Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 9,625
Likes: 40
From: South of Raleigh, North of New Hill, East of Harris Lake, NC
Bikes: Specialized Tarmac, Specialized Roubaix, Giant OCR-C, Specialized Stumpjumper FSR, Stumpjumper Comp, 88 & 92Nishiki Ariel, 87 Centurion Ironman, 92 Paramount, 84 Nishiki Medalist
+1, and you need to learn about brand names and models. As an example, I'm really into Nishiki. In 1988 Nishiki had nine road bike models. There is a HUGE difference between the entry level 1988 Nishiki Rally and an upper end Nishiki Linear or Nishiki Altron 7000.
One item that I look for is double butted chromoly steel frame. While this is no guarentee of a high quality bike, it is usually a sign that the frame is pretty nice and probably a good rider. For $250 you should be able to find a very good quality vintage bike. If you hang around here long enough and over in the C&V forum and read the threads you'll learn quite a bit about vintage bikes in a relatively short time.
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