Is the price of parts putting you off?

We kinda did/do, by way of bike rides. The regional and national events.
Maaaan, the equipment that just got given away after the ride.

Should rides become a thing again, we've nailed it.

Or you ended up home with stuff in the boot people dumped as they didn't want to take it home, some of it good stuff too.

Happened regularly on the Nationals and the Yorkshire rides and of course Peaks meets.

No idea if that still happens now.
 
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Absolutely YES from me. Granted when I began around 5-6 years ago it quickly became addicted and I was in a completely different line of work etc. Nowadays I work in the cycling industry (small fish) & have watched the price of parts ROCKET over the last 2 years. I was half tempted to completely sell-up last year but having sold a handfull of my collection, I have kept the real special ones (despite getting rid of a complete pretty minty Raleigh Torus).

I've got a Dekerf ST thats only 3/4 finished (to go with its sister Dekerf SL thats in the stable) but I refuse to pay some of the current prices for stuff! Initially I got back into retro because I loved building bikes/trying new stuff and was put off by the then price of modern bikes and found the Retro scene fun and not as expensive. I'm currently quite into the 2013-2017 years as this is where the best value seems to be at the moment!
 
Spend almost the entire morning reading every single post of this thread and hands down is one of the most informative I have come across in this forum.

A must read if you feel depressed of the going prices of some parts you are after.

Almost two years after the OP of this thread the market seems to have taken a small downturn already with general prices dropping by about 20 per cent.

This doesn’t include NOS parts that make their owners believe that they have something really special and keep posting them for crazy prices.

spending time to find all the period correct parts is just not worth it for me if you are not after a BOTM entry and just want to enjoy the ride. I sometimes combine different brands and years in a build as long as they are close enough in the year of manufacturing of the frame.
 
Could be worse, have you seen the price of new modern groupsets? ! 😮
I know retro parts are a different kettle of oignons, but I'm far happier (and less poorer-er) buying retro MTB bits, even if they are a bit more expensive than a few years back. I'm more patient these days & prepared to wait around for the part I want at a price I deem acceptable.
I will say this though, a few years years back I could find decent & low priced retro MTB's on local marketplace/Gumtree every week, ideal donor bikes, these days it's slim pickings, and those I do see are generally poor condition with a NOS price tag...
 
There is only so many 90s bikes out there and I’m positive most were dug out of sheds during the pandemic to sell.

Prices of nice stuff seems to have levelled now. Still higher than pre 2020 but not as high as its peak.

Cheap stuff is almost worthless now unless in exceptional condition
 
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