There is one for sale local for $100. It is an older bike from the 80s-90s. Stem shifters, 27" aluminum rims, sky blue with yellow vertical tube and yellow head area.

Looks like your basic entry level road bike from the era but I have never heard of them.

Is it worth $100? Is that a dent on the horizontal tube that I see? What do you know about this make and model?

My research seemed to turn up that Novara was an REI house brand.

Novara is a house brand sold by REI (Recreational Equipment, Inc).

I cannot see your pics but the bikes are generally decent. My wife has a Novara from the mid-80's but a higher-end model than yours. It is a nice bike. I have an early 90's Novara hard-tail mountain bike that is also quite nice. The Novara bikes continue to be very decent and worthy of consideration, each in it's respective price category, adn REI members get a 10% discount off the sales price at year's end.

Stem shifters = lowest tier bike

Stem shifters, top tube dent, store brand (REI), cheap shifter braze ons on down tube = pass. The first thing I look at on an old bike is the frame condition. If the frame has serious flaws (like a dent), I then look at the components and look at it as a possible donor bike. The components are nothing special, I would pay $25 to $40 for it.

I picked up one of these, mine's about an 83-84 based on the components. Looks to be older than yours - I don't have the braze-ons on the downtube. It has a clamp for the cables. Its a descent japanese made bike. 4130 Chromoly frame in a decent shape. I paid a whopping $50 for it. If it had a dent in the top tube, I wouldn't pay anywhere near $100 for it.

$100 might be two much on first sight.

But it looks like it got brand new tires ($20), aluminum rims, cotterless crank, a long cage RD, and a Tange tubing sticker, no turkey wings (actually the brake levers look a bit like Shimano 600EX 6207 from here) so if there are no issues with the frame, it might be reasonable. I cannot see a dent in those 2 pictures, but the practice of wrapping a chain on the TT is not that great... If I were you, I would as for a list of components and what the tubing sticker says and take it from there.

Bummer on the tube dent.

I have one(62cm,Tange tubing frame) I really like the way it rides.

Thanks for the info, that is pretty much what I was thinking.

I like the color so I offered him $75 for it. I have not heard back so he is either trying to see if anyone will pay more or has tacitly (and rudely) declined my offer. That is CL, a lot of people with no manners and inflated ideas of what there bike is worth.