Vintage Names to Look For?
 

Hey I am looking for a classic/vintage bike and I was wondering what brands are the ones to look for?

Thanks for the help!

That really depends to a large degree upon what kind of bike you're looking for - and brand alone isn't really going to tell you everything.

A couple examples to illustrate:

Huffy and Sears made, on the whole, very unremarkable bicycles. However, Huffy Team 7-11 bicycles are exceptional, and are very valuable. Sears' Ted Williams bikes are also quite nice.

Raleigh, Schwinn, and Peugeot all made full line-ups of bicycles. The ones at the very top end are very good, the ones at the bottom end - while solidly built, are heavy, sloppily finished, and were made in huge quantities.

I know we've been through the exercise of producing guidelines for assessing the desireability of bicycles a couple times before (at least). Perhaps someone can recall a pertinent thread, and link to it for us here.

Well, it depends on what nationality you're seeking. I'll make a list here off the top of my head in no order. Olmo, Bianchi, DeRosa, Gios, Cinelli, Masi, Raleigh, Rene Herse, Alex Singer, Atala, Schwinn, Panasonic, Miyata, Fuji, Cannondale, Trek, GT, Bridgestone, Moulton, Davidson, Richard Sachs, LOOK, Pinarello, Gazelle, Serotta, Bataglin, Bottechia, Motobecane, Peugeot, Univega, Centurion, Colnago, Dawes, Mercian, Basso, Marinoni, Casati, Specialized, Giant, K2, Kestrel, Nishiki, Luongo, Ciocc, Puch/Austro Daimler, Ross...
And I'm having a hard time after that.
-Gene-

#1: What is your budget?

#2: What are your capabilities/time/tools/and skills to do any and all repairs and restoration?


You will hear of endless "great" deals others have gotten on this list (I have posted several myself). What you do not usually hear is the amount of time spent looking for deals. Myself, I am looking every day: thrift stores, garage sales, Craigs List, ebay, word of mouth, etc. Its a part time job, and not one I would recommend to others. So some of the super deals I have posted have been somewhat misleading, as I neglect to point out how many garage sales, thrift stores, etc., I have gone to and found nothing (99% or more).

Back to your task at hand. Educate yourself first, do a variety of searches of this forum and others. Know the type, size, era of bike you want. And then when you see what you are looking for, pounce on it. There is no time to post a "what do you think of this deal" listing on this site. By the time you get an answer, the good deals will be long gone. No single posting can possibly cover all the details to consider.


What do I look for? Japanese lugged steel frame road bikes from the 1980s, with good name brand frames (Tange for example), alloy rim wheels with stainless spokes, alloy three piece cranksets, good grade of components. All of this at a good price of course. I am less concerned about the brand of bike itself. My last two buys of this ilk were a 1984 Centurion Mixte and a 1986 Nishiki Prestige.

Just get a Pinarello, and forget all the rest of the mumbo jumbo. Hahahahahaha!

If you're looking for a lightweight, take some time and look at the nationality links here. Take your time, and see what appeals to you. I learned a lot when I was just getting into it 4-5 years ago. Granted, there's still a lot I don't know, but I can tell a good bike from a crummy one when I see one. :D

"A whole new Worrrrrrrrlllllllddddd....."



Uhm yeah.

Here are some websites that I use for guidance in searches for proper C&V bicycles.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/vrbn-o-z.html

http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/

http://www.speedbicycles.ch/collection_name.html

Find keywords and use this websites archive to find even more information.

Vintage bikes to look for.
 

Perhaps it slipped your memory, but there are lots of very desirable bikes from the UK, I namewww.in no particular order. Horace Bates, Claud Butler, Hetchins, Holdsworth, Hobbs of Barbican, Dawes, Raleigh,Mercian,Gillot,Paris plus many more.
May I suggest you look at www.classicrendezvous.com on this site you will find only vintage marques from around the world dating from 1900-1984.

Hope this helps

And just to throw a wrench into the works, I found a high quality frame underneath a very poor rattle can paint job with pipe clamps instead of cable stops. And even once the name was discovered under the rattle can paint it took some research to determine the source... but it was built by a regionally famous builder (Corky Gulbransen (sp) ) and was simply labeled with the brand CORKY.

So, it is better to learn a few of the characteristics of a quality frame than a partial list of names on quality frames.

Well, there's Centurion.

And a few others.

Amani576 gave you good leads. Now you have to look for an individual specimen. Get a decent model with good frame material, higher-end components, and a size that fits you. Your best bet is a bike that someone bought "back in the day" with the intention of riding it, but soon lost interest in cycling. Near perfect paint, and just needing a cleaning and a good lube job. A little research and patience will go a long way. Also, try to be careful on what you spend. Many bikes being advertised now seem to be grossly overpriced, and most likely will need additional money to be put into them (tires, brake pads, etc.) Even after making a purchase, you can always grab something better that comes along later. That initial purchase will still give you something to ride, and can be sold later. Try to avoid "Frankenbikes" that have been changed from their original specifications and repainted. IMHO...best to stick with a good quality, no-to-low mileage bike with all original parts.

My #1 best advice: Take. Your. Time. Be patient, and, as Bob Dylan once wrote: "Learn, Learn, Learn." (OK, I paraphrase). Getting a really good deal (if that's what you're interested in) requires that you be ready to pull that $$$ trigger. Which in turn requires that you know your stuff. Many (if not most) of us have made trigger-puller mistakes based on not knowing our stuff. Been there. Done it. There are a lot of people ready and willing to help educate you, just based on the fact that we love this stuff.
Take. Your. Time.
("Grasshopper")

Take your time - great advice.
Learn, learn, learn - great advice.

Learn about the steel - The 2 brands I stick with: Columbus (Columbus SL and Columbus SLX are good starting points) and Reynolds 531 (another good starting point). The frame material decal is usually found at the top of the seat tube but it can be found in other places.

Have a look at the Classic and Vintage thread. Look at other forum members bikes. Try to find a frame make that appeals to you. They can be broken down into countries (for example). You may like the look of Japanese built frames. Other major countries of manufacture include: Britain, France, USA, Italy. Personally, I like Italian frames/bikes. Get to know the frames from your country of interest - it doesn't take long but the range of manufacturers is quite large.

There are a number of component / groupset manufacturers. The two manufacturers that make a good starting point are Shimano (Japan) and Campagnolo (Italy). These two manufacturers have really dominated component manufacture since the 70's - Campagnolo 20 years prior to that. Their groupsets are constantly upgraded and knowing what preceeded what is an art within itself. I personally like Campagnolo from the 70's and 80's. Campagnolo's major groupsets from that era are: Nuovo Record, Super Record and (a little later) C-Record.

Do you know your frame size? Another important piece of information. Learn how frames are measured - you'd be surprised at how many guys buy a frame that is either too big or too small (I've got a couple of bikes that I haven't ridden because they are too small fo me).

best of luck,

Gary.

Very good stuff here. Especially about frame size. That is more important than tubing manufacturer & components.

For racing bikes, I also prefer Italian racers w/ Columbus SL or SLX.