Are steel bike prices rising?

[simonhill]

There must be plenty of old steel bikes hiding away in sheds and garages, that would go for a song. It's just a question of finding them.

Maybe revive the old practice of 'knocking', where you go to likely looking houses and ask if they have any old bikes they want to get rid of. Then it's your moral decision over a fair price.

[mikeymo]

'Thoyle' is a word used in Yorkshire
'I cannot thoyle it' means, 'I have money enough, but I cannot justify it'

Has been mentioned before on these fora

It might have been mentioned on thy forae, but I've never heard it "used in Yorkshire". Mind you, I've only lived in Yorkshire for 54* years.

*It would have been 61 years, I stayed in the same place, but Yorkshire moved.

[arnsider]

I have two Yorkshire pals, both living in Bradford and both have recently bought brand new Woodrup steel tourers.
They know a good thing!!

[markjohnobrien]

Nice. Both very expensive and very nice.

If you meet up with them, pictures of the bikes would be good.

[Brucey]

Hi guys, I am talking of older steel bikes, they seem to be getting abit more of a following the whole hand built retro scene is up I guess. I'm 27 and kind of working my way backwards I suppose to steel frames and tube changers, they do appear to be rising in value and not as expensive as retro cool cars.

broadly speaking that is true. But it is a market that is driven by fashion and perceived value to some extent; how much of that and how much is intrinsic value (if there can be said to be such a thing) is open to debate.

I was just thinking about this the other day; I was fettling a set of well-used PD-M323 pedals with a view to returning them to everyday use, when it suddenly occurred to me that they are about 27 years old. When I started cycling, with just a few exceptions the idea of using kit that was thirty or forty years old seemed a bit mad. The exceptions for me were utilitarian things like old raleighs; they were intrinsically durable and furthermore spare parts were not difficult to come by.

However now, I'd happily use 'lightweight' kit that is twenty, thirty or forty years old and in many ways I prefer this. Doubtless there is a degree of familiarity with the kit in question (and certainly sourcing older bits is easier than it used to be, because of the internet) but there is also a change in the life expectancy and maintenance overhead associated with a lot of more recent kit too.

So are we living in -or more likely I suspect- have we lived through a 'golden age' for bicycle equipment? For example I no longer fancy building a touring bike using adapted top-quality racing parts, not in the slightest; how much of that is me, and how much the parts, I wonder....?

cheers

[PhilD28]

Nice. Both very expensive and very nice.

If you meet up with them, pictures of the bikes would be good.

My Woodrup custom frame, built by Kevin Sayles to my spec for 650B wheels. Reynolds 725 a mix of .7/.4/.7 and .8/.5/.8 guages. I built the wheels. It's not a good shot for frame details but it's what I had handy. The bike is both light, fast and handles well with 650 x 37 supple tyres.

[mercalia]

are boiler pipe frames that bad? any one ever measured their weight compared to a proper steel frame?

I did miles and miles on what probably was such when young, didnt hold me back. maybe they would be good for touring as strong? I had a 531 dawes Horizon vandalised the frame smashed and I was able to see how thin the tubing was.

[Brucey]

gas pipe frames can be worse three times over;

1) they are heavier (obviously, although this is in fact the least of their problems)
2) they ride less well (stiffer and more plank-like, and/or less 'spring-like')
3) despite the added material it is in a non-helpful place; the frame may actually be weaker than a lightweight frame with DB tubes where it counts, near the joints.

So I've broken quite a few frames one way or another but in non-gaspipe frames/forks the worst I have usually managed to do is break dropouts off (which was always fair game bearing in mind the circumstances).

If you have a frame in good quality PG tubing 3) may no longer apply and 2) is moot, depending on the frame size/ tube diameters used in the frameset, and the intended service loads. With a good PG frame you can end up with the most significant thing being a small weight penalty. However good PG frames are very much the exception; by the time a builder has bothered to do everything else right, they have usually also chosen to use better quality DB tubes, too.

cheers

[scottg]

are boiler pipe frames that bad? any one ever measured their weight compared to a proper steel frame?

Hi-Ten frames can be handy for experimenting, easy to change the rear spacing back and forth.
Respacing was done by stepping on the rear triangle in a scientific manner.
Trek built some fairly nice Ishiwata tubed frames, front triangle heat treated, rear triangle was Hi-ten.

[markjohnobrien]

Nice. Both very expensive and very nice.

If you meet up with them, pictures of the bikes would be good.

My Woodrup custom frame, built by Kevin Sayles to my spec for 650B wheels. Reynolds 725 a mix of .7/.4/.7 and .8/.5/.8 guages. I built the wheels. It's not a good shot for frame details but it's what I had handy. The bike is both light, fast and handles well with 650 x 37 supple tyres.

Very nice (and good colour): agree re larger tyres as they soften imperfect road surfaces and make the journey much more comfortable.