Resell bike market madness
 

I have to rant here a little because my wife is tired of hearing what I have to say about this ha ha. I love my old bike and jumped on this forum to do some refurbish during the lock down and enjoy hearing from people with the same interests. I also have really enjoyed seeing other members collection of bikes and now I want to add a few more to my collection (of 1 vintage steel and new newer road bikes ha ha).

Is anyone else following the re-sell bike market madness happening out there in hopes of trying to find a good deal to fix up and add to their collection? I am looking through local Kijiji adds and FB marketplace and get notified when something new comes up. The other night I see this FB listing added in the last hour for a 1986 Miele bike in great condition selling for $75. A steal considering most people are listing these for $500 and up. I quickly contact the lister but it’s already sold. Buyers are etransferring over cash without even looking at the bike! Last night a new listing comes up which appears to be the same bike, spruced up a bit (new handlebar tape, cleaned and shined) but for $450.

Any tips on how to find the good deals not seen by the market players who just want to flip for a quick buck? I’m hoping to pick up something that needs some work which I enjoy doing.

Wait till the pandemic is over. A significant percentage of the bike purchases will be back on the market and there won't be much competition for them.

Finding a bargain in the current climate is just a matter of luck or sitting by your computer constantly looking and being ready to send cash sight unseen to lock in the price.

IMO, the used bike market has been over inflated for years. However most of them don't seem to be selling at the prices ask. If you watch you'll see the same adds re-listed forever.

You do occasionally see a sane price listed. And even a few steals from those just wanting to rid themselves of inherited stuff or simply tired of it taking up space. But those go quick and at those prices buying unseen is worth it many times.

How do you find them? Spend all your time running the search engines of every site and reading classifieds. When you decide it's too much bother, buy new.

My LBS way out here has consignment & bought used bikes , but its not a viral hotspot where people dont use public transport because of It
They didn't use it much more last year either.

road bikes sell slower than MTB..

I just let them fall into my lap. :) Wife's sister wants to get rid of her Carlton (see post on C&V), and I am tempted to take her up on it. A neighbor gave me the Bianchi about 15 years ago.

Gave you a Bianchi? OMG my dream come true. Don't think any of that will happen to me!

To clarify, I am mostly speaking of vintage road bikes which are a hot ticket item these days. I frequent this forum and the vintage and classic forum and I'm inspired by 1980's road bikes and some of the incredible rebuilds some members have. I have a nice 1985 Peugeot UO 14 that I bought in HS and recently did some upgrades to and love it but was hoping to find something Italian.

Yard /Garage sale. Ask for a "ten speed". Or we used to have monthly large item pick up by the city. Cruise around the hood that day or night before and see what's sitting out at the curb. Mostly though just completely trashed kid's bikes from that one.

scott s.
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All good ideas thanks. I've also read about people making a trip to the city dump to see what's been left in there, just wondering if that's worth the trip? I know they have a specific bin for bikes but I imagine they are all box store garbage bikes. Probably worth more money at the metal recycle depot.

Estate sales might be another thing to watch.

judge the condition of the bike on the website, then buy it. If you wait to see it in person it will most likely be gone

know what you want, and when you see it, jump quick

Yesterday I saw a post on FB for an older Trek, road bike probably 2005 or something but in great condition and only for $150! I already have 2 road bikes but thought it was such a great deal I would pick it up for my son. It was posted for 15 minutes (according to FB) and when I messaged the guy, he said someone was on their way to view it.
No surprise, it sold. I wasn't too disappointed as I didn't really want to buy it but just thought it was too good a deal.

Pre-pandemic, average bicycles were very affordable on Craigslist here. Now, below average and average bicycles are way overpriced.

Lot's of Wally World bike flippers out there too, with the new tags on the bikes and some bikes still in the box. All for sale over list price.

randyjawa made a career out of doing this. He found some amazing stuff sometimes.

A friend just last week found a complete Miyata 1000 at an estate sale. He paid their full asking price of $20.

I have stopped at garage sales and when I didn't see any bike stuff I just asked if they had any old bikes. Bought a Panasonic Sport and a Shimano Arabesque equipped Volkscycle XV doing this. $20 each.

Here’s a pretty nice one for sale in IN.


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e14789689.jpeg

I had a friend who would go to every single garage sale he could find, and ask that question. People would have an old bike in their basement or garage they just didn't think was worth dragging out for the sale. He was always at the co-op fixing up some nice older bike he'd picked up for next to nothing.

gorgeous what would that go for?

Are you in Oakville, Ontario, Canada?

Cheers

I am and fondly remember the Miele bikes in the 80's. My best friend in HS had one and we used to ride together all the time. I want a Miele bike for the sentimental value of that. It's nice to still see so many of them around in the GTA.

I think it was listed on Facebook but I can’t find the post. I’m thinking it was around $1200.

Patience... Maybe worse this year, but here something of interest turns up eventually on Craigslist. I've also seen my share of just missed pop up for double or more later. I just want to ride them, and hope to catch the odd person unloading their junk. I'm generally targeting $100 when I get the new bike urge. I haven't had much luck at garage sales or estate sales, although it's not a concerted effort. Every once in a while my wife will get the urge to check a few out on a weekend.

Yes, patience.
If you can do your own work, buying a frame and fork (generally $100 - $150) builds me a top level vintage bike for under $500.
Last completed vintage bike = 1982 AustroDaimler Vent Noir

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...18e8b8ef0.jpeg
Next project will be more than $500, but not much more, a 1959 Hugo Rickert.


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b18276b0f.jpeg

It keeps me busy.

Keep showing those pictures as they are my inspiration to keep looking. I am on the same page with gear64 that I'm thinking about 100-150 to purchase something middle of the road that needs a bit of work or a really high end frame/project that I can build. Going full out Italian frame with campy components is not cheap and difficult to acquire this year. We have 2 local vintage bike shows that are cancelled this year which is a shame, because they are a big source of old bike parts.
I would really have to fall in love with a bike to spend $500 + from a stranger.

I should mention that I did make a decent purchase last summer for $100 from a Kijiji add which I gave to my son when he moved out. The guy lived in a little cottage up north and didn't know the history of the bike but had probably been passed down for a quick buck. At the time, I tried to do a bit of research on it but didn't have much luck when googling Lavantage. Appears to be a bike made in Montreal and sold at Sears from the name and a Sears sticker on the stem. Quality seems to be low and I assume someone at some point upgraded the cassette and added the OvalTech crank? It's an 18 speed which is surprising and what really attracted me to it.
Should I ask for it back? :lol:
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...89f86eaa8e.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4d08411040.jpg

I’ve never made an attempt to look for $20 fixies as I’m not interested in wrenching but (at least in my area) really good deals pop up constantly on CL. My gf is going through a bike acquisition frenzy as she sees them as functional art. I think she’s at 8-9 now?
They’ve proven very easy to find for us.
BUT........ ( this should prove the gf is a bit obsessed) we drove from the Sacramento area to San Diego and return non stop for a killer deal on a Colnago C40, last week we did the same thing to Seattle and back for a Colnago Super Profil.
Of course I wouldn’t expect many others to take their bike buying to this extreme but the deals were good enough to justify the drive. Or maybe we’re just nuts.......

I run a bike shop out of my garage. Never have I seen so much attention here, at least in the 5 years I’ve gone public with it. Calls for refurbs, tuneups, repairs, builds and for finished bikes. Yesterday a guy called me saying he wants a cruiser in the 200-500$ range. I’m doing a freshen up on a Lemond for an 80yr old gentleman. It’s off the hook right now.