sometimes people make me wonder

[roadmaster]

so while at work the other day, i got a tip there was a yard sale at a house kinda on my way home that had an old bike for sale. since i had my truck with me for some reason, i figured id swing by on the way home.

so like planed, i drove by and saw an old cruiser in the yard. once i got out and got closer, i saw it was a dark green or some dark color schwinn. the bike had no fenders, a walmart monutain bike seat, bmx rise handlebars and a freewheeled rear rim with handbrakes and knobbie mountain bike tires. it looked pretty old and the paint and decals on the chainguard worn off.

the owner of the bike then came over to me saying it was a 73' schwinn, all original and pulled a schwinn bike shop card out of his wallet, as if to try to prove its vintage, but 73' looked about right. he said make an offer and then he'd tell me what he wanted for it, but b4 i could, he said he paid $150 new for it and that he'd go as low as $100. personally, i wouldnt have gone over $50 and said that was a little high and that only the frame and fork were original. he said that it would sell and i got back in my truck and left.

any of ya willin to pay $100 for a 73' schwinn singlespeed cruiser in ratty shape with barely any of the original parts? paint was scratched and faded in bad shape and bmx style 90's caliper rear brakes and handlebars. am i wrong to think that bike never sold for $150, like he said he paid new, and how $100 for this cruiser was a joke?

 

[FunkyStickman]

Dude had no clue. I would have offered him $20 and called it a day.

 

[Uncle Stretch]

There was a guy who put two Schwinns ...cruiser...complete ..from the 70's I think. They were tawian ones. Anyway he wanted $50 for both. It took about three days to get him to actually sell them. He always had excuses,and he only lived about 8 miles from me. I was so mad by the time I actually got to buy them I was ready to kick his seat. People who sell things are goofy and people who buy things are just as goofy. Somebody tells someone the bike they have is really worth something and its time to move on. Let them keep their junk,and dont look back.

 

[sernylan]

am i wrong to think that bike never sold for $150, like he said he paid new, and how $100 for this cruiser was a joke?

In 1973, MSRP on a Schwinn Speedster with a single speed coaster brake was $66.95.

 

[bikesntrikes]

That's California for ya!

The prices of "vintage" and "antique" bikes are really ridiculous here. I pretty much stopped looking on CL for old bikes because of that.

 

[Philphine]

there's a flea market i go to most weekends. this past weekend i looked at a pretty nice occ stingray. i asked how much and got the "rare schwinn" spiel, and that he'd let it go for $200. seeing as i had brought one the weekend before nearly as nice for $20, i decided to pass.

 

[roadmaster]

thats what i thought. schwinn was a good name back in the day, but dude either had no idea what he had, had sorta promised it to someone else or really didn't wanna sell it. with the bmx components listed and the bmx chainring under that schwinn chainguard, looks like someone at one time set out to put in a few mods on this old cruiser bike.

 

[Walker]

Local Yokel who runs a yardsale out of his van (Vansale?) has an early 90 Specialized Hardrock. I asked how much, he says "it's a mint vintage mtb, i want $ 250.00" (you know it came from the dumps) I say good luck with that. That was sometime in Late July. I just passed him over the weekend, still has the bike..

But hey, if he doesn't mind sitting on it then i wish him luck.

 

[deorman]

I wouldn't come off my old 21-spd for less than that, but then again, I'm not trying to sell it.

 

[Bendix]

i think my favorites are the schwinn ID based on the seat......and "one guy who collects old bikes told me it was worth $xxx". yeah, i noticed he didn't write you a check for that amount...... :roll:

 

[roadmaster]

so i rode by today, 3 days later and it was still there (imagine that). a re asked the price to the daughter, kinda just chillin back with her homies (at a yardsale i've seen nobody at either) and i re asked about the price and she was $100 firm. i said thanks and rode away cuz i think if i tried to bargin the bike down in price that they'd think i was insulting them (they were kinda thuggly lookin). oh well... another one that got away. shoulda left them a picture of a $50 bill with my phone number on it, for when reality sunk in.

 

[2WheelFlyer]

I've been checking some CL posts with ridiculous prices lately in this area, everyone thinks their piece of crap is like the original overrated collectors bike they saw on Ebay. Just what happened with the car hobby with all those auctions like Barrett-Jackson, now everyone wants a fortune even for a rusty and worthless 4 door with a six cylinder from the 60's.

I haven't been lucky with pawn shops around here either, after going to 5-6 I found one and they were only selling thrashed and old MTBs (not even cleaned them up) for $250 and up, they are crazy (that's why they have a full row of 'em)