Advice on selling a Litespeed Tsali
 

Hi everyone. I hope it's okay to ask in this forum, if not moderators please feel free to move my post. I have a Litespeed Tsali I've had for around 20 years or so used for commuting around cities.

I want to go back to a simpler non suspension bike so I'm planning on selling it. My question is should I repair the gears before I sell it or can I assume that most people looking at a high end bike like this would be interested in the frame and titanium parts only.

The gears are Shimano 105 (Ultra I think) but the front derailleur and rear shifter lever need replacing. The gear ratio is also customized for faster road use rather than mountain bike use so I don't know if that makes a difference.

I guess I should also ask for recommendations on where a good place is to sell a Litespeed online while I'm at it. I'd prefer not to use Ebay based on bad experiences with them in the past.

Thanks everyone.

N.B. Thinking of getting a single speed or five speed cheaper road bike :)

Your best bet is probably to part it out. You're never going to get your money back repairing the shifters, and most people aren't going to interested in buying a non-rideable bike. If you can fully rehab the bike cheaply (<$100) it might be worth it, but make sure to do a full budget before spending money, you can easily dump $300+ before you know it.

Alternatively, parting it out and selling the frame and components individually will probably net you about the same as the full bike, assuming you're good about pricing and willing to deal with ebay.

Another vote for parting it out on eBay.

Alternative marketplaces aren't really viable, unless you happen to be in a large cycling community, then you could have some luck with Craigslist. For the vast majority of sellers, eBay is the only feasible option. I don't like that they take 9%, or that they favor poor buyers in disputes with good sellers, but that's the world we live in.

It's not going to be a large windfall, anyway.

You won't like this, but a 20 year old Litespeed Tsali is not what most people in the bike market would consider "high end". It might get more traction in the "Vintage, Retro, Classic" subforum on MTBR, but that bike ain't worth much. Maybe $400, simply because it's a titanium frame, and someone will like that for the durability aspect. The components and wheels (V-brakes? 26"?) aren't going to do you any favors.

I'd clean it up, maybe grease the BB, hubs and headset, but that's about it.

Jeesh I wrote a reply and somehow it didn't post.

I'll write it again. Thanks everyone for the great feedback. That's exactly what I was looking for. I'll take it apart then and sell it on Ebay and maybe post on a couple of UK bike forums first to see if anyone's interested. I agree about Ebay, not somewhere I'd use given their track record but maybe they have a monopoly. Thanks for the price alert too. If I don't get much for it I won't be too disappointed, it lasted me 20 years without issue.

While it's in pieces I'll have no transport so I guess I'll go out and buy myself a new bicycle for the next 20 years then.

Thanks again, really helpful advice.

Litespeed parts
 

In case my direct email doesn't get through to you Edwin I was just wondering if you still have your Litespeed Tsali bike?

Cheers

Danny

Hi Danny,

Thanks for asking, I sent you a direct reply by email, post back here if you don't get it.

Thanks

Edwin

Is the right (rear shifter) damaged or just not 'working' ? Shifters get 'gummed' up with dirt. But rarely stop working unless damaged. Especially shimano (my experiences). Flood/shoot the shifter internals with WD40 (or equivalent moisture replacing fluid spray) , do it multiple times, and then work the shifter while on bike stand. Very high probability that shifter will spring back to life. Shimano 105 is for road bikes/drop bars, yours converted already? if flat bar, the drivetrain is likely Deore or some variation of Deore/XT/LX...
Would be a nice frame to put a rigid fork on... fix the FD, take the knobby rubber off and put on some 28 or 32 mm road oriented tires,tyres, tahrs (LOL), new chain, fresh/new cables, flip the stem to lower position, and if a flatish, narrow bar from that era, maybe add short mtb bar ends to give a more 'road' position - flip the bar ends so the short curve is 'up' and enough 'tilt' so that hand position is comfy, not jammed against the bar end.. I prefer the short bar ends, not the long ones... Short ones allow having the hand palm pads resting on the handlebar and end junction.
I did this to an older late 90's better alu trek and rode for quite a few years - was fast, comfy, handled poor weather conditions way better than my roadies, great for shopping (with a seatpost mount rack). 1" steerer rigid fork should be easy to find. (assuming your bike is 1")
Eventually sold it ... person who bought it was over the moon on the bike performance and versatility...
Ride On
Yuri
EDIT: If interested in 'doing' the conversion I note above, you might ask those Qs in the C & V and also in the 50+ forums (maybe also 'General' forum).
I'm quite certain there are quite a few members who have converted older MTBs to some fashion of 'road' service.
Personally SS is quite limited (for me) and a 5spd roadie is likely gonna be very much 'lower level' stuff and not near as much fun to ride as your TI bike.
ANOTHER EDIT: WOW, didn;t realize this was a zombie thread... from 2015...
gotta pay better attention... LOL! resurrected for the Holidays ??? LOL!
fun was had by all...

Wow ! Cool (or not cool) if you still have this after 6 years.

I personally think some of the estimates for the frame value are conservative - that frame design is very similar to the Moots YBB and is fully deserving of a high end build , with the big caveat that sourcing a fork for it may be problematic

Yes I still have it, I must have owned it for over fifteen years. What I really like is how I managed to ride it around London all that time and never once had it stolen.

I made sure it looked like an old used bike to the casual thief which I think helped, I caught two kids stealing the lights once and that was all.