Sell whole bike or individual components?

Fifer

Retro Newbie
Hi, hoping some of those with more knowledge than me can give me some advice - and I'm new to the forum so apologies if I'm posting in the wrong place...

I am looking to dispose of my sister's bike. It's a Claud Butler Mixte frame of Reynolds 531 with 501 forks. It was build by a cycle shop in Armadale, West Lothian back around 1972 or so but as my sister was not really a keen cyclist it's hardly been used and has spent most of its life languishing in a garage. Indeed, it still has its original tyres, though they've obviously seen better days. But it's still perfectly rideable and everything works, though there are a few blemishes on the frame as you would expect from a 50 year old bike.

My initial thought was to sell the bike as it stands on eBay. However, I now wonder whether I'd be better stripping it down and selling what components I could separately, as some of them seem to attract premium prices. On this bike there is a Sakae Silstar crankwheel, Lyotard pedals, Campognolo Rally derailleur, Weinmann Vainqueur 750 and 610 brakes, Staral 27" x 1.25 wheels and a Brooks B.17 saddle. Though obviously doing it this way would be more hassle, it would also be easier for shipping. I wonder if anyone can say whether it would be worth the extra effort to do it this way?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
 
It would appear that Campognolo Rally derailleur's can make good money on eBay depending on the edition after searching recent listings that have sold.
Photographs maybe useful to show the parts fitted.
 
It would appear that Campognolo Rally derailleur's can make good money on eBay depending on the edition after searching recent listings that have sold.
Photographs maybe useful to show the parts fitted.


If the bike holds particular memories, you might prefer to sell it complete but, As a general rule the sum of the parts is always greater than the whole. In this case it is not too fanciful to suggest that on eBay you would get almost as much, if not more, for the Rally alone than you would get for the entire bike.
 
Those 531 Mixte frames are fabulous, albeit with horrid wheel/pedal clash which mean best ridden with toe clips or clip ins. That’s a lovely thing you have there and in demand as a fork and frameset. Leave headset and bb in frame, remove forks ad pack with frame, and then sell frameset, which will be relatively cheap to post in Uk via post office parcel service.
 
Break up & sell things separately unless it’s in a renovated show condition....
 
All depends on how much hassle you want to be involved with by selling bits - your best option would be of course selling the whole bike - it cost near nothing to put it on eBay @ Buy Now price, say £200 and you may get someone to buy it. Selling individual bits can be a pain and you'll end up with lots of packing and posting and some will remain unsold. It will take some time to do that too, so ask yourself how much your time is worth doing all that for say £50 more profit. Different story if you have few bikes & framesets as many of us here do though :LOL:

You can buy anything but time you can't.
 
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