Piff 

For $350, a 753 Raleigh SBDU from 1985. Been too busy to put it back together. Still need to clean up the parts, remove the yellow reflector tape, cut/cream polish the frame, etc. Though I think within the next month and a hfl it should be finished. Planning for July 4th at the latest!

bark_eater 

I'm going to say the Bill Vetter. It was listed as "Bike $100" It needs some frame work. The front cantilever posts spun at some point and need fixing or replacement, and the fork will need a repaint. I've found some of the components to bring it back to what I think is original specifications would be, so It's not really a $100 score, but it has a pretty serious providence as a high end custom from the late 70's/ early 80's.

iab

423.

We're talking about Scrabble scores, right?

Desert Ryder

Cheapest one to date. This Schwinn project for $12.99


My best deal would be my GT STS DH for $100

dddd

Real "scores", i.e. good deals, can be free bikes, or can be "good deal" purchases.

A few come to mind:

Davidson Impulse, for the price of $80 worth of raffle tickets back around 2018:


Nishiki Pro, 1978, wildly-bespoke build (Phil, CLB, Mighty Tour) from Goodwill in 2021 for $25 sans saddle/post:


2006 Litespeed Sienna, 2021 Goodwill for $350 less 10%, no tax. Rideable as found, likely donated by someone's widow(?):


1952 E. Christophe, changed hands three times at zero dollars in ROUGH condition around 2010 (including my acquisition from a good friend):


1979 Pedersen, my race bike of the past 27 years, $225 swap-meet find (from a buyer of abandoned storage lockers):

AdventureManCO 

The LeGrande of course.




Paid $45, which was $45 too much, but it's changed my life.


For the better or worse, I'm not sure.

Kabuki12

1973 Mondia
Another storage locker find. Paid $270 , it was just a bit dusty but the original parts, including the saddle were all there! Purchased in 2016

rustystrings61 

There have been so many great scores through the years! I bought this 1962 Dawes Realmrider with a Sturmey-Archer FW 4-speed gearhub in ratty condition for $10. Photo after replacing the rims, fitting red Bluemels fenders, a new B-17 and some dropped bars ...



This 1982 Mercian Colorado was built as a team-issue bike for Tom Mereness on the old Mercian/Harvest/The Spoke team in Boulder, Colorado - the same team that included Marianne Martin, first winner of the Tour de France Feminin in 1984. I got it as a bare frame and fork for $50.



This 1976 Puch Royal X was, dollar-wise, my most expensive "best score." I paid $100 plus shipping for it in 2019. I had been searching for a 23-in white Royal X since the late 90s in an effort to replace the one my father bought me in 1978 that I had foolishly sold in 1987 to buy a vintage Fender amp. The bike was soon thereafter stolen. I had pretty much given up on finding one when I stumbled onto this one on FB marketplace. It wasn't until I pulled it from the box and saw the scars on the headbadge that I realized that THIS ONE IS MY ORIGINAL BIKE. Priceless.



Last but not least, I was playing Clunker Challenge in 2021 when this one surfaced. I wound up getting it for $50 and reconditioning it for the challenge. It's neck and neck with the above-featured Mercian for race bike ride quality, and I have a very healthy respect now for the '87-90 Sirrus, an Allez in 105 clothing.

davester

"No stems no seeds that you don't need, Acapulco Gold is.....ffffffffff....BAD ASS WEED!

georges1

my 1992 giant tourer given for free but upgraded with better tyres and wheels which cost me 300€

my 1999 mavic cosmic carbone bought for 230€

my 1996 mavic cxp30 laced to campy chorus hubs for 130€

my 1994 pinarello stelvio for 350€

my 1999 daccordi fly for 360€

USAZorro

My best score? When I bowled with some regularity it was 251.

Bicycle-wise... probably this. Added the rack, changed to a touring crankset, wore out the FD, managed to bust the original Fujita saddle and built a new set of wheels for it since acquiring it, but drove about 3 hours to Delaware back when I was a Bike Forums newb to buy it for $80.00

It has competition, but the tie-break goes to it as this is the bicycle that rekindled my love of cycling.

davester

My best score? You can't beat a free Cinelli Speciale Coursa (given to me by my buddy's uncle who bought it new in Italy)...


Cinelli as found

1974 Cinelli Speciale Corsa

jamesdak 

Well I can't say that I've ever made that amazing score over the years but I also guess it's all relative.

In terms of a classic but not vintage bikes, I have to say this Kirk was a huge score for what I wound up paying for it built up and running well. Listed over on Paceline as one of a few bikes a recent widow was selling through a forum member. I commented on the beauty of the bike but didn't make an offer. A week or so later the guy helping with the sale hit me up in a PM and said she'd consider any offer. I told him it would be embarrassing low for such a bike as I had just expended the bike budget on something else. He told me to offer anyway so I did. She accepted! I still can't believe no one else there tried to get this one in that time. Still feel a bit guilty about this one to be honest.



How I bought it.

How I'm riding it now.

One the vintage side of things I've got to say the Opus III most likely. I got it fully service and in close to mint shape from a retired bike mechanic. He grabbed it from an estate sale were it was literally a dentist bike that hung on a garage wall for decades.


How I picked it up.

How I'm riding it now.

Parts wise it has to be the free Suntour Superbe stuff I got from a member over on paceline. He offered the parts up and I waited awhile to give other's a chance at them. No one spoke up so I pm'd him. Can't seem to find a pic but it was the headset, brakes, brake levers, RD, and FD off the top of my head. Most of that went onto the Raleigh Team USA build.

repechage

imgur used to be such a good photo platform, now the only way to see an image is make a reply here and it loads, use the link and it is annoying advert swarm.

handsome bike

stoneageyosh

Sometimes you don’t know how big a deal a gift is until way, like decades, later.
Back in 1973, there was the second of two Grand Prix of the United States at the Encino Velodrome in California. It was promoted by Chuck Pranke, my cycling mentor and coach, who had been on the 1968 Olympic Team as stoker for Jack Disney in the tandem sprint competition. The events featured an international field headlined by Daniel Morelon and Pierre Trentin of France, John Nicholson of Australia, Xaver Kurmann of Switzerland, others included USSR, Canada, Japan, Jamaica and many top American riders.
During the event I acted as interpreter and tour guide for the Japanese four man team and their coach Takao Ono. Ono had been an Asian Games gold medalist on the track and road and was working for Panasonic as their custom frame builder.
After completion of the Grand Prix Ono said he would like to build me a frame in thanks for assisting them during the event. He asked what dimensions and type of racing I would be doing. What showed up later that summer was a short coupled, 73 degree parallel, high BB, 32mm fork offset criterium frameset. Ono told me that the tubing was Tange, equivalent to 020 if compared to Ishiwata with Shimano dropouts. The BB shell interior had been eccentrically bored to reduce weight. He used Eutectic-Castilon silver brazing material as it was the strongest he could find.
It had a transparent orange over white paint with only decals for the down tube and his signature. The down tube set was from Panasonic’s Sport Deluxe, a $130-150 bike at the time. Ono’s signature decal was as he had asked me about how it should read, “Handbuilt by
T. Ono”
I later asked him about the Sport Deluxe decal and he said that he (or corporate?) hadn’t gotten around to having decals made for the custom shop, which at the time was Ono and an assistant.
I raced and trained on this bike for years and it got to where it had to be refinished. In 83 I had CyclArt redo it with chrome DCS and dropouts with pearl orange and metallic brown paint. Japanese characters on the seat tube are my name. Braze-ons were added, possibly by Dave Tesch, and a full Super Record group finished it off.
After all that, the big deal is that it was the first custom Panasonic built by Takao Ono in the US. Yeah, it would have been better from a historical perspective to have kept the original paint. But, back then as a racer there was no thought about preservation, only that Ono’s work deserved much better than the minimalist paint job that it originally had.

RustyJames 

stoneageyosh That is quite a story and the frame would be a “cold, dead hands” piece in my life.

zookster 

So far my best scores have been my 1990 Sirrus at $25 and my 1987 High Sierra at $60.


Sirrus then


Sirrus now


High Sierra then


High Sierra now

Inusuit

Nothing high end. This Diamondback Ascent was $7.50 at Goodwill.




$75 for this pristine Rock Hopper and a four-bike Thule hitch rack.

Mr. 66

The Torpado Superlight needs some time in the spotlight.
This one is just fabulous.

Gary Fountain

Not mine anymore but I bought this 1954 Bianchi Campione del Mondo, about 25 years ago, for $80 and I had to talk the previous owner into taking the $80. I did put a lot of work into it's restoration.

(Fausto Coppi rode the same bike to win his last Tour de France in 1952 (he also won the 1949 edition) and the World Championship at Lugano, Switzerland in 1953 - that's not even considering his World Hour Record, Track Pursuit World Championship, many Classics Wins and, oh yeah, 5 Giro Wins - '40, '47, '49, '52 & '53.)




I replaced the tyres, Universal brake hoods, brake blocks and brake cable casings (I routed the brake cables to suit my preferred riding position) and added the Campy gear lever covers. I also replaced the brake and gear cables with old Campy stock and replaced the original Campy top tube cable clamps with new old stock. It didn't have a saddle or seat post and I couldn't find an appropriate Ideale saddle so I put an old Brooks B5N on it and sourced a 1956 Campy steel seat post. I couldn't find an appropriate red tyre inflator so I replaced it with an appropriately period inflator. Apart from those items, everything else is original down to the ball bearings.

The paint is original but I cleaned it and unfortunately I had to re-painted the Bianchi down tube 'brandings' and tried to incorporate the original paint chips as part of this stage of the restoration. I didn't change the front fork crown cut-out fill colour to red (Fausto's bike) and left it in it's original colour of navy blue - perhaps I should have changed this?

I made the race number to match one of his famous bikes. (I think his number was attached backwards.) The old Silca pump and pump pegs were my addition for practical purposes.

Being a little stupid (haha) It was 1cm too small for me so I sold it to a gentleman that understood it's provenance.



Bianchi advertisment: Fausto Coppi winning the 1953 World Championship in Lugano. Switzerland.



The above photo is of Fausto's actual 1953 World championship winning bike.

Deal4Fuji

I like that color, almost celeste. I've had very good luck in the under $100 price range over the years and one notable bad early craigslist buy I documented here: My worst Craigslist buy is finally on the road (War & Peace edition)
I finally found an Italian bike also a Torpado in a unique color that I guess would qualify as my best find at $25. I found it in November but just started work on it Sunday. I'm a notorously slow mechanic who would much rather ride than wrench.







....hopefully on the road by July

styggno1

I have written it here on BF quite some times - finding top of the line vintage racing bikes here in Sweden is difficult as there were not many sold here. BUT - when you find them they are often dirt cheap. I do not know where to begin... It depends on what "best score" is.

The best score money put in - to monetary worth afterwards might be the 1200 Skr (about 126 USD at that time - 2015) Bianchi Specialissima.




Condition to price ratio score would be the X4 (not cleaned or detailed in the pic - just as it came to me)



Rare, longed and searched for for ages score/price ratio = the Ferretti/Masi/Monark



Most fun for the buck score = Geliano



I could go on forever - or at least for 35 more bikes - I LOVE THEM ALL! They were all scores - to me.

iab

193. Bowling.