canklecat

I visited the LBS today. Stock is way down from a few weeks ago, and customers were coming and going with bikes from the service department.

But as far as I could tell, the vast majority of sales and servicing were for comfort hybrids and cruisers. Usually the customers at this shop are pretty serious roadies. But not recently.

The maintenance crew have a three week backlog. That's a pretty good problem to have.

The retail floor space is almost half full/empty. I've never seen it like that. But the holes in inventory are where the casual leisurely bikes go. They still had a bunch of high end Treks and Cervelos, and a nice used older Trek carbon bike that caught my eye.

I just bought a bottle of chain lube and left. I always buy a little something there. They've done a lot of quickie minor repairs and adjustments for me, sometimes charging nothing or as little as $5. Good to see my favorite shop doing pretty well through the pandemic hit on most small businesses.

kross57

A couple of weeks ago I listed 3 C&V bikes for sale at average prices. They were gone in a day. Yesterday I listed 2 bikes at high prices. They were gone in a day. The market here is waaaaay up. The biggest problem is, finding bikes to flip is difficult.

Selling requires good photos and a road-ready bike. Nobody in this bubble wants a fixer upper.

gear64

I look here periodically for curiosity and postings seemed way down. Thought casual sellers were just distancing, but maybe just selling that fast. I've been surprised how many more street riders I've seen lately although one major mup was closed for a while.

Phil_gretz

With drop bars, a more road-appropriate saddle, and an aluminum rear rack, that'd sell as a commuter/tourer in minutes in the DC market. Easy $300.

Bikerider007

I was wondering this lately as well. I went back to bmx mostly and hang out and ride with a local shop. He doesnt even have space to walk with all the repairs and sales he has going. Working til midnight every day. On top of it, he sells skateboards and those shops were deemed non essential, so all the skaters are in there.

Anyway, I dont see any change, but people are out riding more than ever which has to translate into some wanting something different or cool. So there probably will be an uptick.

ramzilla

After all these years of converting drop bar bikes to more comfortable upright bukes, I guess I should have left it "as-is".

Phil_gretz

Yes. ^this is a more practical bike. PG

PilotFishBob 

I have this exact bike converted to 9sp with barcons and rigged for touring, very nice ride. I had the forks chromed - the rest of the bike was fine but they were scraped up and had rust. Too ugly to leave as is and I couldn't get a paint match so I went all stupid on it. Not selling that one.

ramzilla

Look at what I just sold tonight. YAY! Now I can buy another old beat up bike & start all over again. Thank you Jeff. I'm sure you will enjoy it.

sunburst

I really like the way the Shogun (above) is set up. Very clean machine! At 66, this is what I do to a lot of my bikes.

I sold a fully restored mid-70's Motobecane yesterday listed for $300, sold at $270 due to a last minute problem I found minutes before the buyer arrived.
I've got a mid-70's Peugeot Mixte on the block for the same price, but zero calls so far, which surprises me because I've had great success selling mixtes. I've got $300+ into it just counting the upgraded tires, wheels and saddle. I'm sure you all know how that goes.

My plan is to thin my herd by two more bikes because I've restored 3 bikes already this year, 2 of which are keepers.

the sci guy 

I love building bikes. If I wasn't at a 15% reduced salary AND furloughed 1 day a week on top of that, I'd probably buy more to rebuild and sell either way - and probably keep a few for myself.
But I was talking to my wife about this the other day as well and people just don't expect to pay more than $150 for a bike that isn't from this decade - no matter what the quality is of the frame or the parts that went into the rebuild. The only way you'll get decent dollar is if you can find another bike-guru to buy it from you.

Barrettscv 

So..., Is now a good time to sell a better quality restored classic in the $750 or more price range?

guy1138

I've sold four downtube shifting bikes for between $240 and $360 over the last few weeks here in Austin. Three of them were just mid range steel bikes tuned up with good tires and bar tape. The more expensive one was a nicer vintage cannondale touring frame.

ramzilla

I found this bike chained to a utility pole on my bike ride last Sunday. It had a sign that said "make offer" with a phone number. A couple days later, I texted an offer of $50. The response was OK. Let me know when you can pick it up. So, I went & got it. It had an 8 speed Shimano STI drivetrain. Was skipping bad. Repacked the rear wheel bearing. Soaked the freehub in diesel fuel. Lubed up the chain. Then, it rode like a new bike again. Put it on CL, FB, & NFBC. Sold it for $150 two days later from FB ad. Probably could have got more. But, what the heck. It was a flip. Be good. Have fun.

Mr. 66

BBMF, Big Blue Moved Fast, with reupholstered saddle. Omg, this 520 sold in about 6 hrs at $295.

I had a tan 520 that had a ton of hits and did not sell, so I raised the price $50 and on the repost sold in 3hrs of posting.

Ironfish653

Likewise. I found a pair of Magna MTB's in the dumpster enclosure with all the tires flat. Nothing else looked wrong with them so I dragged them home and pumped them up. One tire had been rode off the rim, and tore the valve stem out, but I put in one of my used 'spares'. Couple shots of spray lube and wiped down the paint after a test ride, and threw them on CL before dinner for $40 each.
Got 4 calls at breakfast and had them sold by lunch.

I'd say demand is up, not just for C/V, but for good, serviceable, affordable bikes.

J.Higgins 

Upping the price on a bike that is not selling has been one of my tactics. It plays along with human nature. People are pre-programmed to associate price with value and quality. We all want stuff we can't afford, right? Paying more for something gives us the illusion that its better than the one your neighbor bought for $100 less, right? This has worked many times over for me.

dweenk

Interest by scammers, yes. Interest by buyers, no.

scarlson 

I've been inspired by this thread, along with the thread about New York running out of bikes.

I just sold a Motobecane mixte for $60 that in better times I had been unable to give away. Complete with stuck seatpost, rusted steel rims, and an English freewheel forced on a (steel) French threaded hub. And the buyer was made expressly aware of all these problems!
Next day I sold a Huffy. A huffy! For $75. It didn't last 8 daylight hours on Craigs before I had a buyer on my doorstep and 3 more buyers in the inbox. To be fair, equipped with a Shimano 3-speed hub, but still.

Gonna straighten the fork of a mildly front-end-crashed Univega Viva Sport and see what I can get for that next! Also I think I have two '80s Columbias. Cleaning my basement is fun!

Seriously though, as someone who owns both a Herse and a Huffy, my observation is that the low-end seems way up, while the high-end has barely budged. My latest trippy experience was looking at formerly-cheap die-cast SR pedals on Ebay. Now you can see '80s SR pedals selling for prices over half of what those cool extruded Phil CHP pedals cost, while they used to be cents on the dollar.

guy1138

Everybody wants ready-to-ride bikes, which is great, because I can still find projects to flip at reasonable prices. My biggest problem is finding enough parts to finish out all the bikes, especially tires! Amazon is taking forever for other stuff too; waiting on bar tape, seat post and hoods right now!

guy1138

This tracks with all the news outlets and bike shops are saying: the used bikes disappeared immediately, followed by everything under $1k. The big box stores are picked clean. I've sold everything I could put together for at least 20% over what it would fetch a year ago. My problem now is getting enough parts (especially tires) to finish up what I've got.

bark_eater 

If I get some time I will probably be sending bikes to a co-op on consignment. Hopefully with the new demand they will accept some of my mid range bikes, previously they have only taken $3-400 bikes. Which they have been able to sell, thankfully.

dweenk

Can hardly give one away here. The only contacts are scammers.

SurferRosa

All last year, when I would sort my Seattle craigs search by price ↑, the first page would end in the low $300s. Now, it's around $450. Here's my search criteria:

suntour | campy | campagnolo | italian | italy | columbus | 531 | tange | ishiwata | motobecane | dura | lugs | champion | grand | cinelli | reynolds | 700 | 700c | miyata | mavic