Hey guys I've been lurking here for a while but ready to finally post.

I got these two old bikes for free and am looking to sell them on craigslist.




Wondering if I will be better off doing a package deal for somebody or just listing them separately. The bikes are two different manufacturers but many parts are identical. I had to rebuild the shifting mechanism on the teal Schwinn for it to work properly but it's good now! That and a new tube and it is ready to ride, just a little dirty. The Motobecane was perfectly fine. What are these worth in your opinion? I'm in FL and weather is in the 70s right now by the way.

I bought this Walmart special off my buddy for $100. He took it on a trail once and didn't like the 29er size. I peeled off all the ugly decals and plan on putting a nice street tire on in because I don't ride offroad too much. I could always put the knobby tires back on. The girlfriend and I go on pretty long rides just for fun and fitness so I think I would benefit from something like the Schwalbe Big Apple 29er tire.



She rides my mom's old bike...another Walmart special. lol...it gets the job done.



We are both falling in love with biking all over again and it's a blast. I use to ride a bmx everyday after school with friends since I could remember. I loved my 20 inch GT bike with it's unbreakable crank and just solid all around feel. I'm thinking I would upgrade to a single speed bike mountain bike in the future. For now, we are just getting out there and riding!

Welcome to the forum. :

On selling the bike I would recommend selling them separately. Someone can always buy both of them but most the odds of finding someone that wants both of them will be pretty low.

Advertise both bikes in a single post. You can offer $10 off (or some dollar amount) if someone buys both of them. Those are nice, clean looking bikes. Good luck selling them.

Welcome to Bike Forums, my friend!

My advice to you, would be to fix your bikes up to the best of your ablity. Make certain that there's no visible rust on the bikes, surface or otherwise. Make your bikes look as shiny as possible. Then list them separately. You might be able to find additional information on them by going to the Bikepedia website.

Make certain that you inform prospective buyers about the general condition of the bikes, as well as, the type of material both the frame and the fork are made. Cyclists want to know about how the bike brakes and shifts. Give the year of the bike or at least come as close as possible. The condition of the both the rims and tires would be nice, too. List any extras...

- Slim

Welcome!
+1 List separately and they must be clean. Remove any traces of rust and make certain that they are in good working order. Good luck with the sale.

Thanks for the tips guys!

What year is that Motobecane? Interesting bike in my opinion. Nothing super special, just don't see one everyday. If I were closer I would be interested in seeing it. Looks like a 3 speed? Might get $50-$100 depending on the market, the Schwinn is a Taiwan built one (built by Giant) worth about the same as the Motobecane, the other three are what they are. Clean, freshly lubed, working bikes should bring more.

Aaron

You know, some people like old French bikes and old three speeds. I would definitely use ebay not craigslist because someone may be willing to drive a while to pick one up. OTOH it's mostly the road bikes that get the attention.

You might wind up liking those yourself. The tires have less resistance, they're very comfortable, and they might actually ride quite well because you can air up to 65 psi but still have the tire absorb bumps because it's narrower. Some people really like the feel of a French bike. Also, a solid frame is more efficient than a suspended one b/c you don't lose pedal effort making the bike rock.

Only make sure to repack the grease if you ride them yourself because it could be dry after all these years.

I'd probably list them separately, but refer to the "other one" in your listing.
Since they are both coaster brake bikes, you'll probably appeal to the same type buyer.

IF you list them together, go for the his n' hers aspect. You can appeal to the "bikeless couple" that are thinking about a bike for casual riding around the neighbor hood together.
I've done that successfully, giving a small discount for buying both at once.

Thanks for all the input guys! I actually got rid of the teal Schwinn within 10 hours...craigslist is amazing. Listed it for $50 and came down to $25 to get it gone. It did have a lot of surface rust on the frame, bars, spokes. The Motobecane is much cleaner with no rust. I'm going to stay firm at $50 because even though the bikes are old, they are quality. I got both of them for free from a real estate listing I sold in my area. The owner said I could take anything I wanted!

The girlfriend and I went on a 23 mile ride yesterday and we determined we both are in need of some higher quality bikes!

What brands would you guys recommend on a lower budget?

We both like the mountain bike style because we want a bike that can do everything. I'm not opposed to a solid frame mountain bike for that extra drive on the street!

In my experience people want to dicker on things listed on CL so I purposely list things a bit higher than the lowest price I am willing to take, that way they "thinK" they are getting a deal

I regularly ride my Raleigh 3 speeds up to 40 miles in a day. What are you wanting? Hybrids are okay bikes, but most seem to come with suspension seat posts and suspension forks where are overkill for most riders on the street. They just add weight, complexity and cost.

Aaron

I'm liking the single speed concept in a 29er....something like this would be ideal I think.

https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/gravity/g29ss.htm

Does Gravity make a decent bike?