What is the current state of the muscle bike hobby?

[GMP440]

I am trying to get feel on what the current state of the hobby is.
I have been seeing Craig's List adds with very affordable prices. There doesn't seem to be many people beating the doors for these
bikes. Most bikes I see people riding are the larger 26" old school bikes, that are knock offs of the late 50's early 60's bikes.
Is it that the hobby has not caught on yet or has the hobby peaked and is now on a decline.
What is the direction the hobby is going now? What are we seeing more of or less of at swapmeets such as Ann Arbor and others?
What is everyone elses opinion or observations on this? Thanks.

George

 

[rfeagleye]

Hey George, just saw you reposted this question here. I was following the other one you had that got deleted.

I think the hobby is strong. I attend a lot of the swap meets in and around my area, and meet new guys in the hobby all the time. They might be restoring a bike they bought somewhere local, or their childhood bike, or just like the bikes in general and want to have one to work on.

A lot of the new hobbiests are older, and remember the bikes from childhood, but some of them are younger guys. The younger guys just like the bikes.

Also, in my opinion the swap meets are still as strong as ever. I just attended the Butler, PA swap meet, and although there are usually more balloon tire bike collectors there, there were some muscle bike deals to be had. Actually, the show was so good, by the time I got there at 6:30 AM there were only two tables left for vendors and they had to add more for the people coming in. There was great foot traffic too, lot's of people through the door looking for bikes and parts.

And the Butler, PA show is one of the small ones. This weekend there is a large show in IN that is mostly muscle bikes, and then one the following day in St. Louis that has every type of bike, including new bicycles.

In addition, there are many many deals that go on off eBay, CL, and forums. I have a few dealings a week with hobbiests I have met over the years through old fashioned phone calls haha! And some through text messages and email too.

I feel there is a lot going on with muscle bikes, the hobby is strong. You don't need to go any further than the RRB MMBO that just ended, the winner was a awesome restored Rail! Can't get more muscle bike than that!

 

[Murray-Eliminator]

I'm with Rob.. the Hobby is strong.. just most goes on behind the scene, most of us old timers know who to contact if we are looking for something.. If your needing research material there are several places to get that. I have a reference site dedicated to everything Murray built here> http://murrayeliminatormusclebikes.yuku.com/directory#.VF6ZExYe2QJ

this forum is a great resource also. It's been a few years since i attended any of the big swap meets, but last time I was there, it was full of muscle bike stuff,. I always came home with a car or truck load..

 

[CRASH]

I agree with Rob. The Rail that won the MBBO #3 was awesome.

 

[rfeagleye]

Yeah, that bike was pretty cool huh? Ha!

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Not really sure what the current trend is with Muscle-Bikes, it is sad to see the "Muscle Bike America" forum closing down and becoming a reference site only, but we are trying to do our bit with the annual MBBO!

You may also notice that Muscle bikes now have their own area here instead of being under the "Other Bikes" banner...

Luke.

 

[Rat Rod]

If this section becomes popular enough I can break it into it's own category with subforums under it. I don't want to make the section too big, but if it is helpful for organization sake, just let me know.

 

[CRASH]

Thanks for the pending offer. I personally don't see it needing any sub forums. We'll just lump our muscle-specific conversations in here.

 

[roadwarrior]

If we need to do that then I am under the impression that the state of Muscle Bikes is doing pretty good. I am currently looking into another Muscle Bike project. I have 2, 26 inchers I'm working on so after those 2 are done it will be time for another Muscle Bike. Something unSchwinn for me this time.

 

[CRASH]

I got a '68 24" Sears Spyder frame and a couple parts I could sell you to get you started.

 

[Jaxon]

When you see a good bike on Ebay they rarely make it to the end of the auction. The good stuff always sells strong. The hobby goes up and down but still goes on pretty strong. I have seen Sears Screamer 5 speeds about 5 years ago get 1000 to 1200 for minty bikes. They went down in price to around 600 to 700 for a bit. Then they disappeared for about 2 years hardly seeing any for sale. Now they bring 1000 again for a minty bike. People come in and out of the hobby so It changes some. The first part of 2014 a solo polo seat pan would bring 100 in any condition. Minty seats were sold for 300 and more. I guess the 50th anniversary brought out some new buyers. The hobby is still strong with plenty of bikes still to be found.

 

[deorman]

Hmm. Full time wheelie, or smack my knees? Nah. (Insert old tall guy shaking cane at you "smilie" here.)

Man, they sure look cool though.

 

[Chad T]

Guy that owns the local Schwinn shop here just sold off his Krates because the prices are up he said.

I ended up here through the Muscle bike scene. Loving the Muscle bike stuff (+everything else) on here.

I agree with Rob. The Rail that won the MBBO #3 was awesome.

Not bad for a department store bike......lookin' HOT with the new tire on the front!

 

[RailRider]

Thanks for breaking it out into it's own spot. When I decided to close up the discussion sections I wanted to be sure the Muscle Bike guys had a place to post. I have a lot going on in my life these days and have zero time to watch the forums like I used to. I was only able to be on my forum 1-2 times a week. Rather than allow the forum to just become cluttered up & useless I figured it would be best to bow out so everyone could all go to one place. This site has always had a lot of fun posts and I am glad to see the Muscle Bikes embraced here. Eventually I hope to be back building a few bikes on here. Keep on Muscle Biking!

 

[ZygoteLittle]

Thanks in large part to a small group of kids in Southern California; Muscle Bikes are a permanent fixture in the cycling sphere.

 

[Murray-Eliminator]

There are A lot of Bicycle related pages on Face Book as well. this seems to be where the younger ones get started being interested in vintage bicycles..

 

[Old Scool]

In the past six months I've jumped back in to it after being away for a few years. My biggest issue is getting back into the loop with some guys that can help me find parts but Jaxon and Rfeagle eye have helped me with some hard to find stuff (thanks again guys). Driving my wife crazy though because I have four Huffy projects going on at once and I haven't told her that I'm going to look at a Sears Spyder 5 sped this weekend too.

 

[67ramshorn]

The muscle bike hobby is going down hill fast and my suggestion is to sell me your muscle bikes now.....
The hobby is going very strong and you guys are right about a lot of deals that are made behind the scenes. I am always buying muscle bikes from other collectors, before they make it on ebay or CL. I don't trust most sellers on ebay or CL that I don't know and I will not risk buying from someone I don't know. I learned my lesson.....

 

[CRASH]

What's the current state? Here's your answer!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/201287787830?rmvSB=true

 

[rfeagleye]

That was a hefty price wasn't it! That is a rare rare tire though.

Rare Schwinn stuff always sells for high prices and holds it value among collectors.