crank_addict

Go to the wild side and consider a 1998 / 99 Trek -Y- Foil. Crazier yet in bling 'gold'. edit: UCI outlaw makes it even a bigger story.

IcySmooth52

Such an ugly thing to my eyes, but I'm sure it'll be HUGELY collectable in time.

Dave Cutter

You've nailed it!
1. The prices for all current bicycles will drop when the current "style" becomes obsolete. I would guess... when new gearing systems like belts and internal gears replace external sprockets, cogs and chains. AND when carbon fiber and most other material used to make quality bicycles are replaced with a newer much better material.
When these bicycles are produced AND accepted in professional racing (likely because a decrease in cycling sport interest) then used bicycle prices will plummet.

2. When cycling sport interest is renewed... great interest will be renewed in both new bicycles (and for older cyclists) the former high quality bicycles of the earlier era (now).

09box

I could really give a rat's behind what will become collectible and such. I'm more worried that my bike is all ready to go for a ride!

The Golden Boy 

It's not necessarily what you HAD in your youth, but what you WANTED in your youth.

When I was a kid, I remember all the cool John Hughes teen movies, where the kids are driving Porsches and stuff- but the real people that owned those type of cars were the old guys. Nowdays, the people who own those cars are the old people that thought it was cool when they were teens.

As far as me and my bikes... I wasn't into cycling when I was a kid, didn't care about who was winning Tour De France or whatever. When I took up bicycling I fumbled around looking for bikes that suited my own particular... idiom of what was cool to me. I'm sure being in that "middle age" category, and coming of age 20-30 years ago had something to do with finding level top-tubed steel frames to be more graceful than what is currently en vogue, even though they weren't desirable (or even visible) to me when they were new.


I find a link between collectable guitars and bikes... when I was a kid and into guitars- I liked the old 50s stuff. IMO, that was the stuff that looked graceful- the headstock on a 50s and early 60s Strat looked so much nicer than the big old leisure suit gaudy CBS headstock- same with Gibson's headstocks. Then there were all those goofy pickguard shapes, the 15 pound guitar bodies, the bright-brittle sound... those weren't attractive to me. There was a gap between the collectability of the 50s and 60s stuff to the collectability of the 70s and 80s stuff. It wasn't until the intArwebs and the bragging rights of owning a 50s Gibson or a "pre-CBS" Fender that created monsterous price inflation. It wasn't that people really dug the 70s instruments- they just were old, and therefore "vintage." Somewhere along the line, because it was old and "vintage" that meant it must've been "cool" and people began actually finding the gaudy headstocks as attractive.

IMO, there's stuff that's collectable because it's properties are valuable or desirable. There's other stuff that's collectable because... it's collectable.

IcySmooth52

I've been finding it interesting how Trek models raced by Lance back in the early 2000's aren't selling for any collectable value. If anything, people are just worried about any used carbon's quality.

MiloFrance

Interesting thread. You know how much a good condition Raleigh Chopper or Grifter goes for now? Maybe not huge money, but more than they cost new, and yet they were awful. Well, the Grifter was ok. I agree with custom frames being a good bet, but I would never bet on it. My custom built is the longest I've owned a bike and it's special to me. If the Frame builder becomes well known, then the value goes up, but as in the case of another bike I'm trying to research, if he sinks without trace, who is to say what value is put on it.

Anything is only worth what someone will pay for it, and I've paid for restaurant meals that cost as much as my Colnago.**





** And I'm not looking forward to the next birthday with a '0' on the end...

bbattle

Like Raleigh and Schwinn bikes of the 50's - 70's?

arfer1

Although only around for a short period of time, Surly's LHT has developed a sizable reputation. I've wondered whether LHTs from this era will be prized in thirty years.

MiloFrance

This is the kind of thing to look out for. Look at the 10 of the best steel too. Salsa are in there which is great to see!

MattoftheRocks

Stingrays appreciated while Paramounts held steady and most everything else depreciated (adjusted for inflation).

I guess I'll fill a closet with chrome Bianchi Pistas and Schwinn Madisons.

Sir_Name 

Firefly Bicycles | World-class bicycles, handmade in Boston, Mass.

IcySmooth52

Funny QBP brands come up so much here. The Salsas are quite nice!

MrCoffee

The bikes that will be collectible later are the ones that most people can't afford. Consider something like a $15,000.00 Trek Madone Emonda SLR-10 or $12,500.00 Pinarello Dogma F8. They will be the bikes that the rich folks who own airplanes talk about on message boards in the future, while snubbing others who merely own a 2015 Raleigh Grand Sport.

Little Darwin

I didn't read the whole thread, but read a couple of messages... My opinion is that the bikes that will be most sought after in the future (if the past is any indication) is the bikes that teenagers drool over, but can't afford today.

While there are some people (like those who post here) that will always appreciate certain classes of bikes because of the quality of workmanship, the greatest prices seem to be driven either by extreme rarity, or by people buying the bikes they drooled over as kids, and can now afford to buy. In either case, the supply and demand is what drives the price.

However, I think at best, if you were to buy a bike today, the best you can expect is to maintain value (adjusted for inflation), so if you can buy a nice 2014 or 2015 bike, I would suggest riding the heck out of it instead of hoping for a huge pay day 30 years from now.

MiloFrance

Mr Coffee, you are partially correct, the 15k bikes will be collected by collectors and hung on the wall as modern art.
I think there is a big difference between collectable and desirable, and if you go through this thread and substitute 'collectable' for 'desirable', you would not change the overall timbre of the thread, but you would see a focussing of individual taste and perception from the people posting.

Discuss...

Chombi

Heck, I'd bet that we are a very very small minorty in this world that consider C&V bikes as both sport equipment and art. I bet a majority of people just think about them as rideable "toys"......

AAZ

I doubt any mass-produced bicycles will be vintage or collectable.
I would predict that there will be some specialty manufacturers that will be collectable. For instance, I would watch for the prices of Toyo Rivendells to rise in ten years.
As mentioned, some custom bicycle makers will be collectable.

MiloFrance

Raleigh chopper, Grifter, Schwinn paramount, how massed produced does it need to be to count (or not count) in the future?

IcySmooth52

One more recent style that I wonder how it's resale value will hold: Retro road bikes.