There is too much nuance on vintage bike pricing, and bicyclebluebook primary interest is in being a profitable business. That doesn't even address the point that all they cover is more recent bikes where they seem to think is the profits are at.

Heck Schwinn made quite a few bikes over the years, this is the only one listed in their bluebook of values:
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...24054c8527.png

I mean, who knows. Seems these things all kind of go in phases, and maybe there will eventually be some sub-group who begin to crave 26" full suspension MTBs with a front derailluer.....

If that happens I think the window will be very short to unload all those 26" bikes before the next sub-group comes along wanting vintage 29ers instead. .

Newer bikes are like newer cars - they're purpose-built to become obsolete as fast as possible, made out of less durable materials, and have finicky technology that generally needs to be swapped out instead of repaired. It's hard for me to believe that these bikes will ever have the kind of broad following that classic steel frame bikes had for the past 20 years or so. At best it will be much smaller groups of fans talking about much narrower categories of bikes.

That and also, anectodally, I find the full-suspension MTB crowd to be much more enthralled with the latest and greatest technology.....rather than any sense of nostalgia or appreciation for riding or owning older bikes.

If you've ever tried to rebuild suspension involving degraded elastomers, you will not try a second time. Not even banned solvents will help with that stuff.

I have certainly done classic bikes and new fangled full suspension mtbs.

If one is a bike enthusiast and likes to ride trails, a modern full squishy bike is simply amazing.

Bring on the high tech imho, but be ready to get out your kid's college funds to pay for them. :)

You're on the right track. I hear BBB has lost Trek a large amount of money by not honoring Trek's used bike appraisals. Carbon footprint? This is about Trek cutting out BBB.

Kid would be better off going into the trades anyway.

But not bicycle repair.

We once had a guy from a local tech high school come into the co-op to ask if we would do internships. We asked him if he knew what bike mechanics actually make. There is a reason the mechanics at the local shop are mostly high school kids and guys living in their parents' basements.

Too bad you don't have a 5500

RIGHT! -- a bunch of years ago I did sell a TREK1400 for $300. I had no idea it would quadruple in value!

(...on the serious side - i REALLY liked how that bonded aluminum frame felt. My memory of riding it in Detroit was that it was smooth on the bad roads, and still had a good snappy feel. sometimes I wish I had kept it)

SpeedOfLite posted a Bicycling! magazine article a few months ago that compared a Trek aluminum bike (that used the same frame as your 1200) to Trek's equivalent steel road bike ("equivalent" meaning same components, fork, and geometry). All the reviewers agreed that the aluminum bike rode more smoothly than the steel bike.

The writer of the article was so impressed, he said that he expected that steel road bikes would all but disappear from the market in the next few years. Which is, of course, exactly what happened.

Loads of great choices. Military, vocational schools and colleges all have their place for the right applicant.

I am a cast is steel (well flab is more accurate) vintage road bike fan. However...
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c58261ad94.jpg

As I age, now five years past my biblical expirery date I find it harder and harder to ride those vintage steeds. The gearing is one issue but getting on and off of those old roadies is difficult for me and my arthritic hip. I actually have to lay the bike down to get on and off. I am hoping that the sloping tube will help with this problem and, so far, it looks good as I have already tried to mount and dismount while stationary. I also would not mind a more forgiving ride experience, thanks to greater air volume in the tires.

So, for some time now, I have been looking on-line for a good deal on a mountain bike. I have little or no intention of spending a big wad of cash. Picked this one up at the McGregor landfill site a few days ago and am about to go for a very careful ride in a few minutes. Fingers crossed and, stupid me or not, I have already spent a bit of money on the bike for a NOS set of brake/shift levers. Anyway, whatcha get for free in my neck of the woods and, as can be seen in the picture above, I do mean woods...
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...67d3f21d87.jpg

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...f842ebc390.jpg


in my area word is out that I’m the nexus for vintage bike crap. The same “friend” who gifted me his beat to heck RockHopper cursed- I mean gifted- me with this Miele (does the name rhyme with “me lay you lay”? Not sure, but I’ve been looking for an excuse to pull out that joke from the MASH movie…)

probably this will go to Back Alley Bikes in Detroit.