What is it worth (in your locality)?

[mzjo]

This is not a "I want to sell this, how much can I expect to get for it?" post - the bike in question is not up for sale! I am curious to know how perceptions and demand vary from one place to another.
The story: the week before Christmas I got an SMS from a workmate (I was at home on holiday, he was working) to ask if I wanted a bike that he had collected on a job. I said yes (as I always do, N+1 free is how I have a garage full of junk!). "Be there in 2 mins" he said. And he was. The job was collecting rubbish to go to the dump (professionals' recycling dump but a dump all the same, with rather less sorting than the domestic ones) and the client had said "that bike in the garage had better go too". My mate questionned this but he was adamant so as it looked clean and together he thought of me!



It's from about 1995, probably no later, perhaps a year or so earlier. Decathlon Cobra 500 which was the entry level sportive series. This one has 7x3 Shimano RSX mechs with indexed dt levers (on a Sachs 3000 cassette hub; I thought all Sachs 3000 were freewheel hubs). The brakes are unmarked dp ones but the levers are Exage Motion (so the brakes may be a cheap idea of Decathlon, the Exage Motion sp ones that I have are clearly marked by Shimano) and the chainset is a "Dottex" (whatever that might be). It needs a front dérailleur cable and the front brake is a bit stiff but the wheels are good, even if the rims are a bit narrow by modern tastes. I would guess that in Limoges and probably most of rural France it would be unsaleable, 20€ at most. In Paris (IdF) and some of the big cities it might sell a bit more easily.

So the question is what is it really worth in other parts of Europe or the world? Should we all be chucking serviceable but uninteresting bikes in the bin?
FWIW this one will end up with guards and a rear rack or child seat (and possibly flat bars if my mate has a spare set kicking around) as a bike for daughter and grandson when they come visiting (when, Covid permitting!!!)

[quixoticgeek]

If that runs, doesn't make too much noise, and has air in the tyres, I would imagine that 100-200 of your finest euros would be required in that there Dam on the Amstel.

But the market here is... Weird...

J

[T42]

The 90s were when stems were becoming increasingly slender, to the extent that a few beefy exponents of body language found themselves waving their handlebars in mid-air while the rest of the fork & the front wheel did what they pleased. Or so the owner of my then-LBS told me.

[ElyDave]

If that runs, doesn't make too much noise, and has air in the tyres, I would imagine that 100-200 of your finest euros would be required in that there Dam on the Amstel.

But the market here is... Weird...

J

I'd have thought similar in UK pounds in that London, or possibly even in Cambridge with all those posh students

[iandusud]

The important issue here is that it hasn't gone to a dump when it is a perfectly serviceable bike. So well done for keeping it going.

[Paul]

If you had the time/inclination you could probably search the various eBay sites to see who is paying what and where though when I have been bothered to do that I sometimes come away with less of an idea than when I started.

I started using FB in the last 12 months and it has quickly learned what I’m into. It regularly shows me used bikes for sale in Derby and that sort of bike (20+ years old, working but mass-produced, bottom-end and deeply unfashionable) seems to be for sale between £50 and £80. What they actually sell for is a different question.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I'd estimate that in Bristol if it were in one of the shops specialising in used bikes, it would be priced around £150. Cheaper privately of course.

[L CC]

I reckon £50 here. If it sold. It's neither 'classic' nor 'current'.

[phantasmagoriana]

I'd say around £80-100. Nothing fancy, but serviceable, and much better than a shiny new BSO.

[bobb]

Surely these three figure values people are giving would only be the case if the bike (or rather the frame) was something half decent/well known? This is just the French equivalent of a Halfords special.

I can't see anyone (not even some delusional fashion victim) paying more than 50 quid for it no matter what their geographic location.

[phantasmagoriana]

Surely these three figure values people are giving would only be the case if the bike (or rather the frame) was something half decent/well known? This is just the French equivalent of a Halfords special.

I can't see anyone (not even some delusional fashion victim) paying more than 50 quid for it no matter what their geographic location.

Found this one being offered for £300 - admittedly in London...

http://www.camdencycles.co.uk/our-bikes/secondhand-bikes/racing-bikes/decathlon-cobra-500/prod_1146.php?catId=82

[mzjo]

Surely these three figure values people are giving would only be the case if the bike (or rather the frame) was something half decent/well known? This is just the French equivalent of a Halfords special.

I can't see anyone (not even some delusional fashion victim) paying more than 50 quid for it no matter what their geographic location.

Found this one being offered for £300 - admittedly in London...

http://www.camdencycles.co.uk/our-bikes/secondhand-bikes/racing-bikes/decathlon-cobra-500/prod_1146.php?catId=82

I think that that one may be a bit younger than mine because it is in 8 speed where mine is only in 7. OTOH it might have been tarted up because the stem looks a bit like an Italmanubri to me, which almost certainly would have been a class up on what a D4 bike would have had, unless it was top of the range. The price amuses me a bit, the £350 would have been very close to the new price!

My daughter (or her mother!) paid  £200 for a Raleigh that was older and a heap of junk (a workshop scrap bin special in a way) with 5 speed and cheapo Simplex dérailleur in Oxford (I think OCW is engraved scratched into one of the tubes) so £300 could be a benchmark for Oxford (and possibly similar student cities). I don't consider it a real price or value any more than £20.

Surely these three figure values people are giving would only be the case if the bike (or rather the frame) was something half decent/well known? This is just the French equivalent of a Halfords special.

I can't see anyone (not even some delusional fashion victim) paying more than 50 quid for it no matter what their geographic location.

To put price and value in perspective I took my Vitus 992 frame off a clubmate when I neither wanted nor needed it because he couldn't give it away, let alone sell it (and that was the Vitus glued frame that held together, unlike the 979). At the other end of the scale an ex-clubmate is trying to sell his Colnago for 2000€ (mint condition, like new bla bla) and doesn't seem to understand that that sort of market doesn't exist around here

Of course for the person who needs something together and not too expensive to get to work (particularly if the job doesn't pay enough to buy something newer and more respectable; it's worth remembering that there are such people and such jobs out there) the value of something  like this can be immeasurable even if the price is low or zero. But these days the preference would be for a mtbso derivative rather than an ex-sports thing.

[PaulF]

Think £300 is ambitious for Oxford now judging by what’s being asked on the local cycling selling group. I’d say closer to £100.

[fd3]

Reckon 50-100 on Midlands FB.  People expect to spend about that much n a second hand bike and people buying a low end second hand bike will be checking for serviceable tires, lack of rust and working brakes/gears.  Just because a better bike would sell for the same price doesn't mean that the floor of the market sinks any further. 
Probably dependent on size as well.

[Cudzoziemiec]

£260 for a Raleigh Bomber. A grand for a heavily updated "retro MTB": http://bikeworkshop.co.uk/bikes/old-bikes/

More comparably, £175 for a low end 1980s[?] Peugeot "racing bike": https://www.gumtree.com/p/bicycles/peugeot-racing-bike/1422757514

[mzjo]

I would guess that somewhere about £50 is the limit below which people prefer to throw bikes away or give them away? It ceases to be about the money and more about clearing out something that is not being used and is taking up space. One could argue for £40 or £30 but certainly at £20 it is almost not worth the hassle of selling; beter give it away. Which is why bike recycling is important and should be more important.

If I wanted to do something else with this bike I could give it to the local urban cycling activists. They would junk the frame and recycle the bits through associative repair  workshops which they run in the poorer parts of town. (This I would not do because I hold them in part responsable for our crappy and inefficient - not to say dangerous - cycling infrastructure, but that's another arguement entirely)

[rafletcher]

At our local recycling centre shop, maybe £80 but they’re ambitious with their pricing IMO.

[bobb]

Surely these three figure values people are giving would only be the case if the bike (or rather the frame) was something half decent/well known? This is just the French equivalent of a Halfords special.

I can't see anyone (not even some delusional fashion victim) paying more than 50 quid for it no matter what their geographic location.

Found this one being offered for £300 - admittedly in London...

http://www.camdencycles.co.uk/our-bikes/secondhand-bikes/racing-bikes/decathlon-cobra-500/prod_1146.php?catId=82

Blimey! I stand corrected. Maybe I should have said "I can only see delusional hipsters in Camden paying more than 50 quid for it" 

I notice it is already reduced by £50. Might be interesting to see how long it takes to sell and if there are any further reductions in price.

I'm just staggered someone would sell (and more so buy) a bike like that for that much!

[mzjo]

Surely these three figure values people are giving would only be the case if the bike (or rather the frame) was something half decent/well known? This is just the French equivalent of a Halfords special.

I can't see anyone (not even some delusional fashion victim) paying more than 50 quid for it no matter what their geographic location.

Found this one being offered for £300 - admittedly in London...

http://www.camdencycles.co.uk/our-bikes/secondhand-bikes/racing-bikes/decathlon-cobra-500/prod_1146.php?catId=82

Blimey! I stand corrected. Maybe I should have said "I can only see delusional hipsters in Camden paying more than 50 quid for it" 

I notice it is already reduced by £50. Might be interesting to see how long it takes to sell and if there are any further reductions in price.

I'm just staggered someone would sell (and more so buy) a bike like that for that much!

Me too! It's damn close to what it would have cost new a quarter of a century ago! Definitely OTT and NWI

[bobb]

Surely these three figure values people are giving would only be the case if the bike (or rather the frame) was something half decent/well known? This is just the French equivalent of a Halfords special.

I can't see anyone (not even some delusional fashion victim) paying more than 50 quid for it no matter what their geographic location.

Found this one being offered for £300 - admittedly in London...

http://www.camdencycles.co.uk/our-bikes/secondhand-bikes/racing-bikes/decathlon-cobra-500/prod_1146.php?catId=82

Blimey! I stand corrected. Maybe I should have said "I can only see delusional hipsters in Camden paying more than 50 quid for it" 

I notice it is already reduced by £50. Might be interesting to see how long it takes to sell and if there are any further reductions in price.

I'm just staggered someone would sell (and more so buy) a bike like that for that much!

Me too! It's damn close to what it would have cost new a quarter of a century ago! Definitely OTT and NWI

You can buy a brand spanking new Decathlon road bike for less than £/€300!!!!

[phantasmagoriana]

According to this thread on this very forum, it's more than it would have cost originally...

[Jakob]

At least $500(CAD) here (£300-ish)..but the bike market here (Vancouver) is weird. My (ex)wife had a cheap, but reasonable ladies steel frame, with chrome wheels, etc,when we were living in London. I think I paid £50 for it and it would cost us way more than that to ship it to Vancouver when we moved, so I think she sold it for cheap to one of her staff...but I was shocked to see that anything comparable was $700+.
Hipster-ism obviously had a serious influence, but I also think the general shortage of half decent steel frames had a big influence.

[mzjo]

According to this thread on this very forum, it's more than it would have cost originally...

And I posted on that thread! I had forgotten that we were still in francs in those days(and that I remembered a lot more about D4's bike offer )
 For comparison I have just looked at the Decathlon website (for France, the choices may be different, better even, in UK) and the cheap drop bar road bike is 300€ - but itis not comparable equipment-wise with the Cobra, Tourney transmission, 7 speeds and a single chainring. Nice fat tyres but a lot would struggle around here with 44/28 as a bottom gear! That is the Triban RC100, the RC120 weighs in at 500€ but with brifters and discs. I think that Decathlon must see 300€ as a price point to be respected for their entry level drop bar bike and have lowered the spec to meet it.

[zigzag]

in london - £50-80 i reckon

the thing with the old steel racers is that there’s still plenty of them around forgotten in sheds, but their use case is v.limited today (unless it’s a true collector’s item). people wanting a sporty bike get something modern and decent, and those using a bike as a means of transport - a flat bar hybrid or trekking type.

[DuncanM]

My daughter (or her mother!) paid  £200 for a Raleigh that was older and a heap of junk (a workshop scrap bin special in a way) with 5 speed and cheapo Simplex dérailleur in Oxford (I think OCW is engraved scratched into one of the tubes) so £300 could be a benchmark for Oxford (and possibly similar student cities). I don't consider it a real price or value any more than £20.

OCW went out of business at least 10 years ago. The market is strange right now, but even so, I reckon it's worth somewhere between 50 and 100 quid in Oxford. There might be a lot of demand for bikes here, but there's a large supply of BSOs as well, so it keeps things in check. A couple of years ago I struggled to sell a Campag Athena equipped 653 Peugeot for £200, even with covid times I can't see that bike getting anywhere near that.