Advice on buying first vintage road bike?

[Swelo]

I have a contemporary singlespeed road bike and am mulling getting a more endurance-leaning vintage one for gears + steel.

I would appreciate general advice and/or feedback on this one I found listed locally:

1986 model branded by the shop that sold it (but made by one of the Swiss bicycle manufacturers of that time). Columbus tubing (not clear what type), Shimano 600 groupset, Mavic MA40 wheels, plus fenders, which are handy and might mean wider tire clearance if removed?

 

[bikeworkshop]

Size, Tyre clearance and steering geometry can't be changed.

you can adapt the gearing and riding positing to what you want.

Where you live and how far and hard you want to ride, carrying things, level of collectability or rarity all make a difference.

 

[non-fixie]

What @bikeworkshop said.

That is a beautiful machine! Lovely build, great colours. Right up my alley. Given its size I would expect the tubing to be SP.

Without mudguards you *may* be able to squeeze in 28mm tyres, which I find to be a good compromise for allround use, including light gravel.

That said, nice 25mm tyres and guards also provide an attractive combination for spirited road use in less than optimal weather conditions.

I have a bike built up like that with 25mm Vittoria Corsas and like it a lot:

 

[Nob]

& the price is?

 

[Swelo]

520 Swiss francs

 

[Nob]

A bit steep 250 more like it

 

[Swelo]

A bit steep 250 more like it

I wondered. I think a couple of factors are at play: the original owner is selling, and 500 is in the high-mid range here for classic road bikes with good tubes (around 300 or below is either a good deal or needs some tune-up/repair).

 

[Nob]

I wondered. I think a couple of factors are at play: the original owner is selling, and 500 is in the high-mid range here for classic road bikes with good tubes (around 300 or below is either a good deal or needs some tube-up/repair).

Your country maybe different but UK is not a sellers market as no one is buying….& that machine wouldn’t get sold in UK at that price IMO

 

[bikeworkshop]

£400 gets you a lot of bike in the uk atm,
but it's easy to see why original owners think it should be worth more.

 

[Swelo]

Maybe it just needs to marinate for a bit—I think the listing is only a couple of weeks old.

In the meantime, what’s it like riding 25 mm tires? I’ve never ridden less than 28. Also, my drop bar experience is limited to modern bars/hoods—what’s to expect with the older setup?