wrk101

In the world of vintage bikes, it's not so much the "brand", as the quality of the frame, parts and overall condition. Despite having had hundreds of bikes pass through my hands, I continue to see brands I have never heard of. I've picked up four such unknown brands to me in the last year. This one obviously needs work, a lot of work. Unless you have the time/tools/aptitude/pile of parts, I would avoid such bikes. Taken to a bike shop for repair, it's n rare that an old bike's value exceeds the repair cost.

In a similar vein, I picked up a vintage stereo system. Included in the set up was a broken reel to reel tape deck. I just got an estimate to repair the tape deck: $450. This for a deck once repaired, would be worth $150, $200 max. I wasn't counting on the deck working, I bought the stereo for its other parts. So I am happy with the purchase, but no way will I get that deck repaired. Now I will not put it in the garbage, I will sell it not working/parts only, and someone handy may be able to use it for parts or whatever.

I might pay $50 for this bike. But I have the time/tools/pile of parts to refresh it. When I was done, I would lose money on it, no doubt, despite having many of the parts in hand. I will occasionally take on projects like this just for fun. But as a financial decision, they have all been losers. I have started to be more selective on my "fun" projects. Did this recently with a Frejus, in deplorable shape, missing some key parts, but still pretty interesting.

As far as project choice, I find the 1980s to be the sweet spot, a lot of nice bikes that used common sized parts. Japan made millions of nice bikes, plenty are still out there at reasonable prices.