I am a flipper too. But have a hard time finding time to do it. I flip maybe one bike a month on average. But what I want to know is do you guys rebulid everything? I do everything! regrease everything check all the bearings and replaces cones etc.. as necessary. It can take me weeks doing bits and piece here and there. Not to mention I get incomplete bikes and piece them together and have to deal with all kinds of incompatability issues etc. etc. Say you spin the wheel and the bearings seem okay? will you bother servicing the hubs? Another problem is I have a hard time getting what I want for them sometimes because people on craig's list would rather buy an 80 dollar junker then a 140 dollar fully serviced bike with new parts...

I'm exactly the same. Result: I've been stuck with a bike-filled, grease-laden apt for months, and I have these completely maintained bikes just basking in their glory. Oh yeah, I also polish and wax the frames. I kind of think that I'd be able to work a lot faster if I had a nice, roomy garage.

When I find an underpriced but potentially somewhat valuable bike it may get what I call the "ultimate overhaul. I get somewhat bored so to liven things up I'll dissassemble everything and I mean everything down to their elemental parts then jumble everything together in a pile. Then I sort, clean and re-assemble the cleanest, most nit-picked bicycle in captivity. About half way through the process I wonder why I did such a stupid thing and promise to never bother doing it again. Yet a few weeks later there's another small mountain of metal, rubber and plastic at my feet. And when I tell a potential buyer that I've gone through that bike I mean it.

I know what you mean but I have become somewhat more organised and but it still becomes chore like after while rebuilding old hi-tensile low end bikes when I want to be polishing my campy component or overhauling those hubs for my own bikes, but instead I am pressed to free up space and get some of the bike done and out of here!

I haven't been doing this vintage thing very long, so I've mostly just been looking for that next bike that is better than all my previous ones. The problem is I haven't been selling the previous ones. ;D

haha I know! I have a Norco Victory that's near mint, full 600. Problem is I traded some of the original components but I don't think replacing nitto with cinelli is too bad... But now this bike which was one of my prized rides has been usurped by a raleigh team pro, a marinoni and soon a Faggin with super/nouvo record mix... I can't justify keeping it.. other than a winter bike... hmmm

In my case the flipping is more like giving them away. Fat family, carless nephews, friends, poor kids next door; I've been completely overhauling and tuning old bikes for anyone who needs one.

I started flipping bikes last year after I was schooled by two of the best (Bigbossman and mswantak)
Anyways here's what do. First I never like mismatched parts so Suntour with suntour etc. and if I need stuff I go find it at swap meets, trade with the guys I know on the bbs, and hit this one LBS that keeps old parts around. I buy stuff in bulk tires, cables, tubes, to cut costs. Anyways, for the bike they get new cables, housings, tires and tubes if they need it, wheels trued if needed, new chain if stretched, new bearings in the hubs, new bar tape if it needs it, bottom bracket and headset work if needed. Everything else is cleaned, adjusted, detailed, lubed, wash and waxed. Yeah, it seems like a lot of work and yeah, to be honest I really only make a few bucks here and there but it pays for my bike gear and my ride fees and best of all I get some real enjoyment out of what I do.

[QUOTE=cyclotoine]But what I want to know is do you guys rebulid everything?

Yeah. I cant seem to leave things well enough alone. Ive got a reverse midas touch. Everything I touch eventually turns to crap.

I am proud of my 65 sears cyclocross and my 47 monark mtb though. Oh yeah and the 3 speed le tour and single speed traveler.

The only thing I don't both with is waxing, maybe I should look into it, for my own bikes sake at least. In one case I bough a french bike for the record hubs and flipped it with a different wheel set. I started riding with this new group last week and she is one of the people and is really into biking now. It's nice to see my work went to good use and she is taking care if it and doesn't have a single complaint.

Along the lines of waxing, if a bike's finish and decals are especially dull or scuffed, I'll spray a fresh clearcoat on the frame while the bike's apart. The results are always good, and sometimes they're spectacular.

The clear coat works wonders!

Great idea! What kind of clearcoat are you applying. A enamel, fizz bomb?

Are you guys talking about flipping higher end bikes? It would seem counter productive to be clear coating schwinn varsitys. Not that there is anything wrong w/ a restoration on any bike you if you love it, but if you are trying to profit it would only really work where you could recoup the time put in in the form of extra $$$$ right?

. I buy stuff in bulk tires, cables, tubes, to cut costs.

where do you get these in bulk? I want to do this! I seem to need more and more of these things and people give me more and more bikes to fix. Got a pile of 70s crusiers that just need new tires and brake pads and things a Scwhinn world I want to build up for my roomate as a cheapo commuter and beatiful 1983 nishiki cresta that will be my new touring rig. I live in a wierdo artist communal house with 5 other people and I'm the only one that knows how to fix bikes and has some of the tools and a bike stand. but i love making bikes work so i don't mind

seriously PM me or email me at Mrhedges@riseup.net if you know where to buy tires,tubes,brake pads, cables at wholesale prices.

Awwww....yer making me blush.....

Same here. I'm looking to do as little as possible to the bike, but I don't cut corners - if a cable needs replacing, I replace it, etc. But, for example, if the tape is all scrunched up but salvageable, I'll re-use it when I re-tape the bars. I have two overall criteria that drives what I do:

1) The end result must be in absolutely ready-to-ride condition. No exceptions - from the saddle down to the BB, the bike must be solid and ready for service. I ASSUME the next owner nows nothing about wrenching on bikes, and I sell them a bike in a mechanical condition that (hopefully) precludes anyone having to work on it for a long time.

2) The bike must be as clean and bright as possible. That means at a minimum I pull the wheels and drive crank, hoist it up on a rack and clean the frame thoroughly. This can mean as little as a soap/water bath followed by a good toweling, or more likely a complete cleaning/degreasing. For some reason, I seem to sell a lot of bikes to women, and this seems to be a really, really BIG item with them.

On dull finishes I've been known to use rubbing compound followed by polish, but this is labor intensive. I may have to investigate the clearcoat thing.....

The margin is thin, so I don't make much on the flips, all things considered. But it pays for my hobby without robbing from the household budget, and that's my primary aim. Well....that, and the therapy of actually pulling them from the dustbin and making them usefull again. I really get off on that, and selling them is just a plus. Besides, it's cheaper than a shrink.......

I guess I had the wrong idea of what "flipping" was. I always assumed it meant finding an under valued treasure (garage sale, gift from friend, dumpster, etc.) and then selling it for a profit on ebay, with minimum work/expense put into it. If you are adding value by cleaning, lubing, replacing parts before selling, then you may never recover all that you put into it, but at least you have a relaxing hobby that kept a bike out of a landfill.

That's the nut, right there. You're version of "flipping" is right on. I absolutely try to put in minimum expense and realize a decent profit, but I won't flip a bike that needs work. Therefore, labor is a constant and thus the biggest "expense".

Undervalued treasures are relatively few and far between.The reality is more like finding decent bikes in various stages of disrepair at thrifts and other places for modest prices, and getting them back in running trim. If you evalute every potential bike properly, labor will always be the biggest obstacle, as most bikes need at least 2-3 or more hours labor to set things right. Think of it as sweat equity when you're flipping a house - same deal. The questions you need answered when you come across a potential diamond in the rough are three-fold:

1) How much does it cost
2) How much will it cost in parts/labor to make it sound/desireable
3) What will it be worth at resale

Obviously, if you have to pay $50 for a bike, sink $50 into it, and only get $120 for it after spending 2-3 hours getting it ready, it's not really worth it. Answering those three questions sounds easy, but sound evaluations come only after experience.

Remember - "good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from poor judgement".

Consumables are another factor - Tires, tubes, bar tape, cable housings, and cables are an example. Most bikes I find will need at least tires and tape, and quite often more than that.

When you make a mistake and buy a candidate that you shouldn't have, you have just created spare parts inventory. Now you can spread your "loss" over future projects. Also, you can hook up with others in the area that do the same thing, and trade parts.

In summary, if I come across a decent bike that needs a lot of work, I'll have trouble forking over much more the $10 for it, unless it is special or I want it for myself. Otherwise, it's just not worth the time and effort. You have to "add value" to move it along, and if done properly you will always make something on the effort.

!!!

I used to buy all my friends used bikes when they got new ones. Schwinn Sting Rays, that sort of thing. I'd clean, wax, polish and grease. I'd steel wool the cheap zinc spokes and make them shine too. Then into the Pennysaver and out the door for a $15-20 profit. Not bad money for a kid in the late sixties!

My garage is overflowing with stuff now, so I know I gotta start selling something soon.

Heh, heh.......... I've got at least 10 bikes in the garage (not counting "mine") that are in various stages of disrepair, not to mention the 3-4 partials in the shed waiting for me to do something with them.

I have been deliberately avoiding thrift shops as of late, and still managed to have a Trek 820 Antelope follow me home the other day.

"No good bike left behind"..... and a few not-so-good ones, too.........

I've got various answers to this. My first real flip deal was those 4 ebay bikes the other week. They were all beautifully maintained, and ready to go straight back out the door. Bike number one, the Bates track bike, has more than covered what I paid for all 4, but the other 4 don't have the same vintage appeal, so they're getting parted out and sold that way. Little or nothing to do there.

I also have 3 mountain bikes to sort out for friends - all need no more than lubrication and cables, that I can see, and I'll only start greasing bearings if there's a real sign of need. I have a road bike that I got in a package deal with a BMX for £10, that I'm doing up for a friend. The rear wheel was borked, but I got a campy/shimano wheelset for £5 that only needs a new tube. This bike has Cinelli bars and stem, and since I bought another bike to convert to singlespeed where I'm swapping the bars out for some chopped ones, I'm going to stick the bars, stem and levers from that onto his bike (benefits him, he gets aero levers), and sell the Cinelli bars and stem, which may even put me in a small profit on the whole deal.

When I have the energy, I trawl ebay for badly described bikes, and for parts that for some reason aren't selling, but I don't do it all the time. Thrift stores and charity shops here just don't do bikes, and I've yet to find a reliable source apart from Ebay....

The thrift stores here in San Diego generally suck when it comes to bikes. My local Salvation Army store had a cheap, off brand Japanese bike boom bike for $69.95. No wonder it took a couple of months to sell.....

I have flipped a couple of bikes on CL and one on the 'Bay. I completely strip each bike down, regrease BB/headset/hubs, true wheels if needed, and build it back up. I don't always replace cables, housing, chain, tires, tubes, or bar tape depending on the condition. All of the bikes I have flipped I bought for $30 and under and sold for atleast $100. The $100 bike needed tires ($20) and new shifter cables ($7). When I sell a bike on CL I sell it as ready to ride. The one bike I sold on Ebay I only cleaned up and made a very large profit on for only 1-2 hours of work. I need to find some good deals on bulk shift cables, brake cables, and housing. I have two Schwinn MTB and one Peugot that need to be finished. The Peugot had a trashed rear wheel. I might buy a new rear wheel, and turn it into a fixed gear/SS bike. I have a couple of other frames that I might put up on Ebay because I robbed parts from them for my own bikes.

I have never thought about flipping bikes but I recently started thinking about flipping parts. I was inspired by a guy selling an old quil Cinelli stem with an old Cinelli bars. He had the stem and the bar parts (not covered by tape) polished to a mirror perferction. They looked beautiful and went for around $90. He said the stem was formerly black anodized.

I did some internet searches for polishing aluminum and I thought, with the right tools(dremel tool and sandpaper), I could do that. I had an old black anodized Cinelli stem that I bought for $7. That would be perfect for practicing. I sanded the black anodizing off with course sandpaper. That took a little longer than I thought. Next I worked my up with 300, 500, 1000, 1500, and 2000 grit sandpaper. After that I used a dremel tool to polish it. It looks great but along the way I messed up the plastic button. I am going to experiment with epoxy and my computer printer to come with something for the hole.

I bought a Shimano Dura Ace quil stem for $25 on ebay. It was not in very good shape. It had lots of scratches. I took a little time to sand out the scratches and worked my way up to 2000 grit. After a polishing I have my stem looking nicer than Dura Ace Stems I have seen sell for $70 and $80.

I have a few other parts that I am working on. An old Sugino 110 BCD crank and an old Shimano 600ex crank. I think with more practice I will get better and more efficient at it. I think the best parts to do this with are older ones where the logos are engraved on not printed on. The beauty of this is that you can scratched up stuff for cheap and turn it into a real treasure. I think there is some potential in this if you become really good at this. I have seen polished components fetch some big bucks.