Supply of Old Cruisers Drying Up?

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BikeNerd

BikeNerd

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Newbie question.
I was wondering if there was any fear of new finds of old Hawthorns, Elgins, JC Higgins, pre-war Schwinns etc. will start to dry up anytime soon. I know it will happen eventually but is there any evidence that it's happening now? Just curious since I'm basically unfamiliar with these kind of bikes. Of course there's always the reproduction market!
 
Don't see it in my neighborhood. Selection is still there but price has increased. They are still out there but due to "American Pickers" & shows like that people now think they are worth their weight in gold. Repro market doesn't interest me except for parts.
 
Dout it will fizzel out any time soon since Most Company's Produced Millions of some models ,I've been Collecting , buying ,Selling,Trading,giving away Bikes for over 20 Years now and uncovering stuff all the time.......


~RafaeL~
 
I started hunting old bikes in '85. The guys that were into the hobby back then like Bill Siddens and Ernie Ball were already telling me that the supply of old ballooners was drying up. I found my share but had to dig for them. I think you will always be able to find old bikes, but how many you find will depend on how hard you dig. You've got to be determined, talk to everyone you know, (and don't know) and don't let anyone that tells you the bikes are all gone talk you out of your quest. Gary
 
Compared to the good ol days when people literally threw them away, yup supply is drying up!
But, being "rat rodders," we don't let rust bust our builds....and we fix old junk, that's our calling, save them from recycle death.
 
there's a place in Rockport that has an entire front fence made out of OLD bikes, they spray bombed them all ugly island colors...I'll bet that there is 30 bikes used to make the fence...it's a shame and would be much cooler if they at least mounted them to a fence up off the ground rather than wheels in the dirt...and they shouldn't have spray bombed them either....
 
Yah , out here in the country i know of a couple places where bikes are lined up along the fence some all painted white some not , i use to do the same thing and slowly pick parts off them.....

~RafaeL~
 
Not trying to sound morbid, but some of my best finds are when people kick the can, family puts ads out or they get a hold of me by friends / word of mouth that I know a little about them and they usually want me to tell them what they have or how much its worth. Collecting is a cycle in its own it seems ...
 
I have lead after lead of old bikes.....what most people consider an old bike, and what I consider an old bike....is not the same.

TRULY FINDING(not ebay/thcabe) a fully deluxe Colson, Hawthorn, Elgin, Schwinn..etc from the 1920-41 era in any kind of original shape...is almost impossible. Most of them were sold in the 80's to private and public collectors who know the retail value. They probably will never hit the market at a reasonable price again. (because they are stuck at 80's retail value)

Finding a 1946-60's fully deluxe cruiser isn't so hard. I come across Spaceliners, Jaguars, Pathers, Higgins...etc etc all the time for reasonable prices.
 
Let's face it: these bikes are still fairly plentiful, but they get harder to find and more expensive each year. Eventually, they'll dry up, but until they do, laws of supply and demand shall apply. Real talk: they don't make'm anymore.

This is why I like to build and beat on Worksman frames; those they do still make, so i don't feel guilty the way I would with real vintage frames... But I think I might order a complete 2014 Worksman and keep it stock/cherry. Eventually, even those may hold some collector value.
 
I'd love to buy it, but my wife would kill me! Hope one of my local buddies picks it up.
 
I'll have to agree with CCR as collectors, like regular people, don't live forever and bikes get passed down to surviving family members who may or may not be interested in old rat rods. Estate sales are a good place to buy old two-wheeled treasures as long as they don't get bid up too high.
 
been scratching around in this hobby for about four years now. bought my third bike from original owners family the other day 47ish western flyer. the thrill is in the chase and the ride. i am sixty and am currently friends with four individuals whom are twelve to fifteen years older than me, they have all the parts! currently know of three 40ish bikes i would love to have and cannot afford. get out and kick around talk to everyone! rick
 
80s...30 years ago...how time flies!
 
Its amazing to think about how many bicycles were sold. Its nothing compared to today where Americans are buying like 18.7 million bikes a year! but American manufactures did produce a good many bikes. Even with the scrap drives of ww2, and the fact that people are still throwing them away there are still quite a few out there. It makes me cringe, but I bet thousands of pre 1950 bicycles end up going to the dump every year. I always see old bikes in the pile at the scrap metal place. Despite that, there are still enough around. For all we know demand for these bikes could drop in the next 10-20 years, future generations might want barn find bmx bikes, or not have any interest in vintage bikes at all.
 
Being relatively new to the whole scene, what I've been seeing is a lot of it depends on your geography. Seems if you're in a flat land area (like FLA) which is conducive to putting around on a single speed cruiser, the prices seem to get a bit ridiculous. Get out into farm land, hilly areas and you're still apt to find the , "What? That rusty old thing... cart it out'a here and it's yours...". Albeit not quite as frequently as you would have seen 10, 15 years ago.

In as much as I like the show American Pickers, I really hate what they've done for prices of a lot of "Junk". You find a decent early bike that might be rusty and in need of some TLC, the owner seems to think he's got a fully restored bicycle... or at least has it priced like one, "Well I saw one of these on American Pickers and they said it was worth "X" amount..."

Well like my Dad always said, "I don't care what that book says it's worth... It's only worth as much as somebody's willing pay you for it!". Pretty smart observation Dad...
 
SSG said:
.... For all we know demand for these bikes could drop in the next 10-20 years, future generations might want barn find bmx bikes, or not have any interest in vintage bikes at all.
Click to expand...

Old-school BMX is pretty much king for the collector-bikes market these days.
 

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