Mindcrime

I always read posts about folks finding diamonds in the rough out there. I'm not necessarily looking for that exactly, but I do have some interest in finding a 70s-80s steel frame that I might slowly build up over time with secondhand (but probably modern) parts. I've not no timeframe, it isn't in any way urgent. I'm just trying to figure out, when the wife finally lets me off the leash for bike spending again, are there any options for places to look that I'm not familiar with?

Craigslist is the obvious, but frankly, Houston's craiglist is very overpriced, and the few things that show up that aren't are snapped up quickly. I've been casually monitoring it for at least a couple months and have yet to find a decent whole bike or just a frame for sub $100. A couple rustbuckets or damaged frames have come up, but I don't have any experience or ability to bring one of those back from the dead.

Ebay - Seems to be priced pretty accurately from what I've seen, and not much in the sub $100 category.

My LBS does not stock old frames or take them in trade from what I have seen.

I could hope to stumble on something at a garage sale or something like that, but to be honest, my already generally busy life doesn't leave time to troll them, if I did, I probably wouldn't have time to ride!

So... any online sources I've not considered that I can start monitoring? Any shops in Houston that anyone knows of that DO stock old frames? 56 CM frame, maybe 55 would be workable. That might be part of the issue as its a pretty common size and thus they go off the market faster maybe?

Tips?

sloar 

There has been some mighty fine frames at great prices sold right here on this forum. Gotta be fast though, they get snatched up pretty quick!

non-fixie 

There is no magic formula, I'm afraid. It's a lot of work, checking the ads on-line and off-line, going to swap meets, garage sales and what have you. For every bike I have bought there have been a thousand that I have looked at and haven't bought.

Flyboy718

I am in the same boat...looking at Craig List and other places daily

Darth Lefty 

It helps to know what you are looking for, both by model names and periods. Also helps to research here and elsewhere online when you find a candidate. In order to really find the super deal you need to know what you're looking at when the seller doesn't, which takes a lot of knowledge you might not want to learn; or find a seller who doesn't care or hasn't bothered figuring out the market.

When I get home I'll post my craigslist search terms...

Seabass_First

look for local bike co-ops... the one we have here gets the abandoned bikes from the university, you gan get nice american mad schwinn frames for 30 bucks...

Seabass_First

Original Italy Frame Bianchi FE Steel English Threats | eBay

cs1

I just relegated myself to the fact that all the good deals are gone. If I want something I'm going to have to pay market for it. Which is OK if it's for my personal consumption and not resale. Good luck on the search.

oddjob2

I think Bikedued is in Houston and often comes up with great vintage steel. He doesn't pay much for them either.

You have to act fast and know what to look for. It takes less than 5 minutes to research on the Internet when you see a prospect.

On occassion, it pays to wait and watch. The Fuji Royale below was on the market for over a month, with a single crappy photo. I waited part of December and most of January, watching his asking price decrease by 40%. The bar end shifters are worth 1/2 the price of the bike. I was on my way to pick up an Eddy Merckx, so I didn't even burn any extra gasoline for it.

old's'cool

From my observation, bare frames typically don't sell for a lot less than complete bikes, at least in the mid-range market and below. This was reinforced for me when looking for just a touring frame last fall, to build up with components to be transplanted from a wrong-size bike in my fleet; I ended up buying a complete Ross Gran Tour, and doing only a moderate amount of component swapping. As a result, instead of stripping my undersized Miyata 312 of its componentry for my latest commuter build, it is all ready to go a new owner, in nearly original condition.
The point is, when I'm looking for a frame for a certain purpose, I look at both bare frames and complete bikes, in order to maximize my search area.

rms13

My friend recently picked up a 70s Peugeot frame for $15 and a GT Edge for $20 on Craigslist. Definitely not mint condition but very rideable

brandenjs

I have had great luck by learning all of the local thrift stores. A lot of times the older "ten speeds" as most folks call them get overlooked. Of course you can't always find the sizes that you need, but it's another avenue for your search.

Spaghetti Legs 

You can also keep,an eye on CL in places where you expect to travel or where friends/family live. The smaller towns won't have the nice stuff pop up as much but it might stick around longer when it does.

Darth Lefty 

Some Craigslist searches. The parenthesis make groups, the straight bar is an AND-OR operator, the default without it is AND

Full suspension MTB's
Schwinns. Note that this is a great place to know your models. Just as an example the "Super Sport" label has been used on nearly every sort of adult road-going bicycle in the last 50 years, from sporty to racing to touring. The current model is a hybrid.
Ironman frames. The terms on the end are included to capture the later Diamondback models but they also pick up a lot of newer Spesh bikes.
Japanese bikes
You can make any of these more selective by clicking the titles-only box on the left.

I should come up with an Italian version.

On eBay the technique is similar but the syntax is different, it uses commas for OR. Also on eBay you can set up a search that sends you a daily report. I haven't used this for bikes lately but used it in the past to harvest spares to race an obsolete R/C car. God, I'm a nerd.

72Paramount

If looking for entry level, there is a deal everyday of the week. As you get into more desirable bikes, you should expect to pay more. While I have found specialized, trek, and schwinn at thrift stores, all of my grail bikes have come from ebay and craigslist. I've paid as much as 1000 for 3000dollar bikes and as little as 120 for 1000 dollar bikes. You just have to look all the time and when u find the deal, don't wait to pull the trigger.

eschlwc

@Mindcrime, there's an early '80s motobecane (with rd hanger) without a wheelset listed on houston craigs or $150. bad pics, but who knows, might be a nice bike after a full overhaul.

rhm

It's like a corollary to Murphy's Law or something like that, that when you really want a good cheap frame, they are hard to find; once you have enough of them that you can really stop looking, they start coming out of the woodwork and they get cheaper and cheaper so you can't say no.

Note also, a whole used bike is often cheaper than one part of it (such as the frame).

RobbieTunes

Centurion Ironman
Centurion Lemans

There are lots of them and sometimes they are found cheap.

oddjob2

Another bike math formula:

The sum of the parts > the whole bike

As others have said, it's cheaper to buy the whole bike and sell off what you don't need/want. I have bins full of better quality component groups which are essentially free. If you want the frame only, sell the components.

On eBay, I won a cosmetically challenged Serotta. I sold the too large frame alone for only $20 less than my auction purchase. I kept a Shimano 600 group, Concor saddle, Dura Ace AX seat post, and 600 front hub. The freewheel is stuck, so I'm afraid the rear hub is a goner.

John E

Check the college campuses at the end of the school year -- lots of abandoned bikes.

Darth Lefty 

Around here the asking price for an Ironman in rough shape or odd size seems to start at $200 and people ask $3-400 for a nice one. People seem to know what it is. A nice complete 87 Lemans I was eyeing, still with the gold wheels, went for $150. That looked like a good deal for someone.

randyjawa 

Where do you find a vintage bicycle for cheap? Well, unless you get incredibly lucky, and move at the speed of light, you won't do all that well, unless you forget to click and go, and actually get out there and go.

Yup, there are thousands of great deals out there, but you will be far more likely to find one, or more, if you get off of your computer chair and actually go Vintage Bicycle Hunting.

Mindcrime

Thanks for all the tips! I hadn't thought of thrift type stores, there are a couple close by I will definitely take a look at. The search terms are really useful as well. If/when I manage to pick something up, I'll be sure to post about it!

Thanks again!

Darth Lefty 

If I delete Fuji from my Japanese list - it's a brand that has survived to today and so gets a lot of hits for aluminum bikes at the higher price range - then that reduces the number of hits to only 4 in your area. Two have been fixie'd. Ouch! That's a small market. But the RB-2 looks nice.

If I leave Fuji in, and peer closely, then I get a Fuji Royale, a Fuji Espree, and a Fuji Finest with brifters.

squirtdad

Take a weekend trip to Dallas??? from some other threads there seemed to be some nice stuff at good prices. That of course could have been a short time anomoly