Well that's about it for me then!

Tootyred

Old School Grand Master
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I think my retro bike building hobby may have to go on a serious hold.

Ive just seen a shark fin for sale for £45.00.

Sadly as im not a millionaire, so i don't think i can afford to even finish my latest project, let alone start a new one!

£200 or so to have a bit of fun and build a bike seemed ok, but going on recent prices thats going to now be £600; IF and its a big IF, i can actually find the parts, as less seems to be up for sale either.

As for a donor bike......forget that. £250 for a mid range marin! 2 years ago, i bought a team for £150!

Well.....i needed an excuse to do more riding, rather than searching websites in vane for parts and being a cross between disturbed and infuriated as to the selling price!
 
Don't worry too much, your friendly neighbourhood retro bikers are usually on hand to help out with parts at realistic prices. At least I hope we are, and not drawn into milking our spares stash for every penny. We are all in the same boat.

Sometimes I think about the things I've sold on here and what I could have really got for them, but I'd rather they went to good homes at fair prices

The one thing that does annoy me is someone buying from me cheap and flipping on here or elsewhere for profit. There are a few. One transaction still annoys me. Sold a set of spins after being harassed (my fault for succumbing). Sold on the proviso that if they did ever sell them on, I could buy them back. To be slightly fair, they did honour this, but they wanted an extra £150 and that was without the cassette and tyres I'd sold them with.
 
The shark fin has been on sale for ages - they wont get that much

I gave away 2 machine tech hangers about 8 years ago - 1 just sold for 150!!

it will crash again - and i know there are people who sell parts at reasonable prices.......
 
There will always be people trying to sell parts for more than they are worth, or flipping bikes/parts to make a profit from others.

Forums like this are full of collectors who are buying and restoring bikes and parts for the love and not the profit. Many on here have searched for an elusive part or bike for many years, a lot still are, that is the nature of collecting.

Have you put up a wanted ad? people have everything stashed away on here, someone somewhere will have the part you are looking for im sure.
 
Yeah, don’t get piqued by asking prices; as mk one said, wanted ads and folk on here will help; and patience. High market means you can ebay stuff to claw back, if necessary.
 
I guess we've all seen overblown prices.I can find them entertaining,I'm sure we've all laughed, I don't pay them too much notice.I'm sure they've always been around and always will be.Even if someone buys at that price,I'm sure many more people would know the value and would pass.
It would seem that whatever bikes/spares we hold dear go through a similar process.Full value when new,probably go cheap a few years later when the next best thing is launched,can pick up a bit when production stops.Then 20 years after we drooled over those parts (kids grown up/spare time n cash/missus to avoid) we create a whole new surge of popularity.The parts get scarcer and more expensive with every year and every new member of the scene,how many of us have more than one bike?
Anything can happen of course.It wasn't long ago you could get a nice,original upper range bike for £150.Could be said that was pretty cheap for something that cost over a grand,25 years ago.
Had to pay more at times than I'd have liked,have also changed plans many times due to not being willing to pay whatever the price is.For me,I try to balance it out against the items I've found that were good value,the hidden gems that made all the difference.Swings n roundabouts.
I imagine £150 would still buy you a decent enough ride,just from a later era.
 
But...many of the items ARE selling on ebay for silly prices. Ive watched several, thinking next time round he will drop the price, only to find sells!

I know there are always going to be one or two who want it regardless of cost, but it now seems we have an entire country with money burning holes in their pockets!

Its not like its been a steady climb over say a decade, its a spike. Im sad enough to write down what i pay for stuff ( mainly as a way of keeping my spending in check.....no i dont recommend it!) And the rise is 100% in the last 18 months, with " exotic" items even more.

Its just jot cheap enough to make it fun...it now feels like a major capital investment, which im not happy making and frankly can't afford for what is a hobby.

Not being able to source sensible price donors is a major blow as this gave me and im sure many others a cheaper road in.
 
Normal service has been interrupted. Markets are weird. No-one knows what's happening anywhere, really. Silly things are happening. People are asking for things and then not paying. Ordinary items are going for ridiculous amounts. Nice things are sitting around for ages. Used Hope components are going on eBay for near the cost of new ones - that's a supply issue. But overall it's just weird. Meanwhile, there are some people trying to keep things sane, and I try actively to contribute to this by offering some nice things as Karma - some Ritchey tyres recently which I subsequently have seen going for 60gbp on eBay - and am I worried, nope, mine had been hung in the barn for years not doing anything, and glad they went to someone who had a use for them.... and for anything which I do sell (to fund the crazy current cost of new components for our active stable of modern bikes) I reference the price I ask for to pre-MADNESS prices,
 
eBay is weird, I see a lot of stuff selling for more/way more/seven times the price of the same thing advertised elsewhere on the internet, it seems that a bit of Googling/hunting is not worth the money saving to some.


(and there's a load of NOS Shark Fins for £17.50 each here btw).
 
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