Originally Posted by
gerv
For $265, a ready-to-ride road bike? Sounds like a good deal to me.
Originally Posted by
jfowler85
Unless an old bike like that is in exceptionally good shape, that ^^ is exactly what will end up happening. At least it did to me. This is something I would expect to see at a thrift store for half of that price at the most. Not that it's a terrible bike, I love Chicago Schwinn roadies, and I ride an old Panasonic. But, old bikes are like old cars, sadly...most of the time they need more work than is necessary to justify the price. Try and talk the guy down and see how he responds. Or, do like I did with my Panasonic, say screw all you guys, and just pull the trigger and have fun with a sweet project.
Yeah, he'd have a road ready old bike. For $265 (or even $180 for the other one) you could find a really nice 10-15 year old bike. My commuter is a 13 year old Cannondale frame I bought for $25, then took components off a 20 year old hybrid my wife used to ride. With adding fenders, tires, levers, bar, seatpost, brooks seat upgrades I have less than $300 in it. I frequent 2 local shops that sell used bikes and they have really nice stuff in the $150-250 range.
Unless you have a thing for "classic" Schwinns (which is a-ok to me), you can still do better... imho!