Road Bikes with old frames...

RedTea

Hi,

I've seen a few used road bikes for sale second hand which appear to be quite ok. Are there any major risk or disadvantages on buying something built in the 90's. Is it important to avoid bikes with 7 gears at the back as getting spare parts for these down the line could be difficult.

I'm talking about bikes like this

http://www.adverts.ie/showproduct.php?product=52554&cat=52

or

http://www.adverts.ie/showproduct.php?product=50219&cat=52

The 'terry Dolan' bike - for a bike that's 10+ years old is the price reasonable. Is there value to be had in the second hand market when you can get a new bike from CRC for 4-500 euro?

blorg

To be honest I think they are generally pushing it on the prices; on the other hand 653 is high quality steel, you wouldn't get a new 653 frame for near that price. Depends on how well they are maintained as well, AFAIK Karma selling the Dolan is quite mechanically inclined and would probably have kept it well. If you could get him to accept €350 might be a good deal.

The Dynatech would indeed have been very high end at the time but it's _at least_ 10 years old and I would have to question why it was only ridden 1,000 miles in over 10 years!

If you test ride either of these bikes and they work well mechanically they are certainly an option. I test-rode a (much lesser than these) steel bike myself a while back and it was frankly a restoration project but the owner didn't seem to acknowledge this.

They are quite different size-wise too, ultimately you need to go with whatever fits.

kmick

My twitch is go newer or new. When something goes wrong with an old bike the parts are non-existent or expensive. Plus the old steel tends to rattle the bones in my experience which tells on Irish roads.

Morgan

As long as the frame/parts are in good condition an older bike should be fine. Be wary of a bonded frame like the Dynatech (tubes glued into lugs) since they can eventually separate (although I have one myself and it's fine). If a bike is 5-10+ years old then chances are many components are severely worn and will need to be replaced - bear this cost in mind. 7-speed components aren't all that hard to find (neither are 5 or 6 speed).

You should thoroughly check over the frame for serious rust and cracks (this applies to any 2nd hand bike) or misalignment caused by crashes.

Cassiel

Unless you have a gra for this old stuff, I'd find it a poor choice myself. Done it myself as a novice and bought a secondhand bike for about half the price of a Trek 1000 and in no time at all it needed a rebuild and parts were hard to come by or expensive (old Campagnolo). If you can up your budget a little and look at bikes like the Trek 1000. A bike I like is the entry level Boardman Comp from Halfords, it might be marketing guff but it was described by the legend himself, Chris Boardman, as a better bike than what he had in his first Tour de France, (early 1990's). 'Cheap' new bikes don't necessarily mean poor performance/quality.

Itsfixed

Well I got an old 1989 Mercian frame (reynolds 653 tubing) and built it up with new parts and it was very easy. Threaded headsets and stems are harder to come by but everything else is modern. The only slight issue is that I'm squeezing a standard road hub 130mm wide into a frame designed to take older 6/7 speed 126mm hubs. But because its springy steel, it doesn't seem to mind.

check this thread

The Machine

As we're on the topic of older road bikes, has anyone ever heard of a brand of bike frame called Shogun? AFAIK the bike is an aluminium frame, was made in the U.S and I'd imagine the frame is at least 10 years old.

I trying to get it back into road going condition at the moment and was just wondering if it is worth the effort?

I'm no expert but it does seem reasonably light and it does have good components, mainly Dura-ace and campag, mavic...