# Is this a good buy



## Ridin' my Schween (Jan 25, 2018)

I found this on Ebay but not sure if it's worth it. I've been wanting a heavyweight Schwinn and they don't come up often
https://m.ebay.com/itm/Collectable-Rare-1952-Schwinn-Hornet-Barn-Find-Newly-Overhauled/132465689337

Thanks for your input


----------



## Danny the schwinn freak (Jan 25, 2018)

A nice bike for sure. A little on the high side but not offensively high. If you want one to keep personally and ride, it’s worth the extra money (in my opinion) to buy a complete, fairly original one. This one looks pretty decent and unmolested. Definitely ask for pics of the left side, there are a few of the right. You don’t want any surprises. It has a make offer feature, offer him $450 or $500 and see what happens. Shipping came up at $150 when I viewed it, that’s pretty high too. You could ship the bike anywhere in the US from Colorado for probably $75 or so via bike flights. Cool bike tho. I like it.


----------



## Danny the schwinn freak (Jan 25, 2018)

Ridin' my Schween said:


> I found this on Ebay but not sure if it's worth it. I've been wanting a heavyweight Schwinn and they don't come up often
> https://m.ebay.com/itm/Collectable-Rare-1952-Schwinn-Hornet-Barn-Find-Newly-Overhauled/132465689337
> 
> Thanks for your input



See my above post. Forgot to “reply” the first time.


----------



## Ridin' my Schween (Jan 25, 2018)

Danny the schwinn freak said:


> A nice bike for sure. A little on the high side but not offensively high. If you want one to keep personally and ride, it’s worth the extra money (in my opinion) to buy a complete, fairly original one. This one looks pretty decent and unmolested. Definitely ask for pics of the left side, there are a few of the right. You don’t want any surprises. It has a make offer feature, offer him $450 or $500 and see what happens. Shipping came up at $150 when I viewed it, that’s pretty high too. You could ship the bike anywhere in the US from Colorado for probably $75 or so via bike flights. Cool bike tho. I like it.





Danny the schwinn freak said:


> A nice bike for sure. A little on the high side but not offensively high. If you want one to keep personally and ride, it’s worth the extra money (in my opinion) to buy a complete, fairly original one. This one looks pretty decent and unmolested. Definitely ask for pics of the left side, there are a few of the right. You don’t want any surprises. It has a make offer feature, offer him $450 or $500 and see what happens. Shipping came up at $150 when I viewed it, that’s pretty high too. You could ship the bike anywhere in the US from Colorado for probably $75 or so via bike flights. Cool bike tho. I like it.


----------



## Ridin' my Schween (Jan 25, 2018)

Danny the schwinn freak said:


> A nice bike for sure. A little on the high side but not offensively high. If you want one to keep personally and ride, it’s worth the extra money (in my opinion) to buy a complete, fairly original one. This one looks pretty decent and unmolested. Definitely ask for pics of the left side, there are a few of the right. You don’t want any surprises. It has a make offer feature, offer him $450 or $500 and see what happens. Shipping came up at $150 when I viewed it, that’s pretty high too. You could ship the bike anywhere in the US from Colorado for probably $75 or so via bike flights. Cool bike tho. I like it.




That's great advice! Sounds like you're done this a few times! Thank you so much!


----------



## GTs58 (Jan 25, 2018)

+1 what Danny said. And that Hornet is a 1951.


----------



## Ridin' my Schween (Jan 25, 2018)

GTs58 said:


> +1 what Danny said. And that Hornet is a 1951.



Appreciate the affirmation.


----------



## Ridin' my Schween (Jan 25, 2018)

Does it have all the correct pieces


----------



## ballooney (Jan 25, 2018)

Ridin' my Schween said:


> Does it have all the correct pieces



Minus some small stuff (grips, headlight, and possibly the rear reflectors), it looks like it's all there.


----------



## Danny the schwinn freak (Jan 25, 2018)

Ridin' my Schween said:


> Does it have all the correct pieces



Unfortunately, I have bought a few without asking for better pics or other angles not seen and even taken some peoples word. But it’s really easy for the seller to take a few pics and message them to you. If they don’t want to, there may be a reason they didn’t post them in the auction. Might just be an oversight, but could just as easily be “creative advertising”, lol. Looks like a great bike tho. Grips are wrong and the headlight is an added one. I think it should have a delta rocket ray on the front fender like the one in the ad the seller posted a pic of. But basically looks pretty complete and overall pretty nice for a 67 year old bike. And the racks are always bent up like that. You’d be hard pressed to find a bike in worn condition with an unbent rack. Hope this helps. Keep us posted!


----------



## Ridin' my Schween (Jan 25, 2018)

Danny the schwinn freak said:


> Unfortunately, I have bought a few without asking for better pics or other angles not seen and even taken some peoples word. But it’s really easy for the seller to take a few pics and message them to you. If they don’t want to, there may be a reason they didn’t post them in the auction. Might just be an oversight, but could just as easily be “creative advertising”, lol. Looks like a great bike tho. Grips are wrong and the headlight is an added one. I think it should have a delta rocket ray on the front fender like the one in the ad the seller posted a pic of. But basically looks pretty complete and overall pretty nice for a 67 year old bike. And the racks are always bent up like that. You’d be hard pressed to find a bike in worn condition with an unbent rack. Hope this helps. Keep us posted!



Great feedback. Will do.


----------



## Ridin' my Schween (Jan 25, 2018)

ballooney said:


> Minus some small stuff (grips, headlight, and possibly the rear reflectors), it looks like it's all there.



Good to know!


----------



## Ridin' my Schween (Jan 25, 2018)

....so, the item description says, completely overhauled with new tires, tubes, bearings, chain and grips. Couple questions/observations: does the value depreciate because the bearings and chain have been replaced and no longer original; and if you look closely at the photo of the chain guard, the tire in the background looks cracked and not new. Not a big issue but a small concern.


----------



## Danny the schwinn freak (Jan 25, 2018)

Ridin' my Schween said:


> ....so, the item description says, completely overhauled with new tires, tubes, bearings, chain and grips. Couple questions/observations: does the value depreciate because the bearings and chain have been replaced and no longer original; and if you look closely at the photo of the chain guard, the tire in the background looks cracked and not new. Not a big issue but a small concern.



Chances are the bearings and chain were cleaned up and regressed, not replaced. The tires don’t look like new ones to me. I wouldn’t sweat it. The value on this type of bike isn’t affected much by stuff like that. You get into high dollar bikes that people pay big bucks for because of originality, people start to get a little more picky about stuff like that. But this bike is a cool, worn rider. Make an offer on it that you are comfortable with. If you get it for that, ride the heck out of it and enjoy it. If you don’t, keep looking. They pop up often enough. This happens to be my very favorite basic Schwinn platform. I’ve bought no less than 12-15 in the last year right off of this site. But with that said, a basically all original one that is still in presentable condition and is available for a reasonable price doesn’t come up every day. Go for it!


----------



## Freqman1 (Jan 26, 2018)

The only way I buy this bike is if I love it and am not worried about the money when it comes time to sell. There are plenty of balloon tire Schwinns out there. Rather than settle for something why don't you run a wanted ad here on the CABE for exactly what you would like to have? I think you can do better for the money. V/r Shawn


----------



## tripple3 (Jan 26, 2018)

Freqman1 said:


> Rather than settle for something why don't you run a wanted ad here on the CABE for exactly what you would like to have? I think you can do better for the money. V/r Shawn



There's some experience for all of us.


----------



## Sven (Jan 26, 2018)

The guy has 8 positives in the last year ( total of 109 feed backs) He has been a ebay  member since 1999 under the same moniker. He doesn't sell or buy that much on the bay .Doesn't make him a scammer. If it feels right to you go for it ,i would *Make an offer first . *


----------



## rustjunkie (Jan 26, 2018)

At $750 to your door I'd suggest: keep looking. At $650, I still think it's a pass.
The condition just isn't there on either side of the coin...doesn't have that indescribable "look".


----------



## Ridin' my Schween (Jan 26, 2018)

I appreciate all the feedback! From the first few replies I felt really good about the find and was ready to go for it...but from the recent posts, the more practical side of me has kicked in. I do like the bike but don't think it's my forever bike. So from the sound of it, it's an an ok find but not a drop everything and make an offer bike (if that were the case someone would have already bought it) I guess I need to start somewhere to gain experience! I'll let you know what I decide...


----------



## Ridin' my Schween (Jan 26, 2018)

Danny the schwinn freak said:


> Chances are the bearings and chain were cleaned up and regressed, not replaced. The tires don’t look like new ones to me. I wouldn’t sweat it. The value on this type of bike isn’t affected much by stuff like that. You get into high dollar bikes that people pay big bucks for because of originality, people start to get a little more picky about stuff like that. But this bike is a cool, worn rider. Make an offer on it that you are comfortable with. If you get it for that, ride the heck out of it and enjoy it. If you don’t, keep looking. They pop up often enough. This happens to be my very favorite basic Schwinn platform. I’ve bought no less than 12-15 in the last year right off of this site. But with that said, a basically all original one that is still in presentable condition and is available for a reasonable price doesn’t come up every day. Go for it!



Thanks for keeping the opportunity open for me to make an offer


rustjunkie said:


> View attachment 743846
> 
> At $750 to your door I'd suggest: keep looking. At $650, I still think it's a pass.
> The condition just isn't there on either side of the coin...doesn't have that indescribable "look".



I agree. My biggest concern was the condition.


----------



## bikemonkey (Jan 26, 2018)

I would trust that buying a bike from a Caber is far less likely to have "surprises" than eBay/CL. Of course, there are those sleepers that always keep you hungry but it is a crap shoot.

There are so many unknown and/or cascading issues on most any bike of this age from bent pedals, frozen parts, stripped threads, to rewelded frames. This is a small world at the CABE and guys that are "sharp" business people don't come here or last too long.


----------



## Ridin' my Schween (Jan 26, 2018)

bikemonkey said:


> I would trust that buying a bike from a Caber is far less likely to have "surprises" than eBay/CL. Of course, there are those sleepers that always keep you hungry but it is a crap shoot.
> 
> There are so many unknown and/or cascading issues on most any bike of this age from bent pedals, frozen parts, stripped threads, to rewelded frames. This is a small world at the CABE and guys that are "sharp" business people don't come here or last too long.



Good point ☝️


----------



## Ridin' my Schween (Feb 7, 2018)

Well...I got it! Not as clean as it appeared in the photos but still seems like a pretty decent bike. Missing the Rocket Ray, grips and rear reflectors but other then that looks complete. Thanks to everyone for your input!


----------



## Ridin' my Schween (Feb 7, 2018)




----------



## GTs58 (Feb 7, 2018)

Cool, I'd ride that! Did you make an offer and get a good deal? I see you're in the same state and assume you picked it up verses having it shipped.


----------



## Ridin' my Schween (Feb 8, 2018)

GTs58 said:


> Cool, I'd ride that! Did you make an offer and get a good deal? I see you're in the same state and assume you picked it up verses having it shipped.



Knowing he was 1.5 hours away, I was banking on the shipping but I know some sellers count that in as extra income. I made him an offer and he replied there were several people interested. A week later he accepted my original offer and now it's mine!


----------



## vincev (Feb 9, 2018)

Glad ya made the deal and all worked out good.Now get to some shows and get a few original parts.


----------



## Ridin' my Schween (Apr 28, 2018)

Update: Got it all cleaned up and greased. Rides great! I love this bike! Anyone have grips for this bike?


----------

