tremolo1965

My 1978 De Rosa. I paid twice for this bike than I had for my first (1986 ish) De Rosa SLX, and over three times more than I paid for my (1976 ish) Colnago. The price wasn't negotiable - "...not a penny less."

I purchased it in 2012 from the original owner who imported it to the PNW from his home town Scandicci (Florence). The bike felt right, and still does, so the price is just a number on the bill of sale in drawer.

dedhed

Of course it wasn't C&V at the time. I did pay more for my Randonee new but that's not C&V yet.

jeirvine 

I resemble that remark.
The only reason I don't regret selling that one is seeing how much joy it brings you.

ascherer 

I've only purchased three built bikes in 50 years and I currently have two of them, the Falcon and Shogun. Everything else was frames.
The highest out-of-pocket cost was my Mercian Pro frameset, in spring '88. It's C&V now and at an amortized rate of about $25/year it was a hell of a deal.
By my own odd calculus, My Paramount would be next in line, followed by the Falcon. I laid out more cash for the Falcon but it was fully built.
The one I've spent the most on is also the Mercian, followed by my International. Both have worn a couple of groups and components.

SJX426 

My purchases scale from F/F to complete bikes. If only the later applies then it would be the Colnago by $25
1983 Colnago Superissimo on Flickr
to number 2, the Pinarello.
1991 Pinarello Montello - 9v Racing T on Flickr
If the question was which bike do I think I paid too much for, then it would be the Bottecchia.
73Bott14 on Flickr

If the question included build up from whatever state to comlete, then it would be the De Rosa because it just went in that direction.
P1050321 on Flickr

smd4

The last "bike" I bought for myself was a 1984 Centurion Sport DLX. Every other bike was purchased as a frame and fork, and built up.

I'm still upgrading my Cinelli, so I may never know a final number.

El Chaba

This thread is a great counterpoint to the thread that was running a couple of weeks ago whose subject it was that the value/prices of vintage bikes had collapsed. It just proves that the value and price ( two different but related items) of vintage bikes of high functionality, rarity, and the best condition will always remain relatively high.

jamesdak 

Well in terms of a complete bike, for sure it was this and worth every penny.

This is how I got it.


Decked out in beautiful Campagnolo jewelry








The only changes were the seat post, saddle, and pedals

If memory is correct the most expensive frameset was this. It wasn't mint but was dang near close for a NOS 80's frame.



Which I turned into this:


C-Record 8 speed build. Tribute to Giro d'Italia

tkamd73 

This 77 Trek TX900, was the most $$$ I’ve spent on a vintage bike, probably cause it’s one of the few bikes purchased whole, and ready to ride. Found it on eBay, it was nearby, so contacted the seller, and then drove up and bought it before the auction ended. No hesitation whatsoever. However, after selling off the Brooks Pro, the Mavic blues, Regina freewheel, and Cinelli stem, it was almost a free bike.
Tim

SW84

Price, no matter the product, is always determined by a person's addiction level.....

Maxey

Purchased this bike in the early summer of this year. This was far and away the most I've paid for a vintage bike, though in my mind it was still reasonable compared to some of the Italian exotica out there. No doubt I paid somewhat above market for an RB-1, but this thing is virtually brand new and catalogue-spec throughout (the original seat and stem came with it, but have been stored away), so that old seller's adage "Try and find another like it" definitely entered my thought process when I was thinking about buying it. Please excuse the poor setting in the photo, I had just unboxed and assembled the bike.

RustyJames 

I rarely think about purchase price since even if it is free usually it will take ~$150 to make something rideable after replacing consumables. If I want it, I pay it and get on with life.

Having said that, I paid full market price on my circa 2005 Allez Elite that needed nothing but a saddle. I think I paid too much since it doesn’t tingle my bits like I hoped it would so I’ll sell at a slight loss and, again, move on with life.

Don’t ask about how many $$ I’ve spent after the initial purchase on some of my stuff unless you are ready to offer me a drink.

SJX426 

Sometimes, denial is a beautiful thing! Enjoy the ride!

VtwinVince

The most I ever spent on vintage was at a government auction a few years ago for a '92 Rocky Mountain Titanium MTB which was way too small for me, unfortunately, and I was a little paranoid about riding it with the high rise steer tube I had on it. So I wound up selling the frame to a collector in England for three times the price I paid for the entire bike. Lately I paid 450.00 CDN for a De Bernardi SLX in Saronni Red which had mismatched wheels, but otherwise was original. That has turned out to be an extremely nice riding bike. And I can see the appeal of the Marinoni in the OP, what a beauty.

albrt 

The bikes on this thread are almost all road bikes - here in Phoenix the road bike market has not collapsed anywhere near as badly as the market for used mountain bikes.

icemilkcoffee 

So you paid $249 for your Randonee back in '95? Did I read that right? That seems really cheap.

dedhed

No, for my Racing USA Raleigh Gran Prix in 1985.
I paid I think $600 for the Randonee in 2014. REI scratch & dent as the rear wheel had been replaced.

icemilkcoffee 

For me the most expensive was this Trek Y-Foil I just bought last week off Ebay:

It was $400 quids, which wasn't too bad. BUT unfortunately, the shipping, which I was responsible for, came to $170!!!! Pro-tip- make sure you ship your bikes in something equivalent to a Bikeflight 'medium' box around 54"X28"X10". If you go even 1" beyond in any of these dimensions, the shipping costs jumps 3X because it's now 'oversized'.

I'm still anxiously waiting for the bike to arrive

trainman999

My most expensive vintage bike purchase. This set of matching Paramounts, presented to a Schwinn executive on retirement in 1981. Less than 50 miles on them, and a bonus they were the 1978 cataloug bikes acording to the provonance report.

My most expensive C&V bike, no regrets at $1500.

And then there is this one, My first Paramount , purchased new in 86, $1800+ in 86 dollars, my best value by far, and sitll the King Paramount.

​​​​​​​

BMC_Kid 

My most expensive C&V bike is between my Zullo with Athena and my Tesch with Record. The frames cost me about the same. Wheelsets are a wash. The Record group was more expensive than the Athena but not by much. It comes down to the refinishing of each frame. They both cost the same in powder coating but I had the Zullo chromed, taking it over the cost of the Tesch by my guestimation.

madpogue 

By far the most I spent on one bike was on my '82 Trek 730, especially since it was in 1980s dollars, which went a lot further. But technically it wasn't a vintage bike at the time, so it doesn't really count......

Next up would be, slightly ironically, my most recent acquisition. 1988 Centurion Ironman Carbon, bought as a frameset with a handful of 600EX Tricolor components in a bag. Finished with "bin" parts, including the wheelset, so the total dollar outlay is an estimate, based on what I faintly recall paying at various swaps, etc.


Since this shot, I've swapped in a matching-ish Tricolor FD, and bar/stem with dark-ish anodized 105 brake levers (that _kinda_ complement the anodized Tricolor) and Shimano 7-speed indexed bar-end shifters.

Frameset purchase was a splurge, no question. But by pressing into service a bunch of parts-bin parts that likely never would have seen the light of day otherwise, that kinda sorta justified it.

randyjawa 

Make no mistake about it, the OP's bike is a grail bike in my humble world. Beautiful!

randyjawa 

Make no mistake about it, the OP's bike is a grail bike in my humble world. Beautiful!

alexihnen 

The most I’ve spent is easily for this Bianchi Centenario. It was absolutely perfect. I enjoyed owning it, but eventually decided that I wasn’t in the museum business. I was able to sell for well beyond my purchase price. I’ve had several that were in the $1,000-$2,000 range, many of which have moved on for similar prices.

randyjawa 

Good grief! I am amazed at what others have coughed up for old bikes. It actually humbles me a bit. Nice bikes all.