some bikes I've flipped recently, plus what I paid vs what I got.

raleigh sprite, paid $38 + $8 (new tires), got $160.


70s or early 80s Westfalen "top modell", paid $21 + $14 (new tires), got $100.


1989 Schwinn world, paid $25 + $2.50 new bar wrap, got $75.00


1980-something motobecane le velo. paid $17.00, got $80.00


current project, 1985 peugeot city express, paid $27.00, hope to get $75.00


all these bikes required varying degrees of labor / adjustments, etc. to make them market worthy.
I probably spent 3-4 hours of cleaning and polishing of the westfalen alone.
What are some of your best flips?

$10 dura-ace crankset sold for $150, $150 track frame sold for $650, $100 (+$250) 1980 Japanese dura-ace equipped road bike hopefully selling for $800+.

I don't buy things with the intention of flipping them, but sometimes you just can't pass up a deal.

- Joel

$2 raliegh sport +14 for tires sold $200, Free raliegh record(team raliegh) sold $110, schwimm tempo $2 sold $175, schwinn frame $75 sold $250, concord freedom deluxe traded for $100 peugeot, $11 soma sold frame for $50 traded back wheel for campagnolo derailer plus schwinn light set and odometer; useing the shimano 600 and superbe parts to upgrade the peugeot and will use peugeot parts to upgrade $15 motobecane mirage, $1 continental plus $12 tires sold $110. I'll try to think of more. Sorry no photos

Don't know where you live but I'd possibly be in the market for one of your flips. Something like the Westfalen with headlight& taillight, fenders, about 58cm top tube. To have you find it, prep it and make it roadworthy is worth $100, easily - maybe even $105.

What part of the country are you in?

Sorry, the westfalen has sold, the peugeot has not though. I'm in N.C., if you aren't, it probably isn't worth the shipping costs to get the bike.

I have $30 in this sprite. And its basically a new 1975 Sprite. Hmmmmmmm

Unfortunately, my best possible flips have all been my size, so they became keepers. I have made some decent money lately.

Schwinn worldsport, ice blue. Beautiful bike, wish it fit me. Paid $16, got $140.



Maruishi RX-4. Paid $16, about to get $150 possibly.



Raleigh Olympian, got in a trade for a $28 no name CrMo MTB with new tires. Got $180.



Red Collegiate 5 speed. Paid $20, got $120.





There are others, but I tend to trash the pics after a while.,,,,BD

I have a couple off the top of my head.

81 Trek 410' bought for $25 sold for $150


73 Raleigh Record Ace bought for $24 sold for $256 on Ebay, and I kept the Brooks Pro that was on it.


84 Schwinn Le tour with maybe 100 miles on it. Paid $35 sold for $150. Buyer came to look at it, and said he wasn't planning to spend that much. But, he said he would because of the great shape it was in. Univega Gran Turismo bought for $25 sold for $100 without touching it. All other bikes I atleast cleaned up, but usually did a complete overhaul. The Univega sold a week after I got it without turning a single wrench on it. I have done pretty good on my fixed gear conversions I have sold (three so far), and made over $100 profit on each one. I spend more on them because each one gets a brand new flip/flop wheelset ($120 ebay special) and a new sealed BB.

The best money maker would definately have to be my two almost complete Paramounts (73 P13 and 76 P14) plus a box full of Campagnolo shifters, Brooks Pro, derailleurs, hubs, (two pairs of track two pairs road) pedals, 2 Cinelli steel track bars, Cinelli steel track stem, vintage steel adjustable Track stem, and a bunch of other parts for $330!! Problem is both bikes are my size and you will pry them from my cold dead hands!

I am not a good flipper.

I can't even bring myself to sell my '72 Paramount P-10, the one I promised myself I would sell or part out to help pay for my 73 P-15.

I get too attached to those things. I have sold some parts, though, but the parts were not bought with the intention of flipping.

my best was a 1981 carlton which I paid $75 for and got $375 and a Brooks pro select and old logo campione del mondo bars (i.e. I kept those items and tuned cleaned and flipped it with generic japanese replacement bars)... 531 frame it was.... That is easily that best often I don't make much money. I bought a late 70s marinoni for a friend and swapped a NR for the Rally RD and New logo stem and bars for the old logo cinelli stuff and sold it to him for what I paid... the parts I got were part of the agreement in my financing it for a month or so... But I put aero levers and new bar tape on it. But I have flipped so many I can't even remember... Bianchi MTB bought $45 sold $125... lots of stuff like that...

I suffer from the attachment problem as well


Where are most of your sales? eBay? Craigslist?

Some of my more recent flips:

Raleigh Technium. paid $25, sold for $270


Bridgestone MB-5. trash picked, sold for $95 with some nearly new slicks.


Sekai something or other. Paid $15, sold for $125.


Novara Strada. Paid $20, sold for $190.


I didn't have to do anything to any of these bikes besides fix a flat! The Bridgestone was sold as a project and still needed some work. The Raleigh and the Novara have probably been my best flips but I have sold tons of trash picked bikes and framesets for over $100 without putting any money into them.

[QUOTE]

Man, that Raleigh and the Westfallen are beautiful.

I wish I could find bikes like that.

For me, Craigslist, I don't want to deal with shipping / payment. Most of my bikes come from thrift stores, I make weekly rounds to see what turns up. Haven't found any
free dumpster bikes yet. One homeless fellow offered his 1984 Raleigh caprice to me for $20 (unprompted other than I said "nice bike" to him), I put new tires and bar wrap on it and got $100...now I feel like I owe the homeless guy some more $...

Take him out for a drink!

Bought fall & winter, sold late winter/spring:
--1996 Fuji Team Ultegra/brifters seized, True Temper OCX frame, paid $100+$25 parts/white lightening/tri-flow, got the brifters working+ 1 hr cleaning & adjusting & bar wrap, only flip that was my size at 25" but its aggressive geometry and tire size limited to 28mm max made it not a keeper. Playing with these brifters validated my guess that STI is not for me--too much sugar for a dime, sold $575 CL
--1988 Schwinn Super Sport, parts bin epiphany...replaced upright bars with parts bin sourced alloy stem & bars & suicide brake levers, new tires & bar wrap, about two hours, glommed the 600 pedals/Christophe clips and replaced with parts bin sourced rat trap platform pedals, $85 all in, $225, sold to the first guy who came to look at the Trek Antelope, so didn't even have to take pix or post on CL.
--1992 Trek Antelope 820, bar wrap & new tube & one hour cleaning/adjusting, $28 cost, $115 sale
--These three were a bundle, $100 to buy, $65 parts, $425 sold:
----1988 Schwinn Prelude one hour cleaning/adjusting, stuck Cinelli stem that neither I nor the VLW sympathetic LBS could free up, $125,
----1982 Schwinn World Sport faux mixte, several hours cleaning/tubes/wrap/major tuning $100, and a
----1992 Schwinn PDG Paramount OS2/RX100 group (sold to an employee/friend 'cheap' at $225), new tires/tubes & adjusting. This is indeed a beauty, its Made In Japan cherry red lugged steel frameset a joy. Its far too small for me, but I still miss it.
--Several 1982 Schwinn Le Tour 1020 framed blue mixtes, about $30 each, several hours each major tune up, sold $135 each.
--Early '70's Peugeuot entry level yellow hi-tensile framed Record du Monde, Rigida raised pattern steel rims, Suntour down tube ratcheting shifters, cottered cranks (French BB), took its upgraded near new Shimano Crane GS long cage rear derailleur & Titlist front derailleur, swapped in some mid-80's Shimano Light Action derailleurs from the parts bin. About 30 minutes freeing stuff up. Paid $10, sold for $25 to a close friend who lives in-town for a grocery getter/bar bike. We agreed to leave all the grimy dusty crud intact so as to protect its status as a knock around bike. I immediately put the Crane GS rd on my owned since new 1978 Fuji Sports 10 with 50/34 / 14/28 six cog compact double...very sweet.
--1986 Schwinn World Sport, semi-trashed. Paid $20. Sold frame for $30. Salvaged bars, stem, brakes, crankset, bb & wheelset.
--1985 Ross Grand Tour 4130 frame, 25". This was a 'rescue'. $35 at the thrift store. Came with stripped crank threads and cheap riveted chain wheels (used the hot water method to free them up then pounded off the crankset, worked very well), very nice 700c x 19 mm wheelset, cheap quill pedals, cheap but well working Shimano Light Action derailleurs and very nice Shimano sidepull relatively long reach brakes. Still have this frame and wheelset, I guess I need to list here in the For Trade thread, as the local single speed folks haven't yet snapped it up. Its really a nice frame, just no elan I guess.

All bikes sold locally here in Atlanta on CL.

This year's best innovation: home brewed penetrating oil composed of 50/50 30 wt oil and mineral spirits. Great for gunked up / rusted derailleurs, cables, bottom bracket cable guides, calipers and chains. Leaves no residue, dissolves rust and cheap as all get out.

I try to use cheap tires for flips. I've have good luck with Performance $7 27x1-1/4's, but Performance's $7 700cx25mm tires, well, about nine out of ten of the 700c's refuse to seat and I have given up on them after burning hours and hours. I use Continental Ultra Sports for 700c applications, about $12 each at Performance when I force a web based price match. They mount quickly and reliably, unlike the seven dollar Performance ones. (In the interest of equal time--I use Performance Cross K 700c x 35mm on my daily ride, $8.50 each, and after 1000 miles they have zero bling but they are performing fine. Go figure.)

Interesting to see everyone's prices. It would be helpful to mention where you are located.

I sold a complete Cannondale R-800 that I did not ride on Craigslist, but the parts always go on Ebay. I watch Craigslist locally for stuff to buy, but seldom get lucky.

I can't reveal - ya'll would stone me.......

I've heard some of those stories. Big rocks they'd be reaching for I'm sure.....

Actually, you've got some operation making the rest of us look bad -- you clean the bikes before you sell them!

^^^^
I am the bad actor here--I have never sold a bike. Too much attachment to those tiny bikes.

I have given a few away...only because I know that they will be going to good homes .

East Hill

I gave a co-worker a Trek Elance 400 that I found at a yard sale for $40.
His first comment was "Where's the kickstand?"

I don't think that I would consider that a good placement .

Although many of mine seem to have come with kickstands...if he really needs one I probably have one to spare!

East Hill

This should be a sticky thread!

here are 2 more I found pics of:
1984 raleigh capri, the infamous "homeless" flip bike:

It needed new tires (I put michelin 28mm city tires on it) and tubes.

and a ~1985 fuji regis:

I sold it for a friend, my cut was the tires I put on the capri.

Kemmer,
Im amazed that you got $270 for that Technium. I bought one of those new in 84 and my love affair didnt last long at all...never liked it. Sold it quickly though, no problem. Went with Schwinn from there. Maybe it was me?