juls

My neighbor is looking to sell these-what would be a fair offer for the pair? Shimano 105 equipped/tange levin headset-both matching. One has a pump. Aluminum tubes with cromo forks-They belonged to his parents. Thanks for any insight.

tugrul

Covered in barn grime and in Oklahoma?

If the seat post/stem aren't stuck, and things spin reasonably smooth, I think $100/each would be pretty generous.

juls

Shed grime-and yes okc. Not finding any catalogs in the 89 range. One serial# is R912320472. 14 speed.

septacycles

They look like the have potential to clean up and be decent bikes... with the investment of some elbow grease and chains, cables, tires and tubes.

+1 100 each is generous... I would probably offer $150 to $175 for the pair if I was going to refurbish and flip.

Value refurbished with replacement of chain, cables, tires, and tubes... I would ask $250 for each bike and hope to get between $200 and $250.

wrk101

Way dirty, rusty chains, rust on fasteners, rusty cables, flat tires = not much. Anyone buying them is going to need a lot of imagination and mechanical skills, as having a shop do all the work to rehab them will exceed the value of the finished bikes. People with such imagination are usually looking for a deal, to reward them for such work. $50 as is each.

juls

Are these frames (steel/aluminum) undesireable? Or to phrase it differently-a technology that didn't go over? Dated them to 91. Other than a pic here or there on the web (asking for info as well) I haven't found much on them. Anything labeled pro can't be all bad (lol) Seller will go 100 for both-and I can do the work myself. Not flippers for me-they would be keepers.

wrk101

Yes to both questions. Pro label can mean anything, example, KMart bikes were all branded "All Pro". My favorite in branding/marketing is the "Grand Touring" model. Several brands made Grand Touring models, most were not grand, and many were not touring bikes either. Marketing at its best. Anytime I see words like: "Grand (or Gran)", "Deluxe", "Sport", "Racing", I assume the bike is bottom end, and 99% of the time, it is.

In this case, you are looking at two good mid grade bikes, with undesirable frames, in mediocre condition.

At the $100 for the pair price, its a no brainer. Wheelsets are worth that. On top of wheelsets, you have all of the components of course, and 105 is a good level. I would probably go as high as $150 for the pair ($75 each). As keepers, I would use these two as donors, and find some nicer frames. In the interim, clean them up really well, polish the frames, do the basic service, and ride them.

Trakhak

Agree with wrk101's assessment, except the frames are definitely keepers. The technology used in the Technium bonded aluminum/steel framesets was developed by engineers Raleigh hired away from Boeing (Raleigh supposedly chose to locate the Technium factory in Kent, Washington, for the sole purpose of making it easy for the Boeing engineers to jump ship). Slightly oversized aluminum in the main tubes where it makes sense for lightness and torsional rigidity, steel in the rear triangle where smaller-diameter tubing gives better chainring clearance. The rear triangles were assembled in Taiwan and shipped to Kent, where they were joined to the main triangles.

The Raleigh Techniums came in a few quality levels, from high-tensile steel stays at the low end to chrome-moly stays at the high end. The Technium frames in the OP's pictures are the high-end frames. The Raleigh USA people were very proud to be building frames in an American factory that were arguably at least as innovative as the Treks and Cannondales of that era.

So don't worry about getting "better" frames. Replacing the frames with anything else from that era would be a lateral move at best. Unless you're a steel fetishist, of course.

juls

Thanks for all the replies. Happy to get help on these forums! The forks are labeled cromo/I like the duo pivot brakes and the indexing dr's; so I'll get them.

bloom87

these are stiff & stout frames. i like my technium (6061+cr-mo)