CliffordK

Ok, on the Wacky thread, somebody had posted a link to a mid 70's Schwinn 10-Speed listed as an Antique.



I suppose I think of any of the 10-Speeds from the 60's to 80's to be a typical bike. Perhaps some classic or vintage appeal, but not an "Antique".

When I was quite young, my father had an old English 3-speed (which was eventually upgraded to a used Torpado racing bike).

The old 3-speed probably was only about 20 years old, but it just seemed really old at the time, but I suppose still relevant.

My grandparents had a couple of balloon tire bikes hanging in the barn. They may have only been from the late 40's or early 50's, so maybe 20-30 years old at most back then. But, I always considered them antiques, even though they were probably ridden by my mother and uncle.

Of course, that was my view of life as a kid.

So, I still am reluctant to consider anything with 10 speeds and 2 derailleurs and generally straight tubes as an antique.
Any "old" bike with curved tubes, 1 speed, and balloon tires is an antique to me.
And the English 3-speeds fall somewhere in the middle, but I'd probably throw them in with the antiques.

Thoughts?

Velognome 

I think I need a new chain

randyjawa 

Sheese - I am still trying to figure out classic and vintage. Antique - older than me, I suppose!-(

KonAaron Snake 

Classic - old and desirable, and in some cases just desireable
Vintage - old and cheap
Antique - Old and causes tetanus

Dave Cutter

Antique is generally used to describe collectables "no longer in production".

The special manufacturing technique (and equipment) used to make that old Schwinn... is gone... likely forever. It is without a doubt... no longer in production. I owned a new 63 Schwinn Varsity back in 1964 (I was a teenager). Everything gets old.

CliffordK

Don't mess up the ANTIQUE value of our bike!!!!

raymond1354

From Wikipedia:

"An antique (Latin: antiquus; "old", "ancient") is an old collectable item. It is collected or desirable because of its age, beauty, rarity, condition, utility, personal emotional connection, and/or other unique features. It is an object that represents a previous era or time period in human society.
It is common practice to define "antique" as applying to objects at least 100 years old,[SUP][1][/SUP] although cars are considered antiques after 25 years."

r

Salubrious

If its old enough its antique. These days many items from the 1960s are considered antique.

Metacortex

The bike in the OP appears to be a '72 Super Sport. I would say that most people consider things more than 40 years old to be "antique". For cars it can be as little as 25 years: Antique car - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

David Newton

It was a Schwinn Antique, you know, the model name, just below the Varsity in price.

Pompiere

For me, it is anything my dad may have used as a kid. For my kids, it is the same.

iab 

Anything from the 19th century.

ncrnelson

Would you believe me if I said it was still available?

For Sale 1976 Schwinn 10 speed

Dave Cutter

I think it's a misconception to assume that everything antique has actual value. Back when I was a kid... the old model "T" and model "A" Fords rocketed in value. But then... when I was in my 20's sale prices for the old Fords dropped for a period. As those with emotional connections to those cars died off. Then in the mid-70's bicentennial interest drove up the price of Americana related antiques. Which of course... fell in the 80's.

Those old Schwinn's ain't art! They didn't rise in value when their creator Ignaz Schwinn pasted away. Although they have a minor place in Americana history.... they are not finely crafted antiques. The greatest value in the old Schwinn's is from nostalgia. And that nostalgic value will die out with the generation that once owned them (like ME) as precious items/gifts with great associated memories.

For the rest of the public... that may then want to own a piece of bicycle history... Schwinn made those bikes by the millions.

CliffordK

Whew.... Lucky with that. My Colnago was made when I was about 2 or 3

For the younger generation, that would make nearly everything an antique.

That knocks out most of the bicycles today.

================

One of the parts of the definition would have to be whether it is still "relevant" to today.

So, I would have no problem airing up the tires and riding a 10-speed from the mid 70's.... well, except I seem to have an allergy to Schwinns, Huffys, and Murrays.

On the other hand, something like a bike with the Cambio Corsa from just a few years earlier would be fun, but far less relevant with a pretty fundamental shift in technology that followed it.



There may be people who don't like friction shifters, and 5 speed freewheels, but it is a very small leap to the indexed shifting and cassettes. And, fortunately the freewheels are still in production today, at least some 6 and 7 speed versions.

There is a shift towards oversized tubing, and more use of aluminum and other materials in today's bikes. And, perhaps that will do more to push the old bikes into obscurity than anything else.

Another issue would be the production run of a model. So, the 10-speed bikes from the late 60's to the mid 80's were largely unchanged through the 80's, so if a mid 80's 12-speed is not an "antique", then a late 60's 10-speed would not be one either.

rhm

I don't think the term "antique" applies to bicycles I the same way as it does to other collectibles, even machines... clocks, fountain pens, typewriters, cameras... we still do the things for which we used to use these machines, but the technology has changed so radically that the machines are completely different. With bicycles, that just isn't the case. If you took a current day track rider who happens to be the same size as Major Taylor, and put him on Major Taylor's bike, the modern rider could ride it just fine. He could probably win races on it. Now I grant that a bike with a pedigree like Major Taylor would have antique value, but even by today's standards it's probably still an excellent bike.

CliffordK

rhm

Yes, okay, I take your point. There are bikes so old and primitive that they truly qualify as antiques. But this doesn't apply to bikes built in the last 60 years.

Some of the early derailleurs are, in my opinion, truly antiques. I'd even go so far as to include Campagnolo Cambio Corsa in this category. But maybe that's just because it baffles me.

CliffordK

Yes, and that was my point.

I wouldn't consider any "10-Speed" as an antique... not yet.

I do think of those bikes with balloon tires and gas tanks as antiques, but it seems like in the bike world engineers get tired of inventing new stuff, so they find ways to reintroduce the old stuff.

It looks like Trek has even re-introduced the "antique" suspension forks.



And, don't forget the "Flip-Flops" that purportedly motivated Tullio Campagnolo to start his own bicycle company years ago... And now they're all the rage.

CicliItaliani

that's just great

martl

People can use descriptive terms in their ads as they like. I see what is offered, so i can tell whether i want it or not.

Little Darwin

Someone definitely seems to have an issue with order of magnitude there. If it is as cherry as it looks, I could see it being worth $300 to the right buyer... one wanting to get the bike he rode back in the day... And I would definitely buy it (if it was local) for $30, but no way for $300 without the emotional attachment. $3000 is too much, unless there is some precious material, like gold or cash stuffed into the seat tube.

Italuminium

Anything that wasn't molten down for the Great War, 1914-1918.