dstar4ever

Sears Spyder 500 111 thats all I know? See pictures
I have searched high and low and cannot find any information on this bike. Can't find even a similiar picture. It has a speedometer on it as well (0164). No serial number. I have been checking periodically throughout the years.
Year?
Is it For a teenage boy? I'm assuming teenage girl by the color.
What could be the possible value?
If it has a serial number, we can't find it. If it should have one where would we find it?


This bike even has the original tires. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated

AlexCyclistRoch

It's a girl's bike-no boy back then would be caught dead riding THIS thing! Worth $100, tops.

dstar4ever

Haha your funny, I just thought it was a possibility of being teenage boys bike with the black seat and a speedometer that goes to 60 MPH. Maybe the teenage girl was more like a Tomboy. Hahhaaa... it is a big bike not a girls bike, an adult can ride it.


Please tell me how you came to the conclusion of 100$ when there is no details; year etc.. not so much importance on value. Just trying to find all I can on this bike, my mother has had it for years and years although she is not the original owner. We have spent many man hours trying to find the bikes history.


Thank you

Clang

I think there's other forums where they'd know more about 70's muscle bikes. I know there's a market for them. Try Rat Rod Bikes - A Community of Custom Vintage Bicycle Builders perhaps? I'd guess this would be more than $100.

Little thing that might help your search: it'd be a Sears Spyder 500 III (the roman numeral, not 111)

dstar4ever

Thank you
I will go and try that forum. I did find out that VINTAGE CAPRI 20" MUSCLE BIKE SPEEDOMETER is valued at 25-50 US. Again no year when those were made.

AlexCyclistRoch

Those speedometers *only* came in 60mph, worked poorly, and eventually became useless when the little plastic spur gear broke. I had one. It is a girl's frame, with a dropped top tube. These "spyder" style bikes were marketed for children; adults *never* rode them, as a rule. Also, purple as a color was considered 'feminine'. This is a gir's bike of about 1970-ish.


1) Sears branded bikes were invariably cheap. I know, because my first bike was a Sear's bike, which was thankfully stolen from the bike rack at school when I was 15, which allowed me to get my first real road bike.

2) Look at the components: cheap stamped sheetmetal hubs, cottored steel crank with stamped steel chainring, pinched-and-stamped fork ends, stamped rear dropouts, and that's just from what little can be clearly seen in the photo. I assume it has a Simplex 3-speed hub? That is where probably more than half of the value resides (and most of the rest of the value in that silly speedometer).

A few years ago, better-made Schwinn "Krate" bikes of similar style did sell for good money, at least for a while (that market has cooled quite a bit since then). Among collectors of this style bikes, Schwinn always sells for more money, and certain rarer Raleighs go for even more than that. The rare 'hinged frame' bikes are worth more still.

Your bike is simply a bike that, while in good shape, is of a frame type, manufacturer, and color that is nether rare or well-made. Any bike of that style is worth maybe $100 if complete and in good working order, less if it's not.

Sorry to rain on your parade, but the only real value it has would be personal to you.

Norahs

This is definitely a girls bike and the Spyder500s are very collectible. It's a nostalgic thing. I took the effort to log in here in order to tell you that you are getting really bad and incorrect information. The Spyder500 bikes are very collectible and are worth quite a bit. Go into eBay and look at the sold prices. It looks like there are some bicycle snobs giving you their opinion and nothing else just because they won't ride one themselves.

StarBiker

This is what I was thinking.

A fellow digger flipper I know does not know modern quality bikes, wouldn't know a quality Campagnolo equipped bike if it hit him in the face, but he knows these types of bikes, and would get good coin for a bike like that, as I would.

That's a big caveat on here. Be careful and do you homework.

Glennfordx4

I can tell you that your bike was built by Murray. If it is all original then yes worth more then a $100, but let me say that Girls bikes aren't worth as much as Boys bikes. I had a pretty mint Boys Purple Spyder single spd that I sold for $200 six yrs ago to a collector. I have a few Bikes like these and built a few for friends in the past.

Glenn