Originally Posted by
Wheels74
Thanks for all of the info... that tandem paint job is pretty awesome! I wanted to ask... what is considered 'older'? Anything pre 2000? I believe I read that in another thread... and the reasoning was components.
Thank you! I'm a sucker for fades. I feel so lucky to have found this gem of a paint scheme - love it! I've had three bikes (one mtb., one road, one tandem) custom painted with fade paint (as well as two other custom paint jobs - one camouflage). So when I saw this, I LIKED!
Anyway, I'd consider something "old" at 10 years and older.* Sometimes sooner, say, perhaps at over 5 years. It kinda depends on the vintage and if there were any significant technology changes between the used tandem and today's bikes. Disc brakes are a good example. I'd consider mine VERY old at 14 years at this point. A bike has a certain life span if used frequently. Most 14 year old tandems can be pretty tired by age 14, especially if ridden a lot. I'm lucky in that this one wasn't apparently used much, so it's much younger than its actual years. Eg. lower mileage. But you usually can't really tell with bikes because they have no odometer. A trained eye can determine the actual usage - especially after tearing it down (which is WAY TOO late from a purchasing perspective!). In hindsight, it appears that this tandem, the couple's third, was used only for travel, so I'd guess their other two non-coupled tandems got most of the mileage the put in together. Again, I got lucky.
My 1991 Cannondale got custom paint and looks amazing to this day. It's in mechanically perfect shape. But it's 30 years old, so it's beyond "old" at this point as far as functional used bike sales go. Anyone buying this bike would behoove themselves to be skeptical. What's it really been through? (It was ridden across the country, but by the previous frame owner.) But apart from that, it's pristine. However, even though it is, I still know I can never recover what it's worth to me.
* Prior to finding this bike, I was looking at a Periscope. The bike was 10 years old and the seller admitted to buying the bike at the end of the year on closeout. Well, their asking price was basically the price they paid for the bike. I called them on it and said that is was worth WAY below what they were asking. They refused to budge, so I went on my way. Expecting to recover FULL paid price on a bike you've owned for 10 years is absurd. So that's the kind of deal to avoid!