Quick -- which one do I buy?
 

- 1968 ladies Robin Hood 3-speed, $25. Needs tires, cables, etc. and a good detailing.

- 198? KHS Winner mixte, $15. Needs tires, cables, etc. It's a low-end model with crap Shimano mechs, and a cottered crank that ought to be swapped out (got the parts already).

Both look like about the same amount of work. Ultimately I think the RH could sell for more, but to a smaller number of potential buyers. The KHS is a mixte, and they sell themselves around here. Can't have both; which one would you pick?

The Robin Hood. Less of a pain to tune up and re-sell. Cheap 10-speeds drive me bonkers with their neverending need for new freewheels due to a skipping/worn high cog.

-Kurt

If the Robin Hood shifts well, go for it.

If you can turn the KHS around quickly enough, get it, and try to get the RH after you sell it.

Both, you cheap b@stard. :D

Any mixte will easily sell where you are - even a gas pipe one, and you needn't swap the cottered crank. The girls just don't care.

Seriously - if you were to buy only one, I'd grab the mixte. For a lower capital outlay your ROI should be as good or better than with the 3 speed. And seeing as how they both need the same about of work, labor is a wash.

I didn't know there was a demand for mixtes. I thought I was the only one. I'm looking for another one, preferably another Raleigh Super Course. My mother wants a three wheeler and I'm thinking about a conversion on three tubulars. I bid on one on eBay a couple of years ago. I think it went for $800. Somebody used to make a really nice conversion kit. I think it was English.

I'd get the Robin Hood because I like 3 speeds, but I don't know anything about selling bikes. I've never sold one.

After I figured in the fun factor, I bought the Robin Hood; I've done nothing but lightweights the past two or three months and something different seemed more entertaining.

But since I sold that Cardinali for $150 this evening, I guess i'll go back and get the KHS in the morning since it will be a quicker turnaround. Nobody knows what a KHS Winner mixte is supposed to look like anyway, so I don't have to worry about authenticity like I will with the RH.

Dave, if you hack up a 531 Super Course frame to make a tricycle out of it, I swear I'll sneak typos into your decals. There's a Centurion Cavaletto ladies model at the corner thrift for $20 that'd be a much better candidate for that project. If you want, I'll grab it for you.

Mike

Centurians are nice, but they don't have the panache of a Raleigh Super Course, do they? The three wheeler kit I've seen is completely bolt-on. It bolts to the dropouts with a couple of struts running to the chainstays. They used to race them in the UK. I've seen pictures. It involves radical leaning to keep three wheels on the ground. I don't think my mother will be doing any racing, though.

Well, that's different then. I had a mental image of you falling about the SC frame with a hacksaw. I'd be interested in seeing that bolt-on kit; I've been wanting a trike to use as a grocery-getter.

If you do an archive search or two on Classic Rendezvous, I think you'll be able to find information on who manufactures/manufactured conversion kits.

Mike

This one is you:

http://tinyurl.com/ndryd

I don't know how to do that.