Has the vintage steel market crashed?

[5oakterrace]

Originally Posted by vespasianus

And that is a good fair price for a bike that looks new. I think people think they should get lots of money just because of a name or an age.

This comes to mind - pains me to see it.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/18643421096...3Avlp_homepage

My sense is that folks are "controlled" by a fear of loss. They know what they have in the bike and what they perceive to be the "worth" of the bike and feel that if they sell below those numbers, they "lose." So they keep the thing, because it will not sell. Facing reality, which is market demand, is painful. And in many cases we are not dealing with "buckets" of money.When we deal with such amounts I cannot help but think that psychology is the controlling factor at play.

[NHAero]

[QUOTE=prototoast;3384034]The vintage market has evolved: https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=306926[/QUOTE]

Are you saying that the Gen 2 Evo is already vintage because it has rim brakes?

That would mean I now have two vintage bikes

[johnniecakes]

This vintage steel bike with a 10 speed semi modern group makes me smile whenever I ride it. Not a rocket but I am not an astronaut or pretending to be.
I was offered $500 once for it. Selling price on the market does not reflect the value to ME.

55395FC6-453E-4A5B-A368-DB01D08A18A1_1_105_c.jpeg

[jamesdak]

Originally Posted by charliedid

I'm familiar with them being an older brand etc. and no issue with them selling these I just wonder how many and who buys them.

Not critical, curious.

Well not really a road bike but I few years back I did pay what I thought was crazy money for my Pashley Guv'nor. It's a modern steel path racer using the frame design from 1935 and even the right tubing, Reynolds 531. But with modern components and such. Took me awhile to even do it as I kept looking for original path racer bikes. But in all honesty one you got and old one and sorted it out to look and function mainly new it would be close to the same money. My Guv'nor sees quite a lot of use and a few years later I'm totally happy with the buy. It's been dead on reliable, comfortable for rides over 40 miles, and just plain fun to have and ready. Anyway, that's my reason. The bike get's used a lot as my Sunday cruise and take pictures bike. As well as lot's of second daily rides I do after a full on ride earlier on a road bike and after I eat dinner.

[AngryScientist]

Proof positive that the rim brake market is dying:

I had on my ebay watch list a 28h Campag Record rear hub that was listed for $120.

A silver record hub in decent condition like this one, in the very desirable and rarer 28h drilling would have commanded a bidding war not too too long ago and sold for big buck-a-roos.

I received an offer to buy it for $100 this morning because it was languishing unsold. I just bought it for a project, but I take this as a serious sign the market is dying off.

[krooj]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

Proof positive that the rim brake market is dying:

I had on my ebay watch list a 28h Campag Record rear hub that was listed for $120.

A silver record hub in decent condition like this one, in the very desirable and rarer 28h drilling would have commanded a bidding war not too too long ago and sold for big buck-a-roos.

I received an offer to buy it for $100 this morning because it was languishing unsold. I just bought it for a project, but I take this as a serious sign the market is dying off.

This hurts to hear - I bought a NOS set of these hubs in 2021 for ~$650.

[jamesdak]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

Proof positive that the rim brake market is dying:

I had on my ebay watch list a 28h Campag Record rear hub that was listed for $120.

A silver record hub in decent condition like this one, in the very desirable and rarer 28h drilling would have commanded a bidding war not too too long ago and sold for big buck-a-roos.

I received an offer to buy it for $100 this morning because it was languishing unsold. I just bought it for a project, but I take this as a serious sign the market is dying off.

Time to go hunting. I feel another set of purty Ol' Tater built silver wheels coming soon.

[m_sasso]

All depends what you are looking to purchase. Lots of those to be found, has always been a glut of them. Find me one of these from the same time frame with a low spoke hole count, Dura Ace 7900 rear hub. I have had an eBay search for years and a NOS 24 hole front with no rear mate, for even longer.

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/404965342788...Bk9SR9iZ88zxYw

[mstateglfr]

No idea if the vintage market is dying or not since I stopped refurbishing to sell 80s road bikes a few years ago, but here are some recent observations.

- my local CL is relatively barren of quality C&V bikes or frames. This is different from 5-9 years ago. Where did all the old bikes go that were sold and bought back then? They aren't being ridden based on what I see around the metro and aren't being sold on common platforms.

- Facebook marketplace is pretty barren too.

- many quality(mid level or higher) bikes I do see for sale locally are way more expensive than I would pay. And that seems to be a general overall opinion since many have sat.

- the lack of disc brakes is clearly not appealing to a good number of people. I am guessing it's mostly newer riders that think they need disc brakes, but that's a WAG.

- the trend towards wider tires sure can't help with vintage bike appeal.

- I hadn't been on ebay in 4 months, but looked extensively last night for vintage frames and bikes in my size- 63-66cm range using traditional sizing- and nothing was appealing for the prices listed. Part of that may be because I have everything I want right now anc can be picky, but a lot of it is just not seeing the listed value in the frames and bikes.
Many of the frames and bikes are ones I saw back in the winter when I was last on ebay.






I would really like to understand where so many of the bikes that were sold in recent years that aren't ridden, actually are. Are they all really in garages?...odd for so many entry/casual riders to hold onto old bikes and not use em.
Oh well.

[spoonrobot]

Originally Posted by mstateglfr

I would really like to understand where so many of the bikes that were sold in recent years that aren't ridden, actually are. Are they all really in garages?...odd for so many entry/casual riders to hold onto old bikes and not use em.
Oh well.

Significant portion fail/wear out/get damaged and then are thrown away.

The first vintage frame I bought - an 80s Schwinn Peloton - failed at the BB lug within a year of purchase. Saw many others C&V road bikes during the fixed gear boom come in the shop with cracked drop outs, stays, etc over the years.

I think most are in garages, basements, and sheds. I've bought multiple bikes that were purchased new in the 1980s/1990s in the Midwest or NE. The owner never rode them, then they moved to the SE or Florida, eventually died, and the bike was sold by their family or estate. Having been stored unused for 30+ years.

Guy across the street from my parent's house has had the same Lemond hanging is his garage since I was a teenager back in the late 2000s. I've never seen him ride it, and he doesn't want to sell it.

[dana_e]

Check this out, and look at Joop, dude looks fit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6Ydujk7vrE

[dana_e]

the horror

[unterhausen]

There are lots of really nice bikes collecting dust, I think. Earlier in this thread I mentioned a pristine bike from the late '70s that couldn't have been ridden much. At that time, there was an upper limit of how much you could spend on a bike, and that bike was at the upper limit. I also know someone who had a pristine early '70s Paramount sitting in their basement that probably hadn't been ridden in 20 years. I feel fairly confident it hasn't been ridden since, probably sitting there today. Sort of a crime to do that to silk tubular tires.

[rccardr]

Bikes come and bikes go-just like the buttons on Pete the Cat’s shirt.
Am I worried? Heavens, no!
This availability/price stuff comes and goes in waves. One day there are no Italian frames in your size anywhere, the next week there are dozens.
Us vintage guys play the long game.
Them bikes ain’t going anywhere.
They’ll show up.

[zero85ZEN]

Originally Posted by rccardr

Bikes come and bikes go-just like the buttons on Pete the Cat’s shirt.
Am I worried? Heavens, no!
This availability/price stuff comes and goes in waves. One day there are no Italian frames in your size anywhere, the next week there are dozens.
Us vintage guys play the long game.
Them bikes ain’t going anywhere.
They’ll show up.

Yup! I agree.
And just like vintage audio gear and vinyl records, I predict that there will eventually be a surge of renewed interest in rim brake bikes at some point in the future. Everything old becomes cool again at some point.