B'stone RB-1--What's It Worth?

[93legendti]

Looking for input re: a Bridgestone RB-1--what's it worth? Thanks.

[gdw]

What year is it?
Does it have all the original components?
What condition is it in?

[Bill Bove]

didn't some guy in conn. build those for B'stone?




































rumor started

[stevep]

not much.

[dbrk]

Most folks consider '93 the best vintage but not Grant who thought the design, tubing, etc., was best about '91-'92. If the frame is perfect, I'd be surprised if you got more than $500 for it. I have a NOS RB-2 from '94 (the last year) and it's not worth the shipping or the hassle to sell and, anyway, it's a Bstone. I have a few others, including one with a Joe Bell paint job (I had two like that...) and, well, that's like putting underpants on Opus, beautiful, absurd, excessive, and always worth a laugh and a smile. I love Bridgestones, just love'em but the Toyo-made Rivs are about a million million times better made and compared to a cpg Riv or any of our gifted friends here, well, they are Pintos and Vegas, albeit ones that ride just fine. A good road bike has to pass The RB Test, which simply put is: "Does this bike ride at least as well as an RB-1?" It's a benchmark of the post-531 era, not that I really think that 531 needed improving upon.

dbrk

[93legendti]

Thanks, there's an '88 for $499 on eBay. Seems high compared to my $399 Csi, but who knows?

[dbrk]

Well, imhoatmoetc a five hundred dollar Bstone is a waaaay better bike than a lot of new stuff at three times that cost...but what do I know? Still, it's more than I would pay but a fine ride from the Petersen era of design and spec, and that would be a good thing.

dbrk

[93legendti]

Originally Posted by dbrk

Well, imhoatmoetc a five hundred dollar Bstone is a waaaay better bike than a lot of new stuff at three times that cost...but what do I know? Still, it's more than I would pay but a fine ride from the Petersen era of design and spec, and that would be a good thing.

dbrk

It's an '88, fwiw.

[Ken Robb]

Look at it this way: If you pay $500+/- and it rides like we expect you have a good rider that you can be relaxed about riding anywhere and not to worried about damage or theft. If you don't like the way it rides it's probably because you got the wrong size. Be that as it may it has already depreciated as far as it's going to so you can probably sell it for about what you paid. Even if you take a bit less you'll have had a fun ewxperience and know a bit more about bike design and what you like and don't like. See, cheap entertainment.

what the market will bear

[Bill Bove]

I once bought a used Colorado Al for 300 bucks and spent another 400 on the repaint before I built it up. Crazy? Not to me. I loved the way that bike rode and wanted it to look the way I wanted it to look. I rode that bike into the ground. Still one of my all time fav's. Worth it? HELL-O YES.

[Ray]

I had a whole bunch of semi-fancy bikes once and bought a '92 RB-1 frameset off of ebay for about $300 and change, IIRC. It was immediately one of my two favorite road bikes and the one I rode the most for the better part of a couple of seasons. Its a pretty quick race bike but is surprisingly stable too. I liked it as much as any bike ever except for the custom Spectrum that caused me to sell it and a bunch of other semi-fancy bikes. So, well worth what you can usually find 'em for. If I still had a full stable of bikes, it'd be in there, but I'm down to just a few that I use a lot and no room or patience for more.

That said, they shouldn't cost much. I think I pretty close to broke even on mine, but I don't really remember. In any case, even if I'd given it away, I'd have done very well on the overall transaction. The prices may go up if they get rare enough, but there are enough of 'em floating around these days to keep it well below $500 for a good one.

-Ray

[Fixed]

Originally Posted by 93legendti

Thanks, there's an '88 for $499 on eBay. Seems high compared to my $399 Csi, but who knows?

bro a csi is way better imho unless it;s a track bike
cheers

[mike p]

Sold a RB-1 in average cond. for 275.00 last summer. One of those bikes, if it fits you might as well keep it as you won't get that much for it.

Mike

[Ken Robb]

you guys should check out the iBob forum to see what some KoolAid drinkers have to say about RB1s.