Fatal Swan
Senior Retro Guru
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I've weighed up whether to respond to the request for comments on price, it's not an easy one. But my take is that on a specialist forum like this, if the other members are anything like me then they'll look at the price they'd be willing to pay for any bike in terms of the sum of its parts. Most people here are probably comfortable putting together bikes to their own spec from the frame up, and indeed that's all part of the hobby. For a 'special' frame, unless it has a dream spec already, then most enthusiasts are going to be looking at what they'll do to complete it as a special bike that they will cherish. I'm definitely no expert at all in Kleins or pricing them, but I imagine the right buyer would be willing to pay a good price for the right frame (like in an auction, ideally you'll need two of those buyers to sell at a good price).
But when it comes to the parts on this bike, unfortunately there's nothing here that's cherished either from a retro perspective or a modern perspective. Being brutally honest - which is how buyers judge these things - 9-speed 105 is not classic, high-end or remotely rare so is not valued by the retro crowd, but neither is it appreciated as a modern groupset since it's way surpassed by all the modern Shimano offerings. If you look at the sold prices of a used 9-speed 105 groupset on ebay you'll probably find that there's very little resale value at all in the those parts, the same with the wheels and the stock finishing kit. Not to say that it doesn't all work great, but there's just no real demand for it and no-one is looking to spec their bike with it.
So if it was me considering this bike, I would be looking at the value of the bike as essentially the value of the frame. Like some of the other replies, I'd say keep it!
But when it comes to the parts on this bike, unfortunately there's nothing here that's cherished either from a retro perspective or a modern perspective. Being brutally honest - which is how buyers judge these things - 9-speed 105 is not classic, high-end or remotely rare so is not valued by the retro crowd, but neither is it appreciated as a modern groupset since it's way surpassed by all the modern Shimano offerings. If you look at the sold prices of a used 9-speed 105 groupset on ebay you'll probably find that there's very little resale value at all in the those parts, the same with the wheels and the stock finishing kit. Not to say that it doesn't all work great, but there's just no real demand for it and no-one is looking to spec their bike with it.
So if it was me considering this bike, I would be looking at the value of the bike as essentially the value of the frame. Like some of the other replies, I'd say keep it!