Wildwood 

Purchased as a frame and fork (531) from a longstanding BF member a few years back. The black coating is worn (& faded ?) in places to a silver - that is not bare metal. I’m not an expert on this vent noir finish. Anyway, franken Zeus/Campy build. mismatched hubs, but similar gold finished Araya rims. A real cruiser at 61cm ctc seat tube with tall headtube. Stronglight 54/44 crank, Cinelli bars & stem.

Your honest estimates appreciated.


Nice gold bottle cage

New gum Zeus hoods from España

Stronglight with Campy ders

Decals are pretty darn good.

Frenzen

Hello Wild, My guess would be $800 if you had all the original parts in a good condition, and just for the frame + fork probably $300. So I am guessing $600 total but I am no expert! Clever way of using that belt to attach the saddle bag.

Wildwood 

Yeah, $800 all original would be a great price.
Alas.
I would be most happy with below $600 for this franken, in a local sale.
Another of mine that might make sense to disassemble.

juvela

-----

very nice tasteful build on your part

would think that most persons seeking a Vent Noir would either want one largely/wholly OEM or else a bare frame to build up to approximate an ex-works configuration

as you write...it may be necessary to unassemble in order to get a sale...


-----

Mr. 66

I think someone local to Seattle has or had an add on Craigslist for $1500 for a vent noir.

juvela

-----

iirc during its production life there were two finishes offered

this price might suggest the more sought after variation...


-----

Wildwood 

1970s Austro Daimler Vent Noir II vintage bicycle - bicycles - by... (craigslist.org)

$1350, 1970s, all Campy (Gran Sport crank listed). It has its' blemishes, crappy saddle. Posted 2 months ago.
@Frenzen suggested $800 if all original was in good condition, that would be a better starting point for the sale in Seattle.

spudly

I have a NOS earlier one with the mat finish. The tires are shot and there are a few paint scrapes low down on the DS stays, but it is otherwise virtually perfect. It was originally owned by someone who did marketing consulting and brochures for AD in the 70's.

I'll be selling it, but having a hard time determining its worth.

Wildwood 

@spudly - Gorgeous example. Unbelievably unused.

Value of AD/Puch VN is the subject of the thread.

IMHO, yours falls in the collectible, but not highly valued category.
Selling price, as always = depends upon the audience addressed and your patience limit.
National, regional or mostly local? Sell in a month?, sell in a year?

Again, I like Frenzen's number of $800 for a possible 'quick' sale in a big regional market. Not selling on eBay. How you get to $800?, is either stating "$800 Firm" or $1,000 that you negotiate. If looking for 'the perfect eager buyer' or selling on eBay = ask more.


There is a guy local to western Washington (Bellingham area???) who listed on Seattle CL a minty VN mixte for $1,000. Was firm after 4 months of listing. Not sure what happened after my inquiry.
Another VN mixte listed on our BF C&V listing for a much much lower price and was snapped up in hours. I missed.
I forget which of the mixte's had full or mostly Campy.

Frenzen

I do wonder if sometimes people take down their listings because no one is willing to pay their price and they have given up. I have seen a listing expire as the owner did not renew it and I missed my opportunity to message that person after months and it was only $125 for a 1984 Trek 520!

majmt 

I think that might have been the one that I picked up for my wife in beautiful shape. All 1st gen Dura Ace. Happily paid around $500 from a very good member here. So now we have his and hers VNs. I’m sinking almost that much more into it prepping it for this year’s Cino. I changed saddles and put early Dura Ace touring brake levers, a 14-34T freewheel, a Crane long cage RD, and a half-step-plus-granny crank on it. Here’s a shot of it after muscling a set of Gravel King tires on it. Aside from the great ride, another selling point is that it fits big tires - those are 38s.

spudly that is a gorgeous bike. If I didn’t already have one, I’d be all over that. I think I paid around $600 (shipped) for mine off of eBay and it was nowhere close to yours in condition.


added re Wildwood’s bike in the OP: I thought you loved that bike, why are you selling it? If I were tall enough, I’d probably be in that $800 range knowing that it was a solid build and well maintained. More, if it had the black Dura Ace group set with the drillium crank.

Wildwood 

Good thread all.

Highly informative, nice bikes.

Wish I had such good feedback on a Falcon and Mondia - see my threads with Zero replies.

nesteel 

If I wasn't already eyeballing my bike room with intentions to reduce the number, I'd offer to buy this frame back from you Wildwood.

spudly

Your Mondia is gorgeous! Not sure what it's worth, but if it was my size I'd pay a lot for it (having Swiss heritage, I have a soft spot for these bikes). Never had a 531sl bike. Subjective question, but can you notice much difference between that and regular 531?

Wildwood 

The fork is very light, so I would say yes.
At 195 pounds, I can feel those slightly flexier frames.

Wildwood 

I had tubular Veloflex 28s on the VN (Selle Anatomica saddle) and the ride was cloudlike. Almost as cloudlike as the heavenly Merckx in SLX. For that one you should make some room in the room. Merckx for eval request coming soon.

edit:@nesteel - you buy back this AD VN from me, and I will try to buy back a Belgian Merckx I sold to @Lascauxcaveman.