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The Many Facets of the "What is this bike worth?" Question"

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Boris

Old fat tired rider
This comes from a members question posted today, and I hope that he or she won't mind that I use this as a good example of why this has always been a difficult question to answer directly.

Question:
Is this bike worth $80?

Partial answers in the form of questions:
  • Are you planning on reselling it as is to make a profit? -NOT WORTH $80
  • Are you planning on doing a full restoration that will cost $$$ and then sell? -NOT WORTH $80
  • Are you planning on doing an enjoyable project to just keep yourself busy? -WORTH $80
  • Are you planning on parting it out to make a profit? -WORTH $80
  • Are you planning on just having a nice old bike that you just want to enjoy? -WORTH $80
  • Is this your first old bike? -WORTH $80
  • Are you're willing to do a lot of labor and keep it? -WORTH $80
  • Is a boy or girls bike best suited to you?
Can anyone add any other considerations that might apply?

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Boris, I agree with your arguments about finding a better bike-- but especially for a young person who is interested in old things, this Bike is perfect and is the right price.
Yes, it would be some work and worry---but that`s where You and I have learned-- by turning wrenches on these-- then making them better before passing them on. Only then learning about the Rarer Bikes out there. We all first started with something like this bike (that interested us) either by its style or by the history of it. There are those who were lucky enough to have "a treasure" left to them in their family -or even a collection. But if a young person is interested- You should never advise him against or shoot down his find. He needs to learn those lessons himself. Suppose this is the first old bike he`s ever run across and you cause him to lose interest?
To spend $80 on something you can ride and enjoy--is peanuts... With the right advice, his next purchase should be better and so on.
Without the young guys and girls, this hobby Passes Away. Yes, the Bike is worth $80...Needs Cleaned up but is mostly correct and complete... That`s what you should say...
In five or six years this young guy could end up being a major player on this forum and in Bike Collecting---Let Him learn his own lessons... God Bless,---Cowboy
 
There is another one:
  • Does it have an historical significance to local, technological, industrial, social, etc. history that you would like to preserve and/or share with other people? - worth $80.
 
There is another one:
  • Does it have an historical significance to local, technological, industrial, social, etc. history that you would like to preserve and/or share with other people? - worth $80.
Wow, OP here! You guys are deep thinkers! Let me start by saying I really appreciate your evident passion for the hobby. I'm new to the hobby and just really love the design of these old bikes. I'm one who was lucky enough to inherit a treasure ('41 Elgin) from my dad. I'm still learning, but I've observed people on the Cabe searching for specific makes and models and the collective excitement when certain bikes are posted. (Based on my limited learning, I'd love to see a Robin in real life–though something tells me they're super hard to find). Some of you are so good, you're able to identify frames in an instant without seeing a badge. I don't know what's rare and what isn't yet, so I thought I'd post it to get some insight from the experts. For all I knew, this was some other rare bird unknowingly spray painted by someone. All of those questions you would ask before buying are totally valid and will be good for me to think about in the future. Personally, I was just looking for something that was local, looked complete, and could be easy to restore. I just ordered a bike repair stand, cone wrenches, Evaporust, etc. to help me get started with another bike I just picked up. As far as the Craigslist ghost bike goes, who knows what's under that paint. And since it's winter here now, the point fumes from doing paint removal indoors was brought up. Duh. This was an excellent point I'd overlooked. I'm grateful to the one who pointed it out and so I decided to pass. I may ask silly questions, but I'm excited about these amazing, original old bikes and so I'm here to learn from you guys. (Please bear with me!)
 
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