Notices
Classic & Vintage This forum is to discuss the many aspects of classic and vintage bicycles, including musclebikes, lightweights, middleweights, hi-wheelers, bone-shakers, safety bikes and much more.

Bso

Old 05-28-22, 05:44 AM
  #1  
delbiker1 
Mother Nature's Son
Thread Starter
 
delbiker1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Sussex County, Delaware
Posts: 3,107

Bikes: 2014 Orbea Avant MD30, 2004 Airborne Zeppelin TI, 2003 Lemond Poprad, 2001 Lemond Tourmalet, 2014? Soma Smoothie

Mentioned: 15 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 852 Post(s)
Liked 1,433 Times in 815 Posts
Bso

I saw this on one of the Weather Channel photo selections. I had never seen it before. Check out the prices.

Source: Pinterest
ADVERTISEMENTHow many hipsters in Williamsburg would trade their curly mustaches for a bike like this? Benjamin Bowden created the prototype of the 'Bowden Spacelander' back in 1946. But strangely, it didn't go into production until 1960. Only 522 of these two-wheeled-beauties were manufactured. It sold for a retail price of $89.50 - in 1960 dollars. Today, a Bowden Spacelander in mint condition would cost you somewhere around the range of $15,000.

According to the Brooklyn Museum website:

"The Spacelander is a marvel of postwar biomorphic design. Its curving lines and amoeba-like voids represent the mutation of the prewar streamlined style into a new expression based on organic, rather than machine-made, forms."
delbiker1 is offline  
Likes For delbiker1:
Old 05-28-22, 06:57 AM
  #2  
RustyJames 
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2021
Location: Beaverton, OR
Posts: 1,425

Bikes: You had me at rusty and Italian!!

Mentioned: 31 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 561 Post(s)
Liked 1,037 Times in 537 Posts
I saw one of those for sale locally on CL a couple of years ago. I can’t recall asking price but it was far less than $15k.
RustyJames is offline  
Old 05-28-22, 07:08 AM
  #3  
Dylansbob 
2k miles from the midwest
 
Dylansbob's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Washington
Posts: 1,964

Bikes: ~'75 Colin Laing, '80s Schwinn SuperSport 650b, ex-Backroads ti project...

Mentioned: 18 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 525 Post(s)
Liked 931 Times in 446 Posts
Real ones are pretty rare and expensive. There were knockoffs made in the '80s
Dylansbob is offline  
Old 05-28-22, 10:10 AM
  #4  
rhm
multimodal commuter
 
rhm's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: NJ, NYC, LI
Posts: 19,808

Bikes: 1940s Fothergill, 1959 Allegro Special, 1963? Claud Butler Olympic Sprint, Lambert 'Clubman', 1974 Fuji "the Ace", 1976 Holdsworth 650b conversion rando bike, 1983 Trek 720 tourer, 1984 Counterpoint Opus II, 1993 Basso Gap, 2010 Downtube 8h, and...

Mentioned: 584 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1908 Post(s)
Liked 574 Times in 339 Posts
And they are awful, awful bikes, no?
__________________
www.rhmsaddles.com.
rhm is offline  
Old 05-28-22, 10:40 AM
  #5  
smd4
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2020
Location: Wake Forest, NC
Posts: 5,740

Bikes: 1989 Cinelli Supercorsa

Mentioned: 11 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3482 Post(s)
Liked 2,902 Times in 1,763 Posts
Originally Posted by RustyJames
I can’t recall asking price but it was far less than $15k.
It was also probably far less than mint condition.
smd4 is offline  
Old 05-28-22, 12:34 PM
  #6  
nlerner
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 17,138
Mentioned: 481 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3800 Post(s)
Liked 6,614 Times in 2,592 Posts
Originally Posted by rhm
And they are awful, awful bikes, no?
I would be shocked to find out that any owners actually ride them.
nlerner is offline  
Old 05-28-22, 12:49 PM
  #7  
rhm
multimodal commuter
 
rhm's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: NJ, NYC, LI
Posts: 19,808

Bikes: 1940s Fothergill, 1959 Allegro Special, 1963? Claud Butler Olympic Sprint, Lambert 'Clubman', 1974 Fuji "the Ace", 1976 Holdsworth 650b conversion rando bike, 1983 Trek 720 tourer, 1984 Counterpoint Opus II, 1993 Basso Gap, 2010 Downtube 8h, and...

Mentioned: 584 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1908 Post(s)
Liked 574 Times in 339 Posts
Originally Posted by nlerner
I would be shocked to find out that any owners actually ride them.
Well, that is probably true of most owners of very valuable bikes, not to mention the rest of us.
__________________
www.rhmsaddles.com.
rhm is offline  
Old 05-28-22, 01:09 PM
  #8  
dedhed
SE Wis
 
dedhed's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Milwaukee, WI
Posts: 10,490

Bikes: '68 Raleigh Sprite, '02 Raleigh C500, '84 Raleigh Gran Prix, '91 Trek 400, 2013 Novara Randonee, 1990 Trek 970

Mentioned: 40 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2738 Post(s)
Liked 3,379 Times in 2,044 Posts
https://budgetbicyclectr.com/1960-be...s-bicycle.html
dedhed is offline  

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.