Originally Posted by
Prowler
I commend your initiative and understand. I've done several bikes and enjoy the challenge and the outcomes. But: you may heard that the world got turned upside down and there's been a "bike boom" greater than we've seen in decades. Demand out paces supply. So all bikes, even those on CL are high priced and sellers have no reason the bargin. Another buyer will be by in a few minutes. Not a good time to get a nice deal on an old bike. Timing. So, good luck and beware of great deals and their undisclosed issues (like frozen bearings, bent frames, dead shifters and flat tires). Especially flat tires. A flat tire means you cannot test ride the bike and thus discover all the other hidden issues. "fully restored and ready to ride" could just mean 'brought out of the dark n damp, cobwebs brushed off and will generally roll down hill - one time'.
Amazing how many sellers will say "$350, just needs the tires pumped up. I couldn't find my pump. OH! A bad tube. No problem those are so easy. I didn't have time."
Thank you and I look forward to sharing that joy eventually. The post cracked me up because I can relate at the moment.
I can feel/see the bike boom on my CL searches (I seem to always be on the tail end, I had an issue with getting yeast also...haha) I see entry level/"not so special" vintage bikes for 150+ (example a Peugeot for $200 and changed to $150, this bike is well kept, hangs inside the home). Then again there have been a couple which I thought were priced a bit more fair (1985's "women" Ross Gran Tour, I think - Owner said 1982 but the decal seems to be not be from that year, it fits the 1985 from what I can make out in the scanned catalog, for $75 and a Panasonic Villager III for $95 - which seemed fair from my research). I haven't tested these but seems to be operational and running with no issues. I;m hoping to see the Ross - might have been sold as I am typing this hahaha. So that's how I am going about my search, practicing patience and in the meantime reading up as suggested by the others.
Currently, with this whole living at the parents, I don't want to spend the funds on a new bike as there is no room for it (dad's pretty territorial) and I would hate for storage to be a reason the bike is damaged.