Nice 4000, 3alarmer!

Some of your prices are high. I just bought a set of Suntour bar ends on ebay two weeks ago for $21. I'd be the first to admit that was on the low end price wise. Mine came with handlebars, nice GB stem, and brake levers. (I'm hoping the GB stem will cover the price of the barcons). Lots of variation on ebay prices (I am very patient). Around here, a touring bike without canti brakes and a triple crankset is a hard sell.

Part outs can often be 2 to 3X what a complete bike can bring. Its really about the parts and condition. They better be spotless and sparkle. Lower end bikes, selling complete is the way to go. A lot of touring bikes, complete will bring more than a part out. Higher end racing bikes, often part out is the way to go, if the goal is to maximize return.

I've got a pile of rear Blackburn racks. I need to sell a bunch of them.

Here's a set of oil port 600 hubs that went for $14.50

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Shim...p2047675.l2557

I have no idea what the used bike market will bear in your area. I do know that you
would have trouble selling that bike here for that price, and in general, you do get
more money selling individual parts than complete bikes....a curious phenomenon that
has held true for many years around here. It is also a lot more complex and painful
process, dealing with many sales and buyers.

If you can get someone to pay you 600 bucks plus for it, more power to you, but like
I said, 600 bucks buys a lot of bike around the SF Bay area.

This one sold for 600 dollars even about a month ago. I know this because I bought it.



Again, as I have now stated at least twice, pricing is relative to the area in which
you are selling, and your ability to present to an audience of buyers. It is entirely
probable you know what's going on in Seattle better than do I.

Nice looking Serrota 3alarmer!

As a reference, this is the Sekai 4000 I posted on pg. 2 of this thread back in 2011. I sold it on CL a few months later to a guy from Seattle who didn't mind a 160 mile round trip to come get it. It went for $335 and that was after sitting on CL for three weeks.

My take on the vintage market is that prices have softened considerably in the last few years and the further out from the urban area you are, the worse it is. Nowadays, I think everyone shopping on CL is looking for a bargain.

Sorry to sound pessimistic, but I would tend to agree with others' comments - some of these prices look like a reach. Not questioning the facts of the completed sales you saw on ebay, but Ebay can be unpredicable, and it usually seems to disappoint sellers going for top dollar. The highest completed sale on view may be a lucky-break outlier, not something to assume is the going rate.

I've bought on ebay and elsewhere a few comparable items on your list, for quite a bit less. Best of luck, YMMV.

I'm out on the thread derail.................good luck with your sale.

There's also a 4000 at $900 that hasn't ever sold....

.......the serial number stamped on the BB shell is Y78 1218620 (the zero is incomplete, but that's what it is, I think).


Note the front hub is labeled Sekai, but is stamped Suzue as the maker.

Otherwise, it appears pretty standard for a late 70's bike (guessing).

It's for sale at 150 bucks, if anyone's interested. The back wheel is a
replacement, and not a particularly high quality one, but we put new tires on it.

Yeah it's a 1977 2400 which is kind of interesting, that 2400 I picked up is a 78 I believe and has DT shifters and a few other differences but that bike is really clean! (At least after you guys did your magic to it). I'm sure it's gonna make someone quite happy at that price too.

Sekai 2500 Grandtour
77B92847
24.5" 62cm Seat tube ctc
23" 58cm Top tube ctc
7.75" 20cm head tube
17.5" 44.5cm chainstays
25.5mm seat post
122mm rear spacing 100mm front spacing
Suntour GS dropouts
Sugino 125mm Bottom bracket
BB 68mm shell

i have a 1985 Sekai 2500 (frame and fork)

it says "2500 series" on the top tube
"Tange 900 CR-MO Double Butted Tubes" on the seat tube
"Japan 1985" on the seat tube
"Touring Series" on the seat tube
"Tange Mangaloy 2001 Manganese Alloy tubing" on the fork

Now that is clean looking! You just have it, or is it for a project?

While that's the correct tubing configuration for a 1985 Sekai 2500, we'd still appreciate the serial number. BTW, the original components mix was SunTour Mountech derailleurs, Sugino TGT crankset, Dia-Compe 960 brakes and Araya 16A rims.

it's been built up for a couple years as my touring rig, but since i got it just like that, none of the components are relevant to this thread, but i can try to find a shot of it built up.

and to T-Mar i'll see if i can find the serial number.

It's very interesting (to me anyway) to see the progression of these
from the 70's one I posted up through your very nice 1985 model.

It's almost like watching the progression of bike design and manufacturing
in Japan over that very important time period in a miniaturized (thus more
easily comprehended) version. Thanks.

This one reminded me of the Sekai 500 I was given by a neighbor, esp those decaled hubs and that DB (mine wasn't even CrMo) tubing diamond-shaped decal.

I really liked riding that big bike with it's very relaxed frame angles. I upgraded it to a nicer, half-step triple crank, which I found amusing in use, and later traded the bike very profitably for a Honda motorcycle!

Oh, and 3alarmer, I'd almost forgotten about the Sac'to Bike Kitchen since finding a barely-used PX10 (for $150) at their swap meet years ago at the former location. Any future swaps planned?

The guy who was organizing and running the swaps discovered he had a life,
and the Fremont Neighborhood guys really did not want to do the work, so
I'm afraid it's a little part of history now.

However, John Boyer, the guy who has Edible Pedal on the alley between
17th and 18th south of L street in Midtown is running them once a month
on Sunday mornings, in the parking lot next door to him.

I cannot ever remember exactly which Sunday, so check with him first.

BIG BIKE SWAP LAST SUNDAY IN APRIL COMING TO EDIBLE PEDAL (this was last year)

Bought this today. I'll have the serial number when it arrives, but can anyone tell me more about it other than it being a 2000 Series? Is the 2000 series one bike? Or are there multiple bikes in that series? All I've seen these being described as is a "Sekai 2000". I know this frame is Tange 5 though.

To my eye it appears to be very similarly styled to the 1985 "2500 series" above, the slight change in the naming convention isn't much but as T-mar has pointed out before they were known to move around what model was at what number depending on the year. Although it looks like they followed with their touringesque style judging by the eyelets and laid back looking (to me anyhow) geometry. Looking forward to adding the serial.

Hello,

I just bought a beat-up Sekai bicycle and I was wondering if I could get some information on it, such as build year, and relative quality, and hopefully find out what is OEM. It has a blue swirly Sekai head badge and a "Criterium" badge on the top tube.
Ishiwata 022 tubing.
Serial # K8E10175
Sugino Mighty Comp crankset.
Suntour dropouts and fork ends.
Taihei Compe seatpost and Compe Forged stem.
Suntour Gt rear derailer and Suntour SL front derailer.
Diacompe center-pull brakes.
MKS pedals.
Sakae Custom SR Road Champion bars.
UKAI Alloy QR wheels.

Thanks!

In my experience, any bike I've ridden made from Ishiwata 022 tubing has been a joy to ride, and
they are often a maker's top of the line model or close to it. The Mighty Comp crank and the Suntour
drops further contribute to that impression, but I have to admit I've never seen or heard of the
particular model you describe in the Sekai lineup. The Criterium designation probably just means it
was marketed to Cat racers as a more affordable alternative to some of the European stuff.

4000

I'll take a quick stab, that's a 1978 Sekai 4000, the groupset doesn't matter much as they sold those as frames/forks and then were built up. It is only below the Sekai 5000 in that years lineup and is quite a desireable bike to Sekai collectors. It is a very high quality frame set and if you plan to ride it, it should serve you quite well.

Edit: The K on the serial should mean it was made at the Kawamura plant as well. Do you have pictures?

Thanks for your reply! I really had no idea what I had, I just knew that the components seemed to be pretty high quality. As you can see from the photos (Craigslist seller photos) the bike is in rough shape with lots of rust on the frame and individual components. I bought the bike for $25 and I knew that if the bike was unrestorable that I could at least salvage the crank, stem, and seatpost. I have since dismantled the entire bike to the frame, and I now have the rustiest parts in a vinegar bath to remove the rust. The frame has quite a bit of rust spotting, is this bike worth stripping down and restoring or should I just part it out?

how about a picture from the other side showing the components?