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What do you do on a catch and release bike?

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What do you do on a catch and release bike?

Old 03-03-21, 12:18 PM
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bikemig 
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What do you do on a catch and release bike?

I don't flip bikes but from time to time I pick up a catch and release bike. I try to break even on these projects and sometimes I do. I'm curious how much work would you do on a catch and release bike (or a flip)?

I picked up a late 70s Peugeot UO 10 in my size that I plan to refurb and eventually sell. I have a set of decent 27 x 1 and 1/4 used tires and saddle to use on this bike. I am tempted to buy new tires but they're expensive. I plan on installing new brake pads and cables. I'll grease the pedal threads and contact points.

Do you overhaul inexpensive bikes you tend to sell? Do you use new ball bearings when you overhaul a bike you plan to sell? Buy new tires? Buy new cables and brake pads?

This is my catch and release project. It looks to be a pretty much all original late 70s Peugeot UO 10:


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Old 03-03-21, 12:51 PM
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I'm not a flipper, but bikes that have come and gone have usually been broken down to components and sold off separately (I find most bikes get more total $ this way vs. selling the complete bike).
Often, I will harvest needed (or desired) components and sell the rest to recoup my initial cost of acquisition. It is a break-even endeavor mostly.

The only exceptions are a few classic bikes fully equipped with the right components (for example, my old '84 Guerciotti with full Super Record).
The Peugeot in your post is an example of one I'd do a basic refurb (break down, clean, re-lube, new cables/housings, bar tape, put everything back, sell)

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Old 03-03-21, 12:59 PM
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For this bike ...

Full overhaul.
New cable and housing.
Reuse ball bearings where practical.
Newbaum's bar tape.
Cheap Michelin gumwalls.
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Old 03-03-21, 01:09 PM
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I'm not really a flipper but you first need to price everything out.

Bar tape, tires, chain, cables, pads. And decide if you will be able to get your money back from that investment? Where I live a broken "project bike" sub $200 cdn will sell all day long. Where as a tuned up vintage $400-$600 cdn bike might take months. Most guys I know will wash/polish what's there and sell it as is. But other places might be different.
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Old 03-03-21, 01:14 PM
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I think we had a thread on this recently called "how do you flippers make any money". Essentially you need to start with a desirable, higher quality bike at a low price in a market that will pay enough for your time and material.

Paint looks great. Alloy wheels, nice stronglight crankset. The downside is of course the claw and other markers of a lower end bike.

If that were my project it would get a complete disassembly and reassemble with new tires, hoods, saddle, bar tape, brake pads, chain, cables and housings and bearings.

However if your market isnt hot to trot then there is no sense spending a day doing a bunch of free work for someone else unless you really happen to like doing it and feel some kind of satisfaction putting another bike on the road. Otherwise the other options are to clean it up and list as is or disassemble into components. However lower end components have limited resale value.
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Old 03-03-21, 01:17 PM
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Originally Posted by SurferRosa
For this bike ...

Full overhaul.
New cable and housing.
Reuse ball bearings where practical.
Newbaum's bar tape.
Cheap Michelin gumwalls.
Do you have a source for cheap or inexpensive 27 inch tires?
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Old 03-03-21, 01:17 PM
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Get it front of the right audience

I have done this (catch & release) a number of times. One that was a very good experience involved a Bianchi Brava that a friend picked up for me at an estate sale. The bike was dusty but it seemed as if the guy bought it new, rode it once and then stored it in a climate controlled area. It had the original tires that still held air and were ridable! I did replace those tires just to be safe. I cleaned it and checked all components. Sold it for what I had put into it. But the cool thing is that the new owner wanted a bike to ride with his sons.

I like to "save" old bikes, so I try to get the bike exposed to the right crowd of people.

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Old 03-03-21, 01:20 PM
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If you have no intention of riding it, it may be worthwhile to consider parting it out, especially depending on what model rear mech that is. It looks like it's aluminum externally, at least, and not the delrin.

Crankset looks nice, front der is delrin, but if uncracked, it may have some value to someone restoring a Pug. Are pedals French thread? Wheelset looks like alum rims, would shine up nice. Frame would look nice polished up and could sell with the seat post, headset, stem/bars, bottom bracket, all the French bits that could otherwise frustrate a potential buyer. It's worth considering depending on what you initially spent.
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Old 03-03-21, 01:25 PM
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My rule of thumb on "flips" is to make sure all the contact points are "nice" Clean or new grips and saddles. If the cables/housing aren't too bad, I'll give them a quick sand and reuse with some lube on them and inside the housings. BBs and hubs get adjusted and if they're really dry sounding, I'll open them enough to squirt grease in before adjusting. True the wheels, file the oxidation off the brake pads. Take it out and test ride it hard.

Basically the exact same thing I used to do in a shop that charged $80, although they didn't approve of opening a hub to squirt grease in. That was an upcharge.

Most of my flips are purchased for under $50 and sold for $150-250 in a relatively hot market area.

As a popular local latenight gun store commerical when I was a kid put it, "I'm not trying to make money selling *bikes*, I just love to sell *bikes*"
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Old 03-03-21, 01:28 PM
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Catch and release implies zero net gain. At the least I would pass along a bike with an honest opinion on condition and safety concerns. I would not kick a problem down the road for someone else to discover. I've certainly had that done to me, and while I made a bit of a living fixing other peoples mistakes, I gots my standards.
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Old 03-03-21, 01:39 PM
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I've done quite a few of these over the years. The only "profit" for me is getting to see the smile on the new owners face. I do if for fun and experience, not to make money. So I guess you have to decide what matters to you.

I'd
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Old 03-03-21, 02:07 PM
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Originally Posted by bikemig
Do you have a source for cheap or inexpensive 27 inch tires?
No, I just search the web for 30 minutes or more. On eBay, I also use the search terms, "pair," "2" and "bundle."
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Old 03-03-21, 02:09 PM
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Originally Posted by bark_eater
Catch and release implies zero net gain.
Maybe if you hate fishing or you hate refurbishing.
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Old 03-03-21, 02:12 PM
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Originally Posted by SurferRosa
For this bike ...

Full overhaul.
New cable and housing.
Reuse ball bearings where practical.
Newbaum's bar tape.
Cheap Michelin gumwalls.
Basically I agree. New cables at least, new housing if needed. Grease all bearings, general lube everything else. New cheapo tires if you can find some and tubes. Hockey tape or gorilla tape the inner rim. Cork bar tape. Check brake pads, sand a little down to fresh meat, or get new pads if needed.

These are the types of bikes I have decent used parts in various bins and can use them instead of new if needed.

Also the bakelite shifters and front derailleur can be particularly fragile, so don't be afraid to replace.
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Old 03-03-21, 02:18 PM
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If I'm going to work on a bike for sale, then it will be as perfect as I can make it affordably. You don't make money at the time of purchase, but you definitely can lose money there. Put the quality level of parts and consumables that the frame justifies. Price the finished product at where the discerning buyer will respond. Don't negotiate.

OP - For that bike, it's an iffy proposition. I might not touch that one at all. Maybe if given to me for free. Steel rims? Chain isn't shot? Do what Surfer Rosa says, except I'd strip off all parts and clean them. Headset, bottom bracket, hubs and true rims. Polish the frame and touch up the scratches, then re-assemble.
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Old 03-03-21, 02:19 PM
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I just wanted to add if I was selling it as is. I'd take that gross looking bar tape off and leave the handle bars bare metal. People are fickle as I have found that where as one person might absolutely love something like white handlebar tape, but the next person it will completely put them off the bike. I've only sold a few bikes mostly BMX. But I found that with older vintage stuff having it a bit cheaper and allowing them to think that they can add value by fixing a few things themselves helps sell the bike faster. Where as if it's a modern bike you need to fix the problems and make it worry free to sell it. But that's just IMHO.
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Old 03-03-21, 02:41 PM
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Originally Posted by SurferRosa
Maybe if you hate fishing or you hate refurbishing.
Naw... I just consider catch and release to be a lateral transaction. Lots of fun "fishing" for bikes beyond the entertainment of working on them. If your actually fixing something up before selling it your "flipping" , whether your a "for profit", "non profit" or "no profit" operation is all how you follow a buck or entertainment.
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Old 03-03-21, 02:42 PM
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Originally Posted by SurferRosa
No, I just search the web for 30 minutes or more. On eBay, I also use the search terms, "pair," "2" and "bundle."
Just asking because I've tried that several times over the past few day and I haven't come up with anything much better than around $20 a tire. Tires are becoming harder to find with the disruptions in the supply chains caused by the pandemic and they have tended to go up on price.
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Old 03-03-21, 02:48 PM
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Originally Posted by bark_eater
Catch and release implies zero net gain. At the least I would pass along a bike with an honest opinion on condition and safety concerns. I would not kick a problem down the road for someone else to discover. I've certainly had that done to me, and while I made a bit of a living fixing other peoples mistakes, I gots my standards.
By catch and release, I simply mean that I try to sell it for what I paid for it plus the price of parts. I figure catch and release is different than flipping because I'm not trying to make any money on it but just to find a new home for the bike. Nothing wrong with flipping but it's not what I do with a bike like this. I like old Peugeots and I wanted to give it a 2d life.

So no I won't sell a bike with issues and I won't sell a bike I haven't fixed up to be safe to ride. The question I had is how much work people put into bikes when you know it's not a keeper.
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Old 03-03-21, 02:54 PM
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Originally Posted by bikemig
Just asking because I've tried that several times over the past few day and I haven't come up with anything much better than around $20 a tire. Tires are becoming harder to find with the disruptions in the supply chains caused by the pandemic and they have tended to go up on price.
You're right. It's been awhile since I've ordered 27". Sorry.

With a non-clunker, perfect paint, everything perfectly dialed in, mounting Paselas can pay off. Find a beautiful spot to take your pics.
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Old 03-03-21, 02:58 PM
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Originally Posted by noobinsf
If you have no intention of riding it, it may be worthwhile to consider parting it out, especially depending on what model rear mech that is. It looks like it's aluminum externally, at least, and not the delrin.

Crankset looks nice, front der is delrin, but if uncracked, it may have some value to someone restoring a Pug. Are pedals French thread? Wheelset looks like alum rims, would shine up nice. Frame would look nice polished up and could sell with the seat post, headset, stem/bars, bottom bracket, all the French bits that could otherwise frustrate a potential buyer. It's worth considering depending on what you initially spent.
Yeah I've done that with old Pugs before. I have a UO 9 I picked up for $40 that I stripped the parts from. I had mixed feelings about doing that but the bike was so clean and I really needed a stronglight 99 crank. $40 for a stronglight 99 is cheap. Plus the wheels went on a bike I sold which more than paid for the bike.

This UO 10 has a little nicer parts than the UO 9 as it has quality alloy wheels with rigida rims. The narrow ones, the rigida 13-19s, didn't really hold up but the wide ones like this, the 1622s, are excellent. They're dead ringers for the Superchampion 58s which may be the best vintage touring rim ever made. Plus the simplex derailleurs and the stronglight crank are all good. I don't think I want to strip the bike down to the parts but maybe I'll swap out any of the parts I want to keep.
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Old 03-03-21, 03:01 PM
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Originally Posted by SurferRosa
You're right. It's been awhile since I've ordered 27". Sorry.

With a non-clunker, perfect paint, everything perfectly dialed in, mounting Paselas can pay off. Find a beautiful spot to take your pics.
I'm with you on this. Sometimes it pays to invest some money in a bike to sell it. Cleaning the bike, new tires and tape all really help. I'll likely do as you suggested and kick the price up to cover my costs.
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Old 03-03-21, 03:20 PM
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When it is not a keeper:
CLA hubs, BB at a minimum and whatever else needs replacing or adjusting.
I enjoy fixing and either selling around cost or for curb finds giving to our parish. (except the trash day 88 Ironman Master
But for tires I am glad I stocked up on $5-$8 Nashbar closeouts around 2016.
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Old 03-03-21, 05:38 PM
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Only flip 1 or 2 bikes a year, if even. I won't mess with bikes that are a basket case, unless it's a labor of love.

The flips I still do are either a free bike that I know will sell easily or a high-end bike in good shape, purchased at a very low price. If I can't clear $50/hour for my time, I won't touch it.

I'll only do the minimum to make them clean, safe, and functional. Full disclosure of any issues to the buyer. I try not to spend more than 2 hours on the whole process.
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Old 03-03-21, 07:55 PM
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Originally Posted by thinktubes
I'll only do the minimum to make them clean, safe, and functional. Full disclosure of any issues to the buyer. I try not to spend more than 2 hours on the whole process.
Ha! I have to laugh at myself. I'd spend four hours on the paint finish alone. But I like perfection. A lot.
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