amandadun

I know the price ranges variably, so I may ask, how much did you pay for, to get or build your classic / vintage bike?

sced

Check out the vintage bikes on Ebay to see what they are going for retail. People can find them in yard sales or thrift shops for sometimes a lot less.

OldsCOOL

The two bikes in my sig line....60.00 total. You just never know what you will find out there. What do you want? Once you have a target bike, start looking with great patience. Yard sales, thrift stores, neighbors backyards....then try CL and lastly Ebay.

Preynmantis

The variables on this are extreme. However, the initial bike purchase cost is nothing compared to what you will spend if the addiction hits you.

My first CV bike was $25, was back to full glory for about another $50.

I don't want to say how much I've spent since then, but it has been about 15 bikes along with various other pieces that have all been much more than the first one at $25. Good thing I am pretty good at flipping things or I'd be in deep kimche with SWMBO.

Bianchigirll 

It merely depemds on the bike. My bikes range from something like my Bianchi Mixte (vintage still unknown but suspect mid '80s) with purchase, shipping, cleaning, tuning and new seat and post maybe $350ish.



Then a bike like my '97 Ti MegaTube, purchase, shpping, overhaul, cables, tires bar stem...close to well much more.




It is merely a matter of what you want. If your looking for that beautiful Coicc or Colnago you lusted after when you were 19 then you need to spend a few shillings to get it. If your merely looking for a nice lugged steel Italin frame with Campi Nuovo Record and other Italian brands mixed togather then you can usually find a fixer uppr for the $400 range.

KonAaron Snake 

Most of us are cheap as heck and have been at this for a bit...so we tend to pay a lot less than a new comer might. The first bike is always the most expensive because you're learning the ropes, the tricks and the parts sources. It picks up steam and starts snowballing after that. I've paid such varying rates for my bikes and what I'll pay really depends on what my intentions are. If it's a bike I intend to keep and ride for a couple of years, I'm willing to pay more...even up market rate in some cases. If it's something I'm just curious about and likely flipping, I will only pay what I know I can get a LOT more for.

The stuff in my riding stable came as cheap as $300ish for my completed Litespeed city bike build (I did GREAT on that one) up through more than I will discuss for my custom Marnati. Compared to most high end new bikes it was still a bargain, but I'll certainly take a bath if I ever sell it (which I'd NEVER do). Sometimes the build price jumps before you realize how deep you;re in; I bought my Titanio (a dream bike of mine) cheap...got solid deals on the parts...and still ended up at, or near, market rate for what the bike would have cost built. On the plus side, I get to pick exactly what's on it. That's one of the keys...frame up builds will almost ALWAYS end up costing a bunch when you start looking at the nickel/diming on tires, tubes, pads, etc. etc. Buying complete bikes is ALWAYS far cheaper, but the downside is that you don't get your choices.

I'm willing to pay for bikes I want because I'm typically funding them by selling other bikes I am making a profit on. At this point I flip far less because I have what I want and if I want something else, I just sell stuff from my stable. I rarely hunt for specific bikes...rather I let deals come to me, try them out, and flip them for something else if they aren't my speed or if/when a shiny new toy comes along. I like this approach because it means I get to try a lot of different things.

Heck - my first vintage bike was my Schwinn Triplet...which was trash picked when I was 12ish. I have quite a few hundred into it by now and a LOT of work.

Miyata110

I paid $50 for my first and only C&V. Maybe another $50 on top of that for up-keep.

randyjawa 

I have purchased vintage road bicycles for between zero $ and $800.00 CND. I have sold bicycles for between $38.75 CND to $1,600.00 USD. My guess is that such information, without the details of each purchase and sale, if pretty much useless, though.

If you would like to get your first one on the cheap, try using some of the ideas suggested in Bicycle Finding Methods. Almost every bicycle I have found, from the zero dollar one, on up, was found using one, or more, of those procedures.

If, while you are searching, you want to know how to tell the difference between a good bicycle and a not so good one, have a look through Bicycle Quality.

Hope that is a bit of help and welcome to the Bike Forums. By the way, I picked this one up...



...using bike finding procedure #2. If this is your first time seeking out a vintage bicycle, you will have a very good chance of success using procedure #1.

CardiacKid

There are several different types in this group. There are the flippers who aren't too picky about what they are buying, as long as they can turn a quick profit. There are the collectors who buy high end bikes and try and restore them to period correct condition, without a whole lot of concern about cost. There are people on the other extreme, that like to take old bikes and modernize them, without much concern about resale value. Then there is everyone in between whose main priority is riding. Some of those just want cheap, basic transportation, some are looking to make a fashion statement, some are trying to relive their youth or ride the bike they couldn't afford as a kid. The great thing about C&V is that there is a place for you, regardless of your budget.

jyl

So far, the bikes I've bought used range in purchase price from $120 to about $900. I have a project underway that will probably be $800+ when done. Most of the purchases to date are clustering in the $120-$250 range, but they then absorb money.

randyjawa 

Very well put!

thinktubes 

I think I've got between $600-700 into the Ciocc. Picked up the frame (SLX) for $250. Had the wheels and some other parts. Wanted to go with 600 tri-color for the group. Having said that, getting a complete bike is probably more cost effective. I do like that I have exactly the parts I wanted (except for a campy $eatpo$t)

lueckebw

I paid about $400 for my 1980 Austro Daimler - but it wasn't a C&V bike at the time (I bought it new, in 1981).

Mos6502

I've paid between $5 and $100 for anything from an AMF to a Miyata.

I paid $30 for my last vintage bike:


But I then spent about $100 or so on fitting it with alloy wheels, new tires, and various this and that.

miamijim

Everything in my signature was free.....i paid for them with profits from other bikes. That being said....I've paid anywhere from $250-850 for very, very high C&V bikes w/ either Dura Ace or Campy Record components.

You can a nice C&V bike in the street price range of $200-300.

lostarchitect 

My cheapest bike was my Soma beater. $25 for frame, fork, crank, bb, headset. I got some free parts here and there and maybe spent $250 total on it.

My most expensive was probably my JRJ. Frame, fork & headset cost me something near $300, and then building it up probably cost me over $1000, so total was $1300+.

Scoring really good stuff really cheap or free almost never happens here in NYC.

eschlwc

^ pretty bike. i had been looking for a campy n.record seatpost for a while on ebay. very few of them go for under $50, though you might find a really rough one and then clean it up with sandpaper/polish. my recent bottom-up build started with a donated frameset (my uncle's) and little else. i've almost completed it, $1000 later in parts/paint. $50 per vintage component adds up quickly. but like your ciocc, i have the exact bike/investment i wanted, and now it represents a priceless and highly sentimental object of my own creation. it's really great fun -- an art project to keep me young.

big chainring 

Like most here I have acquired bikes for nothing, picking them from the curb on garbage day, to buying them for hundreds of dollars. And along with a lot of BF members I buy and sell bikes to make a little spending money to continue my obsession with C&V bikes. Along the way I have bought whole bikes just for a particular part or parts and made numerous good deals and a few bad. I would call the vintage bike hobby a sort of journey that takes you to all kinds of different ends. It sure is a fun trip.

cycle_maven

Plus you get to ride the bikes! What could be a better hobby?

juls

As a hobby it is addictting-I don't know if I'm in the black or red-after 3 years. I don't flip tho. Occasionally sell one-if I have too many or don't quite like the fit-and that just fuels the hobby for another. In my youth I couldn't afford the midline models, nevermind high end. The highest end thing I had new was a yellow world traveler. I have learned that mid line are pretty dang nice-even better upgraded. I can't compare the cost to the level of satisfaction I get from overhauling an old bike. Avoids the landfill for another few years-haha.

wahoonc

$25 for my first one...but it wasn't really C&V when I bought it, about 3 times that for my Grail Bike. And about to double the value of it by adding new wheels and tires. Most of my bikes would be considered low end, but they make me happy and all of the together cost a lot less than a new car...even a cheap one.

Aaron

wrk101

The more flexible you are on brand and model, the more willing you are to drive a distance (sometimes a long distance), the more able you are to launch immediately (no waiting until it is convenient), and the harder you look, the cheaper the nice bikes become. As you are unable to meet some of these requirements, the price goes up, sometimes way up.

My self imposed limit is that I will not spend more on a single keeper bike including all parts, than the price of an entry level road bike at the LBS. So far I have stuck with this limit, but I have gotten close on a couple of keepers. And I do all the work myself, and typically find components at a reasonable (low) price.

The choice is yours.

gaucho777 

I'm pretty cheap when it comes to buying bikes. Here are some of my recent purchases.

Peugeot UE-8: $68, ebay (advertised "for parts"; added saddle, chainguard, derailleur (since replaced); included original wheels, not the set shown here.)



Centurion Lemans: $50 (plus ~$50 in new consumables, bars, new brake levers; my first flip!)



Park Pre: Free + ~$400 to upgrade from 105 to 7400 Dura Ace (old team bike)



Centurion Mixte: $30 (needed lots of work, plus ~$75 in parts, tires, etc.)



Look: ~$1100 (original owner, paid full retail from the frame in '86/'87, maybe $550, plus parts here & there along the way)



Schwinn Speedster: $25, estate sale (was very rusty, needed full overhaul)

JesusBananas

You know, I really don't mind seeing this bike more than once.

Teon

Threads like this one always get me slobbering to buy another project. Geez, some of you have some really, really nice bikes that you have done absolutely beautiful restorations to. I am still pretty new to this, so I am not terribly frugal yet, altho am getting there. My first bike was a 1987 schwinn traveler full bike that I hardly needed to do anything to that I got for $150(and since have sunk more money into it updating it)

[IMG] bike1 by KMTech, on Flickr[/IMG]

My second was a 1992 Miyata 714 frame and forks with everything but the wheels for $90(that I have since sunk more money into updating....lol)

[IMG] bike1 by KMTech, on Flickr[/IMG]

And my 3rd bike was a 1985 Raleigh Super Course Reynolds 531 frame and fork that I got for 60 bucks.(and since have sunk money into it updating it....lol....seems to be the prevailing theme with me)


DSC_3702 by KMTech, on Flickr

Yea, yea, I know....I seem to really like making the bikes in my stable into frankenbikes....just something oddly appealing about them to me for my personal riders.....lol. And they all have higher rises on the handlebar due to the fact that I am 53 years old and my back isn't so good anymore, so the more upright drop bars help my back a bit on longer rides. Maybe the phrase "geezer frankenbikes" would be more appropriate.

My last bike was a 70s Mizutani Super Seraph that I got for 10 bucks for the frame and forks.....I had some wheels and other gear sitting around that I was able to use on it, and I maybe put 25 bucks into it and was able to flip it for $120....good price for the buyer and me in these parts(Oregon).

[IMG] bike1 by [url=https://www.flickr.com/people/kmt[/IMG]

And my latest bike is this 1981 Trek 410 that I picked up for just under $100. (Very good deal in this area) I will probably have to put about 30 bucks into it tops, and probably be able to flip it for somewhere over $225 or so. Not great, but not bad. It will get new bar tape, new cables, and then a lot of elbow grease on cleaning and regreasing and adjustments, which doesn't cost much of anything except my time and enjoyment in rebuilding it.

[IMG] 1981 Trek 410 (56cm) by KMTech, on Flickr[/IMG]

If nothing else, it is a super fun hobby, and you'll get tons and tons of enjoyment out of it!!!! Plus, they're a blast to ride!!!!