List Members; Turning vintage bikes on Craigs List is an art just like any other form of building bikes. You have to collect bikes from all places you can and collect parts from them. All bikes I get are free or not much more then $20.00. This means much stripping bikes of parts and doing away with parts that are not acceptable, back to bike salvage. Yes complete recycling. I have over thirty bikes in stock and all are torn down to bare frame and fork with parts in beer box from local liquor store. Many bikes get sandblasted and sent to powdercoat in which a bond has been formed and this is inexspensive. Many bikes the customer wants the old paint so there is a choice for them to have. Most of the new parts are no more then $65.00 with 12 hours of labor on a single speed and 40 hours labor on a multi speed. Prices start at $175.00 to $250.00. No one is getting rich and everyone knows what they are buying. Many young kids are getting steel bikes that they are liking and not going broke. Vintage can be considered about twenty years old or more. There is single speed craze here and most kids are happy with an inexspensive road bike that has been converted. I get many referals just because the customer knows the whole bike has been worked on from the ground up. Multi speed bikes have been catching on more too now. Many of my customers have commented that there friends have made mistakes buying bikes that have not been mechanically restored, and have relayed this back to me. I have a huge amount of parts from community clean ups and one guy that is a junk yard bike guy. There are many other sources as you all know as well. Once in a while you come across a good bike that is nice. Main point being is a young rider gets involved with a steel bike as there first thing he or she loves because it is the first thing they went out and bought themselves. Many parents have come with there kids before or at purchase and have all thought this is a good thing for there experience.
Mike Larsen
St. Paul, MN
USA