asheslaree

Circa 1970 - 74
Vintage Raleigh Laides Sport
Green. This is a bike that my fiancee's mom gave to him. Someone at a bike shop told us this was a collectors item, but we have know idea what it is actually worth, or if the bike shop guy was just blowing smoke. Its from the Nottingham factory

Any suggestions as to what this may be worth? all my searching online has just left me confused.

Thanks in advance.

mparker326

The Raleigh Sports 3 speeds have had a renewed interest. A few years back you could have had them from free to $50. Now they command a little more money, but still not a whole lot. Being a woman's bike and not having the leather Brooks B72 saddle reduces the value of this bike. It is probably worth $75 to $125 if it is in good condition.

asheslaree

That is the original saddle, we did not replace the seat and I dont believe my fiance's mom did either.

wrk101

Collectors item? No. A nice, popular 3 speed, Yes. Womens style frame will hold down value. A lot of bike shop folks blow smoke on older bikes, but don't back it up with real cash ("show me the money"). We see a lot of that here. "Bike shop guy told me the bike was worth at least $300." My common response: "sell it to him".

With patience and well marketed, $125, $150 tops. Also depends where you are located.

Realize that Raleigh made millions of these bikes.

asheslaree

Ah, Ok thanks. I was afraid of that, the fiance will be dissapointed.

w1gfh

No reason for him to be disappointed - unless he was counting on cashing in the bike for a Rolex. It's still a cool old bike with mucho personality and style. There is even a bit of a cult growing around these vintage city-style women's bikes. For example, see https://lovelybike.blogspot.com/ and https://rideblog.wordpress.com/. So what if he's not going to make a "killing" by reselling it? He can certainly sell it to someone who'll appreciate it for a bit of pocket money.