alright, my mom's Boyfriend has an old blue Schwinn stingray fastback that is in pretty good shape, except for tires/tubes/cables. i mean good shape like paint is good (if i clean and polish should be very good but does have a few scratches), chrome has light surface rust that i can probably clean up with steel wool and Flitz metal polish. but the tires are rotted out, cables need replacement, and it has some really ODD handlebars on it as well, not original but im sure vintage. He wants to sell it as it really does not good to him and i cant buy it either, no money and its too small a bike for me. from some of the e-bay sales, i think i should get at least 300 from it, because with tires and cables aside (tires can be found on ebay for 50/set), its in way better condition that some ive seen. I know he wants at least 125 out of it, but i think its worth more.

would it be worth putting new tires/cables or is it worth more selling as is and letting buyer restore? it also has a dyno bottle and front headlight as well as a spedometer. its a 5-speed with the 8-ball shifter...

heres a pic...:



thanks for any info i dont really want to ebay it but i know i wont get anything on craigslist around here. too many cheapies haha

Nice! I can't believe none of the Schwinn aficionados spotted this!

East Hill

I'd say your best bet is to change the tires and cables but don't clean up the chrome.Let the buyer deal with that.Everybody has a different way of dealng with rust on chrome.If you don't know for sure, you might do more harm than good.The handlebars seem to be off of a Sears Screamer(from around the same vintage).Now, while they look cool, it would be worth more with the originals on it.It also appears as if the pedals have been changed(pretty sure they didn't come with toe-clips).Nice bike.

Don't give that away-it is worth some serious money!

The rams horn bars may have been added, as the chain guard would have said Rams Horn Sting Ray, but Schwinn did sell that model with similar bars.

Ebay it as is, you might be surprised as to what people will pay for it

Well, I asked moms bf about the bike, and he said the handlebars were ON THE BIKE when he bought it NEW in '67. The bike was made in Dec '66. nothing has been changed i guess.

AND, to shock probably all of us. He has the ORIGINAL bill of sale, with serial number and purchase date. I saw it with my own eyes, I was kind of speechless. Will that affect the price like a vintage car bill of sale would? I dont think many people keep the bill of sale for a bicycle (although I have for both my road bike and my girlfriends comfort/hybrid)

He was telling me he had bought a few jc penny bikes, but they didnt shift right and had problems so he (with his fathers help) took them back and got their money back, and went to a real bike shop and spent 20 more on a Schwinn.

And the bike cost $71.95 (plus taxes) back in 1967!!!!

just thought i would update and share the exciting info. I wish i could buy it off him and restore it, but its just not my cup of tea (id rather have a 1982 Specialized Stumpjumper in mint condition...)

As much as I hate to see an original bike busted apart, he will get big bucks for that parted out. $100+ for the shifter, $250+ for the seat, etc. The Sting-Ray crowd will eat that up!

Bob

oh im sure hes not going to part it out. the bike and everything on it is in good shape, parting it out would be a disgrace to such a nice classic bike.

especially a ONE-owner bike with original bill of sale...