I would say I have to agree with this 100%. I got into the hobby of riding and restoring vintage bikes while attending grad school from 2010-2014. During this time vintage bikes were more expensive, harder to find, but also sold quickly and for decent money. After graduating, life, a new home, and career got in the way and I left the hobby.

Moving forward, my wife and I recently had a baby, and the best option for us was for me to become a stay at home father. This allowed me more time so I got back into the hobby earlier this year. I found that there were many more venues for buying vintage bikes than before. Not just Craigslist and garage sales like before, but apps like Offerup, Letgo, and FB Marketplace. With all of these new options I was able to find bikes at great prices! I went kind of nuts buying all the bikes I lusted after just a few years before: Klein, Bridgestone, Iron Mans, Merlin, etc. I ended up with too bikes and an angry wife. I kept telling her, don’t worry, I will restore them and sell them and at least break even Well, now I have several bikes that are beautifully restored and just won’t sell, plus several bikes that are sitting and waiting for restoration that require funds from sales that just aren’t happening. I get plenty of interested people, but almost all are lowballs, flakes, and “can you hold it for a few months while I try to get funds” types. I’m finding that the new apps are great for buying bikes, but horrible for selling them. The only venue I actually make sales with are Craigslist, or here on the bikeforums C&V sales thread. I’m at the point where I just want to liquidate all the bikes that don’t fit me at or below cost, just to be rid of the headache.

It really hasn’t been all bad though. I’ve acquired some truly great and beautiful keeper bikes, I’ve had a blast restoring the bikes, and have made some friends along the way!

I believe that there are several factors leading the declining vintage market, but regardless of why, it just IS. I was never in this hobby to make money, but I’m tired of LOSING money, so I’m getting out of the restoring-to-sell side of it and will focus on bikes that are my size, so I can at least ride them! Haha!

-Ian

The bike market went soft about a year ago here. CL is loaded with bikes, the same ones have been on there for months and some of those were on all last summer too and it's not that they're overpriced. There hasn't been anything very interesting either, mostly hybrids, cruisers and kids bikes, nothing C&V. I sold a couple nice hybrids early last year that brought decent money but after that nothing. I sold a Frankenbike to a co-worker a few weeks ago at a loss and I have several I'm going to to list soon because I need space and I'm sure to lose my shirt on every single one of them but they gotta go. I got my work space so jammed up I can't work on a bike without tolling a half dozen outside, that has to end.

People want disc brakes & light weight. E-bikes are real now. New bikes look different from vintage bikes. Fewer people wrench anything any more.
They see OLD-ness. And it looks outdated.

So yeah, anything but true classics sold to the cognoscenti is next to garbage.

Still looking for that classic German roadie - affordably. (Size 59/60).

I've got more of 'em than I really need. What I've deemed surplus will be sold off for what the market will bear. No biggie. Markets shift, and it's always been just a hobby. There may be one or two added during the market slump. We'll see.
Personally, I'm more interested to see where the retail bike industry goes from where it is now. I draw a part time income from working at a local shop, and will need to for several more years, so it's more concerning than the state of the vintage market.

A/D Vent Noir in smoked chrome?

Comes and goes.
I've ridden 4 different bikes in June.
They all had flats.

I'm seeing a few bikes on my local CL that would have moved pretty quickly a couple of years ago. Now they just hang around tempting me but not being sold.

Thing is, I've already got three bikes I really like, and that's enough. At this point I'm willing to skip spending $400 on that single-owner 70s Raleigh International in favor of rebuilding the wheels on the Volare with TB-14s (or some other purchase that'll bring my bikes one step closer to "perfect"). And I'd still have a few bucks left over.

Maybe I was the market.

I'd rather pet a skunk and yell at a bird than sell a $20 Suntour FD to someone who might show.

I don't know if it is the same here. I was doing well earlier in the spring, but we have had so much rain lately that I assumed peoples thoughts were not on bikes as much. That and it seams a lot more people are restoring and flipping than there used to be, maybe due to a tough job market. I do agree that the multitude of online methods to sell your stuff has resulted in more used bikes on line. Kijiji (Canadian thing I think) has just over 6000 listings right now for Calgary alone. Some 1200 are parts and accessory listings. We still have Craigslist, eBay, and Facebook Market Place too. I guess the good this is more stuff is being recycled rather than being trashed.

One thing I have noticed in the last number of years is that here we have a sweet spot on the calendar to sell bikes. It is a combination of the snow melting, the streets cleaned, and sunny weather, but there is a period of 1-3 weeks where if you have stuff ready to go it mostly sells. Then you sit on most of it till next year.

I have that frame in 62/63cm as the Olympian. But it’s Austrian.
I’ll send Arnold and his friends to ‘pump you up’.



I passed on a 1 size too small Staiger that might have converted to a city bike. Have the chainring cover to justify the low price of the bike. But I drew the line, on size.

Seems road is most affected although road riding is very popular. It became realized the low end volume was produced for so long, so top end is where it's at. Was cool to ride an old bike but they are so cheap it's not cool anymore. Also road fit, unlike other bikes there are so many that specify bikes only fit within 1cm. When you go to sell, the market is quite small once a buyer piles on other wants and needs.

Early year, custom known builders and 90s MTB still do good to very good. The odd gap of 85'-90', most models anyway, are unwanted. One cool thing. Koski Bros are selling new F/F sets.

Surprisingly, 5k plus sales are not uncommon for rare prewar bikes. The CABE turns a fair amount. There is some wealth looking there for bikes. The good stuff flies.

BMX has its likes and dislikes, clean and top end sell quick and are not cheap. Lots of ads wanting to buy, that say a lot. Guys are in their prime earning years. Most are 40-55. The era of true BMX race (DG, JMC, Cook Bros,..) from the late 70s to mid 80s are not cheap. 84'-87', the start and peak of Freestyle type bikes bring money, earlier 84-85 USA bringing top dollar. The thing with BMX, it was in its infancy whereas road has been around decades so there is not nearly as much out there. On a side note, The Stranger Things (TV show based in the 80s) has had BMX guys blowing up all the BMX FB pages for days now. Its love or hate. Bike is based on a classic Mongoose BMX and it's been interesting.

Have you tried selling any of them here? We're about the biggest suckers in the world for pretty steel bikes.

I recently had this discussion with my cousin who has a bunch of older bikes he was thinking of selling. About 25 years ago I started collecting a few C&Vs now down to only about a half dozen older bikes. Everything has tanked, especially mountain bikes. 20 years ago you could sell a rough cromoly frame easily for 200-300 with many bidders. Nowadays you're lucky to get 1-2 bidders and $50...

Think you have a nice titanium moots 26r bringing in big bucks, think again....
Think your carbon bike with USPS logos is worth a bundle, think again.....
Think your hip handmade NJS kieren bike is real expensive, think again....

Luckly I've sold the first two types but still have two NJS bikes most cause they are still pretty cool to look at, fun to ride in the city and locally and not worth much

Prices spiked up with the Lance era for obviously reasons, everyone loved bikes and couldn't get enough of it. GenX got jobs, bought the holy grail bikes they always wanted as a kid, like David's Masi or a Klein Top Gun. But with lots of collectibles its the general masses who moves the needle of prices in the short term. Should a common $1000 bike from the 80s be double the price in 25 years (supply and demand pricing)? IMO the prices have dropped and leveled off to where it was before the boom. Just like you should not be buying an air cooled Porsche at the moment or a convertible 70s muscle car at the current price peaks. Sorry if you've been buying and holding bikes for the last 30 years and need to sell now. Expect to get fleeced.

Good thing if your looking, the price is right now
Want a 3rensho for under a grand?
Want a Merlin for under a grand? These are 2019 prices and probably won't change much for some some time. The casual collectors have moved on to something else...

Thoughts and ramblings...

With anything 'collectible', a lot can be done for developing the marketplace. Instead of getting out while you can, stay in it because you love it and do stuff to grow the hobby and reap the benefits.
Organize C&V events in your community like swaps, rides, workshops, shows, etc...
Get C&V projects in the schools, youth organizations, etc...
Use social media to connect and bring C&V people together.
Promote larger regional and national events like Eroicas....but include events where participants don't need a week long recovery..

I am involved in the C&V car hobby and there are a lot of similarities in the market forces at play.
Markets are driven by supply and demand.

Promote the 'cool' factor, not just the utilitarian aspect cycling. (save that for modern machinery)

Tap into peoples vanity and their desires to have what other people don't or wish they did.

I have been to a car show just about every weekend this spring/summer....have not seen a bike show (yet) where I live. It would be easy and welcomed by those downtown shops that always seem to want events to increase foot traffic for their businesses...heck, maybe do them in conjunction with the car events? (one of the reasons I like C&V bike stuff is it is very similar to the satisfaction I get from the car hobby, but SOOOO much more affordable)

Increase the demand.

My sentiments, exactly. I did sell off almost everything but I kept what was important - one rider and one project. And, it is time for today's ride on that old GP...

While it was my intention, now that I'm retired, to getting Syke's Cyclery back going full blast like I was doing last decade and the first half of this one, I'm also noticing the market isn't there for fixing and flipping anymore. So, I'm not bothering. Rather I'm spending the time working on a couple of projects of long term interest (my '77 PX-10 which will be on the road . . . . . someday), finishing the final details off my Rossin's, and messing with whatever I can get my hands on that's pre-WWII. And working with a couple of WWII reenactment groups who want to add a bicycle to the group impression, but are determined to do it perfectly.

I'm still probably going to do a bit of culling on the personal collection (19 bikes now, unfortunately I can only think of two that I'd want to sell right now), and I'm definitely not interested in adding anything new . . . . . . unless it's another Rossin . . . . . . so I'll just keep wrenching as needed and riding daily.

I will admit, I had fun back then running the full blown repair and restoration shop. Pity the market's making that untenable.

As one who is familiar with the effect the movie 'Jaws' had on the popularity of shark fishing (caused some species to go endangered and made millionaires out of some charter boat captains), and the effect the movie 'A River Runs Through It' had on the popularity of flyfishing for trout (caused trout streams everywhere to be more crowded and turned flyfishing into a multi billion dollar industry), all we need is a Hollywood blockbuster about road biking starring the latest young heartthrob.


Perhaps a movie based on the life of Greg Lemond? Picture a climactic scene with Zac Efron slamming through the gears with his downtube shifters to take the lead and win the race. All of a sudden any bike with downtube shifters would be sought after and preferred over brifter equipped bikes.

It's about time Hollywood did another biking movie actually. 'American Flyers' is 33 years old. Perhaps the doping scandal is to blame.

I don't know too much about the actual value of some of my classic bikes , but I have no desire to sell any of them so I guess it doesn't really matter. I think the top end bikes will always be worth something just because they are noticeably special (Campagnolo) . That being said , I was asked by a close friend to get rid of his 1973 P13 Paramount so I guess I am about to find out! I would keep it if it were my size or I didn't have so many bikes already. It would be hard to justify another acquisition right now . Joe joesvintageroadbikes.wordpress

About 3-4 years ago when the Mpls market was super hot the competition increased for the raw product due to additional flippers getting in on the action. I feel fortunate that for various reasons, including time to invest, I became more selective (does it fit me?, is it something I'd want?, is it too good to pass up? etc.) about the same time. Therefore in the past year or two I had a minimal amount to unload as the prices and demand declined.

The whole peak vintage revival has left me with about 10 bikes more than my wife claims I need but I love them all and am not yet ready to part with them. My only regret is that I was hoping the premium prices for 80's vintage full touring bikes would supplement my retirement income as I weaned myself from them. I fear that the interest in bike packing style bikes and the general decline in C&V will reduce the value of my collection. I guess all I can do is enjoy them while I can and if the local market is still soft I can offer them up here for a fair price and know they will have a good home.

Have any of you noticed a difference in the valuation of touring bikes as compared to other C&V bikes?