zarbog

Local seller asking for best offer, I have not ventured into vintage bikes although I myself am vintage.

His description:
Raleigh Superbe 24 inch Reynolds 531 SL 12-speed Road Bike

Early 80s (probably 80 or 81), VERY RARE and MINT

Reynolds 531 SL Double Butted 24 inch Frame with CutOut Lugs, Chrome Plated with Gold Lacquer

equipped with SunTour Superbe Gruppo (complete for the time) - Pedals, Brakes, Derailleurs, Shifters, Stem, Seat Post, Headset Sugino Super Mighty Cranks, SunTour Sealed Bearing 27" Wheels (frame brakes can take 700C rims), Ideal Leather Saddle



What would be a reasonable offer and is the bike hard to find parts for down the road ?

Kilroy1988 

That's a dream bike for me and a perfect fit! If I had the funds I would pay nearly $1,000 for a Raleigh Superbe assuming it was in excellent condition. I've seen them advertised for much more than that though they rarely seem to sell in such cases.

You can find plenty of replacement parts used and often even NOS on Ebay, although Suntour Superbe is nice stuff and particular components can command premium prices.

Just gathering together nice and functional examples all of those components at typical prices could set someone back several hundred dollars, without even considering the frame set.

-Gregory

big chainring 

I raced on a Superbe. Back in 1980 the bike got a lot of comments. "Is that gold plated?". It was a decent bike. Put a ton of miles on it. I would say the finish is somewhat fragile. After a few years the gold started wearing off. Easily stripped the gold lacquer off the bike and had a chrome frame then.

I'd put a value of $500 on it.

Bandera

1st off it's not a "24 inch Frame" it's as tall as was manufactured ~25" range, and "rare" because we had a hard time selling a gaudy Japanese production "Raleigh"when new even though the build quality was far better than the old Carltons and the component suite was excellent for the era. The same silly prejudice applies today making this an excellent choice for a very tall person to get a great machine for cheap. The Raleigh USA imports of the 80's can be a great deal if it's in excellent nick, you know what to look for and what the real market value is.

I don't offer "value", if it fits ask what you will.
If it doesn't fit: Pass.

-Bandera

Kilroy1988 

By the way, it can be compared to this one (which was labeled "RAMPAR" almost interchangeably with "Raleigh," though I don't remember the backstory on that.)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/vintage-197...IAAOSwnIdc5aAQ

No way this bike will sell for $1,600, but I've seen more than one example in great condition sell for around a thousand dollars in recent years.

zarbog

Thank you all for the replies. It is no longer listed so it may have sold or was just pulled off the ad. I see what prices are being quoted in the US market, for a lot of the classic bikes, I am close to the Toronto market and there are a couple of resellers that keep the asking prices up around 500 dollars for bikes that have been cleaned up but are nothing special. Like Raleigh Records etc. Way out the price ranges down south. This one was not one of those sellers and I was thinking on maybe 300 dollars for it but there you go, I know nothing lol.