Ten Most Collectible Bikes Of All Time

[DrRumack80]

It's never static. You have blue-chip entries like some of the pre-war ballooners, exotics like the French constructeurs, and over the past 10-15 years, BMX and early/high-end mountain bikes have really gone up in value. Some of the posts in this thread have not aged well.

Two of the ten 1978 Breezer Series 1's sold in the past 10 years for $26k and $30k respectively. These were the first, purpose-built mountain bikes. The early hand-built mountain bikes by Breeze, Ritchey, Cunningham, etc are very sought after. When I bought this '83 Ritchey Competition in 1999, it seemed that very few people were interested in these bikes. A few years back, one of these sold on Ebay for around $3k as just a frame/fork.

In the vintage mountain bike world, I don't think there is a rarer, more collectable bike than the 1978 Breezer Series 1. (2nd photo) Only 10 were made!

 

[Schwinn Sales West]

I.S. (Ignaz Schwinn)...

A.S was for "Arnold and Schwinn"...two people...or is that what you meant?

Thank you for keeping it accurate.

John

 

[vincev]

Somebody must have never heard of other makes of bikes.lol

 

[vincev]

I think we can all agree on this!

1. Schwinn Aerocycle
2. Schwinn Autocycle
3. Schwinn Motocycle
4. 1955 Boy's Schwinn Phantom
5. 1955 Girls Blue Schwinn Phantom
6. 1971 Schwinn Grey Ghost
7. 1970-71 Schwinn Cotton Picker
8. 1948 Schwinn Excelsior Straightbar
9. 1953 Schwinn Panther
10. Anything Else Made By Schwinn, Including Early 50's Schwinn Hornet, Wasp, or Spitfire, Stingrays, etc.

There should be absolutely no argument here that these are the ten most collectible bikes of all time.

Best regards, F.A.

I agree ! Who would pick an Elgin Bluebird over a Schwinn Wasp ??

 

[oskisan]

I came across this on the CABE some time ago. I do not know anything about Leon, but I kind of agree with around 10 or 11 of the bikes listed here (not necessarily in the order he has them in).

 

[Schwinn Sales West]

I came across this on the CABE some time ago. I do not know anything about Leon, but I kind of agree with around 10 or 11 of the bikes listed here (not necessarily in the order he has them in).



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I would like to thank MR. Dixon for allowing at least one Schwinn bike into his top 25 list.

I'm just surprised it was not a "Schwinn Built" B.F. Goodrich bike.

Having a list of the top anything is just a waste of time. You cannot make a list without leaving something out. The top model list will be different for every CABE person that reads the list. The Sting Ray guys have their top model list, and the track bike guys have a different list, etc. TOC and Pre-War guys have their own ideas, it's never going to end guys, just collect whatever floats your boat, enjoy the ride, don't spend your time trying to put things together in a good-better-best order.

John

 

[GTs58]

I would like to thank MR. Dixon for allowing at least one Schwinn bike into his top 25 list.

I'm just surprised it was not a "Schwinn Built" B.F. Goodrich bike.

Having a list of the top anything is just a waste of time. You cannot make a list without leaving something out. The top model list will be different for every CABE person that reads the list. The Sting Ray guys have their top model list, and the track bike guys have a different list, etc. TOC and Pre-War guys have their own ideas, it's never going to end guys, just collect whatever floats your boat, enjoy the ride, don't spend your time trying to put things together in a good-better-best order.

John

After reading about BFG bikes last week, I don’t know what I should do with my 1941 BFG streamliner. Should I get rid of it since it’s not a Schwinn? I’m a Schwinn guy and I don’t collect bikes that aren’t Schwinn.……

 

[SJ_BIKER]

SJ_bikers top 10 collectible bicycle list
1938 drive shaft Elgin Robin
1936 Dayton streamline
1938 Elgin bluebird
1937 Evinrude stream flow
1936 Elgin bluebird
1934 Schwinn aerocycle
1938 Dayton twinflex (death bike)
1955 original paint Blue phantom
1935 Schwinn cycleplane
1945/6 Schwinn shortie straight bar autocycle

 

[mrg]

Weird, most of the og posters on the first 3 pages of this thread haven't been on the cabe for years!

 

[Robert Troub]

I think we can all agree on this!

1. Schwinn Aerocycle
2. Schwinn Autocycle
3. Schwinn Motocycle
4. 1955 Boy's Schwinn Phantom
5. 1955 Girls Blue Schwinn Phantom
6. 1971 Schwinn Grey Ghost
7. 1970-71 Schwinn Cotton Picker
8. 1948 Schwinn Excelsior Straightbar
9. 1953 Schwinn Panther
10. Anything Else Made By Schwinn, Including Early 50's Schwinn Hornet, Wasp, or Spitfire, Stingrays, etc.

There should be absolutely no argument here that these are the ten most collectible bikes of all time.

Best regards, F.A.

No, we can't.....