Originally Posted by
MikeWMass
Originally Posted by Ironfish653;211722B51
A bike with 9-speed Shimano 105 might be approaching 10 years old, but it'll sell for what you can land a brand-new Claris bike for. Let's call it $500.
Actually it might be approaching 15 years old. 10 speed 105 came out in 2006 (which is when I bought my "new" bike).
I was thinking of my last project bike, which has 5600 series 105 DRs (which are 10-sp) but Tiagra 4500 9-speed shifters (and cassette)
That said, 5600 is really nice stuff, and can still be found pretty inexpensively, even NOS.
That bike is a pretty good example of how to build a nice bike for cheap. I was doing more road riding and events, and wanted to move up from my heavy-ish 1970's Bridgestone roadster. I had always wanted a Softride beam bike, and one came up semi-locally for $225, so I jumped on it. It was a CrMo framed 1997 Nor'wester, with 3x7 RSX, nothing really great, but it was complete and in decent shape.
I started riding on it, and found that the gearing was really more suited to recreational / light touring, not a sporty as i'd hoped and the box-section 32h wheels were really heavy and 'dead' feeling. I also didn't like the height of the Softride suspension stem, or the narrow 40cm bars (typical 90's)
I was searching CL for a suitable set of wheels and came across a ~2008 BD Mercier 'Aero' with 20/24 semi-aero Shimano wheels and the 5600/4500 9-speed setup for $200, which was about what i was looking at spending for a wheelset.
I purchased that bike, a 52cm, which was too small for me, as a donor for the Softride. I swapped the wheels, DRs, cranks and 7-sp brifters, and sold the Mercier for the same $200 i'd paid for it. It also came with a bunch of accessories, like a lightly-used helmet, a pair of generic SPD pedals and shoes, a saddle bag, and generic multi-tool; most of which i didn't need, so I sold that as a 'kit' for $75.
For those playing along at home, my project bike thus far, including the original bike/frame, and the wheel/drive/control upgrade has now put me back $150 (net)
Some careful shopping of close-outs and the take-off bin finished the bike out for a Ben-and-a-half with new tires, a 31.8 stem and adapter, Romin Evo saddle and a Salsa Cowchipper bar, so all finished up for a shade less than $300.
I'm in the process of scouting donor bikes for a Cannondale speed weapon project; there's a couple of 2.8's an hour+ away, and a CAAD-4 frame with a really nice triple-fade colorway literally around the corner that's almost to cheap not to grab, (even if it ends up as wall art)