Bjbusa

Just curious..maybe a newbie question here. but I've been riding/fixing/restoring bikes since the 70's bike boom and I'm always looking for a new project and I'm always coming across 1970+ rides and now that I got the time and money to be choosy I'm wondering what's really worth my time and money?

Just FYI: I love all the bikes of the 50/60's, but not of my generation so not that interested in bikes older than 1970

gioscinelli 

Peugeot PX10, Cinelli SC, Gios Professional, Colnago, Motobecane Grand Jubilee, Raleigh Pro or International, for a start!

Kactus

If your looking for some of the mass production bikes that are most desirable and currently selling for the most, I would say pre-'78 Cinelli SC, Masi GC, DeRosa, Colnago, Eddy Mercxk, Raleigh Professional and International, and Schwinn Paramount. The mass production French bikes, Peugeot PX-10, Gitane TDF and Motobecane LeChampion are all excellent bikes but tend to sell for less than the previous mentioned bikes. French bikes like the Motobecane Champion Team, Gitane Super Corsa and Peugeot PY-10 were never really "mass produced" but made in limited numbers. They are all highly desirable and usually expensive if you happen to find one.

Chombi1 

Uhmmmm.... "Mass Produced" and "Rarest" when written in a sentence together kinda sounds like an oxymoron......
Sure, the bikes mentioned so far can cost a pretty penny, but they are not really rare..... JMO

sloar 

How about Italvega? While not that rare, they were mass produced but not for very long.

T-Mar

When I saw the thread title, that was my immediate reaction too. Even when we are talking mass production brands, do the high end models really qualify as mass production? For instance, how many Professionals would Raleigh actually build in a year? We know that in the late 1970s, Worksop, which produced all the Reynolds 531 models had an annual output of 80,000 and that includes everything from the Super Course and up. The Professional would be a very small fraction of that and was probably entrusted to maybe a handful of the most skilled workers at the factory. As for some of the more exclusive Italian brands like Cinelli and Gios, total output for the year would probably not exceed 1.000 frames per year. While the dividing lines between limited production, small production and mass production are subjective, I'd be extremely hard pressed to classify many of the mentioned bicycles as mass production.

OldsCOOL

We are the power brokers in the destiny of classic '70s bikes. When we find them, they are preserved. This is like treasure hunting. What will the barns and basements reveal this year.

Sorry, I got off track.

exxongraftek

I agree "rarest" does not necessarily equal "sought after." I own one of only twelve bikes ever made by a particular national-brand - most people think it's ugly.

As T-Mar wisely observed above, it's hard to quantify what "mass-produced" means in the context of classic and vintage.
Compounding this is the lack of information available from the high-end builders regarding their production numbers.
Many Italian (and some other Euro) builders probably qualify for inclusion in your top 10 list (Cinelli, Colnago, Masi, etc).

One criterion might be whether the particular make/model has seen a lot of counterfeiting out on the market.
That would give Cino-produced Cinellis and Colnago Mexicos places on your list - because if something's sought after enough, there will be fakes.

DMC707

Cinelli LAser - that is all

(and then he drops the mic, turns around and walks off the stage)

daf1009

I like the off track...nice!

daf1009

Top 10 rarest? Most sought after? Mass produced?

Hmmm...how in the world do I answer that?

FastJake

The ones in my garage. And you're in luck because they're all for sale!

OldsCOOL

Though not rare, mid 80s Treks are making a good showing among the desireables. They are HOT in my area.

3alarmer 

.
...as a power broker, I just want it out there that I can be bought. Pretty cheaply at times.

r0ckh0und 

I like to think that anything with 4130 frame tubing and upwards is in my wheelhouse if the price is right.

ramzilla

Bottecchia professional

DMC707

HUZZAH !

One of these just landed on my doorstep just a couple of weeks ago! (MeThinks you may be doing a little leg pulling though as i've never heard of anyone actually even looking for one of these --- but it is a nice frame )

KonAaron Snake 

Whatever 10 I'll be selling.

curbtender

No love for the touring frames?

bikemig 

Actually the OP could look for 1970 era Treks. I'm not quite sure of the timeline but I believe the first ones came out in 1976. The pre-80 Treks are not the common and the prices on them aren't bad.

Wileyone 

This is a silly thread. The 10 most what?

OldsCOOL

For real! My guess is the 80's Treks so easily bridge the gap between vintage and modern so they sell so easily. The 70's Trek gets jumped on by collectors and the casual or unawares get the slim pickings. But that's just a guess and opinion from my area.

OldsCOOL

To the topic.....
-The 77 Colnago Super is era and intact from the day it was raced
-The 86 Trek 760 is era and as the factory made it
-The '76 Fuji Finest is under construction (era)

As for the '88 Cannondale Criterium Series, that is built for speed

ramzilla

Bottecchias must be one of the most underappreciated bikes made. I call them the Schwinn of Italy. Just like Schwinn they made everything from clunkers to models used in the Tour de France. IMHO their top of the line bikes were just as good as anything made by other more prestigious Italian manufacturers.

DMC707

Torpado is much the same -- I would guess their PRofessional lineup is a bit like the Paramount line was to Schwinn.

But as an FYI -- i saw a new school Bottecchia cross country oriented 29'er in one of the later issues of Mountain Bike Action -- carbon frameset , high end bits n pieces - etc. -- likely a contracted frame from the orient , but the talking heads at the magazine seemed to have good thoughts about the bike IIRC

Bianchi is another one of the makers that did everything -- even BMX bikes in the early 80's , plus all the general purpose and townie bikes they are dealing in