iab

In my day, we would ride centuries uphill. In the snow. With square wheels.

Young people are so stupid.

Get off my lawn.

CliffordK

You mean there are people who don't know the proper way to attach a tire to a rim is to glue it on? I'm totally dumbfounded.

There is no reason not to make one's own interpretation of "Classic/Vintage" I'm happy with aero flat top bars and aero brakes. Also clipless pedals. Does that detract from owning a vintage ride? I don't think so.

Toeclips really aren't about riding your bike with sneakers... although you certainly can if you wish. If only I could remember what happened to my old leather shoes. Yet, my new clipless shoes are comfortable. And they're SAFE. I might have been OK climbing marble stairs with heelless leather soled shoes with plastic cleats 30+ years ago, but I don't bounce as well as I used to.

I'm surprised about all the discussion about Brooks saddles. At least by the late 70's and early 80's, the Italian racing bikes weren't using them. There were more like old man saddles.

But, then again, ideologies ebb and flow.

CliffordK

Ok, not quite square

RiddleOfSteel

Part summer "slump" or easing, part...well, ok, the market is small for 63-65cm bikes. It's even smaller for those that want to build one up from a frame that I'm selling. Seems like most people just want something assembled and assembled well. The super nice and well-known components tend to sell themselves, but even then, at good prices, it just seems like people want to not have to wrench to get a bike. Perfectly understandable, but a bummer. I don't lose my shirt on bikes sold, but I usually don't make any money, which I'm ok with because I got to ride and experience the bike for free, and I got to rescue a frame/bike and put it back on the road.

Keep in mind that all this buying and selling is on Craiglist. No eBay or C&V sales (of which I think would be a great help to my selling efforts).

Like Ferraris, the high-end stuff continues to skyrocket in price, while most everything else is left fending for itself. I have my fill of keepers, currently, and am really enjoying them...and their much newer components!

63rickert

You can ride donuts around my front lawn and I won't mind. If you do it on a classic bike I'll sit on the porch and watch.

We were talking about bike prices. Find an under 30 prospective buyer who hasn't heard horror stories about downtube shifters. They believe they are not caveman enough to shift them and why should they want to pay for them. One way it works around here is the hipsters buy the bike for the nice old paint and then re-equip it 100% modern. On a basic transportation bike that's fine, even with me. The parts they just put in the trash. All of the old parts go to landfill. Who would want old and dangerous parts? They don't even want to testride an old bike. Just not safe.

Not much of a market in old guys passing bikes to each other.

BigChief

Be grateful for falling prices. Crazy inflation and speculation totally ruined the hobby of playing old electric guitars I had as a kid. At first I stopped using them for shows. Then I hid them under the bed and told people they were already sold when they asked about them. Finally, I sold them off. They turned from something I enjoyed into a burden I had to worry about. It's much better to ride than worry.

Narhay

Brifters have come down in price to where your average joe can afford a 'race bike'. Suddenly the modern amenities are affordable and a used, sometimes new, modernish brifter bike can be had for the same money as a mid range C&V bike with 'obsolete' components.

When an 80s 105 or 600 equipped bike goes for the same money as a mid 2000s briftered 9 or 10 speed road bike the choice is clear for many buyers. Those that like C&V styling will continue to buy but at some point the price floor of midrange bikes approaches the same mark. High end bikes will often remain collectible and their prices will ebb and flow as interest varies.

Kilroy1988 

We just had a thread about the younger crowd here (myself included - I'm 29). There's a rather big segment of the C&V community that could be called young. I just stopped into my LBS to get a bottom bracket re-threaded on a 1970 Raleigh the other day, and the new owner (another young chap who used to be a mechanic there) started showing off the 1984 Italian steed he'd just picked up (I forgot the make). He also had a mid-'80s Lotus with all period equipment proudly displayed on consignment beside the new road bikes.

And I live in Central California, where cycling is at its least popular in this otherwise most bike-savvy state, and where finding old bikes on the used market is pretty tough... So, not all hope is lost.

-Gregory

noglider 

Well, at least it eliminates one bump.

dailycommute

wax on, wax off.......waves roll in, waves roll out. .......see a crumb? grab it!

Andy_K 

Does saving the old parts or starting with a bare frame keep me from being a hipster?

I don't want to turn this into a debate about period-correctness, but my view is that most vintage bikes, certainly including "'80's era steel Treks" such as the OP started with aren't so classic that they need to be preserved in their original form. If they're being ridden, that's a win. They really don't need to be ridden with toe clips, friction shifters, and non-aero brake levers if that's not something the current owner likes. Someone once told me that I had "enough" vintage bikes set up with modern components. Well, what does that mean? I have "enough" bikes set up the way I want them to be for riding? That's like saying I have enough bikes. That's crazy talk.

I will certainly grant that there are some bikes that are sufficiently classic that in some sense they "should" be set up with period correct components. I have one bike like this and am in the process of building a second one that way. Will I then have "enough" vintage bikes with period-correct components? The question is meaningless. I'll keep buying vintage bikes because I like them a lot. I'll decide on a case-by-case basis what components I think they ought to have. Sometimes that will be modern. Sometimes period-correct. I don't think my choice of building a vintage frame with modern components does anything at all to hurt the market value of vintage bikes. Quite the opposite. This behavior makes mid-level bikes much more attractive to me. If you told me I had to keep my 1982 Trek 614 all original, I'd probably sell it. With early 21st century 10-speed components, I think it's a wonderful bike -- better than anything I can buy new.

merziac

I see a lot of crumbs, most of them are priced like a whole pie, glad I can still see and buy some of them.

Andy_K 

I tried it. My sneakers were too wide for the clips. I guess my sneakers are too modern too.

delicious

eBay prices on high-end vintage Campy and framesets from the more well-known builders seem stable or even higher than I recall them being over the last 5 years, with the exception of track stuff.

Summer prices always seem lower.

calamarichris

Another factor perhaps: the perception that carbon fiber frames have become sufficiently robust.
Either that, or people have simply come to accept that a bike needn't last forever.
I'm seeing fewer and fewer steel bikes when out on a ride. There were maybe over 2000 bikes at GMR on July 4th, and I can count the number of steel bikes I saw on one hand.

Bikerider007

Something else that may affect lower models for the casual rider. The e-bikes and scooters that are all over most cities now. No need for someone to purchase, maintain and store a bicycle when they can just hop on one and leave it when done.

CliffordK

You mean bike shares?

But, the other thing that may be happening is that all the vintage cyclists may be realizing that they've been doing it all wrong all these years, and are buying new E-Bikes. Why pedal when one can simply push a button? Thus, dumping those old fashioned pedal bikes.

repechage

leftthread

...

Steve Whitlatch 

Well if we keep having threads that call fat tires superior and bashing bikes that can't handle 38s or bigger, I bet the market will slump even more. Should be some fine racing bikes selling for dirt in the next few years. That and disc brakes.

plonz 

cycleheimer

Right behind ya, bro! Fat and slow ain't the way to go!

randyjawa 

I have been interested in, finding, building and riding vintage road bicycles for close to twenty years, now. Prices have gone up, then down, but not down as much as up. There are peak times, each year, when there is a slump, bringing prices down. But that slump has always been overcome once the annual slump is over. Want proof?

Check out vintage bike prices of ten years ago. They were dramatically lower than what I see today. Vintage high end road bikes, such as Colnago, Bianchi, Pinarello and anything else you choose to include, could be bought for under $500.00. Try buying a Colnage anything, now, for less than five hundred dollars. And, before 911, shipping was a lot less expensive. So...

Prices are not coming down. Lesser bikes are not as high priced, sure, but when I started following my vintage bicycle interest, it was hard to give an entry lever road steed away. That is not the case anymore.

cycleheimer

I didn't think I'd like riding them, but I do. They are a blast. Great for those days when you wake up with the "bonk", and coffee can't turn it around for you. Otherwise, nothing beats the independence of "pedal power" when you are in shape. A 50 mile range per charge is also a little restrictive. Plus, try carrying one of those up and down 3 or 4 flights of stairs to your pad!

ExPatTyke

There's no sign of a decline in prices here in the UK. Looking on eBay, even basic spec bikes tend to sell for £100 upwards.

I've mentioned before that the addition of words like classic, vintage, retro, or collectable seems to bump up a price.

I had a quick look on eBay earlier today, and found item 192603011695 - £50 for an old Raleigh with broken forks?!