Hi All,

I have a chance to purchase some unopened bridgestone bicycle boxes for real cheap. The catch is I dont know whats in them. Anyone with experience with these kinds of things tell me what to look for to ID what kind of bike is inside? Cant post photos yet unfortunately since im new to the forum. Appreciate any help I can get.

In the late 80s and the 90s, lower numbers were better. RB-1 being the best road bike, MB-0 (MB-zip) being the best mtb. MB-3 is the lowest one I'd care about. CB-_ were kinda meh hybrids, XO-_ were kickass hybrids.

Earlier roadies/touring bikes had _00 model numbers, which I never really learned.

Some catalogs here:
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/bridgestone/

Oh how I wish I can luck out on an RB-1, you sir are giving me false hope. I mean the bikes are literally being sold in the box unopened as a sort of raffle ish kind of sale. Seller doesnt know the specific model, he only knows that some boxes are mountainbikes and some are childrens bikes. Dont think these are 80's bikes, the boxes look pretty recent. He said he got them from a bikeshop that closed down for real cheap. I guess what im trying to find out is if anyone knows of a repository online for bridgestone where I can look up the lot no. or codes stamped on the boxes to determine what model is which before i buy.

Usually, the model number of the bike is written on each end.

What if the seller opened, and re-closed them professionally? why not just open them before the sale to see what you are buying?
Is that a person you know, or one of the CL deals where you meet at a public space and will never know who the person was (you know, when it turns out to be just scrap metal in a box)

the story of " bought a bike but never rode it" is unbelievable. but the story " bought the bike, but never opened the box" even less so.

Good luck, you will need it.

These are probably the lousiest models, and the seller knows that the bikes are worth less than the asking price.

Can you open a box before paying for it? It might be full of junk, or bricks, or some other items of similar weight.

This whole thing reminds me of the old scam where a guy drives up in a van full of boxes, all supposedly containing high-end car speakers, or TVs, or stuff like that. "Supposedly" the whole van full was some sort of leftover stock ordered by mistake and the guy just wants to get rid of them for a too-good-to-be-true price. Cash only, of course, and "pay quickly before the boss catches me!" He might even have one box already opened so you can see the speakers or TV or whatever. Then the guy drives off with your money and you're left with a cardboard box containing a couple bricks and a bunch of bubble wrap.

Cant open before buying unfortunately, seller has a history of legit sales and its Japan (there is generally a lot of social pressure to be honest) so im not really worried about it being a scam. He also has his shop address listed. Seems like he purchased one of those Open up a storage locker kind of deals that an closing bike shop owned.

A buddy of mine is constantly falling for gags like that. Just gets ripped off all the time. But he keeps biting. It’s a real head-scratcher.
Make sure there’s actually bikes in them boxes.

Thats kind of what I thought too but when I checked out bridgestone Japans site, even the most entry level models are decently built. Plus the boxes are going for 10USD each right now, the most expensive one is 50. I'm thinking of maybe flipping them for sub retail for some fast cash? Seller is not a bicycle store by the way, they are a buy and sell shop which could be why they dont care to assemble and resell. Seems like they make a killing on auto parts sales (engine parts, side mirrors, whole windshields, etc).

So I dont know which is the model no, but there seems to be a bicycle picture with different colors do determine what kind of bike (blue for mountainbikes, green for childrens etc.). There is a sticker on the box with a lot no. and 2 codes like 1B43Kb and MHM370.P. Any idea where i might be able to look these up? Tried using the contact us section of bridgestone site to ask but they havent gotten back to me yet. Wish I could post pictures here.

Maybe you mentioned this and I missed it: have you simply asked if you can open the boxes?

Ten to 50 dollars isn't too pricey.... Might be worth a shot in the dark for a box or two.

Reminds me of this:
Seller refuses to open box

Lets give the seller a name...Gus.

Gus buys a bunch of inventory from a bicycle shop that is going out of business. Problem is Gus doesn't know anything about bicycles so instead of looking at the paperwork to see how much the bike shop paid for the inventory, he sells them without any idea of the true value for $10-$50 buyer is in the dark. Instead of joining Bike Forums and asking the question, Gus simply sells them for a few bux.

I personally think the OP should buy everything Gus has to sell, take out a loan if necessary. There is gold in them hills!

Reminds of the original "White Van Speaker Scam".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_van_speaker_scam

The white van speaker scam is a scam sales technique in which a con artist makes a buyer believe they are getting a good price on home entertainment products. Often a con artist will buy inexpensive, generic speakers[1] and convince potential buyers that they are premium products worth hundreds or thousands of dollars, offering them for sale at a price that the buyer thinks is heavily discounted, but is actually a heavy markup from their real value. Con artists in this type of scam call themselves "speakerguys" or "speakermen", and usually claim to be working for a speaker delivery or installation company.

More than once I've been approached by some sneaky guy in a van saying in a whisper: "Hey man, the manager put 11 sets of (whatever) instead of 10 in the van, you can have it for $100 instead of the regular $250, but hurry up, I need to be back at the store in 5 minutes..."
Of course I never pay attention to them.

What part of the world does this happen? What decade did it happen? How many times has it happened to you?
I’ve lived all over the US, SE Asia, and Japan and I’ve never had this happen, nor do I know anyone whom has personally experience this...
Curious minds and all....

It's been at least twenty years, but I've seen the "van scam" a couple times. First time was at a construction site; I got suspicious when the guy kept changing his story about exactly what kind of speakers he had (he said they were home speakers; I wasn't interested in home speakers but could use some car speakers instead and lo and behold he said he had some of those too!). Second time was when I was in traffic and stopped at a red light and the guy pulled up next to me and motioned for me to roll down my window, By that time though there had apparently been a rash of these people around the area and it had even been on the news so I had been forewarned. This was all in the Chicago suburbs, 1990s era.

If its from a buy/sell shop, that should give a little more piece of mind I think, but regardless of what happens, OP if you pull the trigger on a box (or more) - keep us updated, I am curious!

I've seen it in Phoenix, AZ in the '80s and Portland, OR in the '90s

I’m always leery of the first posts that typically are so far out there that one really has to step back and marvel at the creativity level. I think this one probably surpasses most of the others.

I don’t think really believe these NOS Bridgestones exist.

But to play along, why ask here? Contact Grant Petersen. If anyone knows about Bridgestone shipping bikes in “unmarked” boxes, he’s the one.

Grant Petersen built an entire company and image that evolved from what he did at Bridgestone. And you’re telling me a Bridgestone dealer stuck these into storage 25 years ago and was oblivious about Rivendell for all these years?

John

The guy I was talking about in my previous post in this thread fell for that van scam with the speakers.
He also completely believed something called F*@kbook.com was real. Actually signed up and paid the membership and everything.

They're not from the '80s or '90s.

Bridgestone continued using the brand on bicycles after they abandoned the US market. Funnily enough, their high-end road/track offerings are branded "Anchor"

ETA: Hmm, seems they were using Bridgestone branding at a show in Tokyo in late 2019. Not sure exactly the structure of the company and its brands...

https://www.velobike.co.nz/blog/2019...yo-2020-review