Early 1980s Chas Roberts Touring/Road
02-24-11, 01:08 PM
#1
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Blacksburg, VA
Posts: 37
Bikes: Soma Saga, Vintage Roberts
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Early 1980s Chas Roberts Touring/Road
I'm looking to put a price on my 1983 (?) Chas Roberts bike. There are some pictures of it here posted when I had a different BF alias, for which I have long forgotten the password (and no longer have the registered email address 
)
Anyway, the handmade, lugged Reynolds 531 frame is still in great shape, although not quite as pretty as when those pics were taken. There are a few superficial scratches here and there and a tiny patch of rust where it looks like the rear skewer lever might have rubbed the chainstay. The most unfortunate damage is a very slight ding that falls right in the middle of the top tube decal. Otherwise, the original paint is in great shape, with really beautiful decals and some pretty flourishes unique to the Roberts brand.
Brief overview of components as follows:
Original (and in good to great condition):
- Campy brakes, side-pull
- Campy FD
- Suntour RD
- Campy skewers
- Suntour/Specialized cartridge hubs
- Phil Woods BB
- Sakai Randnner bars
- Suntour barcon shifters
- I also have the original Mavic sew-up rims, although they are no longer laced to the hubs
Not original:
- Mavic A719 rims, with ~1000 miles commuting on them
- Sugino XD500 touring crankset, in good shape
I bought the bike for LD touring, but since realized that it would be impractical based on some incompatibility with contemporary components. Therefore, I've used it as a sometimes commuter, and kept in in my house otherwise.
What do you all think this is worth? Any value to collectors? Should I part it out, or sell the whole package (including the original rims)? I've tried to gauge it looking online, but it seems that Roberts frames are relatively rare (unknown?), which could hurt or help its value I guess, depending on the buyer. FWIW, I bought it for 300 back in '05 or '06 and have taken quite good care of it, with the wheel build with new rims in '06 being really the only major upgrade.
) Anyway, the handmade, lugged Reynolds 531 frame is still in great shape, although not quite as pretty as when those pics were taken. There are a few superficial scratches here and there and a tiny patch of rust where it looks like the rear skewer lever might have rubbed the chainstay. The most unfortunate damage is a very slight ding that falls right in the middle of the top tube decal. Otherwise, the original paint is in great shape, with really beautiful decals and some pretty flourishes unique to the Roberts brand.
Brief overview of components as follows:
Original (and in good to great condition):
- Campy brakes, side-pull
- Campy FD
- Suntour RD
- Campy skewers
- Suntour/Specialized cartridge hubs
- Phil Woods BB
- Sakai Randnner bars
- Suntour barcon shifters
- I also have the original Mavic sew-up rims, although they are no longer laced to the hubs
Not original:
- Mavic A719 rims, with ~1000 miles commuting on them
- Sugino XD500 touring crankset, in good shape
I bought the bike for LD touring, but since realized that it would be impractical based on some incompatibility with contemporary components. Therefore, I've used it as a sometimes commuter, and kept in in my house otherwise.
What do you all think this is worth? Any value to collectors? Should I part it out, or sell the whole package (including the original rims)? I've tried to gauge it looking online, but it seems that Roberts frames are relatively rare (unknown?), which could hurt or help its value I guess, depending on the buyer. FWIW, I bought it for 300 back in '05 or '06 and have taken quite good care of it, with the wheel build with new rims in '06 being really the only major upgrade.
Last edited by Uosdwis R Dewoh; 02-24-11 at 01:30 PM. Reason: don't want to break any rules
02-25-11, 09:53 PM
#2
Mostly Mischief
Complete: $600. Maybe. As you allude to I don't know much about the brand. Just bought a Woodrup on eBay, similarly equipped for $600 plus shipping. I felt like that was very reasonable for a quality touring frame with beautiful details.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Petermaz
Classic and Vintage Bicycles: Whats it Worth? Appraisals.
5
12-25-16 04:47 PM
two_wheels
Classic and Vintage Bicycles: Whats it Worth? Appraisals.
20
08-12-11 10:38 AM
KeithSR
Classic and Vintage Bicycles: Whats it Worth? Appraisals.
3
05-10-10 09:31 PM
