DMC707

bertinjim 

Randy -
Closest to mint would be this Canadian built Peugeot PB 12 Course. Original saddle, tape, bar plugs, bottle, cage, pump, straps even the OEM Mafac tool kit tucked up under the Gallet saddle.

TenGrainBread 

This Cherubim came as a frameset, not as a complete bike. But it was NOS. There was still paint on the brake bosses.





Now built into this:

CV-6 

Does NOS NIB count?

Ray Florman doing the honors. In the box 37 years. It had been opened for photos.

NOS CdM opening_12 by L Travers, on Flickr

Fresh out of the box once home.

NOS CdM out of the box_01 by L Travers, on Flickr

And not long ago. A few chips, but all in all still a head turner.

Champ du Monde by L Travers, on Flickr

randyjawa 

It certainly would in my world! I have never been that lucky. Lovely bike! If I were lucky enough to own it, I might have gone with black bar tape, though.

Drillium Dude 

When I acquired my Colnago Mexico from the original owner in 1994, he'd had it for a little more than 10 years. Originally kitted out as a full bike with Campagnolo 50th anniversary gruppo #9992 , the original owner bought it from Deeside Cycles in Ross on Wye in 1983. He immediately removed the Campy set, put on Shimano 105 and rode the bike sparingly for about 5 years before putting it away. When he offered the gruppo for sale in a Cycling Weekly ad, I bought it and when he gave me the background I asked him to keep me in mind were he ever to sell the frame. About 3 months later, he contacted me and we agreed to terms; I was gobsmacked when I saw the amazing condition of the paint, decals, and chrome. It had nary a mark - every chip on the bike today was put there by me in some way, shape, or form. Anyway, I put it all back together (even having the hubs relaced to new Alesa tubular rims) for the first time in 10 years and rode it in its 50th guise for a number of years, later kitting it out with various combinations of standard Campy parts before settling on the fully-pantographed version of today.

1994: The frame on the day it was re-built into a Campy 50th-equipped bike:



1994: The completed bike at the end of the day:



2020: The bike today:



That's the original 50th Anniversary headset, btw, which holds the record as my longest-serving component still in service today.

DD

BFisher

This was sitting lonely in a box, never even fully assembled, fresh as 1989. Not anymore! Even Otto could see how fresh it was, and he's only got one eye!






How it looks now:

steelbikeguy

.... and the story behind this NIB beauty???

Steve in Peoria

thumpism 

Nishiki Cresta GT that I got from a flipper but was pretty close to stock.

CV-6 

Came up for sale on eBay. I kind of knew the seller. He supposedly had several of these that had sat in his basement. This was the last one. He was talking about parting it out. This was my grail bike for many years. He worked with me on the price and I bought it.

cinco

I've had quite a few over the years, but the standouts are my 1971/72 Gitane Tour de France - all original except the cables, bar tape, tires, and toestraps. A bit of paint damage, but I'm not complaining.


The 1985 Raleigh Royal - original except for the bar tape, cables, and maybe the seat. It took me about two years to find those tires, so they're not original but they are correct.


And the 1985 (probably) Gitane Performance - all original right down to the bottle, and it still had the mold-release dust on the hoods when I got it. I sold it about 14 years ago and it ended up being bought by a friend a few months ago so I rebuilt it again for him.

ramzilla

I've been advertising this 1984 Lotus Excelle as "Like New" on Craigslist. It's been completely refurbished. And, it looks real nice. But, somebody rode around on it a little. I'm guessing it has maybe 500 miles on it. It sat too long on CL. So, It's currently off the market now.

Spaghetti Legs 

My ‘89 Supercorsa I got as a frame/fork about 3 years ago and I don’t think it had ever been built up.





Yippeee!

sloar 

I’m gonna have to say this one. Bought it off the original owner that bought it overseas while in the military. He said he never got a chance to ride it.

OutnBack

I remember when this bike was for sale in VA Beach. It had a Brooks Saddle on it, & the seller had picked it up at an estate sale. The price was almost to good to be believed. Looks fantastic!

davester

Wow, some pristine machines here!

My japanese-built 1982 Raleigh International came with the original receipts for frame and components and was completely original, down to the Specialized tires. It looked to have never been ridden (no scuffs on rim braking surfaces or wear on the tires. I'm making minor changes (different chainrings, Brooks saddle) to make it into my touring bike.

Tautatis

I recently bought this Gios MTB K2 (custom ordered) - in excellent conditions. Unfortunately, too small. Last week, I dusted it up to see how it looks when cleaned and it was exquisite! A while ago got a Mercian Olympic and and Trek 420 all in perfect condition. I have a few other bikes - Trek, Fuji, Raleigh and Bianchi all in mint condition - hardly any paint chip or a changed part!

Here are photos for you to enjoy:

non-fixie 

I like my patina as much as the next member and I'm cheap, so "NOS", "NIB" and "mint" are alien concepts to me.

Having said that, the closest I came to acquiring a bike in as-new condition was actually when I got this late sixties Mercier from you, randyjawa. It was a bit dusty and it had a few scratches from sitting around for fifty-odd years, but no evidence of having actually been used. By far the cleanest bike I ever bought.

And it did come in a box:



A quick mock-up after unpacking:



No wear on the brake pads:



I have upgraded it a bit, and it has since participated in many C&V events, such as L'Eroica:



The bike has gotten quite a few appreciative comments, and at the start of the Retro Tour of Flanders it was even singled out and presented to the crowd:

randyjawa 

Actually, that old Mercier was one of the bikes that first came to mind, when I thought of this "fill up our quarantine time virtual get together project" thread...


For those interested, that near mint old French steed came to Canada from France and then, thanks to the generosity of non-fixie, back over the big pond for its second time. That said, the bike is worth what it cost to get it there, in my opinion. It was and my guess, still is, darn near perfect. And, just to make y'all drool, I got my hands on this old Jeunet a few years before the Mercier. I had forgotten what happened to that old road bike, until I read the last paragraph in the article...

clubman 

Not so lucky with mint bikes but I've got a couple of NOS frames. A 37 CCM Road Racer and a 48 CCM roadster. Worth having just for the pinstripes. Factory delivery tags show the store addresses, less than 2 kms apart. The racer has a lot of shopwear, it was lying on it's side in a basement.

randyjawa 

When an elderly lady passed this old CCM on to me, she had a tear in her eye. Her husband had ridden the bike to and from work for many many years. And, it looked just like this the day I brought it home for picture taking...


The old fellow certainly knew how to take care of his bicycle which, at the time was darn near mint...

USAZorro

Not counting the "only 8-years old when I bought it" Bob Jackson arrowhead, I don't have anything that came close to "mint" as an entire bicycle. I purchase frames about as often as complete bicycles, and I did get one that pretty much fell in my lap that was in surprisingly good condition. I don't know the provenance, so it is possible that it had been resprayed at some point, but it's all speculation. There aren't that many Argos frames out there. This one has been confirmed by Argos to be a 1977 frame. It has a few scratches and even a small scrape, but it looks more like it is three years old than forty three.

Bianchigirll 

Lots of beautiful bikes in this thread. I think the most mint bike I ever got was this fabulous '89 Equinox. Unfortunately it wasn't the best buy ever as I had to buy two bikes in order to get it. I was a very nicerider, Tange Prestige all Deore with Ultegra brake and shift levers.


This Centurion was nice too but didn't stick around very long.

randyjawa 

Five bucks at a yard sale but it cleaned up to reveal another member of the Garage Royal Family. Early seventies Skyway, stainless steel frame tubes, elliptical cottered crank set, rear disc brake, and, except for missing one of the OEM saddle bags and a broken tail ligt, darn near mint. What a pooch to ride, though...

Choke 

This '66 Frejus





I have no trouble believing that the mileage on this odometer is correct.