wrk101

For $100 each, you are either going to get low end junk, or a step up in bikes, but ones that require extensive work (could have rust issues, etc).

If you shop all the time, you will uncover some sweet deals, but they will be spotty, and probably not in your desired size.

Your budget is not really high enough to get decent bikes, without a lot of luck. Decent bike = chromoly frame, three piece crankset, alloy rims, sub 26 pounds in weight.

If you are willing, able, and have the time to do the work, then hit the garage sale/thrift shop circuit, and you could find something decent in the $20 to $40 range. You really have to be willing to trade time for money. You can save money, but not without spending a fair amount of time.

And the smokin' deals on Craigs List will be gone in a nanosecond. And the best deals are poorly described, likely to either not have pictures, or to have lousy ones, and so on. I have picked up some nice deals this way as no one really understood what the guy was selling. You have to take a chance, drive some miles and expect to be disappointed a few times or more.

Just remember when you read about others reporting the great deals they have found, that many of them are looking for deals all the time, every day. I am one of those guys reporting on such deals, and I can tell you, I put many hours into it. And I have gone to many, many garage sales and thrift stores and found nothing. My "find rate" is less than 1% (I find deals less than 1% of the time). And I am not looking for specific sizes or types of bikes. If I was looking for just my size for example, my find rate would be well under 0.1% (1 in a thousand).

It is more realistic to buy off of Craigs List, and expect to pay full "market" price. Even at full market pricing, vintage bikes are a great deal compared to anything new.