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Three Days Later...a 1969 Raleigh Superbe...

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HARPO

Cruisin' on my Bluebird
I know, I know. I keep saying I'm going to stop looking, like when I brought the Sports home three days ago.
But my first cup of coffee is with the computer. 🥴

So, this morning as I start to do my usual trolling on Facebook, new things always appear first. I glance at the screen and see a green Raleigh. It's listed as "Bicycle"...that's it. I open it up and it has four photos, with the location being 9 miles from my house. 😜

The bike had been listed only 3 hours before I saw it, so of course dummy here HAD to contact the guy. He'd be around at 2 this afternoon, he told me, so I said great! I'll see you then.
He only listed the bike at $150, but I still managed to get it for $125 and he was happy to take it. He gets bikes at Police auctions for around $50, so he put $75 in his pocket and I put an all original (except tires) in my SUV. 🙂

Just got to take these photos when I got it home before the rain started. Oh, and he started to remove the chain with a Sawz-all and I stopped him before he'd wind up damaging the paint!

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"remove the chain with a Sawz-all"

now that is a first

must be a real artisanal mechanic! 😱👨‍🔧

you did not answer the most important question with all Superbe intakes - "Didja git the key?"

looks like the code is marked right on the faceplate - perhaps eno' information there for a locksmith to make up one straightaway...

HARPO will have this beast in concours ready condition in no time! 😉

sure is a good thing for your health that you keep selling them...otherwise Mrs. HARPO would likely have perpetrated a homicide decades ago

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@juvela Nope, no key. And the gentleman I purchased it from I'm sure had no idea as to the fact it even came with or needed one. 🧐

Lately, I'm having a hard time selling any. You know the condition I bring them to, and I don't feel my pricing is out of line, but not even offers (which I'm always open to). Problem is I don't ship, so that's what's doing it I guess.
But this has caused a "glut" in my Collection, so these last two Raleigh's are really being squeezed in to make room. Like I said, I really need to stop looking because I can't stop myself from buying, lol! 😜

This was just a quick wipe in one area on the head light with 0000 steel wool and WD-40. Gotta love the English chrome!!

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I always had a harder time selling post-war Raleighs than I did Schwinns or higher-cachet collector brands. People will jump at a Birmingham Phillips or Hercules, or a pre-war bike, or a Schwinn before one of the common model post-war Raleighs (especially if you have a 1960s or 70s bike). Those Raleighs need something "extra" to sell (rod brakes, S5 hub, etc.) locally, at least around here. Shipping is a big deal for buyers. I had a nice, re-done Twenty that would not sell locally. It sold within a week to a buyer in Boston once I offered shipping. I got to spend an evening on the porch boxing, padding, and shipping. Shipping and boxing suck - they're not fun. But they help sell them.

I keep saying I wish we had a bicycle swap here in Litchfield County. We have a lot of "antiquing" type hobby up here, and a lot of visitors from New York City with money. It would draw some people from New York, some from Mass, etc. We have bike trails, here, and to the east over in Unionville/Collinsville/etc. But I just don't have time to organize such things... Maybe one day... But besides a swap, it's shipping if you want to really move the bike.
 
I always had a harder time selling post-war Raleighs than I did Schwinns or higher-cachet collector brands. People will jump at a Birmingham Phillips or Hercules, or a pre-war bike, or a Schwinn before one of the common model post-war Raleighs (especially if you have a 1960s or 70s bike). Those Raleighs need something "extra" to sell (rod brakes, S5 hub, etc.) locally, at least around here. Shipping is a big deal for buyers. I had a nice, re-done Twenty that would not sell locally. It sold within a week to a buyer in Boston once I offered shipping. I got to spend an evening on the porch boxing, padding, and shipping. Shipping and boxing suck - they're not fun. But they help sell them.

I keep saying I wish we had a bicycle swap here in Litchfield County. We have a lot of "antiquing" type hobby up here, and a lot of visitors from New York City with money. It would draw some people from New York, some from Mass, etc. We have bike trails, here, and to the east over in Unionville/Collinsville/etc. But I just don't have time to organize such things... Maybe one day... But besides a swap, it's shipping if you want to really move the bike.
I'm with you and Harpo on the shipping. I've done it a few times. Once I flipped a bike for over 10x profit only having to change a tube, and minimal cleaning. But it probably took 4 hours to box it. Sure, if I did it more, I'd get better. But even if it took an hour, that's an hour I'd rather spend with my kids. So I'd rather give away a bike (not talking four figure value here), than box. So I've adjusted my involvement in the hobby accordingly.

So @SirMike1983 - looks like we are neighbors, of sorts. I grew up in Danbury, and had friends in Litchfield County (New Milford, mostly). I'm presently right in Unionville center, less than half a mile from both the Farmington River Trail, and the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail (part of the East Coast Greenway, for those not familiar with the area). Were you at the Wethersfield bike festival? I had the vendor space with the Silver King in front.
 
Like you guys, the hunt, the buy and the sorting out and refurbishing is where my juices start to flow. Of course, I love riding them, but with the number of great bikes in the stable, my interest starts to wane a bit when I’ve got them where I want and I’m looking for the next bike…is it a sickness or a passion? Yes, it is.
Selling is the hard part, as you guys mention. 3 speed Brit roadsters have a limited market, and shipping bikes is the most unsatisfying part of the hobby for me.
Last Sat I went to the Pedal to the Metal bike swap in Commerce GA (GREAT JOB from Classic Cool Rides putting on a fantastic event!!) I brought 4 Brit 3 speeds; a girls Triumph, a Jack and Jill pair of DL-1s, and a DL-1 that I sold as is. All bikes were from 70’s and nothing really special. Towards the end of the event a really nice guy from the British Virgin Islands stopped by and we had a great time talking up the virtues of classic British cyclery. He ended up buying the 3 DL-1’s for substantially less than I could have sold on the internet, but making money is not the most important thing in a hobby like this. I made a friend out of a stranger, sent him on his way with 3 bikes he had no idea he was going to get when he came to the swap, put some money back in the kitty and made room in my stable for more bikes. Not to mention hanging out with my bike buds and picking up some cool parts as well.
The best part was giving Dave aka Classic Cool Rides a big hug. He spent 6 months in the hospital battling COVID, losing 90 pounds in the process. So happy he made it out alive when so many didn’t.
 
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