bikemig 

I'm not sure if older rigid mountain bikes qualify as "classic" or "vintage," but this bike is, I think, a classic. It is a 1991 Team Stumpjumper with all original parts. The frame is Tange prestige and it has short horizontal drop outs in the rear. It has a full Suntour grease guard gruppo, 7 speed thumbshifters, and a 7 speed Winner freewheel. I am running Time Atac pedals but I have the original pedals. I'm running it as a commuter (it stays in my office) which is why it has a rack. I thought that the grease guard gruppo was a real plus on an off road bike since it made maintenance easier. The bike is beautiful, I think, and the parts are still smooth since I've taken good care of it over the years. I'm thinking about selling it since I'm thinking of paring down the fleet. Is there a market for this bike? I get the feeling that there isn't much of a market for older mountain bikes but I could be wrong. How much is it worth?

Bianchigirll 

oldskoolwrench

It's worth the right price to someone who can appreciate what you have. It was Specialized's lightest mountain bike
until the debut of the M2 two years later and the S-Works line the year after that.

Looks like an 18" frame size... I'd go out on a limb and say perhaps $400.00? GG components sure were durable, but
only a C & V purveyor or an old trilobite like me who actually sold the stuff new would appreciate that.

Sorry to say, I'd be like a Borg drone on that ride; assimilate its technology (components) and set the rest adrift
(F/F)!

(Bad Zoot... bad, naughty Zoot...)

thinktubes 

You'd be hard pressed to get more than $150 in most markets. The demand just isn't there, even though it's a nice bike.

If you're thinking of selling, part out the rack and seat. The seat is worth $50+ if it cleans up nicely and has no major damage.

bikemig 

We'll see. I think the bike is worth more than $150; $400 would be closer to my guess as to what it could be worth. The frame would make a pretty nifty fixie for someone since it has a horizontal drop out which is unusual in a mountain bike frame (it's 18 inches btw). The seat is in terrific shape as are all the parts. In any case, it seems that there isn't much of a market for older vintage mountain bikes or this bike would be worth more.

roccobike

I've watched old Stumpy's for a while now. You can't lump them in with other rigid fork bikes because there is a cult like following for these. However, unless you live in NYC, getting $400 by posting on CL ain't gonna happen. Maybe on ebay. On the other hand, $250 would move out within 24 hours, $300 a little longer, but you'll get it. Anything more than that is going to take some good marketing skills and the right media. As an example, there's a fair condition, M2 Stumpy in my area that has been on CL and the 'bay forever at $250, I think the guy finally moved it out. Good luck with it.

ish

The $150 estimate and the statement about MTBs with horizontal drops are both incorrect. The bike is worth around $300-350 in good shape, more if parted out. Lots of MTBs have horizontal drops.

Nobody is going to fixie a Stumpjumper Team frame. Single speed, yes.

You'd probably get a lot of money for the bike if you were in Pittsburgh.

realestvin7

I'd be all about that bike. Then again, I value old MTB's.

LesterOfPuppets

No way I could sell that cuz I know it wouldn't bring what it's worth. $400 sounds about right to me, but might take a while in Portland market. If it was lugged it would sell easier here.

wrk101

$400 in Des Moines Iowa? Not happening. Ebay? Maybe. How are your marketing skills, and what is your record on ebay?

If it would take a while to reach that mark in the Portland market, well, that is one of the hottest markets in the world. Portland pricing is often 2X prices around here.

Its really frustrating to me that the market does not put a higher value on top of the line, older MTBs. But ultimately, the market decides. If you can get $400 for that bike, then let us know. I would love to see it, and would like being wrong (as I have several high end MTBs right now).

bikemig 

I totally agree. Not going to happen in Des Moines (although this is a good market if you like balloon tire bombers). I spent some time checking out ebay and similar bikes were going anywhere from roughly $500 and up. Who knows whether the sellers are getting their asking price. I'm not surprised by how little vintage MTBs are going for but it is a drag. The US revolutionized the bike industry with the mountain bike and these early high end MTBs are as interesting as vintage road racing bikes but worth a heck of a lot less. This Team Stumpy is built by a bike by the company that revolutionized mountain bikes and it was their top end offering that year (the quality of the top end Suntour components is very fine) but the market is pricing it closer to a middle of the road drop bar bike of that same era.

@ LesterOfPuppets


"No way I could sell that cuz I know it wouldn't bring what it's worth. $400 sounds about right to me, but might take a while in Portland market. If it was lugged it would sell easier here."

I agree. I'm not selling it for $400 given how nice a bike it is and what kind of shape it's in. My wife wants it (she likes purple) so it looks like she is getting one heck of a nice bike to ride on the bike path.

ish


"The $150 estimate and the statement about MTBs with horizontal drops are both incorrect. The bike is worth around $300-350 in good shape, more if parted out. Lots of MTBs have horizontal drops."

Here are some pics of the dropouts; I don't know if they are long enough so that you can run a single speed without some sort of tensioner but it looks like it might work. In any case, I think (and please let me know if I'm wrong) that short horizontal drop outs that let you move the wheel back and forth in the drop out are fairly rare in MTBs:

Chris_in_Miami

Asking price is the key phrase, I don't see many actually selling for $500+ unfortunately. I agree that it's a shame that we can't recoup our original outlay for these great old bikes like we often can for other vintage gear, but the upside is that we can often find great mountain bikes for very little money

For what it's worth, I had a heck of a time unloading a 1991 Stumpjumper for $150 last year. If I had bought it new, I would have been very unhappy to see it loose so much value, but I only paid about $50 for it...

LesterOfPuppets

Actually I think Portland is kinda average in MTB land, well maybe 75 percentile. Best (for seller) MTB prices I've noticed have been in certain parts of California and Colorado.

Only Bridgestones and lugged steel MTBs really bring decent prices on Portland craigslist. ANY road bike = veritable gold mine, however.

wrk101

+1 Colorado definitely seems like a haven for vintage MTBs.

ish

They are less common then vertical dropouts in older MTBs. But not anywhere close to "rare". For example, many 1980s MTBs and many Specialized MTBs used horizontal dropouts.

thinktubes 

I'm trying real hard to envision who the buyer of this bike would be and what factors would drive the price over $150 is Des Moines:

Is is old? no.
Is it rare? no.
Was it expensive when new? no.
Is Des Moines known to be mountainous? no.
Does it have a devoted fanbase? Yes, but this model 1991 falls well outside the window of collectability.
Top-of-the-line components and tubing? no. Outside of this forum, Suntour would be a tough sell. Where are you going to get replacement parts?
It's too nice and pricey to appeal to the commuter crowd.
I seriously doubt that someone would convert that to a fixedgear. Dropouts are too short to be practical and its too exensive.

I'll standby $150 if sold on CL. Demand drives prices, and I just do see it.

bikemig 

I don't think anyone is arguing what it's worth in D.M. (I largely agree with you) but rather whether there is a market for vintage MTBs or not and the consensus is pretty much that there isn't much of one. I started this thread, in part, because I was curious why there is not much of a market for older, rigid MTBs.


There is an expression I always liked from Mark Twain which is that it is the difference in opinions that makes for horse races. So I think the bike was expensive when new since it was Specialized's top of the line in 1991, I doubt it's that common (but heck I could be wrong), and yeah it does have top of the line components and frame to anyone who knows much about bikes and I suspect those are the only people who would be interested in it. By the way, people do buy MTBs even in relatively flat areas and DM has a pretty good system of on and off road trails.

You may well be right that 1991 is well outside the window of collectability: I have no idea what a collectible MTB is. I bought all my bikes because I wanted to ride them and sometimes I sell them.

FastJake

I've had better luck selling older MTBs than some seem to. I sold a 94 Barracuda for $275, and a 93 Stumpjumper M2 FS for $330. And they weren't in great cosmetic condition.

I wouldn't let the bike in the OP go for less than $350, but it probably will not bring that much unless you sit on it a while.

ish

It's old with respect to MTBs.
It's a pretty uncommon model.
It was expensive when new (around a grand).
1991 was one of the best years for Stumpjumpers; it's quite collectable.
Suntour XC Pro grease guard was top of the line. Replacement parts are readily available online.
Tange Prestige tubing was Tange's flagship tubing for 1991.

LesterOfPuppets

... and I've converted two vertical dropout MTBs to SS without a tensioner. Pretty easy with the right gear, get close and use a half-link.

MSRP of about a grand sounds like a good guess. That's about $1580.32 in 2010 dollars.

Yep, it was a pretty badass bike. Somewhat easy to get half MSRP for a road bike around here, but not for MTB, which can be a blessing or a curse depending on what side of the counter you're on.

bikemig 

I know I paid less than a grand for the bike since I bought it at cost but I think it retailed for a fair bit over a $1000. It was an expensive bike for the time.

@LesterOfPuppets: I agree that the cool thing about these fine old MTBs not being worth much is that they are great bikes to pick up used. I've bought 2 MTBs from CL recently for different members of my family. My daughter is loving her 1990s era specialized hardrock.

RobE30

I dig old mtbs. Too bad you're not closer or we'd be talking! Old mtbs just don't have quite the following yet that old road bikes have.
Cool bike either way!

Chris Chicago

it's a really nice bike. besides a high end bridgestone, what would be more desirable from that era?

LesterOfPuppets

Hmmm, 1991, probably Klein, Cannondale, plenty of (then) boutique stuff, of course, Yeti, Ritchey, Bontrager, Mantis...

I'd rather have a 1991 Bianchi Grizzly over that Stumpjumper personally, dunno if worth more, though. Probably would be here cuz the Bianchi was still lugged then. I think 1991 Trek 990s were still lugged also, and those were pretty nice rides, too!

oldskoolwrench

I agree with that! I just acquired a literally un-ridden 1994 Bridgestone MB-1 on CL with all original components,
all the way down to the Ritchey Alphabite tires with the mold nubs still visible!

I got this ride for an insane price, and what makes it even more whacko is that it's MY SIZE! (38cm).

With all of the vintage bikes out there somewhere, the chances of finding something like this is truly rare,
given the fact that out of a total production of 1,000 units the smallest frame sizes encompass the fewest
number of units out of the whole run; the larger frame sizes (46, 49, 52) being the bulk of the production
run.

bikemig - definitely hold on to the Stumpy. Your wife will have one smooth all around bike, no matter which way
you decide to configure it.