Dawes Edge - the sum of its parts

[bikeworkshop]

As a Dawes fan, this is too painful to watch. I think I need to live up to my name and take a break until it's all over.

I know @bikeworkshop you are in the bike trade but is buying a 30 year old rare bike and stripping and selling for maximum profit what Retrobike is all about?

Laters

I totally agree.
Please bear with me.

We usually rebuild older bikes and get them back out there riding.
They number in the 1000s.

I've detailed the thinking behind this at the beginning of this post and also in the purchase thread:
https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/back-from-the-edge.489002/

Let me put it here as well:

I'm confident I can turn the 653 frame into a cool, sellable tour/gravel disc bike, get it out there on the road, in the woods, in the mountains.

And the components could be used on a restoration of a well-used classic.

The edge as a vintage piece might be ridden a couple of times a year,
but Dawes is not like a klein or rocky mountain,
There's little enthusiasm for the brand nowdays.

If we serviced the edge and put it up for sale, a realistic price would be £350-400
But you can't sell a bike as a commuting hybrid with xtr groupset can you?
Fillet brazed 653?

And we can't start asking our customers what they want to do with their bikes

I'm also interested in how the quickest way to lose money on bikes is to buy parts and build them up - hence the title of this thread -

Hopefully it will have a happy ending...
once I find my rear disc tab braze jig!

 

[slackboy]

But you can't sell a bike as a commuting hybrid with xtr groupset can you?

Not without the person buying it then splitting it and selling the parts. This is the unfortunate fate of high end but low desirability bikes.

See also all those xt equipped carreras where the frames get skipped and the parts used on a boutique frame instead.

 

[bikeworkshop]

It's my job to make a living with bikes.
No one else was prepared to offer over 150£ for this fantastic bike

I'm hoping to move the parts back into the vintage scene, but find a new, quality purpose for the frame

 

[highlandsflyer]

As a Dawes fan, this is too painful to watch. I think I need to live up to my name and take a break until it's all over.

I know @bikeworkshop you are in the bike trade but is buying a 30 year old rare bike and stripping and selling for maximum profit what Retrobike is all about?

Laters

The bike is what? The frame? The parts?

 

[bikeworkshop]

The bike is what? The frame? The parts?

It was "issued" by dawes in 93 as a piece.
There's a concept there -
British hand made frame, from British made cycle specific Tubes.
Built up with top end Japanese kit, photographed and put in a catalogue.

"For Top Competitors" it says.
This is obviously no longer true.

Imagine turning up to a serious pro mtb race 2025 on this!

Let's try to find a modern use for it.

The bike museums weren't bidding against me.

They could have bought it for £160!

 

[highlandsflyer]

I don't want to detract from an interesting thread; but for me a 'bike' from this era is the frameset, often shared among different 'models' or iterations, as well as stand alone. XTR may be what was on it at one point, but a different groupset would't make it a different bike. It's great to see it being, literally, recycled.

 

[bikeworkshop]

I don't want to detract from an interesting thread; but for me a 'bike' from this era is the frameset, often shared among different 'models' or iterations, as well as stand alone. XTR may be what was on it at one point, but a different groupset would't make it a different bike. It's great to see it being, literally, recycled.

I'm more attached to a vintage bike where the parts have been selected by the original owner and replaced over time - a bike like this wears its own history in the components, and taking that apart is losing something unique.

A catalogue bike can be remade with a catalogue build - and that's quite a popular activity amongst retrobikers - although all my personal bikes are built how I want - in the shop we'd try to keep parts reasonably in keeping with the frame period.

 

[bikeworkshop]

So what's surprising is how easy it is to sell the peripheral components.

 

[markoc]

Really interesting thread, and if it does go against the grain it is only because it is testing/outing the reality of the world we live in. Many will support the view that retro bikes should be kept whole, but a good number are now built for nostalgia and art. Where do those parts come from? There’s no right answer. Bikes and their parts are ultimately commodities.

How many times do we say in the “how much is it worth” thread that a bike is more often than not worth less than the sum of its parts? This is a great study.

I have no shame in buying bikes to split them and sell them on to fund my hobby. It’s small scale (I’m 4 bikes in) but targeted and so far profitable. What I don’t sell is given away for free. I’m “up” thanks to two of them, but had an absolute bath on one as everything on it looked good from 20 yards but was ultimately knackered.

I love this thread as it fronts out the existential dilemma of preserving the whole versus celebrating (and potentially profiting from) the sum of its parts. Watching with interest as this is a way to fund my hobby.

Let’s not lose sight of the fact that it is likely part of @bikeworkshop livelihood, and the reality of how many of us fund our habits.

 

[27motorhead]

Hats off to @bikeworkshop. I've never met him, but hopefully I will as he's just over the on the other side of the River Severn and I've promised to turn up with a Chopper so he can kit it out with Di2.

Anyway, I've digressed already! Back to where I was... Hats of to @bikeworkshop because look at his stats:



He joined just over a year ago and has posted almost 4K messages with 6K reaction score. He is one serious RetroBike nut and completely passionate and knowledgable about all things cycling. He's helped countless number of members out with problems and lots of non members who will visit this forum just to gather information and F-off with zero contribution

Yes he's selling bits from a bike he bought at auction on eBay. Nothing wrong in that. And unlike most of the retro/vintage bike stuff on eBay his stuff is sensibly priced and actually selling. Where have all the bits we have bought over the years come from? Do we ever ask the question and refuse to buy the item because it was only stripped last week as opposed to 25 years ago?

Hats off to you Tom AKA @bikeworkshop I salute you!