Well, the worn out six speed rear wheel, and wal mart front wheel say it wasn't recent if at all. The other Kona I found was $35, and had a taco'd rear wheel. Probably more along the lines of rich person gets bored, and gets rid of the bike. Seller picks it up and makes a profit. It's 9 years old, not like someone bought it last week and forgot to lock it?,,,,BD

It is a Sunshine Hub, with an Araya 'alloy' rim, 700c presumably from 1985 as per the dude's (previous reply post) date on the bike.

But I have seen this color rim/wheel on other fuji's I have been looking at ... this sort of bronze alloy rim. It seems that I am starting a collection here...

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j2...e/DSC03594.jpg

The other 2...

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j2...8_43126066.jpg

Just for reference purposes. 1984 and 1985 catalog pages for the Club Fuji.,,,,BD


http://classicfuji.com/1984_10_ClubFuji_Page.htm

http://classicfuji.com/1985_10_ClubFuji_Page.htm

I wonder if those same rich people sell their BMWs for $100 when they get bored with them. Possible, but unlikely. Maybe the seller picked it up at auction cheap. Anyway, you might want to document who you bought it from just in case.

You don't understand rich people very well. They buy high and sell low. Its status thing...must one up the Jones.

You can go out all day long and buy BMW 7 series that were 50-80K new for dirt. http://atlanta.craigslist.org/atl/ctd/1466853975.html First one listed when I hit BMW and thats a dealer! that was a $60k car new for $6k.

Let me know when you see that 7 series for $100. I did not say $6k.

Down here in FL, previously expensive bikes can be a dime a dozen, if you are patient... I mean I had a buddy find a very nice Bianchi at the Salvation Army Thrift for $20. Especially the retirees, they will buy a high end any-thing and then after a few years just give it away at a yard sale, or donate it... a lot of the time, never even used.

Still, I would be careful about something like that from the Flea Market.

I know from experience there are completely legitimate (though, perhaps illogical) reasons that perfectly good, originally expensive when new bicycles and cars end up selling stupid cheap like that.

Spotted this Schwinn "Cycle Truck" U.S. MAIL bike at a local antique store today........priced at 950 bones. Sorry about the craptacular pic.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...o/P1010030.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...o/P1010026.jpg

Yep, it's a throwaway society. No doubt about that. I bought TWO early Trek road bikes off of CL recently..
((82 412 in REALLY nice shape, and a 79 510 w/Campy bits in fair shape)) The 510 had a $140
Specialized Toupe gel saddle too! Both were $200..,,,,BD

That flea market has been a source of MANY nice old road bikes. Things like the Scott S4 for $75, and a Specialized Sirrus commuter
for $175, I tend to shy away from. The Sirrus looked like it came from the bike shop less than month before.

Actually, often it is the opposite. Sam Walton drove an old Ford pickup. Seems like a lot of rich people are not into status too much, and when they do sell, they expect top dollar. It seems like my best deals come from people that aren't good with money, maybe they have some, maybe not. But they live in a disposable world, tossing one thing after another.

If I win the lottery, I'll let you know.:)

Nice Schwinn Racers there.

Picked up a 1948 Rudge Whitworth Sports 3 speed today along with a goofy looking cruiser. I got the cruiser for the brand new Kenda Flame tires.

More photos of the Rudge are here
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=602798

Apparently, neither do you.

That Bimmer you linked to - if a dealer is listing it for 6k, you can bet your life it it a HIGH mileage car. Hell - it's over 10 years old, and look at the list of work that was recently done to it. And take a gander at the driver's seat - there's been a ton of butt time there. I'd love to see the carfax and maintenance schedule on that sled.

I'm betting somewhere around 120,000-150,000 miles on it. Just around the corner from major mechanical issues.

Heh... he was just reading Machiavelli's the Prince... that's all.

;)

Regarding the the Kona: I wouldn't worry about it. I have been given that same model before, as well as several Hard Rocks, Treks, GTs, Diamondbacks, Marins, Raleighs... not stolen! Basically, with a lot of people, a three to seven year old bike that cost them less the $700 new is worth < $100 used. It's a fact of life. Besides, the bikes usually have Shimano Acera components at best. Realize that a hardtail MTB that didn't cost more than $1000 new, is not worth much in the used market. With a full suspension MTB, double that figure.

And for the record, a few years back, one of my riding buddies gave away his mint "spare" Tommasini road bike with Campy Chorus 10, to a guy he hardly knows. Why? because he didn't need it. He is not rich, but he just rides his bike 20 (climbing) miles a day, and only feels he need two bikes. (I wish I knew him then...) :eek:

My dad picked this up today for $10.
It's a 1980 or 81 Schwinn Traveller. I figure the Panasonic generator on it is worth the entry fee.
It's 19" (my GF's size, who has expressed slight interest), Pearl Blue, and is Schwinn Approved and steel all over cept for the deraillers (Shimanoo 400), crank (Silstar), and stem (ST). 31.8lb's is respectable for it all, and would lighten up considerably with alloy wheels, handlebars and seatpost.
I told my dad he didn't do bad for a ten spot.
-Gene-

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_Os80BGPtmH8/Sw...2011-16-09.JPG
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_Os80BGPtmH8/Sw...2011-16-09.JPG

The Pahoehoe dropped in price from 2001 to 2002. This is one of the $1400 ones before the price drop. Somebody put a six speed rear wheel on it from wheelsmith, and a Wal Mart Schwinn front wheel on it, complete with the Kenda tire. It has some nicks and bumps, but not out of hand for a 8-9 year old bike meant to be ridden hard. I was going to do the disc brake conversion, but a nice set of Avids would have run me $150-$160. With the $40 initial price, $150 9 speed wheels, and $160 for disc brake setup, I would probably barely break even. So it will keep the Single Digit 7 V brakes, and go away soon I hope.
My working time has dropped though with the time change. Not sure how I can even get started working on it, unless I do it all this weekend.,,,,BD

http://www.bikepedia.com/QUICKBIKE/B...ehoe&Type=bike

Found a 1985 21' Fuji Allegro hidden behind some trashcans on the way home. Spotted it on a first pass, went around the block and tossed it in the back of the car. RD is in really bad shape and the chain is badly rusted. Frame seems to be in good shape, so might be a candidate for a SS/FG conversion.

fwiw, I don't think it's so much rich/poor...stuff has a bottom-out point in value & to some people it's worth it to sell the $1400 bike for $50 just to get rid of it instead of researching the market & creating a really good CL listing to get an extra $250 or whatever. Time has a money equivalency.

I love European cars and I thoroughly enjoy the '87 BMW 535is I bought 2 years ago with a documented 88K miles for under $4k. A $35K car new. A few years before that a '93 Range Rover for under $6K with 99K ($50K new or something)...both were honest deal where I was ready to buy something the seller needed to get rid of a bit more urgently than the need to eek out the last bit of value... (and if you're curious, the BMW is great & I hope to keep it forever...the Rover...well, it's a British car so it was always breaking but it was the nicest gas guzzler I've ever cursed at)

And now for something completely different... :)

http://img1.classistatic.com/cps/kj/...042298_20.jpeg

Just picked this up for a whopping $50.00... with all it's original accessories.

Bike related... because I will be using it to make my own canvas panniers.

I picked up this Schwinn High Sierra today. It's a 6-speed with Deore components all around, Biopace rings, sealed cartridge bearing hubs, Suntour roller cam brakes, bronze colored stem and cool gun metal finish. The gum wall tires hold air but are dry rotted pretty badly. All-in-all it's in pretty good shape. A few nicks here and there.

The head badge is stamped 1197, so I'm assuming it's a 1987 model. As part of the deal I also got a second rack that had some Eclipse grocery panniers semi-permanently mounted to it. All for $40.

Pretty nice! Heck, the brakes alone are worth $40.

Not true for most Konas. They have high resale values.