JustinSmith69

I have a NOS Eddy Merckx Professional from 1985 in mint condition - never ridden. I can't post a link or pics until I've done 10 posts, so keep me talking and we might get there! I bought it from Steel Vintage in Germany about 5 years ago. Any thoughts on its value today?

JustinSmith69

Actually, if you go to flickr dot com and hit a forward slash photos and another forward slash justinmesmith you'll find some pics - sorry for the convoluted link

cb400bill

Pic Assist - https://www.flickr.com/photos/justin...h/51065857228/

IMG_6488 by Justin Smith, on Flickr

IMG_6481 by Justin Smith, on Flickr

JustinSmith69

Thanks cb400bill

cb400bill

I suggest posting a full bike picture taken from the drive side of the bike, as well.

SurferRosa

What kind of shift cables are those?

bikemike73 

Great bike !!!
A real time capsule !!!

I do not know if I would ride it or hang it on the wall for art **********?

PumpedUpKicks

Wow man that is beautiful! Yes, post more pics when you are able.

So I am curious now... I would like to hear about your experience with Steel Vintage. I am ALWAYS trolling their Instagram and website drooling over their stock. Plus I'm a coffee addict. The couple interactions I've had with them have been positive. I have dreamed of buying a bike from them but I live in the US and worried about sending a gem like yours across the pond and through customs. Thanks for the info!

jet sanchEz

NOS means "New Old Stock"

Lovely bike but you'd have a hard time convincing me that this bike has not been ridden.

JustinSmith69

Sure, this was 5 years or so ago, so things might have changed, but they were great. The delivery cost was pretty good (no Brexit red-tape to worry about back then!) and the bike was meticulously wrapped. All the major parts were removed and bubble-wrapped separately and nothing was damaged in transit.

JustinSmith69

It's been hung on my wall for a few years. Almost seems wrong to ride it but if I had more money I'd be on it like a shot. My first bike was a cheapie Merckx from the late 70's .

repechage

Steel Vintage has never given their bikes away. Value is probably equal or less than you paid.
Ride it to get the value out of it.
But repack the bearings first.

Sonofamechanic 

...I don’t know if it would take much to convince me it was true NOS after that pic of the Cable guides...cables directly up against a painted surface like that with no wear marks?....got to be NOS. The cables themselves, not so much.... Look like really old brake cables?

JustinSmith69

They had it up for 5,500 Euro - I offered 3,500 and they took it - felt like a good deal at the time. I'm moving home from the office, and wondering whether to find somewhere to keep it or sell. Hence the ask on price. Cheers

Sonofamechanic 

I did one of those “old man head shakes” when I saw your $3,500...but then I clicked on the Flickr link....what a gorgeous bike!! No wonder you had that set aside! Stunning. I’m assuming its a chromovelato paint of some kind? (Tinted paint over chrome). Reminds of the Moser framesets from the same vintage.

SoccerBallXan

In my honest opinion, I believe the value has not changed from your time of purchase. As another has mentioned, the value in this bike will be the rides and love you give it. You could always offer it for sale at 3,500+ euro, but it would be a wait for the right buyer.

Truthfully a lovely bike in stunning condition nonetheless!

repechage

I think what you paid is still ahead of the market.

rccardr 

Agreed. Nice, and nicely kept, but not a team bike or anything particularly unusual.

jiangshi

This is very similar to my wife's 1985, apart from the chrome fork. We bought it around 2007. It was truly unridden, it had hung on a wall in a (dead) lawyer's office from the day he bought it. My wife has ridden it maybe twice since then, I paid what I thought was top dollar at the time, $1600. It has Record/ SR components.

3500EU is not that crazy, if you like it. You are not going to sell it for much more, I think, but who knows? I saw a misrepresented De Rosa on another site that they wanted a whole lot more for. I had to bite my tongue not to comment.

Hang it on the wall in your office. Ride it. Enjoy it. They don't make those anymore, and it's doubtful you'll ever see one in that condition again.

If you need the money, sell it. It's one of the nicest in the world of what it is.

We wouldn't sell my wife's for 3500EU.

pttreacy

Love the colour

Mackers

You're not the only one!

JoshRitchie

cool bike

preyj

Nice bike - ride it, then hang it on the wall and repeat.

AUPedla

I've bought gear from SVB and they have been great. I have bought a bike from Jure at https://premium-cycling.com/ and had it sent to Australia. Arrived very well packed and in perfect condition. You do pay more but I prefer to buy from these guys as it is their business and they know how to pack a bike to ship it across the globe and have it arrive in one piece. It's their brand and reputation and if they did a bad job they wouldn't be in business for long. I've bought some bikes from private sellers and the experience has been less than optimum. YMMV. On the customs side, the only issue I have had with one bike is they had the Quarantine Service inspect it for biologicals on the 2nd hand tyres, even though the seller had fitted new tyres.

Oh and to the OP, nice Eddy, if only it was my size.

Chombi1 

Another example of a classic 80's bike that shown the peak of design aesthetics! It just ticks all the boxes for me.
To me, nothing give an 80's bike more class than a fully chromed fork.
It was sad when the industry mostly quit doing the fully chromed forks after the mid 80's (Never mind the emergence of cheap and unattractive looking "Unicrown" style forks.). But I guess chroming was just too environmentally harmful to sustain in such a big scale. I'm actually surprised that my 88 Pinarello Montello and my 89 Bottecchis Chorus Professional has a lot of chome on their forks and frame, but I guess the Italians were still desperately still clinging to their ideas of "proper" steel bike design back then.