Kevindale

This is on the local CL. Asking $200. I know RB-1s are desired, not sure about RB-2s. Also can't quite figure out what year it is from looking at the catalogs.

oddjob2

$200 is FMV for a clean RB-2 as a rider. Not "collectable".

zukahn1

I would agree $200 is a fair price and it would make a great rider. As for the vintage its a late 80's bike I would say 88 give or take a year based on components.

Kevindale

Thanks for the feedback. This wouldn't be for my collection, but potentially for the nephew for whom I'm refurbishing a Specialized Sirrus (or maybe his younger brother). This one is attractive because I think it'll take wider tires than the Sirrus, and it's much closer to being ready to ride. The decals look more consistent with what I see in the 1991 and 1992 catalogs, but the colors don't seem to match what I see/read in any of the catalogs.

I'm concluding that I've got more than enough bike projects right now. This was interesting mostly because I almost never see a bike on the local CL that's remotely interesting and anywhere near FMV.

nesteel 

'91 RB-2 in Indian Silver. Looks pretty original. I need those rims.

Kevindale

I let this sit on CL for a bit, saw a price drop, and negotiated it down to $100 this morning. It appears completely original (except saddle, which is off a Cannondale), including the Avocet Road 20 28mm tires! I don't think it's been ridden much at all, though it's clearly been in a humid Louisiana garage for a while. I could find no damage, it tracked straight, stem and seatpost moved easily, and it shifted surprisingly well. Couldn't find a reason to turn it down.
@nesteel nailed it, it's a 1991 Indian Silver RB-2, 59cm, made Aug. 1990 (H024890 serial). Indexed 7s Exage 400EX with Hyperglide freewheel (13-23T), Suntour Radius 52-40T rings with 175mm cranks and original SR SP-200 pedals/cages. I'm surprised that the bars are my preferred width (39.5cm at hoods, 40.5cm at drops), given the size of the bike.

I'd thought it was a 57cm frame from the CL photos (looking at head tube), but I didn't realize that on these bikes the top tube, like the seat tube, is 58cm c:c. That's why the head tube looked shorter than expected, and explained why the owner (5'11") felt stretched out on it (that, and the 12.5cm stem). He had the stem pulled up past the min. insertion line to ride it. Also interesting is that the 28mm tires measure 24.5mm in front and 25.5mm in back. The good thing is that there's clearance for true 28mm tires, which none of my other road bikes have, though the rear brake bridge will preclude going bigger without a wider rear rim.

Here it is as bought, but after I've adjusted it to roughly fit me. Lots of clean up!

rideandgoseek 

Great looking bike and you got a fantastic deal!

Have sold 2 RB-2's in the past few years and got $250 and $275 respectively.

Well done!

thinktubes 

Nice deal, and I'm sure it's a good rider.

math labs

thats really not a bad deal. here in SF RB-1/2 sell for a pretty penny. even in worse condition I've seen an RB-2 here sell for $500

Kevindale

Thanks for the positive feedback. I think I'm pretty much the majority of the C&V buying market in Shreveport -- yesterday I also picked up a Motobecane for a relative song. The downside of such a small market is it's rare to see anything interesting, but the upside is an almost complete lack of competing buyers.