omyjosh

I posted this on the road bike forum but I guess it kinda fits in more here what with my price range and all.

I'm sure you get this kind of thing a lot but I felt like you all were the best people to ask. I've been riding road bikes recreationally for over a year, but I've pretty much been stuck with bikes my parents stopped using 20 years ago or bikes they found at yard sales. I had an old schwinn and an old peugeot, both were a bit too small, but they kept me entertained. Now I'm trying to get more into biking and I've been looking around craig's list for awhile but haven't had a lot of success, maybe because i'm often afraid of getting ripped off. Basically what I want to know is, what kind of bikes are worth in the $125-$250 range and how do most people feel about brands like schwinn, raleigh, ross, nishiki, etc. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

gurry

Looking at the older bikes, they usually came in entry level, mid level, and high end. Sounds like you have been riding entry level. These bikes usually come equipped with stem shifters, safety brake levers, and clamp-on rear derailleurs. Entry level bikes also come with steel wheels and steel cranks.
Look for bikes in the mid range. They can be a lot of fun, and should come with down-tube shifters, bolt-on rear derailleur, and aluminum components like rims, cranks, handlebar, stem, and seat post. In your price range, they should be ready to ride!

roccobike

+1, and you need to learn about brand names and models. As an example, I'm really into Nishiki. In 1988 Nishiki had nine road bike models. There is a HUGE difference between the entry level 1988 Nishiki Rally and an upper end Nishiki Linear or Nishiki Altron 7000.
One item that I look for is double butted chromoly steel frame. While this is no guarentee of a high quality bike, it is usually a sign that the frame is pretty nice and probably a good rider. For $250 you should be able to find a very good quality vintage bike. If you hang around here long enough and over in the C&V forum and read the threads you'll learn quite a bit about vintage bikes in a relatively short time.

omyjosh

Cool, thanks a lot for both of the responses. I had always been wondering about what kind of parts i should be looking for to compare two bikes, until now I had just kinda picked the one with shinier components as the nicer one . Yeah, I can see why just immersing myself in this kinda thing is the best way to learn. Any recommendations for where to buy? Ebay seems to be a bit expensive right now what with shipping being like $80 on any given bike, so craig's list has been where I've been devoting most of my time.

wrk101

In your price range, ebay does not make any sense unless you can do a local pickup option. I did pick up a nice bike off ebay two weeks ago (local pickup). But such deals are pretty rare, and local pickup for me was 110 miles away, one way!! For close to the cost of shipping alone, you can find a pretty good bike locally. The cheapest place for a bike is word of mouth, then a garage sale, then thrift shops, then scoop deals on Craigs List. I pick up at least a bike a week at garage sales. Picked up two yesterday. Picked up a third bike free (word of mouth, come get it out of the back of my truck before I take it to the dump).

Buy the book: "Complete Guide to Upgrading your Bike" by Frank Berto. It is the best book on 1970s/1980s bikes (it was published in 1988), and the first chapter will educate you on the difference between great bikes, good bikes and mediocre bikes. You can find one used on Amazon for 20 cents plus shipping. I just bought another copy myself. Or check your local library. They should reissue this book with a new title: "A Complete Guide To 1970s/1980s Vintage Bikes". Realize it was not written about vintage bikes at the time. It was written about the latest and greatest bikes available then.

Take time up front to get educated and you will do fine. In any transaction, the person with the most knowledge wins.

If you want to scoop up a smokin hot deal on Craigs List, you need a couple of things.

1) You need to know your size, and have the ability to look at a bike picture and estimate the size (sellers rarely know sizing information, and the best deals are Craigs List ads with little/no information)
2) You need to be able to jump in the car and drive immediately as soon as you see the ad. The best deals will not wait until it is convenient for you: after work, this weekend, in a couple of days, whatever.
3) You need to be able to size up a bike quickly and know when it is a deal with just the sketchy information I mentioned above.
4) You need to be willing to waste some time and gas chasing after deals that aren't good deals.

The sellers who can describe their bikes perfectly, have great pictures, sizing information, list the components, etc., are sellers like me. Those sellers will expect to get full market value for their bike (some of them will attempt to get more than market value).


The best deals tend to be Japanese bikes from the 1980s. Raleigh, Ross and Schwinn made some good stuff, and also a lot of cheap stuff, so you need to be pretty careful with those brands.

gurry

Yard sales can be a good source for bikes. One year I bought two Bianchi's for under $50.00. Another source can be a local Police Auction. When shopping, especially at an auction, bring a measuring tape and magnet. This can help you pick bikes that fit, and identify good alloy components when painted over. This spring, I picked up four bikes won at the Police Auction for less than $25.00. Two of them were ridable.

omyjosh

That book sounds great, I'll go to the library today. Yeah, I know what you mean about the info on craig's list, when I found out that a 56-58cm would be best for me, I started searching those numbers and I would almost always be left with bikes for $1000. I think I'll try to be more aggressive in the coming weeks with going after the deal immediately, I've been hesitant and have probably missed a few good deals because I was unsure of the quality of the bike, what with not knowing much about these things. I'll be sure to study up now!

Yeah, I plan on looking for a lot more yard sales now, I'm running out of time before I have to go back to school so I'm becoming more desperate. Heheh feel kinda silly asking this but with the magnet, would I want it to stick or not?

wrk101

Magnet sticks to steel. Steel frame is fine. Steel rims, crankset, handlebars, seat post, stem, etc., = cheap bike.

omyjosh

What about steel fork? I heard about the death fork on the viscounts that was made out of aluminum and wasn't sure if that was a common thing with all aluminum forks or if just that one was poorly built.