Centurion Super LeMans Mixte, what would you pay?!
 

Hi all,

So trying to get a nice rider for around town and pleasure cruises for the ol' lady. She wants a baby blue mixte frame and she's a small 5'4". After watching craigslist for the last month I came across the listing below. Its exactly what she wants but you will notice, he's asking a lot. According to the seller, frame is in near mint comdition. I offered $250 and he can keep the bars, saddle, pedals and even tires as I'd replace them anyway. He decided he'd rather try to sell it as is first. The seller flips bikes and this bike is fully restored. I'm worried I might lose this to another buyer.

Baby Blue Mixte 1980s Centurion Super LeMans 50cm

Are Super Lemans good bikes?

Is this bike worth the asking price?

What would be the most you'd pay?

I'm in Fresno, I'd be lucky to get $150 for that bike. The bay area is a much stronger market, but $400 is crazy. There's nothing special about a Super Lemans, I'd keep looking is I were you.

I think it's beautiful. Looks like owner replaced the original drop bars with uprights. Completely refurbished. I've done the same conversion to many bikes & it's not that easy to do. Probably cost around $200 in parts. It is a wonderful experience to ride one. I don't think $395 is unreasonable.

Price would be crazy high around here, even considering the fanatical clean up. But if you are looking for a "small baby blue mixte" how many of those do you expect to see? If that type of bike is the ONLY thing your wife will ride I don't think $400 is too terrible. Add the SF Bay Area premium and the price doesn't seem so far out there.

Yes, no, $150 (around here, but I am cheap.)

I have bought, refurbished, and sold many mixte bicycles. $395 is stiff, but not by more than 10-15% of what I consider reasonable. I have sold ubiqutious French Peugeots for over $300, so don't pay attention to low ballers above.

yeah.. if she wants baby blue mixte in her size... i think you may have found the only one you will find for a while- and its not a bad bike. so ... you might just have to pay.

Thanks all! I'll let you know what I end up doing.

To clarify, there's often a big difference between "what I would pay" and "what I think fair market value" is on an item.

$350

How about this as an alternative?

small 48cm Ladies Womens gals Step thru Mixte NISHIKI w white accents

Why replace the parts, other than the saddle, on the Centurion for an around "town cruiser"? The Nishiki is less money, but will require a significant component swap to make it a town cruiser.

Given the few and far between powder blue mixtes at reasonable prices, you might just wait for the next PublicBikes sale and score a great deal there. They just had a warehouse sale last weekend. I scored a white dutch single speed from PB for $250 prior to Mothers Day, including delivery.

What you are buying is a "look", rather than quality materials. The Centurion has the look, the Nishiki does not. Mixtes are a niche bike, tend to bring a sizable premium over a similarly equipped traditional road bike.

Lol at these prices. These bikes have ****ing claw derailers.:wtf:

are you kidding me? in what world is that baby blue!!!

just get her what she wants. she forgives you your n+1 so she deserves it.

Did you buy the centurion Mlamp? The ad is down now.

In the Bay Area fully restored mixtes easily go for $350. There's a huge market for them here and there's a seller in Sac that always has an endless supply for that price. There have been a few in the $200 over the last month but you'd probably put $100 into them to get what you want. The best time to buy is in the spring and the worst time to buy is fall as university students all throughout the bay start looking for bikes.

No i didn't buy it. Regretting it now..... At first it seemed like there was a decent amount of options in the area. Now that those have all sold I'm not seeing any new listings.

Who is the seller in Sac Prelude?

Thanks!

I am not sure what the two bikes I have other than they are blue leMans not sure other than they we're given to me by my aunt, they look like they are 60's models, I can send pics, you may know more about what your looking for, one is LaMans and the other is a blue otasco

I don't know him. I just run across his ads on CL all the time. Usually has something like "These ladies are on fire" for his ad. Just search the Sac area for mixtes and he'll pop. Most of them have been modified from drop bars to cross or mustache bars for a more hybrid fit. The photos look nice but I've never met the seller nor do I know how good his craftsmanship is. He very well could just but new cables on and wipe the bikes down without rebuilding everything as needed.