Originally Posted by
vwgto
I have two white 91 Olympians that have been sitting for a long time - - given to me by an older couple who bought new.. The tires are shot, components are original, well used - - but not abused. Thoughts on if these are worth getting road worthy again? From a resale perspective, I am not sure there is much upside after tires/tubes and a very basic tune-up.
Unless you are super resourceful, no, there is no upside.
If you do all the work yourself, have a pile of parts and consumables, and want to keep them, OK. If you are doing it to sell, you are better off just washing the bike, airing up the tires, and selling as is. As a J O B, refurbishing a lower end bike may net you $2 per hour or less. And then you have the headache of dealing with tire kickers and no shows. If you enjoy wrenching on bikes, its better to just volunteer at s co-op if you have one in your area!!
In the fix to resell arena, you are better off finding a $500 project that refurbished could bring $1000 than picking up a free project, refurbishing and selling for $100. Free bikes often cost more to refurbish as they can need chain, BB, freewheel or cassette, tires, tubes, pedals, saddles, etc. Meanwhile, a higher end bike, typically the saddle and pedals are fine, sometimes consumables are OK, etc.I have LOST money refurbishing a FREE bike. Never again!
And if you have to pay retail for parts and consumables, forget it.
When you approach a project, do an estimate. What am I paying for the bike? What can I sell it for refurbished? What consumables will it take (in dollars)? How many hours?
What margin do I have for surprises? A margin for surprises is something I have learned the hard way. What if the wheel cones are bad? How about the bottom bracket? Learn to inspect everything you can up front to reduce surprises (you should NEVER be surprised by a stuck seat post or stem, that just means you didn't check). If you don't have a good feel for the costs and pricing in your market, forget it.