Lou is right that parting out bikes nets more money.
For one thing, frames simply attract irrational prices compared to whole bikes. People like the idea of building up a certain bike and if you don't havea frame, you don't have a start.
I have also sold bikes whole I couldn't bear to part out because they were original and neat. In those cases I knew that the parts were worth more but it was just too destructive to bust up the bike.
Some bikes I buy just to take apart (or ride!). Mid level Motobecanes often have low prices and great parts.
It seems bikes and parts are drying up in the marketplace and prices are rising. I can think of a couple of 1964 Paramounts I have sold or swapped over the past few years that I don't think I'll ever see again for what I sold them for.
Joe Bender-Zanoni
Great Notch, NJ
> In a message dated 9/12/2002 7:15:19 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> chuckschmidt@earthlink.net writes:
> > Part it out or sell as complete bike. Which would net maximum
> > dollars he asked?
> >
> Having parted a bunch of bikes, my experience tells me the sum of the
parts
> is higher than the sum of the whole. Unless the bike is one of those rare
> bikes or has a heritage that makes it a collector bike with the original
> parts, you will almost always get more if you sell the parts and the
> frame/fork separately. Since I don't buy bikes that fit that category, I
> have no knowledge of that end of the market. Since I always advertise a
> "shipped" price, I just have to watch shipping as the rates have increased
> this past couple of years. My wife doesn't like all the trips to the post
> office either, but that's another story. Lou Deeter, Orlando FL