John Deere Flip Challenge
 

I have a very competitive wife and we recently bought a matching pair of John Deere 21" Men's racers at a yard sale. They are in rough shape, but complete. Made in the early 70's in Taiwan with low end Shimano components.

The challenge is to see who can turn theirs around and sell for the most profit. My wife plans to wipe a rag over her Deere and list it as-is. I have already stripped mine down to the bare frame and removed all the paint. The frame itself weighs just over 6lbs, has decent looking lugs, and I am leaning towards a rattle can, John Deere colored theme w/green lugs, black frame, and yellow pin stripping around the lugs. I was then going to go a little further and build it up with some parts laying around. Flat bar and some alloy wheels, maybe make it a 7 speed with some sram shifters/derailleur...somebody stop me!


I will add some pictures as it comes together :-)

My first "English Racer" was a John Deere. Brings back memories.

I'd say your wife has already won.

Of course she has! I have to sneak in all my "free" labor!

+1

+10 On a bike like this, the wipe with a rag will always end up ahead. Refurbishing such a bike can be a serious time drain and also use up good parts from your bin. When you grab parts out of the bin, even if they are "free", you are using up parts you eventually must replace. And those parts will bring more money when attached to a decent frame.

Timing is everything! Throw that puppy up on Craigslist the week of the Carlisle and Hershey car shows. Some of the attendees and vendors there think those things are gold!

The best thing you can do with a cheap bike is turn around and get it out of your life with minimal investment. You'd make more money if you just sold the parts you wanted to put on it and set the frame out on the curb.

Spraypainting a bike never works out very well. If you try your very hardest, you're going to cut through a can of primer, a can for each of your colors, and a can of clearcoat. You'll probably be like 15 bucks down on the finish alone, and your wife's will STILL look better.