Has the vintage steel market crashed?

[Nomadmax]

I have a fleet of steel bikes, and two modern titanium models as well. I'm at the point in my life where it doesn't matter what they sell for, when they do. I still ride my steel bikes but the majority of my miles are on a modern Litespeed. As I get closer to the end of life, what my steel bikes sell for is secondary to WHO they will sell to. I've only been a user and caretaker of these machines. No one will be able to buy one (while I'm alive) that doesn't have that same ethos.

[vespasianus]

Originally Posted by ocslick

Couldn't disagree more, just built this one up and it makes me smile more than any modern carbon disc brake bike. I would say its a great time to buy these super high quality steel frames and turn them into something beautiful with modern drivetrains which is where I think much of the best advancements have been coming from.

Beautiful and I agree 100%, classic steel bikes are an amazing option to the current crop of bikes. I have a modern centaur group on my Sintesi and it rides great. Ignore the terrible tape job and mish-mash of items.

[spoonrobot]

I think it's returned to the pre-COVID downward trend. Vintage steel was struggling due to the industry change to disc brakes, and now there are even greater aesthetic and functional challenges to buyers they're less interested.

The aero-everything marketing trend has guys believing that round tubes are going to cost them 100+ watts.

On the other side, if vintage steel bikes that fit 700cx38 were as common as those that only fit 700cx25/28 they'd be selling a lot better. Gravel ate a huge chunk of that market, same as MTB did in the 1990s.

[glepore]

Yes, the vintage steel market has softened, as has pretty much anything rim brake. Look at what c40's and 50's are realistically selling for (not the inflated ebay asking prices). Many of these older bikes will take 28's so not so tire limited. The Looks and Times that take 25's are cheap now because of that.

Some magical bikes out there for little $$. Are modern bikes "better"? Well, sorta.
But a vintage frame done with modern components and good rim brakes can be a magic carpet.

[lorenbike]

Originally Posted by Clean39T

It's exactly that. And IF any younger folks do enjoy riding those bikes, they in general just aren't sitting on the same purchasing power or hoarding (err., collecting) space as those that squirreled them away in the '80s, '90s, '00s, and '10s.

Yeah, I suspect this is the case too. Currently in a small apartment, and if I didn't have access to a storage shed outside, I'd be capped at one bike and a small box of parts/tools in a closet. This was most of the case throughout my 20s.

Originally Posted by jkbrwn

I just turned 31, so despite not being young, I guess one of the younger people on this forum. Even I haven't ridden an 80s Merckx SLX since 2012. Simply not as good as a modern road bike with disc brakes IMO. Vintage steel bikes are of no interest to me anymore whatsoever. A modern oversized steel frame? Sure. But vintage... meh. Wall art.

Completely disagree with this and I'm 32. My best riding bikes by far are an 80s road and early 90s touring steel frame/fork with neoretro upgrades (modernish group sets).

Older gear is also much easier to work on. So, if you're on a budget and like to do your own maintenance, you don't need many tools, few proprietary parts, and pretty easy to set up and maintain any road bike that is pre disc brake/tubeless/internal routing.

Originally Posted by ocslick

Couldn't disagree more, just built this one up and it makes me smile more than any modern carbon disc brake bike. I would say its a great time to buy these super high quality steel frames and turn them into something beautiful with modern drivetrains which is where I think much of the best advancements have been coming from.

Beautiful! And agree on modern drivetrains, especially wider gear ranges and compact cranks.

Two other plugs for older bikes with modern parts -- Much better ergonomics with compact bars and shifters. And probably most important IMO are modern tires and wider rims. Tire casings are just so much better, and even with tubes, rarely flat nowadays. The only limit for me though on older frames is I'm not interested in riding tires <28mm anymore. Neither of these 'upgrades' are expensive or difficult to do.

[benb]

If you go to some place with a younger average audience (20-something) like reddit some of the people there are so bought into Carbon everything and disc brakes and have so little experience with anything that came before that some of them literally think you have to replace your rims at least once a year with rim brakes.

Realistically there is almost no one under 50 who remembers this era. I'm going to be 47 in a couple months. I never owned a nice steel road bike, my first nice road bike was already into the aluminum era.

I had a steel BMX bike as a kid, a steel MTB in the early 90s, I had a beater steel fixie in the mid-2000s, and I have my steel All City Space Horse the last 11 years, but I've never actually owned a steel race bike and they were already scarce or in this "niche collector" area basically immediately when I started riding as an adult. They were already being ridden by people who had nostalgia or a direct attitude of "the ride is more important than performance".

Yes you could get a steel Lemond or a Merckx when I started riding and I knew people who had them but they were already out of Pro peloton and IIRC when I first joined a team/club in 2003-2004 no one had raced a steel bike that I knew.

The current teenagers and 20-somethings weren't even around or couldn't ride a bike yet when I started riding/racing. If you are 25-29 years old today the steel bikes in racing were disappearing by the time you went to Kindergarten.

These people think if you put Pogacar on a steel bike with alloy rims he would get dropped in a Cat 5 race.

[Rpoole8537]

Originally Posted by lorenbike

Anything used in the bike market has crashed. Anyone trying to sell on ebay with buy it now prices and not taking offers cracks me up. I don't even try selling on here now, and just go straight to ebay with bids starting at $0.99. Steel frames -- idk if that's a 'crash', the older they are the less you will probably get. Plus it's sorta getting harder to find older mech gear without having to really dig online. And I hate all the modern tubeless/battery/disc stuff as much as anyone on here.

It reminds me of what Grant Peterson was preaching 30 years ago, and it still applies today! I really don’t need so many of the currently "modern improvements ".

[Elefantino]

The farce is strong in the "how can you ride 25s?" and "how can you ride rim brakes?" crowds.

[merckx]

Two years ago I made the decision to splash for an all-road machine. I mostly wanted something that could accommodate 45mm tires, and also have the option to attach mudguards.

I began leafing through the internet, and culled the offerings from the box-bike-brands. The more rocks I flipped, the more I lost interest in a purchase. I just couldn't wrap my head around disc brakes and charging derailleurs. I also was not impressed by the brake lines that snaked through stems, headsets and frame tubes. It all seemed unnecessarily complicated.

I have always enjoyed ripping my machine apart to clean, lube, adjust, build wheels etc. I've been doing it for 50 years (the cat is out of the bag!). It just depresses me to think about bleeding brakes, adjusting dragging pads, plugging batteries into the wall, ripping lines out to adjust a stem height or length.

I decided to punt. I purchased a made-to-measure steel frame that will accommodate 45mm tires, it has mech derailleurs, and rim brakes. It is a simple machine for a simple man.

I've had the opportunity to air it out on some significant adventures, and those rides have confirmed that I made the right choice.

I fully understand that I am an outlier, and my age may be the overriding factor that determines my interest in specific machines, but I also believe that we've let the bicycle get away from us. It was once a simple, beautiful, economical machine.

[lorenbike]

Originally Posted by merckx

Two years ago I made the decision to splash for an all-road machine. I mostly wanted something that could accommodate 45mm tires, and also have the option to attach mudguards.

I began leafing through the internet, and culled the offerings from the box-bike-brands. The more rocks I flipped, the more I lost interest in a purchase. I just couldn't wrap my head around disc brakes and charging derailleurs. I also was not impressed by the brake lines that snaked through stems, headsets and frame tubes. It all seemed unnecessarily complicated.

I have always enjoyed ripping my machine apart to clean, lube, adjust, build wheels etc. I've been doing it for 50 years (the cat is out of the bag!). It just depresses me to think about bleeding brakes, adjusting dragging pads, plugging batteries into the wall, ripping lines out to adjust a stem height or length.

I decided to punt. I purchased a made-to-measure steel frame that will accommodate 45mm tires, it has mech derailleurs, and rim brakes. It is a simple machine for a simple man.

I've had the opportunity to air it out on some significant adventures, and those rides have confirmed that I made the right choice.

I fully understand that I am an outlier, and my age may be the overriding factor that determines my interest in specific machines, but I also believe that we've let the bicycle get away from us. It was once a simple, beautiful, economical machine.

Yep, all we really need is for Shimano to release some dura-ace equivalent anniversary groupset.

9-speed, compact cranks, a derailleur that can handle an 11-34t cassette (so 1:1), modern brifter ergonomics, and calipers that easily clear 35mm tires.

Like how any cool modern band also releases their music on vinyl.

I'd buy 2 groups and be set for life. Then I can stop scouring ebay for overpriced replacement parts on my 10spd era gear, and wouldn't ever have to deal with batteries, hydraulic fluid, or crunching rotors.

[jkbrwn]

Originally Posted by lorenbike

Completely disagree with this and I'm 32. My best riding bikes by far are an 80s road and early 90s touring steel frame/fork with neoretro upgrades (modernish group sets).

Stoked people are stoked on their vintage steel bikes. Just not for me. They don't fit my proportions as well as a modern bike and don't think they're as good for the roads that I ride as a *eh hem* naturally gifted descender riding on absolute dog**** roads that are very steep. Will never ever go back to rim brakes again - despite much preferring working on them and their aesthetics.

[benb]

Originally Posted by jkbrwn

Stoked people are stoked on their vintage steel bikes. Just not for me. They don't fit my proportions as well as a modern bike and don't think they're as good for the roads that I ride as a *eh hem* naturally gifted descender riding on absolute dog**** roads that are very steep. Will never ever go back to rim brakes again - despite much preferring working on them and their aesthetics.

Funny I'm the opposite, I think it would have been much easier for me to get comfortable on the 80s/90s bikes with my proportions.

Mostly that just having to do with level top tubes, more sizes, and quill stems being easier to adjust.

My first road bike was aluminum but basically was an aluminum version of these old steel bikes as it still had the level TT and the quill stem.

[Fat Cat]

I'm old, fat, and stoopid. I still ride 23's and like it. I don't even care if bigger tires will fit. Resale values have ceased to be of any concern to me. The thought of maintaining a "modern" bike makes the trials of old steel seem like nothing. And I'm not "preserving" anything. The world doesn't actually GAF about anything that I have or do.
My newest bike is only 20 years old but still steel and mechanical.
Ride whatever you like. It's really not about the bike.

GET OFF MY LAWN ! !

[arimajol]

I'm 40, been into bikes for over 15 years. When I started, all I could afford was vintage steel. I was attracted to top of the line frames from the 80s, rather than a contemporary bottom of the barrel bike. I like that I can tear it all down and build it back up easily and upgrade groups and wheels myself.

Today, while I still enjoy bikes, I'm less focused on acquiring and more focused on riding. Just don't have the time anymore. While I have more money than I did, I am also less interested in trying different bikes than I used to be. I have bikes I like and I'm content with that. Some are vintage steel. If a frame was toast for some reason, not sure I'd go vintage again. I'd probably opt for something more easily compatible with modern parts. While that would make me sad, life's too short to worry!

[jkbrwn]

Originally Posted by benb

Funny I'm the opposite, I think it would have been much easier for me to get comfortable on the 80s/90s bikes with my proportions.

Mostly that just having to do with level top tubes, more sizes, and quill stems being easier to adjust.

My first road bike was aluminum but basically was an aluminum version of these old steel bikes as it still had the level TT and the quill stem.

For me, with a short torso but longer legs, compact geo works so much better for me and having modern stack/reach measurements from all major manufacturers makes it far easier to figure out what should fit me when buying something.

Also viewing bikes as a tool much more than I used to nowadays so the romanticism of a classic steel bike has kinda died for me. With that said, I do still want a Breadwinner Continental and probably always will...