Is this worth it?
08-01-08, 10:55 AM
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Animal Cracka
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Is this worth it?
Hey guys, I recently came into contact with a person that built up old frames into fixies. We've been exchanging e-mails and she has an old Italvega frame(Pictures attached) and offered to build up everything including(Flip flop freewheel) and everything. She's asking $430 and I was wondering if that was a good price? I know conversions can cost upwards of $500 dollars and require some expertise which I don't have.
She sent me some pictures of the parts she'd be using for my bike but I can't find them right now. I've attached pictures of the wheels as well. She said she'll be using a campagnolo crank and that I can choose what kind of bars I would like to use. What do you guys think? Also, here's her website with some of her projects, they look pretty nice to me.
She sent me some pictures of the parts she'd be using for my bike but I can't find them right now. I've attached pictures of the wheels as well. She said she'll be using a campagnolo crank and that I can choose what kind of bars I would like to use. What do you guys think? Also, here's her website with some of her projects, they look pretty nice to me.
08-01-08, 11:13 AM
#2
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Absolutely not worth it. You can easily find a decent track bike either used or brand new for that price or lower. Some that come to mind include Kilo TT, Motobecane Messenger, etc.
08-01-08, 06:28 PM
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Here is what I would do:
Find old road bike that fits you.
Take of rear wheel, chain, one chainring, shifters and derailleur.
Put on new chain and track/flip-flop wheel.
Find old road bike that fits you.
Take of rear wheel, chain, one chainring, shifters and derailleur.
Put on new chain and track/flip-flop wheel.
08-01-08, 07:44 PM
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Yeah, I own one, and its ****ing fantastic! thats why I step up and mention it when I can 
__________________
You see, their morals, their code...it's a bad joke, dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. I'll show you. When the chips are down, these...These "civilized" people...they'll eat each other. See, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve
You see, their morals, their code...it's a bad joke, dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. I'll show you. When the chips are down, these...These "civilized" people...they'll eat each other. See, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve
Last edited by ilikebikes; 08-01-08 at 07:48 PM.
08-01-08, 10:02 PM
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I have the Schwinn Madison, too, and I love it.
But that Italvega frame is beautiful, with its interesting lugs at the joints and its original head badge, and best of all was that it was hand-made in Italy (which later moved to Japan and became Univega). The history alone makes the frame worth the price, much less the fact that it was hand-built in Italy. You'll have to weigh the price between today's boring-looking mass-production lugless frames and yesterday's classic hand-made steel lugged frames.
It is a sign of being misinformed when such a vintage frame is compared to bikes like the Kilo, Messenger, Hour, and Madison. These modern-day mass-production generically-branded bikes cannot compare.
You have a great find; take full advantage. If you don't, pass along that info to me...
But that Italvega frame is beautiful, with its interesting lugs at the joints and its original head badge, and best of all was that it was hand-made in Italy (which later moved to Japan and became Univega). The history alone makes the frame worth the price, much less the fact that it was hand-built in Italy. You'll have to weigh the price between today's boring-looking mass-production lugless frames and yesterday's classic hand-made steel lugged frames.
It is a sign of being misinformed when such a vintage frame is compared to bikes like the Kilo, Messenger, Hour, and Madison. These modern-day mass-production generically-branded bikes cannot compare.
You have a great find; take full advantage. If you don't, pass along that info to me...
Last edited by powerband; 08-01-08 at 10:05 PM.
08-01-08, 10:14 PM
#6
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I have the Schwinn Madison, too, and I love it.
But that Italvega frame is beautiful, with its interesting lugs at the joints and its original head badge, and best of all was that it was hand-made in Italy (which later moved to Japan and became Univega). The history alone makes the frame worth the price, much less the fact that it was hand-built in Italy. You'll have to weigh the price between today's boring-looking mass-production lugless frames and yesterday's classic hand-made steel lugged frames.
It is a sign of being misinformed when such a vintage frame is compared to bikes like the Kilo, Messenger, Hour, and Madison. These modern-day mass-production generically-branded bikes cannot compare.
You have a great find; take full advantage. If you don't, pass along that info to me...
But that Italvega frame is beautiful, with its interesting lugs at the joints and its original head badge, and best of all was that it was hand-made in Italy (which later moved to Japan and became Univega). The history alone makes the frame worth the price, much less the fact that it was hand-built in Italy. You'll have to weigh the price between today's boring-looking mass-production lugless frames and yesterday's classic hand-made steel lugged frames.
It is a sign of being misinformed when such a vintage frame is compared to bikes like the Kilo, Messenger, Hour, and Madison. These modern-day mass-production generically-branded bikes cannot compare.
You have a great find; take full advantage. If you don't, pass along that info to me...
https://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...G1GGLQ_ENUS282
__________________
You see, their morals, their code...it's a bad joke, dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. I'll show you. When the chips are down, these...These "civilized" people...they'll eat each other. See, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve
You see, their morals, their code...it's a bad joke, dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. I'll show you. When the chips are down, these...These "civilized" people...they'll eat each other. See, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve
Last edited by ilikebikes; 08-01-08 at 10:26 PM.
08-01-08, 10:25 PM
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From the photo, the rear dropouts might look stamped, but they're not. Bicycle craftsmanship in Italy during the 70s did not have the modern-day, low-quality build method. Those rear drops were hand-welded.
08-01-08, 10:29 PM
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But they did have stamped drops. Ive had PLENTY 70s Italian frames with stamped drops. Hey! OP! ask her for close ups of the rear drops! ; )
__________________
You see, their morals, their code...it's a bad joke, dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. I'll show you. When the chips are down, these...These "civilized" people...they'll eat each other. See, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve
You see, their morals, their code...it's a bad joke, dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. I'll show you. When the chips are down, these...These "civilized" people...they'll eat each other. See, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve
08-01-08, 11:39 PM
#9
Animal Cracka
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She wants a 100 dollar deposit before more pictures, and to move forward on the bike. I think i'm going to go the ebay/craig route...and hope for the best. Maybe purchase a frame and go to my bike co-op and try to build something up myself. Thanks for the advice! If anyone wants contact info for the seller shoot me a pm.
08-01-08, 11:48 PM
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She wants a 100 dollar deposit before more pictures, and to move forward on the bike. I think i'm going to go the ebay/craig route...and hope for the best. Maybe purchase a frame and go to my bike co-op and try to build something up myself. Thanks for the advice! If anyone wants contact info for the seller shoot me a pm.
08-02-08, 12:14 AM
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taking pictures is tiresome and costly. i think giving her at least 100 dollars is reasonable if you want to see any pictures of the dropouts...
08-02-08, 03:56 AM
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She wants a 100 dollar deposit before more pictures, and to move forward on the bike. I think i'm going to go the ebay/craig route...and hope for the best. Maybe purchase a frame and go to my bike co-op and try to build something up myself. Thanks for the advice! If anyone wants contact info for the seller shoot me a pm.
08-02-08, 04:07 AM
#14
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Here is what I would do:
Find old road bike that fits you.
Take of rear wheel, chain, one chainring, shifters and derailleur.
Put on new chain and track/flip-flop wheel.
Find old road bike that fits you.
Take of rear wheel, chain, one chainring, shifters and derailleur.
Put on new chain and track/flip-flop wheel.
You see alot of old rusty road bikes stripped down and converted into fixies and being sold as "Messengers" to unknowing enthusiasts for insane prices on Ebay.
08-02-08, 05:59 AM
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If I was running a business of selling bikes over the internet, I'd have dozens of pics, as much history on the frames as possible, full descriptions of all parts used on the bikes, testimonials from satisfied customers, action photos of hipsters riding my bikes, pics of me, pics of my dog.
She wants the $100 to get you committed to that bike. That's not cool. The conversion may be worth it, depending upon the parts used but this is not somebody that knows how to do business. Walk away.
Italvega was a brand created by a California importer back in the 70's. It was his top of the line Italian bike. Made by Torpado until they moved to Japan in the mid-70's and became Univega. The low end ones had stamped dropouts. The high end ones had forged Campy dropouts and that bike pictured doesn't have Campy dropouts.
08-02-08, 08:05 AM
#17
Shiftless bum
Yes, go to the bike co-op. Conversion skills are pretty minimal. If you can scoop a complete bike, all you really need to do is swap out the rear wheel and play with the chainline.
08-02-08, 01:13 PM
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I agree with what was stated before. Get a Kilo TT and save the rest of the money for when things break. A conversion like what she has planned to build should never cost more then 250 depending on the parts.
08-02-08, 01:17 PM
#21
:)
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I have the Schwinn Madison, too, and I love it.
But that Italvega frame is beautiful, with its interesting lugs at the joints and its original head badge, and best of all was that it was hand-made in Italy (which later moved to Japan and became Univega). The history alone makes the frame worth the price, much less the fact that it was hand-built in Italy. You'll have to weigh the price between today's boring-looking mass-production lugless frames and yesterday's classic hand-made steel lugged frames.
It is a sign of being misinformed when such a vintage frame is compared to bikes like the Kilo, Messenger, Hour, and Madison. These modern-day mass-production generically-branded bikes cannot compare.
You have a great find; take full advantage. If you don't, pass along that info to me...
But that Italvega frame is beautiful, with its interesting lugs at the joints and its original head badge, and best of all was that it was hand-made in Italy (which later moved to Japan and became Univega). The history alone makes the frame worth the price, much less the fact that it was hand-built in Italy. You'll have to weigh the price between today's boring-looking mass-production lugless frames and yesterday's classic hand-made steel lugged frames.
It is a sign of being misinformed when such a vintage frame is compared to bikes like the Kilo, Messenger, Hour, and Madison. These modern-day mass-production generically-branded bikes cannot compare.
You have a great find; take full advantage. If you don't, pass along that info to me...
I'd buy that frame for $30 max, a bit more if original paint/decals were intact.
I have a bunch of "vintage" frames like this in my garage, stripped and ready for paint, with headbadges, I'll sell them to anyone here for $430 each! (Most I spent was ten bones at a garage sale, most came from dump/reuse center).
08-02-08, 02:39 PM
#22
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I have the Schwinn Madison, too, and I love it.
But that Italvega frame is beautiful, with its interesting lugs at the joints and its original head badge, and best of all was that it was hand-made in Italy (which later moved to Japan and became Univega). The history alone makes the frame worth the price, much less the fact that it was hand-built in Italy. You'll have to weigh the price between today's boring-looking mass-production lugless frames and yesterday's classic hand-made steel lugged frames.
It is a sign of being misinformed when such a vintage frame is compared to bikes like the Kilo, Messenger, Hour, and Madison. These modern-day mass-production generically-branded bikes cannot compare.
You have a great find; take full advantage. If you don't, pass along that info to me...
But that Italvega frame is beautiful, with its interesting lugs at the joints and its original head badge, and best of all was that it was hand-made in Italy (which later moved to Japan and became Univega). The history alone makes the frame worth the price, much less the fact that it was hand-built in Italy. You'll have to weigh the price between today's boring-looking mass-production lugless frames and yesterday's classic hand-made steel lugged frames.
It is a sign of being misinformed when such a vintage frame is compared to bikes like the Kilo, Messenger, Hour, and Madison. These modern-day mass-production generically-branded bikes cannot compare.
You have a great find; take full advantage. If you don't, pass along that info to me...
__________________
You see, their morals, their code...it's a bad joke, dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. I'll show you. When the chips are down, these...These "civilized" people...they'll eat each other. See, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve
You see, their morals, their code...it's a bad joke, dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. I'll show you. When the chips are down, these...These "civilized" people...they'll eat each other. See, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve
08-02-08, 03:43 PM
#23
:)
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[yeah, I'm an arse today]
08-02-08, 04:03 PM
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08-02-08, 10:48 PM
#25
Animal Cracka
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Hey guys, update. I just called an LBS near my school and found out that they have a Bianchi San Jose in my size...plus I get a 10% discount on the bike due to my student status. Pretty good deal, I'm heading over there tomorrow afternoon.