VtwinVince

They are getting harder to find around here as well. I saw a couple of guys recently with major stashes of period MTB's in their garages, including early Ritchey stuff, as well as RMB, Off-Road Toad, Cinelli, Brodie etc. When these do come on the market, the prices are pretty stiff.

KonAaron Snake 

They haven’t really been around my area for a while - I always assumed many were killed, many frames trashed after being raided for parts, and not many left.

curbtender

I got a hoard of them, I'm one of those retired guys that doesn't mind having them around. The problem with selling them and finding them is the stigma of being cheap old bikes. "Awesome bike, I'll give you 10 bucks for it" lol, no thanks. They make great gifts though.

tashi

Lots of the really cool NORBA-era stuff around here does commuter/kid trailer duties - if you raced in the '90's, you're probably been pulling kids these days. Townie is a way better use of the super-rad 90's race bike you've beaten up but never ditched than actually mountain biking on it. The '80's bikes are a bit better for this, with mellow angles and an upright riding position, so for myself I sold the DeKerf and snagged an '85 Norco.

There's also a growing amount of folks restoring old mountain bikes now too. One word to predict that: nostalgia. If you used to lust after a Off Road Toad when you were 15 (me) you might be able to actually buy one now. I'd love to do up an early Hei Hei or Altitude as a wall hanger, I love a lot of what was getting made in that era. So much experimentation and CNC...

ryansu

84 Nishiki Cascade

Two years ago I picked up a nearly stock 86 Miyata Trail runner for $40 and a Nishiki Cascade with stuck seat post-that was being sold for parts- for $11. The Cascade had a biplane fork, thumbies and bull moose bars. With some patience, perseverance and a bit of luck I got the stuck post out. Its too bad it was too small for me. A period of unemployment forced to me sell both and I had a guy come from 90 miles for the Miyata just because he wanted the stock wheels. Love to find those deals again but folks do seem to be catching on to how great those 80s MTBs are.

Cl904

They’re still out there... somewhere...

Chris Chicago

kind of wish the supply dried up sooner...with little effort acquired 12 from 2010 to 2017 .. average price paid $60

still need to get 3 of them up and running (pink stumpy expert, red rockhopper, schwinn KOM s9)

clubman 

And if anyone ever finds an 86 - 87 Rocky Mountain Blizzard, I've lost one and would like it back. Call me?

curbtender

A Trek 970 just got put on the radar. Out for a walk and a neighbor was complaining about it hanging over his new car. I told him I could remedy that problem, lol.

jetboy 

we are flush with bikes in the bay area, so they are still around. I like them but am full up at the moment- curbtender alerted me to a my chrome mongoose for $50. and my 83 stumpjumper sport in near perfect condition was $125.

i just saw a high sierra on CL for ~100$ but .. there are so many bikes for sale at every moment around here, that while its hard to find a working bike under $100, there are lots to choose from in that general area and some can be quite nice.
if you are really adventurous check this one out:

I like that both sides are "drive side"

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/bik...874693184.html

Trevtassie

Yep, I rode my Kojima Climax into the ground as a tourer. When the frame cracked due to rust it was time to send it to great junkyard in the sky...

bikemig 

I used to see a few really nice vintage MTBs up for sale on CL on a regular basis but not any more. They're getting scarce. That's making my life easier because I was a sucker for rescuing them. I'm glad I scored a few back when the going was good.

Lemond1985

The really high-end ones never sold in very large numbers. Heck, even a 930 Singletrack was a $500 bike, not too many people could afford to spend that much on a second bike. I spent about that much on an early Gary Fisher Celerity in 1990, and that thing weighed a ton. I was happy to get rid of it.

EDIT: Just spotted this Univega locally. looks like people are starting to charge a premium for old steel MTB's. It's a nice bike, but not worth $400, IMO.

https://fresno.craigslist.org/bik/d/...873345457.html

Classtime 

Have patience.
I was looking for a vintage high end rider and over a couple months got one that was too small and my second one is perfect (so far). A Schwinn Paramount Design Group with full XT for $150 which is maybe high but was to be my only MTB. Alas, it was too small. Next came a Univega Alpina Team with full XT for $150 which maybe also high priced but I pretty much knew this would fit. $150 for a hardly ridden, not abused, really nice, BITD, bike is pretty cool. The Marquis names are going for big bucks and like others have stated, there are not too many 30-35 year old bikes around that listed for $900-$1,000.

edit: oops. Reread the OP. The two XT bikes I found were a 90 and a 91.

Headpost

Another expensive example in my market, which is expensive to begin with.

OldsCOOL

I have an ‘84 Alpina Uno that is identical to that mine was given to me by a no -rider and was garage kept for decades. Very cool bike and is capable of decent single track stuff. Dude, 400clams?!

2old

Still has biopace chainrings, so low mileage. If those are Suntour pedals, it's probably worth $250.

jetboy 

looks like its too small for the seller considering the bike in the back.

brian3069

Gigantic fillet brazed Ritchey, nice.

mkeller234

What? I was still under the impression that early mountain bikes were lower than dirt. I posted my early 80s Mt Fuji in the valuation sub forum and it didn’t seem to garner much love. The Fuji ticks a lot of boxes for me, so I was surprised. Either way, glad I chose to keep it!

clubman 

Most of us are too thrifty or cheap to buy that rather pristine Univega but if some acquaintance or neighbour asked me where to spend a $400 budget on a bike, I'd certainly recommend it over some 29" wonder bike from Costco.

My jaw drops when you guys talk about all XT $150 bikes from the 80's like they are low hanging fruit. Jealous.

bikemig 

I picked up a pristine 1993 Bridgestone MB 1 2 years ago. That bike had so little use that when I went to overhaul it, the grease looked new.

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...mb-1-find.html

I paid some money for that but I picked up 2 vintage MTBs--a 1993 Trek 950 and a 1987 Specialized Stumpjumper Comp--for $125 each.

Bikerider007

Mombat compiled some early MTB estimates based on custom to mass production From 78' to 83' Started with 9, 200, 300 2000, 5000, 50000. After that I assume it began really soaring but they still list brands.

I cant get the link to work.

OldsCOOL

That really is a good point. Yet, the non-enthusiast types clamor for the new and cheap at WaldoWorld.

My favorite MTB is a personal build of a beat up old ‘97 Trek 7000 rigid. Total rebuild and it fits. I thrash it and love it. Old MTB’s are not greatly appreciated by those wanting a 6,000.00 ulra hi-zoot carbon MTB.

merziac

The MTB craze made for a lot of cheap, beat up abandoned bikes so many straight up curbstone, hack, flippers gobbled them up, learned some were valuable and became a huge dragnet devouring all they found. Now they can be hard to find so you have to step up.