legnano for a 9yr old?
 

hey guys,

this is a repost moved from the road forum, but it's better suited here.

i have found a legnano with 24" wheels that'd be perfect for my 9yr old daughter. its perfect for a kid that size. the crazy shop owner never deals down and he told me he's had the bike sitting in his shop for 13 yrs. he's asking $600 for it. not sure of all the components as he didn't want me loitering around in the mess of a shop he has. I know it has campy record hubs, not sure of the derailleur and grupo, campy cranks, and i think the model is a Capello but i'm unfamiliar with Legnano models so i could very well be wrong.

am i going over the top considering getting this or be happy with anotheer find of cannondale 44cm for her at $150?

i wish i had pics but again crazy french owner would probably ban me from his shop if i did.

thanks for any input.

Don't do it! That Legnano will most likely disappear within a month and reappear on craigslist. I read the earlier posts and you are getting sound advice. I bought my Legnano at age thirteen and had to watch it like a hawk to prevent it from being stolen. That was in 1962! Go ahead and buy the bike and perhaps allow your daughter to ride it on supervised rides. But definitely not as a bike to just knock around on. One more thing; don't put a kickstand on it!

I disagree... With a propor lock and some pitlock skewers it would be perfectly safe most anywhere as long as you dont leave it overnight...

thanks for the advice. i'll hold off as it seems my excitement for vintage was getting the better of me in terms of not being realistic with my kid...now only if I can find a legnano for me!

our bikes are locked indoors at night and I probably wouldn't let her out of my sight with this ride.

my other thought thou was hoping that i could deal him down which right now isn't happening. what i dont understand is the shop owners thinking of holding onto a bike for 13yrs without selling it. isn't a bike only worth what someone's willing to pay for it? perhaps i'll give it till spring. if it hasn't gone anywhere in over a decade its safe to say it'll be there in may.

You need to sweet talk the bike shop owner and get more info on the Legnano. Tell him you'll give him a shameless plug on the C&V forum. With more info the forum members can offer up a lot of valuable assistance re that Legnano. I myself have kept a log of almost every Legnano sold on ebay in the last two years. If the shop owner thinks his Legnano is worth $600 then he should allow you to view it if you conduct yourself as a serious buyer. Oh and in response to your question about the value of that Legnano I would have no problem parting with six Franklins depending upon condition and components.

Sounds like Pollyanna has joined the forum. No offense intended SingeDebile but no bike left accessible to the public is ever perfectly safe. If thieves can make off with an automobile equipped with antitheft devices parked in a safe location then..... By the way does anyone know what the definition of a pessimist is? ...... An optimist with experience.

I thought that was my job :p .

Seriously, velocidad, I take it that you asked the owner about lowering the price?

I know that if my dad had gotten me something like that at age nine I would have been ecstatic. Hmmm, how old is the owner? Perhaps you should mention something like--"You know, your estate will put that beauty on eBay and get a pitiful price for it, but if you sell it to my daughter for [insert your price], we will be coming in your shop for the rest of our lives AND I will sing your praises on Bike Forums, the best, most influential place for cycling enthusiasts on earth. Deal?"

East Hill

IMO its a bad idea. A friend was given a really small Ciocc in pristine condition for his pre-teen son to ride, which he did. Into an immovable object. The bike wasn't destroyed but it was damaged.

Kids bikes, if they actually get used, get dropped, crashed, left behind parked cars, forgotten at the playground and more. Its inevitable.

I once saw a kids Legnano and took a picture:
http://www.tourgalerie.de/cpg132/dis...e.php?pos=-846

i loved it :)

Nice, but the handlebars look just a wee big on that bike.

East Hill

yes i indeed asked for a drop. i lowballed at 300 figuring he'd meet me somewhere in the middle...he didn't budge at all. it's all used in there from a lifetime of collecting and trade-ins. he'd only deal it down $100 if he swapped out the campy record hubs for something else. given that its at least a 20yr old bike and i know that he would only oil her up if i did buy, i could be buying more work than it appears. The owner is a LBS french dude who is notorious for being nuts. he has sooo many used bikes in his shop that its a fire hazard just being in there...seriously.

I just spoke to another LBS and they have an argon18 kid size for $500 brand new. i think that's the winner as i'll get better return on resale when its near brand new when she outgrows it.

Sounds like the guy running High Park Cycles in Toronto. Completely nuts.

Actually, I'd say the $150 C'dale is a better idea in the case of resale. You'd probably only get $150 or $200 resale on the Argon, whereas someone might pay $100 for the C'dale.

ding ding ding. we have a winner! your prize is a used jersey with bike grease courtesy of Jon the owner. haha.