Originally Posted by
tacomee
First off, I've heard a lot about *barely ridden* old bikes. It's hardly ever true. Bikes get ridden, parts wear out. Most 80's bikes take $100 worth of parts to get them road worthy...plus you'll need tools and know how if you want to do it yourself. It's not rocket science and many folks find it fun and rewarding. People roll 80's bikes into bike shops all the time...and drop $$$$ getting them fixed. A good shop in Seattle or SF will charge $300 + to rehab an older bike.
The Surly LHT (or the other low budget touring bikes out now) are the best value in cycling...ever!
I routinely find barely ridden vintage bikes (25 to 35 years old). About 90% of the vintage bikes I find are in the barely ridden category. Bicycles are like other fitness equipment, most are rarely used. However, a bicycle that has barely been ridden in 25 years is rarely ready to ride. Barely ridden bikes usually have not been maintained in 25 years either, and have been stored in less than ideal conditions.
Such bikes usually require a thorough rehab and complete tear down: bearings, grease, cables, housings, tires, tubes and more. If you do this work yourself, you can rehab a bike at a low cost ($75 or so, of course your time may not be free). Take it to a shop around here, you are talking $300. I call such bikes "projects". Projects rarely make financial sense unless you do the work yourself. Do it yourself, and it can make financial sense. Since you have a friend that can assist on the maintenance, sounds like you are ready to take on a project.
As far as suicide levers (turkey levers), by the 1980s, they just came on low end bikes. Sometimes owners would install them, as in the 1970s, they were common on most bikes (low end and high end). So I would not assume the bike is low end just because it has turkey levers. I have had some pretty nice bikes from the 1980s where prior owners retrofitted turkey levers onto the bikes. The good news is you can buy really nice aerolevers for under $20.
Here's an example of my keeper vintage touring bike, in as found condition. It's a 1987 Miyata 215ST. That model is fairly low in their product line, but still is pretty decent: triple butted cromoly frame, etc. When I got the bike earlier this year, it still had the original tires on it, looked like it had been ridden less than 200 miles total in it's life. It needed the basic maintenance I describe above due to sitting idle for over 20 years.
