WDE_aubs

Centurion Ironman Master listed as $150. I'm thinking about flipping it, but knowing myself I might end up keeping it (I have a bad habit of falling in love with bikes I intended to flip). Anyway, what do you all think? Do you think there will be enough meat on the bone once I fix it up for resale? I'm still trying to get the hang of judging and understanding what a bike is actually worth, all things considered.

TakingMyTime

I don't know what the "flip" value would be, but it that was near me and I could get it for $150 it would be sitting in my garage. That 600 headset is going to require special wrenches. I'm sure some members have a work-a-round for the wrenches, but just sayin'.

cb400bill

As a keeper, yes. Especially if you have most or all of the needed consumables on hand. Tires, tubes, bars, bar tape, brake pads, cables, grease, saddle
As a flipper, unless you live in a hot market, probably not. You'll be upside down, or at best break even, if you sell it.

StarBiker

The Centurion Fans think all centurions are worth $$$'s. They are very nice bikes, but not easy flips. I had a beautiful one, 54 CM and it took months to get $180 for it well photographed, in a market that's not that hard to sell bikes. There was almost zero interest in that bike. (The buyer was French, and living/working in DC and was surprised at the price, but I was like you are one of two people who has responded) and this was with constant top posting.

It's like Puegot, ooohhh, it's worth $$$$$

The Centurion that sells is the Touring Pro Model.

Here is the one I had,

TugaDude

Try to bargain it down some. The saddle is rubbish. And it wasn't original to the bike anyway. It will need tires and possibly tubes. The tires are likely the originals.

Not trying to tell you how to do it, but here's what I generally do. I tell them, look, it is a nice bike, or was when it was new. But now it is in need of a complete overhaul, new tires and tubes, a new saddle, etc. It probably should have all new cables and housing just to be on the safe side. So if all of that were done, it would easily be worth $150.00 but as it stands, it needs a lot of elbow grease and replacement parts. Then offer them $100.00 and see what they say.

DMC707

would be worth it to me ---- I love that color scheme -- but I would be looking at it as a keeper .

You might break even on it as a flip if you can get your consumables at a good price

StarBiker

I paid $35 for the one I had, and another $80 for Gatorskins, new brake handle hoods, and bar tape. (I also rode the bike for over a year)

I just see no profit margin, and the seller will get close to that. So forget about a flip.

himespau 

Flipper no, keeper, maybe. I tend to restomod everything that comes through my doors with parts that are as close to modern as I can get and still be triple, so I'd be way underwater and only looking at it as a frame, stem, seatpost purchase.

Insidious C. 

I just sold a yellow/white 87 IM Master for $250 last weekend in Portland. It was a garage queen with exceptional paint and components. The negatives: one tire was original (33 years old) and the chain needed replacement due to tight link. The buyer was okay with fixing those things himself and he got it at a fair price IMO. So there's a good data point.

StarBiker

In arguably the strongest bike market in the US. The OP is in Alabama.

plonz 

If the paint is as good as the pics indicate, I’d probably go up to $200 as a keeper.

As a flipper, I’d make my decision based on having to make it ready to ride, overhauled and cleaned for a selling price of $250. You’ll need to swap the seat and bars which hopefully come from a parts bin at no assigned cost. Then you’ll need tires and tape. Also a chance you’ll need tubes, cables, housing, chain and maybe brake pads.

It’s actually a good price for a great bike but no profit to be made as a flipper unless you get it for much less.

wrk101

Basically little to no flip potential, unless you are in a red hot market.

its incredible how low a price you have to pay to prosper on flips. Maybe $75 on this bike. I bought an Expert model last year for $40. Master is better, but not a lot better.

part outs are lower risk. If you know parts values it’s easy to estimate profit. No tire kickers, no low ballers, no money on fresh consumables.

SurferRosa

I just use a rag.

onsay99

That old style shimano 600 headset will adjust with both the special shimano
headset tool and also surprisingly, a regular old 32mm campy or park headset spanner.
I had one of those headsets, and looks can be deceiving.

zukahn1 

Nice bike OK price but not really a flipper. Along with the above noted stuff I will mention there looks to be a lot of cog, chainring wear so figure a new freewheel chain and chain rings and possibly a BB pedals into your costs. Not big stuff but it adds up quick unless you happen to already have some of these parts maybe you should consider passing on this one.

texaspandj

Exactly right.

xiaoman1 

if it's good enough for John D Thompson, it's good enough for me.

ramzilla

I picked this one up for $120 in November 2019. After completely refurbishing it with new tires, chain, brake pads, seat, cables, to "like new" condition it looked like this:


Sold it for $285. Of course I didn't make any money on the deal. But, the young man that bought it was smiling like a kid on Christmas morning.

plonz 

You did a really nice job on that Ironman. It’s a shame one that nice won’t hit $300 but that’s our hobby for ya. I’m fixing up a free Technium that if I’m lucky will net me $50. Not factored into the cost is the 30 hours I’ll probably have in it by the time I’m done (mostly in bringing the badly oxidized paint back to life). My wife thinks I’m nuts and can’t relate to the sense of satisfaction in bringing these bikes back from the dead so that people can enjoy them again.

ramzilla

Yeah. I know. Bringing an old bike back to life and selling it for less than you put into it is a curious experience. I'm glad when someone happily buys one of my beautiful restorations and, that's enough compensation for me. I just hope these young vintage bike riders are careful. These old steel bikes are very fast and, you need to wear a helmet be careful. Be good. Have fun.

ramzilla

Allright. Time for some gratuitous Centurion bike p#rn.



We've all seen these pictures a million times. But, what the heck. These bikes are beautiful.

StarBiker

All of this.

Folks on here throw around purchase prices for flips that make me think how can they make money on that.
And outliers like the above poster in Portland are exactly that. They are not representative of realistic value.

Hell I was able to sell bikes with flat tires, and no upgrades in nice condition otherwise because of how hot the vintage market was a decade ago. Now? And I can't get the deals I could.

sloar 

I flip bikes all the time as a hobby, honestly I really don't care about the margin. I love finding old bikes, making them pretty and ridable and selling them at good prices. I like keeping these vintage bikes on the road and selling nice classic road bikes to people looking for something cheap and ready to ride. Sometimes I make a little bit sometimes I just break even, but I love doing it.

ramzilla

"Before" picture. Don't have any after pictures yet. But, it's finished. And, all it needs now is a new home. That's it. That's all. Done deal.

zukahn1 

Change the seat even if a it's the cheapest SSO seat shapedwd opject you can find.