Can't believe the price some old frames are going for!

[lae]

There's also the factor that those framebuilders left in the industry are charging around double for a new 531 frame, compared to a decade or so back.

So the perception to newcomers is that £500 is the starting price for fairly decent steel frame.

Yeah I agree. Ten years ago I was a teenager so I wasn't in any position to get a nice steel frame. Now I'm properly into cycling but it seems the minimum price for a new steel touring/audax type frame is at least £450. Which makes the £140 I paid at Christmas for a top-end 80s touring frame seem very cheap (it has been resprayed).

I've sold even fairly ratty low-end 531 frames for £60 on ebay. But then yesterday I picked up a 531 Carlton Corsair frame for £30 - granted it's more expensive than it would've been ten years ago, and it was advertised badly which no doubt affected the final sale price, but you can still find a decent 'everyday' frame for a good price.

There are still some bargains out there though. Car boot sales are amazing. My best find was a Campagnolo Nuovo Record derailer for 50p, but on most weekends I'll come away with a handful of old parts for 2 or 3 quid. Last week I spotted an 80s carbolite Peugeot racer for £10 - I could've re-sold it on ebay for £60 easily but unfortunately I didn't have the time.

The price of vintage parts, not just frames, has also increased. A lot of the fixed-gear afficionados also have a really nice vintage road bike too! You also have to take into account that the number of cyclists has increased massively over the last ten years (in London it has doubled), combined with 'vintage' being in fashion generally, means that even low-end vintage bikes are popular.

 

[David B]

the amount of crap that I have thrown out over the years, makes you think, min you it was pretty well knackered by the time I was finished with it. Just wish I had kept the Gazelle frames now.

I need to post up a piccy of my old merckx over the weekend.

Wonderful thing, hindsight. I got shot of a Dolan-built Cougar road frame (SLX New, lugged) a couple of years back and recently wished I'd kept it having gone full circle in terms of road bikes: demoted it to training bike before selling in favour of a carbon Look KG231 that eventually proved a bit too flexy, then moved on to a TIG-welded 631 steel job that broke after 6 months and am now back to lugged steel with my 531 Orbit America. Having said that, the Orbit seems lighter than the Cougar was, not having the handicap of all the chrome plating.

David

 

[Jonny69]

A lot of you are knocking the hipster types but they aren't as stupid as they look. If you have a new shiny bike parked up anywhere in London it'll get stolen in no time. You can ride a round on a much nicer vintage steel hoss with tatty paint and not have to worry about it because thieves walk straight past them.

Sadly, it probably won't be long until they cotton on. I'm not looking forward to the day I have to replace one of my Freecycled bikes because I know it'll hit me hard in the wallet to do so

 

[Pilotlight]

true about having a grotty looking fixie for riding around the city streets. sadly I think my merckx fixie will be put into the loft until I can renovate it. just come back from a short ride and I've aggrevated a hip injury I picked up last week. I'm guessing that it's the pull on a fixed that's caused it.

 

[dbmtb]

My Gios super Record cost me about £200 to build. That was in 2005/6.

Times have indeed changed.

 

[bduc61]

Quality will be remembered long after the investment is forgotten ~ quote after Mr Charles Rolls. On his cars I do not know, but it certainly applies to many vintage bikes.
4K on a carbon fibre rig with fragile sophisticated tech is a waste of money for my needs. Plus depreciation also doesn't help much making it attractive.

A strength of many of the vintage stuff is that it represents real, honest, pure old world quality, while the world around us is getting more and more virtual, complicated and less easy to grasp.

could not agree more with you Melvin

I still do not understand why the world has switched to a more " buy , use, oh its old, or oh its broken, do not fix, throw away" mode

luckily there is a bit of a reversal to that

but now its the manufacturer that plans the item to "break" after for example 7 years for washing machines( beyond the extension of garantee sold from 2 to 5 years !!!)
lets hope that bikes are not built too much along that theme :shock:

whane will the tyranny of the "image" over the "content" be overthrown :?:

well progress is not always nice but lets not complain too much about it as we are not obliged to become its slaves and can take its best ideas :idea:

 

[flyboyovyick]

The prices might have gone up because people want a cheap road bike, instead of a mountain bike with road tyres.

 

[ededwards]

Prices may have climbed recently but a quality steel frame and fork for 400 quid (and at that price it's generally in extremely tidy if not immaculate condition) compares favourably with the likes of a brand new Surly Pacer in 4130 at a not dissimilar price (nothing aginst the Surly, they are very decent, just a to hand example). That's before taking into account that indefinable, style.

Components have taken a similar route though - want C-Record or Super Record/ Be prepared to pay strong money for serviceable stuff. Still can be good value compared to modern parts though - have you seen the price of SRAM Doubletap even on the lower groupsets :shock:

 

[argonsixar]

An old mate turned up at our club night a few weeks ago after 25 years awayand during our catch up chat, told me that he still had two Rondinellas and a Mercian in his loft, in orginal condition. I almost made him an offer there and then, but told him to check out ebay and expect a shock !

 

[David B]

Components have taken a similar route though - want C-Record or Super Record/ Be prepared to pay strong money for serviceable stuff. Still can be good value compared to modern parts though - have you seen the price of SRAM Doubletap even on the lower groupsets :shock:

Shimano - or brands compatible with it such as Sachs - seems to be the way to go if you want easily sustainable retro-ish bits; thankfully makers haven't yet stopped supporting 7 and 8 speed transmissions in terms of wallet-friendly replacement blocks and chains, and even 5 and 6 speed aren't totally impossible. Having said that, Miche are still turning out Campag 8-speed cassettes long after Campag themselves abandoned 8sp.

David