What's the used vintage bike market like where you live?

[greencat]

What a lot of people failed to realise during the bubble is that the vast majority of this stuff is just not rare. Shimano produced thousands of groupsets at every level. There are plenty of M900 rear mechs on the front page of eBay now… you have to question why anyone would pay more than £30 for one.

I feel for anyone who bought into the hype and spent thousands on old bikes, but you bought during a bubble and now it has burst.

The sad thing is that a lot of people who overpaid are holding on to stuff in the hope that prices will go back up. They won’t, and a lot of kit will now rot in damp drawers.

Yes, exactly this. Most of the parts, and many of the bikes, were manufactured in their thousands if not tens or even hundreds of thousands - and 30 years isn't a sufficiently long time to make them rare. Finding pre-WW1, or even Victorian bikes, in great condition - now that's rare and in some cases, nearly everything on the bike was bespoke and handmade. Compared to some retro mountain bikes, they look much better value. There are exceptions e.g those with some history of racing and provenance, the one offs, the prototypes, the very limited numbers by boutique manufacturers etc.

Much of the high pricing on retro-mountain bikes was people just being misty-eyed about their youth when they couldn't afford the bikes in the mags - and being bored during covid.

The much needed correction is happening. Plus none of us are getting any younger and the passing years made it harder not easier to ride the steeds of our youth.

Regarding prices on eBay, the best option is to check sold prices and base any offers on those.

 

[madjh]

I always like Konas, but when you see the details of the frame and the prices ... no. It is not worth the money they ask.

But for a Stem NOS ritchey force Lite steel with shipping 110 euros? I don´t know. Yes Ebay is quite expensive and the seller gets little, arround 65 of that amount but it is pricy. I usually buy in other plataforms.

I will not fall in the speculation area, like in retro video games. Sorry but the old stuff is old stuff and if it was unsold back in the days (NOS material) it was for a reason. So, I will value independent and check if it is worth pay the money or not.

For me the problem is that I use to buy the best condition component or NOS and I´m paying that too.

 

[minor_LEGEND]

Yeah, all this stuff is ultimately mass produced. Will never be rare.
As mentioned about a victorian era bike, one could argue that has more exclusivity, rarity value. But our specialist area (retro MTB) was predominantly made up of stuff that was sold upon it's exclusivity & high price when it was current. Why did you want a Syncros stem in 1992? What made a Cannondale cost £700 more than a Raleigh. That mindset hasn't gone away.

It's a buyers' market. Clever people will have realised that.

 

[d8mok]

I’d argue that many items are rare , certainly when condition is a factor

If they weren’t rare you wouldn’t have people looking for years for certain items. If you disagree I can send you my list if wanted bits for you to source cheaply.

It’s a buyers market for the stuff people don’t want. But for the teenage wall poster stuff … it’s still hard to buy.

 

[Twozaskars]

Lots of stuff is mass produced but as it falls out of fashion / becomes hard to maintain / gets stolen (or even totally mangled in the post @squirrelchaser ) or whatever else it reduces the numbers. I guess this applies mostly to cars but even the humble bicycle will succumb, I bought a ti Merlin a couple of weeks ago and the seller gave me a stack of parts that would have gone in the bin had I not taken them. That would have left the world of cycling with one less of everything I was given.
I sell loads of stuff on eBay and it - sometimes quickly, sometimes eventually - sells for what it’s worth. I don’t force people to buy it from me.

 

[Ecurie Peril]

Just found this thread. It makes an interesting read. Having recently bought a ( imo) quality Raleigh quite cheaply I'm quite happy with a retro market that allows me to enjoy my hobby at a reasonable cost.
However, because the individual parts are now perceived to be worth more than the sum of the whole there are strippers and flippers just cannibalising well appointed bikes to make a bigger margin. Sad times

 

[Scott-S]

In Glasgow the old bike market is a bit like the bunk room of the Mary Celeste…
Stuff can come up very occasionally, but you’re generally better off travelling which is why I did a 500 mile round trip to buy my Giant Halfway

 

[bikeworkshop]

In Glasgow the old bike market is a bit like the bunk room of the Mary Celeste…
Stuff can come up very occasionally, but you’re generally better off travelling which is why I did a 500 mile round trip to buy my Giant Halfway

I suspect Glasgow didn't have much of a 90s bike boom, and the bust that followed was probably deep enough to swallow almost everything that did get up there

 

[Tootyred]

Slim pickings where i am. But then there is hardly any people!. Had a few items over the years locally, but its never been great...its now desperately poor.

Tbh, i buy pretty much exclusively off here now.

 

[Ecurie Peril]

Slightly off topic geographically but up until the last couple of years or so there were always interesting and reasonably priced stuff at French brocantes. Strangely that is less of the case these days imo. I often wondered if UK traders spent a summer month or so swooping stuff up