Chicago Al 

+1 to all the above, esp Rekmeyata being a gent. We're all learning as we go here.

There has been an early 80s Miyata 912 on Chicago CL, also on eBay from time to time, that the seller wants $450 for. Apparently he is not budging on the price because the bike just keeps coming around over and over. This was a pretty high end bike in the Miyata line and the seller plugs that for all it's worth, but as a Chicago commuter bike there's not going to be much difference between the 912 and a 110. Especially if the first thing a new owner would do is make it a single speed. Even for more sporting/recreational use there are not that many people who really care about such subtle distinctions, and those of us who do know that the same/equivalent model a few years later was a much better spec'd bike. So though the seller's description is right on and clearly the bike is very well cared for, the asking price is about 2x what it really should be. Assuming the seller actually wants to sell, that is!

Seems to me this 310 is in the same category: very nice example of a mid range early 80s Japanese bike. As a daily rider/commuter bike it'd be great, but it's way overpriced. And as a semi-collector bike (ie for one of us nuts) it's not distinctive, interesting, or cool enough to be worth that price. (Not to say that we don't have daily riders too, but I think about 110% of the regulars here like nice stuff, cheap.)

rekmeyata

Not knowing what condition the Chicago CR 912 is in or the one on E-bay, but "IF" it's in excellent condition I feel it's worth $450. Unless you've ridden one of those high end Miyata's you may not appreciated them as much as some do, especially me. Obviously price is subject to what a buyer thinks it's worth, but I know personally I would buy it if I was looking for a really nice high end steel ride. How much would a person have to spend today to get a new lugged steel frame of that caliper? At least $4,000!! And even at $4,000 and above your not going to get splined triple butted tubing.

But like Chicago AL said, a bike like a 912 needs to be treated better then a daily commuter where it get damaged, rained on, stolen etc. If I was commuting I find a cheap bike like a Miyata 110 or anything else I could find cheap, and use the 912 for my fitness/weekend rides. I was using a 86 Nishiki Olympic for my commuter because it wasn't in quite as good of shape as my other steel rides plus it was lower end and I didn't like the weird sloping crown fork that looked more like it should have been on a mountain bike not a road bike; but a friend of mine wanted it badly so I sold it to him this last weekend, so it's back to the MTB I use to use. Point is my other steel bikes don't get used for commuting much.

If the 912 in Chicago hasn't sold for months at $450 I bet if someone offered him $400 he would probably take it. I'm surprised it hasn't sold, there must be some sort of problem with it people discovered when they were looking at it. I know a bike shop in Louisville KY sold an exact bike I have, a 84 Fuji Club for $600 and mine's was in better shape, but the Fuji is not in the same league as the Miyata 912.

Chicago Al 

No argument about higher end Miyatas Rek...I have a 1200 from 1988 that's very sweet, though updated and I wish it still wore the original Sante. But that 912 that is not selling at $450 does NOT have splined-triple-butted tubing, it's from a few years before that. That's the problem. (My son's Miyata 110 from 1986 does have it though--a lot changed in five years.)

The guy is trying an interesting marketing technique...raising his price. Here's a new eBay ad (new as of 11/23) where he has $550 as a BIN price:

https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...E:B:SS:US:1123

I don't doubt that it's a nice bike, but locally I've seen Centurion Ironmen and similar but later higher end Miyatas (900, Team) sell for less.

rekmeyata

I thought it had the spline tech tubeset, without that I wouldn't pay that much for it either then. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I remember reading some years back that the early Miyata's frames were built by Panasonic? do you know if that's true?

I've seen some crazy pricing with bikes though on CR, I saw a low end early 80's average condition Motobecane set at $800, a cheap Schwinn mixte classified as a racing bike at $600; a Schwinn classified as a Paramount but was probably a Varsity due to the electro weld ie no lugs for $650.