Vintage frames that can be had for a deal?
 

Wondering if there are certain brands that were/are high quality, but perhaps not currently sought after and can be had for a deal?

If you ride big frames (61-63cm ctc), we should talk.

The Italian "Maltrattamento" frame-sets widely shunned for their evil handing characteristics, indifferent construction and temporary finishes can be had for slightly less than the French "En Surpoids" frame-sets noted for weighing slightly less than a complete Raleigh DL-1 and riding like a turnip truck. For real bottom of the barrel nearly worthless old junk seek out the East German bicycle equivalent of the Trabant the "Stasi-Cycle", only available in Red.

-Bandera

In all seriousness, there really aren't any brands "known" to be high quality, yet that sell cheaply. If they're widely known to be high quality, then prices are usually higher as well. There are countless smaller brands and independent builders that may have made beautiful frames, but don't have much recognition now. Many times, these can be had cheaply, or at least cheap for their inherent quality. One possible exception would be Univega bikes. Most of their mid to higher level bikes were made by Miyata, but here in southern California, they seem to sell at about 1/2 of what a Miyata, or other top end bike would.

The Italian "Maltrattamento" frame-sets widely shunned for their evil handing characteristics, indifferent construction and temporary finishes can be had for slightly less than the French "En Surpoids" frame-sets noted for weighing slightly less than a complete Raleigh DL-1 and riding like a turnip truck. For real bottom of the barrel nearly worthless old junk seek out the East German bicycle equivalent of the Trabant the "Stasi-Cycle", only available in Red.

-Bandera

Wow, I think the point was undervalued good bikes. The description of the Maltrattamento is funny. I even thought this might be a real manufacturer. It isn't, right?

Frames of this description are sold here on this forum, all the time.

Thanks to El Internetto not much can hide any more regarding quality and price. The usual paradigm of super tall or super short frames being more affordable is fairly true, but becomes essentially irrelevant, IMO, at the high end of things. No one is really devaluing, say, a Paramount because it's a 62cm and not a 56cm. For equal equipment and condition, they will fetch the same money.

The axiom, along the lines of "the bargain is there for the vigilant," still holds true and is one's best bet. I guess if I had to give an answer, it would be all Schwinn road/race bikes immediately below the Paramount, but only to the #2 and maybe #3 positions. So, for 1985, it would be the Peloton. For 1987, it would be the Prologue and the Circuit (we're talking steel here). Excellent tubing (SL, Prestige), (hand)made in Japan by Panasonic, great workmanship and paint. Properly light, too. Not a lot of these sub-Paramount models left, and not many of those were kept up with the same care as a Paramount.

Medici.

Some say Masi quality, but the price point is a lot lower.

Not really sure what price you're looking for though.

If I didn't already have one, I'd be looking for a late 80's, early 90's Cannondale, aluminum frame road bike. Many want carbon now, and shun these, but they are light, stiff, and handle.

+1 on the bargain is there for the vigilant in other words research what makesa bike desirable acquaint yourself with the brands and or models, components and then look on the regular, CL and EBAY get picked over pretty well but deals can be had, also garage sales, bike Co-ops, Facebook, offer up etc. Lots of places to look. I sometimes look at 10 to 20 vaguely worded ads and find only department store bikes but sometimes I find a Trak (Trek) that turns out to be a decent bike for $20. Or a Hybrid bike that is actually a good Mountain bike etc.

I just searched "reynolds 531" on ebay. Great deals on everything from Elvish to Bob Jackson.

Those Elvish frames are from Rivendell......

-Bandera

+1 for Cannondales, and Late Schwinns. We all know how great they are, but the general public doesn't. My main ride is a 89 Cannondale. It's awesome. I also just bought a Tempo for $120. It's in good shape too. Not sure if that's a good deal, but it's my size. I told a friend to look for Schwinn. The first they said, "Like the Walmart bike?"

I just picked up a complete Centurion Pro Tour 15 for $130 this evening. A couple weeks ago I got a beautiful Peugeot PNG 10 sans wheelset and handlebars for $80.

As others have said, it is all about vigilance. Look everyday for a few minutes over a cup of coffee. Be ready to act at moments notice. In general, Italian bikes are rarer to find deals on than Japanese or even Treks.

Probably the best way to get a good value is to know the distinguishing features of a good frame and components, rather than a brand itself. There's been a full 531 frame/fork clad with Campy 7-spd with nice paint sitting my my local CL for $250 for over a month. If it was a more popular brand name, it'd be gone for $100-200 more than that.

If you're lucky and patient then you can get a (relatively) good deal on practically any name quality frame.
The usual suspects '90s cannondale, and '80s schwinn. But the real sleeper for sure is a Centurion Ironman Tange 1 "masters" frame.

...if you teach yourself to paint them, most of the higher end maker frames with crappy paint and some surface rust issues can be had cheaply.
But the whole painting thing is time consuming and labor intensive, so they should be pretty cheap. Plus the stickers will set you back 40 or 50 bucks.

It was the only way I could get onto a Richard Sachs in my size though. If that's important to you. Which it probably isn't. :)

You come out further ahead by buying a whole bike, then parting out what you don't want. I've bought bikes to keep the components, then selling off the frame, and also doing the reverse. Often what I keep is free or nearly free. I

Absolutely! The trick is to understand Vintage Bicycle Quality and get away from the world of click and hope. Get into the field to do some real world searching. At this point in time, I can almost guarantee, any day I wish, that I can find a vintage bicycle, using some or a combination of some of my How To Find A Vintage Bicycle methods. This Atala Professional is not a highly sought after brand but an incredibly nice vintage road bicycle, none the less...
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...49962e6296.jpg

So, too, this late fifties Rabeneick 120d would never had made my gotta get it list, but what a cool bike and bought for a very low price off of Ebay...
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...109ea1b303.jpg

The point is that once you understand what quality items to look for, the easier it will become to find a worthy bike for a really good price. This can happen on-line, but your chances are much better if you hunt in the field. My opinion, of course.

That Atala is beautiful. Any bike with three lugs chrome is a special bike. It plain costs money to do the extra polishing, manufacturers will not easily spend that cash. There is always a reason for spending that cash. Many of the top Atala frames were built by Giuseppe Pela. I don't know how you would confirm any particular frame was from his torch, if the frame is just extra sharp you are allowed to dream.

The brands to seek out are not name brands. Small builders. Or here in the States, name builders no one knows. My Bates is a name brand in my mind, to American minds it is a zero. The Bates was 10% of what it would cost in UK.

Back to square one.

What sort of vintage bikes interest you? Perhaps you are looking for lightweights - in which case there are a lot of useful suggestions (but you'd never catch me owning any aluminum bike, so, sorry Cannondale). If you're interested in vintage mountain bikes, or cruisers, or 3-speeds, or BMX, the answers are going to be very different.

Or maybe you want to buy near top quality once. This is for sale on this forum.