When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

It's tough out there folks....

#eBayPartner    Most Recent BUY IT NOW Items Listed on eBay
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
I have to chime in on this real quick. I remember on feepay in June 2008, I sold a Schwinn and I noticed there were 180 Schwinns listed in the "collectible complete bicycle" category. This morning, 763 as I write this. What that means, I'm not sure. But it seems to me there are a lot of people selling bikes to put food on their tables.
 
Retro. That really got under my skin and chapped my arse.

Retro Ain't what it used to be :( True , Many people can't tell what's old , over what's new. It can be confusing . I rode a 1968 Triumph Bonneville for 21 Years . Rode on MANY all British rides , and saw a HUGE amount of British Iron. Yesterday I saw a Triumph and was HAPPY to see an OLD Timer on the road.........................just to get up close , and find out it was a NEW one all dressed up like an old one. That one ALMOST Fooled me ! :oops:

IMG_20170128_133041108.jpg
 
Just for kicks I'm putting this out there. I'm still fairly new to the hobby ~2 years. My collection is relatively small. What occasionally dampens my enthusiasm with the hobby is the stockpiling and hoarding of quality bikes and parts I've seen. Typically when the supply of something is low, demand increases. This is also because there is awareness and excitement about the product. In the case of bikes I think the low supply actually decreases awareness and excitement and thus drives demand down. I've seen pics of these big collections of really nice tanks that have been removed from bikes. Instead we have lots of bikes out there that should have tanks but don't. Yay. Sure, it then increases demand for tanks and bikes with tanks, which then get squirreled away in an underground cave somewhere. Yes, there are bikes for sale, but it feels like the low end, tankless stuff, girls bikes, very overabundant bikes people want to get rid of, or just garbage to free up space. Wow, you found that in the bottom of a lake? Great. In my opinion it's rare to see really cool stuff trading hands. It happens, but not often in my opinion. I became a fan of the Elgin Robin when I got here. I really wanted one. I never see those listed. They're all locked away in people's garages, sheds, basements, and lockers like an IRA. I personally gave up on them and moved on. I did recently buy a really nice Elgin in Ann Arbor. I was really excited about my "new" bike. Now I've been out there looking for Klaxons, lamps, battery tubes, rider wheels, etc. I think if there was a greater supply of nice bikes available, it would create energy, awareness, make the hobby accessible to outsiders and help them get started. Would the greater availability of cooler bikes drive prices up or down? I don't know. It could be the existing collectors out there who would buy them and keep the prices afloat. What slowly kills it for me is sellers asking ridiculous prices like this Elgin Special that no one is willing to pay. $3500? Really? I'm going back to comic books. https://www.ebay.com/itm/ELGIN-SPEC...629533?hash=item215991841d:g:8QkAAOSwSf9cyx0N A lot of these older guys are retired and have stored their bikes for years. We all want to make what we think the value is for our bikes,or what we put into it, but despite whatever we put into a bike to fix it up, a bike (or anything) is "only worth what someone is willing to pay for it." I don' t think that Elgin is worth $3500. ( I know it's listed elsewhere for $1600 or so, but it serves to illustrate my point) I'm deep in the hole on several of the bikes in my small collection already too. But I serviced and finished them and got them rolling again, and I felt amazing about it. I know I'll never get my money back on them. That's a downer for sure. But the market price is only what interested, knowledgable people are willing to pay. And those people are dying off and I don't really see any millennials coming to swaps. For me the reality of this hobby is more about passion, appreciation and the love of the bikes than ROI. If that were to change, great. Putting more nice stuff out there to stimulate interest in the market is just an idea. But with limited stuff out there to stir up excitement, interest, and conversation, I don't see anything changing except further declining interest.
 
I've been out there looking for Klaxons, lamps, battery tubes, rider wheels, etc.

For whatever reason , those darn Klaxons and Battery Tube prices are .................well .................Way up there. Maybe most of the younger folks can't pay those prices. When you pay the same price for a few accessories as you did for the whole bike things get out of whack . I don't see those prices dropping any time soon. Supply and demand do still come into play. and , I believe the hobby IS still Healthy. Just my Two Cents . ;)
 
Just for kicks I'm putting this out there. I'm still fairly new to the hobby ~2 years. My collection is relatively small. What occasionally dampens my enthusiasm with the hobby is the stockpiling and hoarding of quality bikes and parts I've seen. Typically when the supply of something is low, demand increases. This is also because there is awareness and excitement about the product. In the case of bikes I think the low supply actually decreases awareness and excitement and thus drives demand down. I've seen pics of these big collections of really nice tanks that have been removed from bikes. Instead we have lots of bikes out there that should have tanks but don't. Yay. Sure, it then increases demand for tanks and bikes with tanks, which then get squirreled away in an underground cave somewhere. Yes, there are bikes for sale, but it feels like the low end, tankless stuff, girls bikes, very overabundant bikes people want to get rid of, or just garbage to free up space. Wow, you found that in the bottom of a lake? Great. In my opinion it's rare to see really cool stuff trading hands. It happens, but not often in my opinion. I became a fan of the Elgin Robin when I got here. I really wanted one. I never see those listed. They're all locked away in people's garages, sheds, basements, and lockers like an IRA. I personally gave up on them and moved on. I did recently buy a really nice Elgin in Ann Arbor. I was really excited about my "new" bike. Now I've been out there looking for Klaxons, lamps, battery tubes, rider wheels, etc. I think if there was a greater supply of nice bikes available, it would create energy, awareness, make the hobby accessible to outsiders and help them get started. Would the greater availability of cooler bikes drive prices up or down? I don't know. It could be the existing collectors out there who would buy them and keep the prices afloat. What slowly kills it for me is sellers asking ridiculous prices like this Elgin Special that no one is willing to pay. $3500? Really? I'm going back to comic books. https://www.ebay.com/itm/ELGIN-SPEC...629533?hash=item215991841d:g:8QkAAOSwSf9cyx0N A lot of these older guys are retired and have stored their bikes for years. We all want to make what we think the value is for our bikes,or what we put into it, but despite whatever we put into a bike to fix it up, a bike (or anything) is "only worth what someone is willing to pay for it." I don' t think that Elgin is worth $3500. ( I know it's listed elsewhere for $1600 or so, but it serves to illustrate my point) I'm deep in the hole on several of the bikes in my small collection already too. But I serviced and finished them and got them rolling again, and I felt amazing about it. I know I'll never get my money back on them. That's a downer for sure. But the market price is only what interested, knowledgable people are willing to pay. And those people are dying off and I don't really see any millennials coming to swaps. For me the reality of this hobby is more about passion, appreciation and the love of the bikes than ROI. If that were to change, great. Putting more nice stuff out there to stimulate interest in the market is just an idea. But with limited stuff out there to stir up excitement, interest, and conversation, I don't see anything changing except further declining interest.

I've said this before but I don't think bicycle collecting is on the decline and see young guys and some gals starting to collect. Unlike cars or some other hobbies it is not generational. I might be old but I did not grow up in the prewar era but that is where my main interest lies. Regarding you rcomments about the Elgin Robin and bike parts. So you've been to MLC how many contacts did you make. Do you reach out to other collectors regulalry or are you just waiting for something to pop up here or on Ebay?

Nice bikes and parts change hands regularly just not out in the open. A lot of guys don't want to post a Robin just to have a lot of tire kickers and low ballers sending them PMs. Another thing I've come to find out and am getting that way myself is I would rather trade than sell. Why? I can always get more cash but I can't just run out and buy more rare parts so I would rather trade for another rare part. So I really don't think this thread has anything to do with the health of the hobby necessarliy but rather the state of the economy and maybe the nervousness people feel about spending money right now? Jus my 2c. V/r Shawn
 
"Do you reach out to other collectors regulalry or are you just waiting for something to pop up here or on Ebay?" The latter. I haven't developed those networks yet.

"Nice bikes and parts change hands regularly just not out in the open." This is what I'm blind to.

"but rather the state of the economy and maybe the nervousness people feel about spending money right now?" Except the economy is actually really strong right now. I'm not sure what people would be nervous about unless things are too good. Unemployment is down. The S&P just hit a new high. Nasdaq is close to doing the same. Interest rates are stable. The Fed suggested rates could be cut in July. From Barron's: "At the same time, tensions between the U.S. and China appear to be ebbing, and prospects for some sort of trade deal—or at least no new tariffs—look better than they have since early May. Not even a flare-up in tensions between the U.S. and Iran could dampen the fun all that much...The market appears optimistic that everything will work out just fine."
 
Retro Ain't what it used to be :( True , Many people can't tell what's old , over what's new. It can be confusing . I rode a 1968 Triumph Bonneville for 21 Years . Rode on MANY all British rides , and saw a HUGE amount of British Iron. Yesterday I saw a Triumph and was HAPPY to see an OLD Timer on the road.........................just to get up close , and find out it was a NEW one all dressed up like an old one. That one ALMOST Fooled me ! :oops:

View attachment 1019252
You didn't even need the hat. Your hair looked tough! I think it's cool that a lot of the new British bikes look vintage. I debated a Bonnie for my first motorcycle. Not sure how anyone could see that radio bike and think it was just made to have a retro '' look''.

gettyimages-158746414-1024x1024.jpg


f41d8db0-238e-11e8-b079-e65f92ed111a_1320x770_230854.jpg
 
For whatever reason , those darn Klaxons and Battery Tube prices are .................well .................Way up there. Maybe most of the younger folks can't pay those prices. When you pay the same price for a few accessories as you did for the whole bike things get out of whack . I don't see those prices dropping any time soon. Supply and demand do still come into play. and , I believe the hobby IS still Healthy. Just my Two Cents . ;)
YES, (how did you know?;) those costs are getting closer!
 
Just for kicks I'm putting this out there. I'm still fairly new to the hobby ~2 years. My collection is relatively small. What occasionally dampens my enthusiasm with the hobby is the stockpiling and hoarding of quality bikes and parts I've seen. Typically when the supply of something is low, demand increases. This is also because there is awareness and excitement about the product. In the case of bikes I think the low supply actually decreases awareness and excitement and thus drives demand down. I've seen pics of these big collections of really nice tanks that have been removed from bikes. Instead we have lots of bikes out there that should have tanks but don't. Yay. Sure, it then increases demand for tanks and bikes with tanks, which then get squirreled away in an underground cave somewhere. Yes, there are bikes for sale, but it feels like the low end, tankless stuff, girls bikes, very overabundant bikes people want to get rid of, or just garbage to free up space. Wow, you found that in the bottom of a lake? Great. In my opinion it's rare to see really cool stuff trading hands. It happens, but not often in my opinion. I became a fan of the Elgin Robin when I got here. I really wanted one. I never see those listed. They're all locked away in people's garages, sheds, basements, and lockers like an IRA. I personally gave up on them and moved on. I did recently buy a really nice Elgin in Ann Arbor. I was really excited about my "new" bike. Now I've been out there looking for Klaxons, lamps, battery tubes, rider wheels, etc. I think if there was a greater supply of nice bikes available, it would create energy, awareness, make the hobby accessible to outsiders and help them get started. Would the greater availability of cooler bikes drive prices up or down? I don't know. It could be the existing collectors out there who would buy them and keep the prices afloat. What slowly kills it for me is sellers asking ridiculous prices like this Elgin Special that no one is willing to pay. $3500? Really? I'm going back to comic books. https://www.ebay.com/itm/ELGIN-SPEC...629533?hash=item215991841d:g:8QkAAOSwSf9cyx0N A lot of these older guys are retired and have stored their bikes for years. We all want to make what we think the value is for our bikes,or what we put into it, but despite whatever we put into a bike to fix it up, a bike (or anything) is "only worth what someone is willing to pay for it." I don' t think that Elgin is worth $3500. ( I know it's listed elsewhere for $1600 or so, but it serves to illustrate my point) I'm deep in the hole on several of the bikes in my small collection already too. But I serviced and finished them and got them rolling again, and I felt amazing about it. I know I'll never get my money back on them. That's a downer for sure. But the market price is only what interested, knowledgable people are willing to pay. And those people are dying off and I don't really see any millennials coming to swaps. For me the reality of this hobby is more about passion, appreciation and the love of the bikes than ROI. If that were to change, great. Putting more nice stuff out there to stimulate interest in the market is just an idea. But with limited stuff out there to stir up excitement, interest, and conversation, I don't see anything changing except further declining interest.
So that's why banana tanks are 4 or 5 hundred dollars. Don't build your bikes for the next guy. Just what you can justify for your own approval.
 
My experience is that it's still very much location-dependent, and I tend to see things through a local prism. The last bike I sold was an excellent 1970s Raleigh Twenty folder - even original redline tires on it still. Zero interest locally in rural western New England - people want more modern bikes here with lots of gears (hybrid, road, and mountain - we have lots of hills here). When I caved and decided to put the time and effort into shipping, someone paid full price for it to be shipped to Boston. It should serve well there. Here where I live now, people interested in bicycles at all remain the exception rather than the rule. It's sort of a shame too because the local area is very scenic.

I've never really studied bikes sold on a national level in any scientific way. I deal mostly with old utility bikes of various stripes, and maybe a little bit in the field of old 10-speed road bikes. My own sense of that market is that prices went up a fair bit between 2000 and 2015 (they even seemed to creep up during the recession in the wealthy urban areas), but then leveled off and have been flat for a few years now. That's probably a very general, national look. But as I said, in some areas like where I am now, it's as dead as ever.
 
Back
Top