AustinBike Posted November 17, 2019 Share Posted November 17, 2019 Coming home from riding this morning I passed a garage sale and there were several bikes out front. I spied a Schwinn Varsity, something I always lusted after in my youth (they were made in Chicago, everyone had one, but I never had enough money for one...) Circled around and stopped in. Busted up tires, no handlebar take, everything falling apart, plenty of rusted/frozen components. But man, for the right price, it would be a fun restoration project. Looked at the price tag. $400. WTF? If it weren't for that extra zero I'd have it on my rack. Who in the hell ever told them it was even close to worth that???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheX Posted November 17, 2019 Share Posted November 17, 2019 (edited) 17 minutes ago, AustinBike said: Coming home from riding this morning I passed a garage sale and there were several bikes out front. I spied a Schwinn Varsity, something I always lusted after in my youth (they were made in Chicago, everyone had one, but I never had enough money for one...) Circled around and stopped in. Busted up tires, no handlebar take, everything falling apart, plenty of rusted/frozen components. But man, for the right price, it would be a fun restoration project. Looked at the price tag. $400. WTF? If it weren't for that extra zero I'd have it on my rack. Who in the hell ever told them it was even close to worth that???? https://austin.craigslist.org/bik/d/austin-vintage-schwinn-varsity/6997443355.html Still more than I'm willing to pay. I've been looking for a Varsity also. Edited November 17, 2019 by TheX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinBike Posted November 18, 2019 Author Share Posted November 18, 2019 That one is 5x better condition than the one I saw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mack_turtle Posted November 18, 2019 Share Posted November 18, 2019 There's a yawning gap between "vintage" and "old junk". Many people fail to understand the distinction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcarneytx Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 On 11/18/2019 at 7:36 AM, mack_turtle said: There's a yawning gap between "vintage" and "old junk". Many people fail to understand the distinction. Nostalgia can be strong, for some. Doesn't matter if something is "worth" something on a market of some sort. The value should lie within a personal desire, not how much you can sell it for on ebay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidingAgain Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 I found a '89 Diamond Back Axis XT at a thrift shop... On sale. The '89 is a bit of a collectible because it was only made for that year, and this one was in absolutely beautiful condition. Everything worked perfectly on it, and although too small for me, I could ride it around a little in the parking lot and it was just a finely balanced ride. Something about those older frame designs that just feel great. Took it to two Frankenbikes... At the first one up in north Austin no one even looked at it. But at the second one at Yellowbike someone came around right at the end of the day. I gave him the history spiel and convinced him to take a ride on it. He came back with a huge smile on his face, said he wanted it and went to an ATM to get the $125 I agreed to sell it to him for. And he was stoked. The parts on it alone were worth more than the $125... But sometimes it's just the wrong thing to do to break up a piece of history for more $$$s profit... And it really is a joy to see someone so happy with their find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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