motobecane69

That is truly a gorgeous bike. Lets be honest, the group could be pulled off and sold in its entirety for around $1000. (FYI, the brifters appear to be Ultegra NOT DuraAce) Then the frame could be sold solo for $1000. That bike can fetch plenty of money. what size frame is it?

Since you are into bikes, why don't you help him build something simple up? I built up a commuter with the Nashbar aluminum touring frame. Do you have old parts that you could give him or sell him cheap. At any rate, since he isn't an enthusiast he should go ahead and sell the bike but he needs someone in the know to help him sell it so he doesn't get ripped off.

shipwreck

thanks for the heads up on the shifters. Most of my stuff is vintage suntour with some early 90s shimano 600. Tells you what I know I did not measure it, but it felt very ridable to me, and I like a 59 centimeter frame as an ideal. It may be a little smaller.

I just saw his tenative travel plans, and it looks like he wants to travel on some fire roads and the like. Looking thru my bike shed, I have several trek antelopes, plenty of wheels, bars, deore, triples, ext. All i would need would be a new BB and some rubber, good to go. But, the suggestion of a windsor touring bike sounds good. I have seen them, and they are not that bad at all, after you change the inner ring with a smaller one. I would feel a lot better about sending a buddy off on newer bike that he knows is in good condition, but have a month or so to suss that out.
One thing though is that I don't want to be TO much of a know it all with him. He brought me the bike to help show him how to take the rear wheel off, change a tube and the like. The front wheel was tightend just by turning the cam in the open position. Lucky it was flat and he had not ridden it.
I showed him the prices I have paid for tires, and he freaked out a little. We talked seats, and getting some saddle time on that ass hachet fizick compared to the possible discomfort of a gell saddle. the idea of spandex is not one that makes him happy. All my leather saddles looked neat to him, till he found out what they cost.

motobecane69

he is cheapskate, no two ways about it. but when he finds out what his bike can fetch, he should be quite happy to spend 1/3 of it on getting himself a nice bike setup.

shipwreck

Yeah, he is frugal, but he's a blacksmith/artist(a really good one but commissions have been down)and to be fair, he got the bike because of a renter bailing on three months, and that happens all the time. At least he knows that a wall mart bike is not the way to go. Sometimes I look at all my tires and wheels, dynamos, ect and add them up. It took me a long time to know what I want and why I am paying for it. Heck, I have spent more on period correct fenders than I did on my car payment.

well, Thanks everyone for letting me know that this bike may have enough value to set him up if he desires it. I sort of knew, but really needed the thoughts of others on it. Keep an eye on ebay I guess, if he sells I will post what it brought.

motobecane69

take a bit of an inventory if you don't mind and see if you can find out exactly what model nubers the components are. if it is a 59cm or greater, I may have some interest in it myself and you can pm me.

BetweenRides

I have to jump in here. You sir are insane. Check out my avatar - same bike. Mine was a custom build 7 years ago (back when they still did Merlin custom), complete build was around $6,000 with DA 7800, my LBS wrench and I hand picked every part. Even if you are not a fan of Ti, this is one of the nicest frames I've ever seen much less ridden in 22 years of road cycling. Just turned over 28,000 miles and it looks as good as the day it was new. Go price out a Ti frame today and see what it would cost you. This frame was originally designed by Tom Kellogg of Spectrum.

That being said, it's not a loaded touring bike. I routinely take mine on 6-7 day tours each year, but they are supported. I would never use it with panniers, racks, etc. But no way I would sell this bike to buy a touring bike - they can be bought for relatively cheap compared to the cost of this bike, unless he is just never going to ride it, in which case he could finance a nice one.

Machka 

If you want a serious answer about touring with that bicycle, you should have posted your question in the Touring forum.

Why can't your friend keep that bicycle for general riding, and get a touring bicycle for his tour? There's nothing wrong with having two types of bicycles.

big john

Because he's a cheapskate. Pay attention, young lady.

shipwreck

Because, I was not asking about touring on that bike, and I avoid the touring forums here. You did not read the post. how can I get a "serious" answer if the thread is not read and understood? That is rhetorical question, please.

merlinextraligh

1) you're dreaming if you think you can get $2000 out of that bike. Anyone that cares to differ on that, Ill glady sell my Dura Ace equipped Merlinextralight (which is a notch above the Cyrene) for $2,000. and laugh to the bank.

2) While it might not be the ideal touring bike, it certainly can be done with no tragedy. I've toured on mine Merlin with no problem.

Light touring put on seat post mounted pannier rack, and you can carry a decent amount of stuff no problem. If you want to carry a lot of stuff a Bob trailer works nicely.

So there is a very reasonable case for keeping a very nice bike, and using a BOB trailer if you want to tour.

One big advantage of that approach is when you drop the BOB you have a much more fun bike to ride.

motobecane69

the problem is that the person that will be doing the touring really doesn't know the gem that he is sitting on and quite frankly, this bike would be wasted on him. the person considering the touring isn't an enthusiast. this would sort of be an experimental thing for him. probably not the best. not to mention by not having an idea of the value that he has in his hands i can see him just abusing the bike because he doesnt' know any better and really end up devaluing it.

not sure why merlinextralight thinks the bike couldn't fetch 2000. probably because he lives in the broke ass state of FL