Originally Posted by
noglider
politicalgeek, you will find a good English 3-speed. Just be patient. Some are going for well over $150, which I won't pay. I got mine a couple of months ago on Craigslist, for only $60. It was hardly ridden, has chrome fenders, and everything on it is original. Lie down like an alligator, watch, and wait.
You raise an interesting point - under what circumstances does it make sense to pay top dollar for one of these bikes? I got mine for $200 (that's including sales tax, so the before tax price was about $185), which I know sounds crazy - especially considering that it requires some pretty serious overhauling. But I justify it in two ways - first, I was redeeming a gift certificate that I got from my wife for Christmas, and among the bikes in the shop it was by far the one that fit my needs best. Second, I felt that part of what I was paying for was a relationship with the shop. The gift certificate came from a relatively new shop in my neighborhood - just a few blocks from home - and before I even rode it away I asked them to replace the brake pads with some Kool-Stop Salmons and to change out the cog and chain. Also, I wanted a standard trigger shifter to replace the twist grip. I got all that for $30. The shop charged me $10 for the pads, $10 for the chain, $5 for a used trigger shifter (which came attached to an old cable - which was useless - AND a shift cable pulley, which I've cleaned up and will install when I reassemble the bike). Total labor was $5. I've been in the shop several times since, and gotten a ton of free advice. I feel as though I have to assign some value from the original purchase price to this relationship, and so I feel like I've gotten some meaningful additional value for my original "inflated" purchase price. Does that make sense?