hello all,

short version:

i have a vintage Batavus road bike sitting in my garage, and i want to see how much it's worth. where could i do this? i have pics.


long version:

sitting in my garage right now is a Batavus road bike from the late-70s/mid-80s. i'm told (by the person who bought it originally) it was an extremely high-end bike back when it was new. i believe he said he purchased it for over a thousand dollars new (but i'm not positive, so don't hold me to that).

the bike was sold to my dad about 15 years back for several hundred dollars. it was handed down to me a few years ago. unfortunately, my dad had it custom painted - so it looks great, but it's not the original paint job.

most of the parts on the bike are the originals. it's got old-school dura-ace brakes and crank, and the original mavic rims. the rear derailleur was replaced (a shimano 600), but i believe the front is original. the tires, obviously, have been replaced, as the bike has been ridden fairly consistently for the past 20 years. the stem and handlebars are the originals, as well. the shifters are mounted on the downtube.

the frame is steel, of course. it's in in fantastic shape, and it rides like a dream. i'd love to hold on to it, but it's just a tiny bit too small for me to ride comfortably. i'd like to see how much it could be worth. is it of any "vintage" value these days? is there an expert in particular i could consult? would the vintage dura-ace parts be worth anything worthwhile? or maybe the wheels? could i maybe make more selling the frame and parts separately? any answers would be greatly appreciated.

i have lots of pictures of the bike, so feel free to ask me to send them.

i just started working in a bike shop, and the manager is a road-biking fanatic, but i didn't want to be the new guy dragging in all his stuff on the first day. i'll give it at least a week before i do that.

thanks so much, and ride on.

- caffery