natloz

Someone dumped a collection on me for $315 today, pretty excited to fix and flip

ramzilla

That's a nice score for $315. Looks like some good Kuwahara stuff in there. I like the bike in the 4th picture the best. Looks like it's all SunTour. Be good. Have fun.

natloz

The 4th bike is a Nishiki

natloz

First flip ready. Went after the easiest fix first!

bikemig 

You're going to want to move that rear wheel back in the drop outs a bit. If you have a different rear derailleur, I'd thinkg about nabbing the suntour VGT and selling it separately on the C&V for sale forum.

natloz

Interesting call on the Suntour VGT, I am rather new to the vintage world so the value of specific components is unknown to me. I am starting out with a price of $425 for the bike to see if I get any hits. Apollo bikes in my area are listing around $500.

bikemig 

I think that's high for that bike. Maybe you'll get your price. I know that Covid has pushed up bike prices.

Perhaps you live in a high dollar area where used bikes are going for more than in my area but at the $400 price range there is plenty of local inventory where I live of higher quality bikes.

natloz

Will let you know how it turns out, I price lower than those in the area, and work my way down weekly by $25 per week till I get a hit.

2old

Good find; looks like you'll either be cleaning/repairing or counting money for awhile.

madpogue 

$500 for a hi-ten frame, steel wheels with nutted axles, stamped dropouts, turkey levers, low-end cranks, rusty rat-trap pedals etc? That's some serious COVID tax. I don't see how that could fetch more than $100 anywhere. The only bike I see in this collection above that level is the Fiori, and that's still a lower-mid-level bike, maybe a $200-250 bike.

ramzilla

Apollo bikes built by Kuwahara. Very nice. Be good. Have fun.

kross57

It all depends on your local market, but I could not sell that Apollo for more than $175 in my area. More like $150. Even with a 50% covid jump. But you can certainly prove me wrong. I'll be curious to see.

T-Mar

With a couple of Apollo and a Fiori in the mix, the OP would appear to be Canadian. So, he's probably talking $CDN and $500 CDN would be close to $375 US. Some Canadian markets like Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal are very high priced. While I don't think that they would fetch that amount, in ready to ride condition, I would not be surprised to see them fetch $250-$300 CDN, assuming the OP is in one of these markets.

It is just about time for school to start up again, so if the local colleges and universities are going back to in-class sessions there might be an additional premium to be gained from those reluctant to use public transportation.

The best bicycle of the lot is the Fiori, which appears to be a very early 1990s Modena. It has butted CrMo tubing (main triangle only), indexed shifting and SLR brakes. I'm wondering if somebody drilled out the valve holes on the rims because it should have 700C wheels. Unfortunately, it's a very small frame and cosmetically rough.

Regardless, given what was paid, there is potential for a substantial return on the investment for this lot.

natloz

The Fiori is for sale now. It does have 700c tires on it. Is missing 1 spoke on back wheel which i have indicated on the ad, have it listed for $275 for a quick sale hopefully. Replace all shifter and brake lines, repacked headset and wrapped bars in white cork tape to go with the white front end. All in, $90.

natloz

They definitely seem like a decent build quality. Easy to fix and get road worthy, and they look great when polished up! I always liked Kuwahara BMX bikes as a kid!

natloz

Hopefully a bit of the former and a LOT of the latter! lol

natloz

I got an offer within 12 hours of listing for $300, but I countered with $350...I have decided that is my target price. In my experience where there is one buyer so quickly there are more so best to hold out a bit longer...

natloz

Here is where I disagree, unless you don't value your own personal time, money and knowledge.

• Buyers want a ride-ready bike, so none of these bikes would qualify as-is. Our knowledge of how to get them up and running and in smooth working order is WORTH something.
• People want to buy from someone they trust, I have many buyers that actually appreciate what I do (bring bikes back from the dead), because they know I have a passion for it so they are not getting "hood-winked" on a sale - they will pay a premium for this.
• Vintage is in style - people are recognizing that the older bikes are built better - I have had numerous customers that bring their Walmart Super Cycle to a bike shop and the repair on the disintegrating part is more than the bike and more than the cost of a bike I can sell them in its entirety. They recognized that parts from 30 years ago simply need maintenance.
• Rust from 30 years ago is not like rust today...it is patina but not rusting through. Rust on a modern day bike is a nightmare, tin-foil and WD-40 polishes surface rust off of old bikes. They shine up nice.
• My time to source, find parts, buy weird tools (that are expensive), polish, fix, understand what to do, etc...is worth something.

My point is, $300 for a vintage bike is worth it to many, because $300 in modern retail stores gets you crap. Don't undervalue your time, money, knowledge and ability to provide a nice bike at a reasonable cost. I have sold over 50 bikes this summer and have not had a single unhappy customer!

natloz

Great investigative talent. I am from Canada (more specifically in Edmonton, AB). The bike market here has been good, although the super cold winter is fast approaching. Sales are still good, but there is evidence it is beginning to wane. I sell about 3 bikes a week on average. Generally I get a bike up and running in 2 to 3 days on average and have multiple bikes on the repair stand as I wait for parts to arrive from either local bikes shops or wherever I can get them. As for buyers, I never have anyone complain about a bit of rust or scratches on a vintage ride, for me personally it adds to the history and character of the bike, never seems to affect the sale...I do polish all chrome parts as best as possible for extra shine.

My expectations for this lot's revenue would be a minimum of $1000 if every bike sold for $200, but I am expecting that a few will go for closer to $300 each.

kross57

Like I said, it depends on the local market. And of course $300 to you is just $225 to me. Still, that's better than I would think to get. Yes, I would wait a while, but not too long. Good luck with the bikes!

T-Mar

No disrespect intended but not very many people are going to want to buy a re-conditioned bicycle, only to have to immediately take it to a LBS to have broken spokes replaced. If you can't do that job yourself, you'd be better off having an LBS do it and increasing the price accordingly.

Mr. 66

After a few months of that you may get a buyer.

natloz

I sold one a few weeks ago with a broken spoke, wasn't worth it to me to fix and they were happy with the bike and were going to get the spoke repaired. It is about weighing things out and being clear if there is something to be repaired. This is not shady activity and has nothing to do with my ability to replace a spoke, I have a truing stand, spoke wrenches (and use it) and can build wheels from scratch if needed...it is about how it lines up with my flip and time to work on things (I have a full-time job and many kids).

madpogue 

The Fiori is definitely more bang for the buck than that first Apollo. Why it's being sold for less than the Apollo is confusing. As for the spoke, depends on the market; there does seem to be a premium for "ready to ride", esp. since LBS repair backlogs are long in some places. YMMV. If the shops there are not backlogged, it may be a minor factor if at all.

natloz

Just looking at comparatives, the Apollo's seem to sell for more than the Fiori's...so I base it off of local comparatives and the repair costs for the spoke.