for them are no longer available?

If the answers to my questions are 'Commuting', 'no', 'no', 'no', and 'hell no', the previous poster's advice about spending $150-$250 on a decent rigid MTB set up as a city bike is probably spot on.

sanmi

I respectfully disagree. While not a substitute for experience, there certainly are shortcuts. I look at cranks as my first clue and avoid one piece cranks and cottered cranks (yes, I know there are good bikes with cottered cranks, but in general cottered indicates an older bike than is likely to be in decent shape if it is cheap).

Dropouts and frame material are certainly good clues, but usually very hard to tell from a craigslist pic.

iab

While your system could potentially tell you a bike is cheap, it does not tell you if it is good. You only have half of the equation.

btw, which frame materials are good and which are bad? And I don't understand about cotters. If cotters means old, does older mean bad?

sanmi

I should clarify that this is how I decide whether a craigslist find is worth picking up to restore and flip (what I do for fun and to fund my personal projects). So yes, this is how I make sure a bike is not cheap. The bit about cotters is mostly because many bikes old enough to have cotters are in less good condition in my experience and make for a more difficult project.

Regarding frame materials, I think few would disagree that a butted tubeset is superior to plain gauge, for example.

iab

I don't disagree. It does takes time to learn with tubing is plain gauge and which is butted. It doesn't always say on the label.

But my original point wasn't about bikes to flip, it was about bikes you want to own.

kunsunoke 

An RB-1 priced at $125 should be gone in 60 seconds.

Some more typical examples - bridgestone RB-1 | eBay
1993 Bridgestone XO-1 - vintage, Rivendell