I found a late 80s/early 90s Sterling road bike on the ole' Craigslist for $55, I'm very tempted to get it but it would be a 2 1/2 drive one way to get the bike. According to the seller it's in good condition but may need new handlebars(still waiting to hear back about that). It would be replacing my 1978 Motobecane Mirage which is frankensteined together with 20 year old found parts, and has a bent frame and failing bottom bracket.

Is it worth it?

55 bucks? Probably worth that. 2 1/2 HOUR drive? I dunno about that. It's a relatively inexpensive bike. Be patient, and you may find a REAL bike for not much more.

I second the drive time. I've been known to drive pretty far for a deal, but I usually think over an hour is too much nowdays.

We need more information. Sterling made some low end bikes and some mid-level bikes. I can't see enough in that pic to be sure. If I had to guess, I'd say if it's your size, it's worth it. Try to find out what model it is, what does the label on the seat tube say, etc. and re-post.

Bilenky, out of Philly, sold bikes under the Sterling name for a few years in the 80's. They are excellent, hand-made bikes.

This, I am pretty sure from the pic, is not one of them.

Still could be a decent bike, but I gather that the "other" Sterling was not known for its high-end stuff.

jim

Well the seller just sent me an e-mail saying he agreed to sell it to someone else. oh well. Thanx for the help though, the drive time was the determining factor and one of my friend's was going to drive down with me. But alas I'm back to searching.

I have a Sterling Sportlight that my parents purchased for me in 1986 IIRC. I rode it all through high school, shelved it for nearly 15 years and have recently resurrected it. It's not high end by any stretch, but the ride was far better than modern aluminum framed bikes. I've been gradually upgrading parts for the last few months - next step is to mount clamp on downtube shifters and get rid of the stem shifters. Frame sticker lists it as chromoly main and hi-ten fork/stays. It's an excellent commuter.

Well I'm glad I ended up not driving to get this bike, instead I called around a bit today and in a week I'm gonna be picking up a 1979 Raleigh Team Record for only a little bit more than the price of this bike+gas to go get it, hellz yeah!

Sterling was the lower-end range of bikes sold by Lawee Inc, the who also sold Univega. Univega was made in the Miyata factory; Sterling was made in Taiwan by a different factory, I don't remember which.

+1 Low end junk, I passed on one for $15. There just weren't enough decent parts on the bike, and very little upside. I did study it hard, trying to spot $15 worth of usable parts.