Windrock_rider

Hey all, I'm new to the forum, I joined looking for some information on this bike I have. A woman who I do work for ever since her husband died was throwing it out and I asked her if I could hang on to it, and she said of course I could have it. After doing some research I found out that they only made it in the color(pastel blue) and as far as I know it was only made for a short amount of time. It is missing the pedals, and the seat, but the rest is in decent condition. It has some scratches and a small amount of rust on the chrome badges, but the rest is in fantastic shape. It has all the original components (2 water bottle holders, shimano 600 cranks, and the original handlebars with the original brakes).

Now my question is how much is this worth? I found a guy trying to trade(or sell) a Trek 4500 mountain bike. It looks to be in good shape, and I want to trade him this Lotus road bike for the mountain bike. He said he would be interested in a partial trade on my bike, but I'm hoping to just swap bikes. I am really limited on funds(I'm a broke college kid) and I just want to know what I'm talking about when I meet with the guy tomorrow. When I started looking around though I saw some Lotus bikes of around the same age going for anywhere between 300-700 bucks. I can not find another bike like mine anywhere to get a price check on, and I'm hoping mine is worth something since it seems to be rare. He wants 250 for the Trek mountain bike, but I'm hoping this lotus road bike will suffice since he said he's open to trades on all road or mountain bikes. I apologize for the long post, I just wanted to give you guys as much info as possible.

Thank you for reading my post and have a nice day!

datlas 

Depends on condition. See if you can get this moved to C&V.

shoota 

Not c&v, but rather Appraisals.

ahsposo 

Why in the world would you trade a road bike for a MTB?

Just makes no sense!

likebike23

If you decide to ask in the C&V appraisal forum, include several good pictures. Include drive side, components, tubing stickers, etc. If you don't, you'll get no info.

Windrock_rider

Well the bike is a bit too small for me, I'm 6'2" and I have some back problems so being bent over trying to ride a road bike hurts after awhile. I'd rather have a mountain bike that has some fusion to the ride, and I can just kind of sit up and cruise on it. I'd buy a cruiser, but the town I live in has all sorts of hills so a mountain bike just makes the most sense to me. So should I post this in appraisals? Or would and admin move it for me? Sorry I opted in the wrong section, I'm a member of several forums and I know how they work so I should have looked around more, but I saw the road bike section and posted here. If I get a this man bike you'll see a lot more of me on here.

ahsposo 

I'll do it for you. That's really nice old bike (I'd never want it personally) but you shouldn't let it go for a POS. Get a bike equal to it at least.

I'm going to hit the ! in the lower left corner of your OP. That should do it.

Good Luck, study hard, be safe.

Windrock_rider

Thank you very much! I believe it is a nice bike and that's why I want to get more info on it before I trade it. I know Treks are good mountain bikes, I had on as a kid but I'm much too big for it now, unfortunately. This one is a large frame meant for someone 6' to 6'3" from what I've read. So I'm hoping it will suit my purposes.

no1mad 

Moved from Road Cycling.

ibikestickers

1) We'd love pics.2) It's definitely better to get a mountain bike that fits rather than a road bike that's too small.3) I'd love pics. SERIOUSLY.

KonAaron Snake 

We need photos - but in good shape I'd estimate 400-500 in my CL market (with pedals and saddle).

Windrock_rider

There's a pic. I'm sorry but I will have to multi post pics. My computer crashed and my ipad only let's me do one picture at a time.i do apologize I know some forums hate multiple posts for multiple pics.

Windrock_rider

Here's another view

Windrock_rider

Okay now I really apologize, I found out how to post multiple pics. I'm still getting used to this ipad.

KonAaron Snake 

I really like it - and I don't know modern MTBs, but suspect you're getting the short end on this deal. Sell it, buy his bike.

Which area are you?

Windrock_rider

I'm in the Knoxville, Tennessee area. I would really love to sell this bike and buy his, but I don't think I could sell it by tomorrow haha. I suppose I could sell this bike and just buy a different mountain bike though.

Windrock_rider

Somebody pm'ed me who was interested in buying this bike, but unfortunately I have to get 50 posts before I can pm. So if the guy who sent me the message sees this, please know I'm not ignoring you. I just can not reply.

lotek 

your post count has been bumped. you can answer PMs now. don't tell anyone that happened (haha).

Very nice bike btw. definitely worth more than $250 for the MTB. I agree you could do much better selling
this and getting a different mountain bike.

Windrock_rider

Oh that's awesome! Thank you! I think I've decided I'm just going to try to sell it and buy a mountain bike. Depending on how much I can get after selling this bike. Like I said I'm a broke college kid, so hopefully I make enough off of this bike to buy myself to buy a nice used bike.

lotek 

My Pleasure.
BTW a well set up road bike, with proper fit can be more comfortable than a MTB.
take it from someone with a history of back issues and can legitimately post in 50+ forum.

Windrock_rider

Thanks for the input, I'm considering both road and mountain bikes, but where I live there are lots of awesome mountain biking trails. I used to ride my Trek all through my woods as a kid and always enjoyed it. I wouldn't be opposed to a nice road bike if it fit properly though. This bike is simply to small for me, I thought about buying pedals and riding it, but I measured the frame and found it was too small for someone my size. The woman who owned it was a small lady and she bought it new, so I'm assuming its meant for someone her size.

lotek 

Consider a cyclocross frame, wide tires, cantilever brakes etc. so you can ride trails, just not the seriously technical ones.

edsall78

I would not sell that bike so quickly.
https://www.vintagelotusbicycles.com/...i_Supreme.html

Let Snydermann chime in first--he's the expert on Lotus. The only thing is that it seems someone swapped out some of the Super Record bits..but, I'd still wait.

A Columbus SLX frame alone--in a 54cm...with some cachet to it...I would think that's worth something..and the parts on it aren't horrible either. I'd be curious if the wheelset is still original?

***If you want a MTB--wait for a deal on craigslist--in the meantime; get a saddle (preferably cinelli) and pedals (shimano 600). Sell this on ebay.

Windrock_rider

Thanks for all the replies guys, I've decided not to trade. I hope that Snydermann sees this if you guys say he's the lotus expert haha. I would like to sell this, but I've never sold anything on eBay before and I'm not really familiar with how it works. I'll have to talk with my brother, I believe he has sold items on eBay before.

edsall78-- I'm not sure if the wheels are stock, the don't quite look like the ones in the photo. I'll go look at the wheels and gate back to you on that.

Snydermann

What you have there is a 1986 or 1987 Lotus Design Cinelli Supreme frame that would have originally came with a Campagnolo Super Record group, Cinelli bars and stem, Cinelli Volare SLX saddle and Ambrosio Durex Synthesis rims. The stem and crank were engraved "Lotus". This bike was originally made in Italy under some association with Cinelli.

This was an attempt by Lotus to break into the high-end Italian bicycle market, given how few of these bicycles you see, it wasn't very successful.

In 1986 Lotus made the Design Cinelli Record, Supreme, and Triomphe. A Victory model is rumored to exist, but I have never seen one in real life or in print. The Supreme was only available in Pastel Blue.

Since the Pastel Blue Supreme was available for two years, I have seen a few more of them than the Record or Triomphe.

In my active pursuit of Lotus bikes over the last 5 years I have only seen 3 Lotus Cinelli Supreme bikes, yours makes it 4. I only know of one that's completely original (well, 98%) and it's in my collection, I paid $590.00 for it a few years ago with all the correct Campy, Cinelli and Ambrosio bits. I also have another Cinelli Supreme that's about 80% original that cost me about $400.00. I'd think the bikes should be worth twice that easily, but Lotus bikes aren't known for pulling in big prices. Unfortunately, many Lotus bikes get parted out or stripped of their valuable bits, which looks to be the case for this Supreme. I know just the Cinelli Volare SLX saddles sell for hundreds of dollars on eBay.

I think the high-dollar collector value in this bike is pretty much gone, but it's still an interesting and high-quality frame. I'd probably pay a few hundred for just the frame, the guys on the forum would probably have a better idea what it's worth as a complete "customized" bike.