Koyote

A bargain? It's an old bike with bad paint, bad chrome, and a seller who thinks it's a nine-speed drivetrain even though I only count eight cogs; in other words, the seller bought it for a song and is trying to flip it for a profit. Not a bargain in my book.

Bluejohn

Okay, so I know it's not a classic... but I just picked up a 2000 Raleigh Pioneer on eBay which is in absolutely mint condition. It came with a pristine set of Carradice Overlander panniers and top bag and a Kryptonite New York D lock for the princely sum of £35. The owner had the original sales paperwork and manuals for everything too. It will make the perfect winter commuter to save my other bikes from exposure to salt and crud.

SurferRosa

@hughwp, those you linked in post 17 are priced accordingly. They're rough, in need of a full overhaul, and, for the most part, offered with cheap franken-parts.

If a buyer knows what he's doing, has tools, and is in need of that particular frame, then those offered might be "in the money." Otherwise, they too are overpriced and could easily turn into a money pit.

hughwp

A quick search on ebay shows over 2000 bikes, 200 on auction the rest BIN, Of the auctions less than 10% get any bids and sell and almost all of those are around my price quoted of around 30-90. The average price of bikes both BIN and auction seems to be around 500 with some up for 2k . of those that don't sell compared with those that do 90% or more are up for around 3x more so 300% over their value the average punter will pay.

The conclusion is that most sellers are either dealers wanting top dollar or dreamers thinking they can get dealers prices for old hacks.

hughwp

The UK economy has been stagnant over the last 10yrs and has only been held up by a housing bubble. We have had Austerity, Brexit, Covid and Ukraine over that period and the FTSE all share index has been flat, compared with about a 50% rise in the Eurozone and 100% rise in the Nasdax/DOW in the US over this period. People in the UK are now skint as interest rates and inflation rise. Bankruptcies are at record levels and the economy is projected to stagnate until mid 2025 so thing will not improve until then and get worse in the mean time so their will be plenty of opportunities for investors will money to buy cheap as various asset bubbles unwind and reverse, so keep your powder dry and wait!

Mackers

Looks like 9 speed to me, though 9S Mirage is finished so poorly it's not all that desirable IMHO. AElle frameset. Chorus OS rear hub, older Chorus front. Murex stem alone is worth a third of what the bike sold for. Buyer got what he paid for in my book.
I reckon it could have fetched more with a better description.

Steel Charlie

All he is doing is storing it. It will never sell at his price in my lifetime. Similar bikes at half the price have been keeping it company on CL for months. NBD to me. I'm looking for the Pinarello deal hahaha

50PlusCycling

They aren’t carbon fiber, they don’t have disc brakes, they don’t have sloping top tubes, or downtubes which swell to the size of the end of a baseball bat at the bottom bracket. They don’t have simple and easy to set up quill stems that don’t require cutting the head tube to fit the bike, and they can’t fit wheels with the assortment of gears modern riders think they need, but many of whom don’t actually use.

What they do have is silky rides which make long rides pleasant, they have simple parts and components which a kid can figure out how to adjust or repair, they can have surprisingly agile geometry which puts many more modern bikes to shame, and they can last longer than most people will live.

Here in Japan there is a huge market for these bikes, but the yen is so weak right now that even at the current low prices, they are someone expensive in Japan. Japanese love these bikes as works of art which can be ridden.

Fredo76

Without a reserve price, someone can get a real bargain if nobody else notices the item. Good for them, bad for seller.