rocks in head 

So this guy is selling a bunch of stuff out of his barn, but hadn't listed the bikes. I saw the mixte and though it was interesting. Looks like "Sabre" on the downtube, but can't find anything like that on the internet. I emailed him, asked if he'd consider selling them and if he could tell me any more about them. He's 30 minutes in the wrong direction from work, thinking about going to check them out next Monday.
I'm thinking early 1970s, especially on the mixte. The green bike in back could be a schwinn, but I'm not sure on that, really too hard to tell anything from the pics so far.

What would you do? Check it out? Pass? I'm thinking these are in the $25 - $50 range. Probably no butted tubesets in there, what with the big seatpost collar clamps. The only bike I know for certain what it is is the early 90's Murray that's worth approximately negative $5.

CroMo Mike 

I think I'd keep driving.

wrk101

Pile of scrap metal there. I'd need to get paid to take them.

juvela

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+1

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why fill your finite space with chaff?

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verdurous bit agin back wall be a Sears Steyr

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SABRE - wonder if corner of board in foreground may be hiding one or two letters in front of the S...

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Patriot1

CliffordK

You could probably resell the bikes for about $30 each in the current condition (with some scrubbing).

With cleaning, polishing and tuning, and new parts, maybe around $100 each.

It really depends on how much the seller is willing to deal, and whether there are some other gems in there. And, of course, whether you wish to put the energy into fixing them up to flip.

rocks in head 

Yeah, I was thinking it would be about $100 each cleaned up, and I already have a pretty long list of projects, including some real scores.

I did have a blast fixing up the monkey wards, but don't have space for four of those projects. These would have to stay outside until I could get to them
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CliffordK

To get the $100 out of them, you'll need to invest in new tires, tubes, brake pads, rim tape, bar tape, grease, bearings, etc.

It would be a fund project, but it won't be a simple project if you expect good results that you wish to sign your name to.

To make it worth anything, you really have to acquire the bikes for nearly free. Plus, acquire cheap consumables.

cycleheimer

Things aren't moving that well in many areas. Pick your battles wisely. Better quality bikes that you can use, and that are dirt cheap, is the way go.,

juvela

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+1

Well writ!

There is an old time saying in buying for resale - "You make your money when you buy, not when you sell." Since market forces determine what can be sold and for what price.

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T-Mar

I agree with the above comments. However, I thought I'd post to anwser the OP's query on the Sabre, for posterity. Sabre was a brand of Mitsui, an Osaka based Japanese trading company. Mitsui started importing Sabre in the late 1970s, around the same time as its more famous Soma brand and another obscure brand, Wow. All the bicycles were contract manufactured. The subject bicycle appears to be very early 1980s. The manufacturer may be Kuwahara, as they were a known source for Soma during this period. On the remote possibility that the OP goes to see the bicycles, I'd appreciate the serial number for the Sabre, to add it to my database. TIA.

rustystrings61 

The green bike at the back is probably a Sears Steyr-Puch-built 5 speed - I dimly remembering having one like that pass through my hands at one point. The big blue bike might be a c.1984 Motobecane Mirage.

rocks in head 

Thanks T-Mar, I was wondering if I wasn't mis-reading the downtube or if letters were covered up, but couldn't think of anything else that ended in Sabre other than the car. My '81 Soma Competition was a Kuwahara build with Tange Champion #2 tubing and a Kuwahara headset, but it had higher end components than this mixte. There's at least mention of Soma out on the internet, and a few showing up here other than the one I used to own, Never heard of Sabre or Wow. Still maybe 50/50 on whether I'll check these out or not. Been looking at too many bikes recently and not fixing as fast as I should. If I do I'll definitely get the details on it, and serial #.

Thanks others for the tentative ID on the green bike - I thought I recognized the "backgammon" seat-tube graphic, but wasn't placing it right. It's probably very much like the Monkey Wards I just did, 10-15 hours of work and net $40.

wrk101

$100 each? Maybe for the best one. But the crappy Sears in the back is not a $100 bike. Got to figure there is more junk than gold in the pile. Imagine dumping $50 each into those bikes: tires, tubes, cables, bar tape, chains, etc. If I put $50 into each one, I might get $75 out of it. So say I paid $10 per bike. I'd be making $15 for four to six hours time. Around here anyway, the low end vintage bike market is dead, dead, dead.

I'm now asking $130 for a lot better bike than any of those that I just refurbished. Cromoly frame, DT shifters, 700C alloy rims, alloy bars, stem, seat post. Its a credible LBS branded bike. Zero response. I usually don't mess with lower end LBS bikes, I did this one as a test. It failed. Figure I spent $50 on consumables on this bike, plus whatever I paid for it, plus four hours of work.

I would much rather work on a couple of more desirable bikes, than deal with a pile of duds. I run out of time first. With a dead market right now, I am doing more part outs than ever before.


If you can get $100 each out of those bikes after you fix them up, good for you. You have a better market. But still dumping $50 to $75 into consumables and parts, plus whatever you paid for them, to gross $100? Thats a loser, and one or two surprises and the meager profit is gone and you will be losing money on each of them. IME, neglected bikes are full of negative surprises.

rocks in head 

well, all I have to go on is selling the Wards for $100, in about a week. Bike $25, tires $20, brake pads $4, tubes $10, grips and steel handlebar out of the stash. That particular one I was escaping from my in-laws so I consider it time well spent. I'm definitely also working on nice bikes, but the problem with nice bikes is I want to keep them. That said, the market for "Tweed Ride" sorts of bikes may be close to saturated, since half the participants ride bike-share bikes anyway. Also, the market for nice vintage road bikes may be saturated as well.

rocks in head 

@T-Mar T-Mar, the SN on that Sabre is F79K6623 June of '79? It was Sabre Executive mixte, suzue hubs, steel rims, bottom-grade suntour drivetrain, Dia Compe centerpulls, chromed fork ends. A groundhog had buried the front wheel and it left a good portion of rusty rim underground when I turned it over for the S/N. Chrome socks flaking off, but where the chrome was painted over it seemed fine. Weird. Too far gone to do anything with, would have been marginal in good condition.

I gave the guy $10 for his time and the Motobecane Mirage, and will donate that to a co-op. Decent shape except the chain and rust on all the chrome, it sports 27" aluminum rims.

It was fun pretending I was "American Pickers" but will not do that again for a while. Sometimes "Rusty Gold!" is just rusty rust.

Also, good call guys on the bike ID's, the green bike was a Sears / Styer-Puch, 5 - speed. Very much like the Wards I just did, but much, much rustier. There was also a green ladies' version.

Here are some pictures of the Sabre:

StarBiker

It's hard to get good money for a non Italian Roady. And the clowns that want to buy, but want to meet you than low ball. I always say it will stay pretty on my wall. And that is exactly what one bike is doing right now. I take out for quick spins to a loacal Target, but otherwise it will stay put!

(I am thinking of paying the $12 for a year membership on here and offering three bikes I have, especially for a trade.)

T-Mar

Thank-you very much for taking the time to obtain the serial number. Given the format, 1979 would be the leading choice for the year of manufacture. However, where there is a numeric year indicator in conjunction with two alpha characters, it is more common for the 2nd letter to be the month indicator, with the 1st letter being a manufacturer indicator. Consequently, it is more likely to be November 1979 and therefore a 1980 model. However, to have any degree of confidence in the interpretation, we'd need another Sabre serial number in this format.

As to the manufacturer, it's definitely not Kuwahara. The tubing decal bears a resemblance to that used by Maruishi in the 1980s (see pic) but the serial number format is markedly different. Unfortunately, I have no samples of 1970s Maruishi serial
numbers.

rocks in head 

@T-Mar ,
Under the Shofer's Approved big S label... a Baltimore shop sticker, then "Made in Hong Kong" might help narrow down the manufacturer. Sorry, I forgot, didn't get a pic of it but it's in the notes I took when writing down the S/N.

StarBiker

So that was worth it? What. And you are in the DC area. Place is expensive as hell!

rocks in head 

Not sure what you mean by that. Yes DC is expensive, some areas more than others. I live in one of the least expensive parts, and am not relying on bikes to make my rent. This is for fun and if it helps me feed the hobby, so much the better. Being inside the city also means that I can sell a bike to someone who is reliant on pub transit or Uber to get around, or to someone with a very specific interest, like Tweed ride. Some bikes can go for more here. I once sold a step-through Schwinn mtb to a guy who needed something to get around on Andrews AFB. I'd bought it for the wheels, but it was in really good shape minus a saddle, and lo and behold, a Schwinn branded saddle there in my bin. Made $40 on that, going to spend more than that on spokes to build the real wheels I want. HB-MN78 hubs with zac-19 rims.

StarBiker

I sold a Nishiki MB to a guy who was in the military. He lived in Virginia, and was going to ride it to the Pentagon. I still think it was a waste of my time. I did nothing to it either. $40 profit.
But working on these bikes for that kind of money. No thanks.

T-Mar

Thank-you for the additional information. Unfortunately, I have no candidates for the Hong Kong manufacturer.

StarBiker

Of course I didn't add consumables. Nothing.

I have been flipping bikes for 12 years. If it doesn't look like it's worth it than it isn't!

But that is not what the OP did with this bike. He made about the same money, Doesn't make much sense to me. Up to him.

wrk101

Yeah if you have a ready supply of customers on a bike that takes nothing, why not? In my area, customers are scarce. So finding a customer for a $40 profit can be difficult.

While the local customers for almost any priced used bike have disappeared, parts continue to sell very well on fleece bay.