Repop Green Schwinn StingRay Krate

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kingfish254

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One of these popped up locally. What value would you put on it?
Both as a whole bike or parted out.

Looks to be in great shape.

3Ke3L53Hb5Ge5Ee5Hed1209bda8e9a8d31b2f.jpg
 
That's one of the Walmart Black Friday Krates, originally sold for around $59. For whatever reason they used to go for hundreds on ebay. Not sure of current value. The only good parts in my opinion are the rear slick and the springer. I put those on a 1959 Schwinn 20". I put a 20" wheel in my springer and it looks better.

None of the parts look right in my opinion, so the whole bike just looks off. Flat seat, 16" wheel with ducktail fender in a 20" springer fork, bars are really narrow, bulky sprocket, generic looking guard, etc.
 
Theres a repop Pea Picker at a local bike shop for $275.00, nicer seat, closer grips to the original, white letter slick, suspension sissy and 24" springer. Just trying to set the bar for you, those BFK's are all over the place on price.
 
They are asking $150, so I was wondering if I could make some coin if I bought it at $100.
I'll probably pass on it.
 
kingfish254 said:
They are asking $150, so I was wondering if I could make some coin if I bought it at $100.
I'll probably pass on it.

$100-$150 sounds fair to me seeing as you can't buy them at the stores anymore. If I made more than $50 on a bike like those I think I would feel bad myself, but that's just me.
 
I've seen those go for anywhere between $100 and $200 in the Bay Area.

I had bought one a couple years ago for $125 and rode it around a little bit and turned and sold it for the same amount to a coworker who gave it to his grandson to ride.

The biggest problem with those is that the chrome SUCKS. If you breath on it wrong, it will rust.

They do have a few decent parts, but overall not much. If the wheels didnt rust like they did, they would be a good donor for a real stingray.

The frames are actually smaller in overall size compared with a vintage stingray.
 
I think the market has gone soft on the Black Friday bikes, mainly because you can get a better reproduction now from a Schwinn dealer for less than $500. When the BFK's came out they were intended to be a toy, but since there was nothing else like them available (last faithful reproduction was in 1999), the secondary market price went crazy. Now the "true" reproductions have become available again, so collectors would rather go after them, as opposed to something that is "sort of" like the original.

If you could get it for $100 it is probably worth picking up, but only if it is in mint condition, and I wouldn't pay more than that unless you intend to keep it for yourself. It's a good looking wall or ceiling decoration, but I think it will be a very long time before they hit $200 again, unless they are still in the box.
 
I kept the sign when I bought mine, in the box, to date the ONLY thing I've ever picked up at a WalMart on Black Friday morning.

bfsign01.jpg


This is what the box looked like.

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As built (That's a 68 Orange Krate it's hanging out with, so at the time anyway, the newest and oldest Krate models side by side.)

bfnew16.jpg


Then I didn't care for how it looked and the *stance* so I swapped these pieces.

bfparts28.jpg


And here it is today:

bfdeluxe34.jpg


They made them in 3 colors, the black, the green of the one you're looking at, and a medium dark blue. None of the colors are metallics like original Schwinn paint. Very few parts even interchange, let alone look correct, between these bikes and an original Chicago Schwinn.

The rear slik tire is good. The front is 16x1.75, not the same as the Krate's S-7 Superior 16x1-3/4" tire. The rims are low quality. The frame has numerous differences including chainguard mounts, rear bridge, welded seat clamp, and no "curves" at the head tube where the welds are. The crank and sprocket are cheapest possible junk, the rear fender has no brace, the bars are correct size but flexible, the stem is aluminum, the grips are soft rubber (not vinyl), the sissy bar and seat post are too short for anyone over 5'5", the sprocket is 44t vs. 46t for an original coaster model, and all the hardware is metric.

Did I forget anything? Oh, yeah the rear fender has no brace, the rear reflector is terrible and built-in to sissy, the rear hub is a Hi-Stop, and the springer is 20", making the front end short unless you put on a 20" tire like I did.

The quality card in the spokes is pretty nice though. :) And yeah it was probably my only chance to buy one in a box.

--Rob
 

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