Reminds me of the old adage of the inherited [insert generic thing] collection - "I hope my wife sells it for what it's worth rather than what I said I paid for it"The only problem with that ^^^ theory is that I'm one of those middle aged men, so it's a bit of a lottery as to whether I live long enough to see the prices eventually fall
Is the price of parts putting you off?
- Thread starter Tootyred
- Start date
- Feedback
- View
no posts in an hour? We must have all gone for our afternoon nap...
Once A Hero
Old School Grand Master
- Feedback
- View
Not put off by the prices, but the availability waves seem further apart at the moment. Every now and then a serious hoarder/collector lets a bunch of stuff hit the market, and because we’ve all been waiting for those bits, if you aren’t prepared to pay up for them then you’ll just have to wait, again.
Multiple times this year I’ve kicked myself for not buying things I thought I might want, only for none of them to be available when I do. And of course they will become available immediately after I’ve compromised or taken a different route.
Multiple times this year I’ve kicked myself for not buying things I thought I might want, only for none of them to be available when I do. And of course they will become available immediately after I’ve compromised or taken a different route.
I think there are plenty of chancers out there trying to sell knackered bikes and parts at high prices. It was ever thus since retro became a thing. That said, if your focus is on rideable parts (i.e. functionally good but not BOTM aesthetically pretty) there is no need to spend a fortune.
If you are prepared to be patient, invest time in monitoring RB, eBay etc multiple times a day, there are still good prices to be had. Just as a for instance (and for simplicity I will focus on NOS parts from eBay only) this is a selection of what I have bought and the prices in the past yr or so:
NOS M560 f/mech £11
BNIB DX f/mech £5
NOS M737 chainset £65
NOS M650 pedals £32
NOS Ringle Twisters Ti £50
BNIB Controltech quill stem, black, 135mm £34
NOS Mavic 230 £10
BNIB M737 f/mech £20
Etc
I mean, those parts aren’t for free, but a fiver for a BNIB DX front mech seems like value in anyone’s book. You do have to invest time and move fast on BINs though.
If you are prepared to be patient, invest time in monitoring RB, eBay etc multiple times a day, there are still good prices to be had. Just as a for instance (and for simplicity I will focus on NOS parts from eBay only) this is a selection of what I have bought and the prices in the past yr or so:
NOS M560 f/mech £11
BNIB DX f/mech £5
NOS M737 chainset £65
NOS M650 pedals £32
NOS Ringle Twisters Ti £50
BNIB Controltech quill stem, black, 135mm £34
NOS Mavic 230 £10
BNIB M737 f/mech £20
Etc
I mean, those parts aren’t for free, but a fiver for a BNIB DX front mech seems like value in anyone’s book. You do have to invest time and move fast on BINs though.
vtwinvince
Senior Retro Guru
All collectibles and commodities, especially transportation themed, have skyrocketed in the past couple of years. This sort of hyper-inflation will have a bad ending.
Prices are rising for sure, but that doesn't put me off per se, the thing that does is trying to be part of the community and selling stuff at prices that help people fuel their hobby, only to find them up for sale elsewhere very quickly for way way more. This gets my goat as it puts me off selling on here for what I feel are mates rates (I have only met a few retro bikers in person, but we are all virtual mates with a shared passion), but some abuse that. I try to answer wanted ads now rather than sell as at least then I know (kind of) that someone needs something for a build rather than someone scooping up the generosity to line their own pockets.
As someone has mentioned, we all get a bargain from time to time, and selling bits helps with the next build, but it's done with the hobby not profit in mind, and the bargains are passed on as such.
As for modern parts prices, I've ventured into 29er and 27.5er builds and kitted them out with top end gear but paid a fraction of the price for the parts (mainly xtr or xt). Quality is way lower than the retro equivalents, take xtr 11 or 12 speed for example. A new cassette today will set you back almost as much as I paid for a full giant bike kitted out in full dx back in the day. Madness.
As someone has mentioned, we all get a bargain from time to time, and selling bits helps with the next build, but it's done with the hobby not profit in mind, and the bargains are passed on as such.
As for modern parts prices, I've ventured into 29er and 27.5er builds and kitted them out with top end gear but paid a fraction of the price for the parts (mainly xtr or xt). Quality is way lower than the retro equivalents, take xtr 11 or 12 speed for example. A new cassette today will set you back almost as much as I paid for a full giant bike kitted out in full dx back in the day. Madness.
Prodigal Son
Senior Retro Guru
Yes. And yes.
