theangus

Hey dudes, noob here again. Remember where I was talking about how I was searching the internet for a Japanese-made Raleigh mixte but decided against the one with the possibly-bent fork and the task of fixing it up? I think I might've found a bike that's fully decked out and ready to roll for a somewhat alright price.

https://chicago.craigslist.org/wcl/bik/1412163516.html

The only problem I can forsee is that the vintage-feel of the bike (save for the original "R" badge) was stripped away and the "Raleigh" lettering was repainted a tad bit sloppily. Other than that everything seems to be in good order, and the guy said he'd give it to me for $175 since it's the end of the comfortable biking season here in Chicago.

Thoughts?

mkeller234

I don't know, I think it's pretty hoopty to paint the letters on like that. I wouldn't cal 175 a steal either. The fenders are pretty neat, I wonder how they look in person.

theangus

I never called it a steal. It's at least $25-40 too much, but it's what I'm looking for. I need a short bike with straight bars, a decent saddle, single-speed, and Kevlar tires. It fixes what I need and I don't have to worry about all the Craigslist hassle through the season if the bike runs well.

old and new

A somewhat alright price is a good way to put. I like it just fine. The fenders are cool, alot of thought and work went into that bike. It's a fairly good model Raleigh, it's a true Mixte, very cool. I like the bars too and the color, all of it.
Speaking for myself as well, we often pay a bit more for something with that extra appeal. you could do worse, alot worse. Not too many samples of that bike in the market.
I've seen you post here, you've shown character and thoughtfulness through adversity, just like you are now. Your find has come hard fought for. I believe this is your bike. It's got my vote. It's good to go, no surprises.

theangus

Thanks so much! I'm excited. I just hope he doesn't sell the bike before Friday when I get paid. I'm going to try and sell some stuff so I can secure the bike before Craigslist gets to it.

KonAaron Snake 

I agree with keller...I'd hold out and be patient. That is not an attractive deal and I think you could do better. You've been patient this far, what's another few months? I also don't think he's selling it at that price...let him sit on it until there's some snow and offer him a reasonable amount...maybe 125.

theangus

New kevlar tires from Performance = $25
New fenders = $40 at least?
New grips = $10
New levers = $15-20
New seat = $15 at least
New chain = $10
Tune-up = $50

Adding in the time it took for him to put the bike together $140-$175 seems fair.

old and new

With all do respect to my fellow members.. consider this : many idividuals are wuick to advise that one ought to hold-out, wait, see what gives, too high... UNLESS it is THEY who are selling the bike.. THEN.. NO price is too high. whata ya gona do.. hold out to save $$, get a better color ?? I've blown that sort of price differential on a pizza delivery...

old and new

The seller spent PLENTY to fix that Raleigh.. this place confuses me.

mkeller234

Well, in my case I actually have sold bikes, in really nice shape, for a low price. I am not saying this is the worst deal, but that bike is not exactly a fabulous example. So yes, I personally would hold out for a bike in better original condition at a lower price. YMMV

mkeller234

That's really not the point though... I could spend three hundred dollars fixing up a Schwinn Varsity, that doesn't mean it's now worth $300.00.

theangus

That's a ridiculous and pretentious notion. If you put $300 into a Schwinn Varsity and sell it to someone who wants a Schwinn Varsity, then yes it is.

I've been looking for a proper Japanese-made Raleigh mixte for a while now. Worth $175 to me.

mkeller234

Why is this so difficult??? As I have said, that's fine, buy it if you want... but you asked my opinion and I gave it... Right?

I disagree about the varisty example. Your bike is not automatically worth what you invest in it. Neither is your house or your car. If you get someone to pay 300 for a varsity that is well and good... but it was a very bad deal for the buyer. I don't believe there is a shortage a Japanese Raleigh mixtes out there, so why does it have to be this one? Why did you ask for opinions when you have clearly made your up mind?

Calling me ridiculous and pretentious is just plain rude.

theangus

I guess it was the comment about the Varsity that miffed me. And I didn't call you ridiculous and pretentious, just the notion.

People on this website seem to hate Varsities (for some understandable reasons), but it's a solid bike and Sheldon Brown (a good bit of bike fanatics see him as Bike Jesus) put an article on his website where one of his buddies called it "the single most significant American bicycle."

Relax. We're all friends here.

mkeller234

Cool. For the record, I am not a varisty hater, I used that model because it's well known. I have owned and enjoyed the Schwinn Suburban, Continental, and Collegiate. The collegiate was my everyday commuter for about a year.

My opinions about the Raleigh were not meant to sound personal at all.

theangus

No worries, they didn't sound personal at all. I took no offense to that whatsoever.

sciencemonster

I don't know how it is out there, but here, if I didn't know how/didn't want to fix up a bike, that's a good price for a ready-to-ride bike.

If it was barn fresh, yea, $100 would be more like it. Mixte's are pretty easy to find.

I would for sure check out his tune up. New brakes? BB rebuilt? That kind of stuff, otherwise you could end up putting another $100 in it easy.

Never understand how people could flip bikes and make money. Every barn fresh bike I get I end up spending more than the bike is worth fixing up. At that point, I'd rather give it to someone I know (or sell it to them at a loss) then sell it to some joker on CL. The whole fun part is fixing up the bike, upgrading. Grinding it out, making do with crappy parts...what fun is that?

sailorbenjamin

Hey, if the Varsity has $300 worth of parts that I was planning on buying for it anyway, and it's my color and my size and I've been hunting high and low for just the right Varsity Japanese made Raleigh Mixte for a while now, I'd go for it.
The price is a little stiff. All the bearings should have new grease in them, including the pedals. Ask if he's flexable.
You can mask off the pail blue panel, repaint it and get some proper decals with out re doing the whole bike. Maybe his letters will come off without redoing the paint.
Ask yourself how many hours you'll spend looking for another one, multiply that times what you make at work by the hour and figure how much overtime you'll have to spend next month to cover the $50 or so that the bike is overpriced by. If the numbers work out for you, go buy the overpriced bike that you really want and go for a ride before the snow comes.
Look at it in person. There are some chips in the paint. Is that ok?
I like the fenders. I like the look of the bike in general. Tasteful.

Mr_Christopher

That is a very attractive bike and I can see why you'd want to own it. It took me a year to find a mixte and one of the challenges is finding one that will fit, assuming you're not short. That said the bike is on the side of expensive if you ask me. I far nicer one recently sold on Ebay for $200 including shipping. But..if it's worth $175 to you to end your search and finally have what you want then buy it.

If you plan to flip it then you'll lose money, but if you plan to ride it then no doubt it will be $175 well spent. It is still hundreds of dollars less than you'd pay for a new bike.

Chris

theangus

I'm only 5'6", so yeah the bike's totally worth it. I'm only going to ride it a few times before the snow hits then lock it up in the basement for Springtime. If I wanted to go with a different ride then I could probably sell that for the same price or $25 less and it would fly off the internet. It's ridiculously hard to get a good price on a bike on CL in Chicago around that time. I didn't know what I was getting myself into when I moved here and saw bikes fly off there within minutes of them being posted. Crazy stuff.

BigPolishJimmy

The post is gone now. Did you buy it?

Chicago Al 

If you didn't get the Raleigh and really want a mixte, check this one out:

https://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/bik/1417018555.html

(black Fuji Absolute mixte, 19 1/2 " frame, looks clean, $99)

It's been on CL before, so perhaps it's flawed in some way, but it seems worth a look in any case. It's late enough (late 80s) to have Suntour's 'Accushift' index system.

There have been a few attractive mixtes on Chicago CL lately, $125 or less would have bought most of them. Prices are dropping in sync with the local temperatures.