# Finally found something on craigslist, please help



## Pelvic_Banana (Jun 30, 2009)

Jeez, all the crap bikes on craigslist from the late 70s and early 80s was getting me pissed off. No one had any entry level road bike that was sora equipped in the $200-$400 dollar range. WTF Have all those bikes been sold in 2008 or what?

Thankfully, I came across this beauty after what seems like 3 months of craigslist browsing, a Fuji Finest. 

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/bik/1266863415.html

I think this is the same bike. Chromo frame and fork, STI shifters, sora equipped, triple crank.

http://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/BikeSpecs.aspx?ItemID=45488&Type=bike

With a bike like this, I can commute with it, take it to school and not worry about someone stealing it. It comes with look pedals. I was thinking about buying some Pearl Izumi attack road shoes and buy a new stem if the fit isn't quite right.

For some upgrades, new shoes, and this bike, everything may cost up to $250. Is this bike a steal at $175?

I do have a pair of lycra shorts and a cheap Bell Solar helmet. I think for around $250 I'd be ready to go. Then again, I may pony up $50 bones for a new saddle if I hate the one on the bike.

Opinions and feedback would be appreciated.


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## Peanya (Jun 12, 2008)

It seems like a fair price for the bike, if it's in good shape. It's got lower-end components, but they still should work smoothly.


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## Pelvic_Banana (Jun 30, 2009)

*Found some new bikes*

Reusing my old thread. Turned out the Fuji Finest was sold the very next day. A Trek 420 was also sold by the same guy. The douche didn't even answer my e-mail in the morning when I saw the listing, but somehow e-mailed me 12 hours later in the evening telling me he sold it.

WTF Who else is scouring craigslist looking for a 10 year old bike? 

However, that will not stop me. 

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/bik/1270447199.html
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/bik/1268892589.html
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/bik/1266709410.html

These are the last 3 bikes that are potentially left. Unless There's a bike listed to sell and I absolutely jump on it, the barbarians will snipe their prey in a heartbeat.

I'm leaning towards the Raleigh, looks real nice. Sent the guy an e-mail asking for geometry measurements, but the medium sized frame sounds perfect for a guy who is 5'10. lol

Any help would be appreciated, thank you.

Edit, looks like the guy selling the Raleigh lives in Temecula, about 120 miles from where I live, off of the 1-15. No way in hell am I going through with all of that.

Can anyone identify that GT for me? Should I ask for $300 on the schwinn? The GT would be closer and cheaper...


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## instanium (Jul 13, 2009)

You are lucky to have bikes like those in the San Diego area. San Jose has nothing! I've been searching CL for weeks for an entry level road bike...


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## Pelvic_Banana (Jun 30, 2009)

instanium said:


> You are lucky to have bikes like those in the San Diego area. San Jose has nothing! I've been searching CL for weeks for an entry level road bike...


You're not going to find one, judging by how quickly they're snatched up over here. I mean, damn, I know I'll have to pay $600 for an entry level road bike at Performance, but can't I get a 8 year old road bike with sora shifters?

Do they even exist? Did bikes even sell well 8 or 9 years ago? Who knows. I mean, even the fixies and SS are ridiculously overpriced. I could buy a Schwinn Cutter or SE Draft for $250 but what's the point when that's half an entry level road bike?

Sorry, had a horrible ride today. Cracks and bumps in the bike lanes, too much traffic. wish this damn city never gained attention as some utopia near the bay. It's not. It's a stupid, expensive facade with a lot of homeless people, traffic, and impatient people. God, might as well listen to some Tool right now, but that will only feed the rage, lol.


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## instanium (Jul 13, 2009)

Pelvic_Banana said:


> Sorry, had a horrible ride today. Cracks and bumps in the bike lanes, too much traffic. wish this damn city never gained attention as some utopia near the bay. It's not. It's a stupid, expensive facade with a lot of homeless people, traffic, and impatient people. God, might as well listen to some Tool right now, but that will only feed the rage, lol.


No worries. I know how these days feel.

Came across this CL post and $25 for a 10speed roadbike...
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/bik/1270698216.html

and it sold. :mad2:


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## Pelvic_Banana (Jun 30, 2009)

instanium said:


> No worries. I know how these days feel.
> 
> Came across this CL post and $25 for a 10speed roadbike...
> http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/bik/1270698216.html
> ...


There's no local bike shop that specializes in selling used road bikes from the 80 and early 90s?

No one around here ever has garage sale, I can see why.

I'd never recommend bikesdirect.

Ebay is ridiculous as well. Who wants to pay $80 for shipping and handling fees, and then see the UPS guy kick the box around, lol.

Maybe you could build up a SS/FG? Buy the frame and fork online. Get some used drop bars, stem and wheels?

Sorry, I'm all out of ideas.


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## instanium (Jul 13, 2009)

Pelvic_Banana said:


> There's no local bike shop that specializes in selling used road bikes from the 80 and early 90s?
> 
> No one around here ever has garage sale, I can see why.
> 
> ...


Well, at Sports Chalet, they were selling a SE Lager for $550 and it felt pretty nice sitting on the 54cm. Except, I think I'm a 52cm since I was tip-toeing a bit on the 54cm. There's also the KHS Flite 100 and the IRO Mark V that I can also get... Mercier Kilo TT being the cheapest out of the 4 bikes.

Anyways I'm just wondering why you wouldn't recommend bikesdirect?


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## Pelvic_Banana (Jun 30, 2009)

instanium said:


> Well, at Sports Chalet, they were selling a SE Lager for $550 and it felt pretty nice sitting on the 54cm. Except, I think I'm a 52cm since I was tip-toeing a bit on the 54cm. There's also the KHS Flite 100 and the IRO Mark V that I can also get... Mercier Kilo TT being the cheapest out of the 4 bikes.
> 
> Anyways I'm just wondering why you wouldn't recommend bikesdirect?


There are plenty of fit gurus on the forum, but as a rule of thumb, when standing over the top tube with both feet planted, there should be a good inch or inch and a half between your crotch and the top tube.

Many bikes have varying geometry, so a 54 on one bike may not fit as well as a 54 on another bike. You know this though, lol.

Keep a lookout on deals over at Sport Chalet. Sometimes they would have a "buy over xxx amount in store, get xxx dollars off" deal. The Lager for $500 would be really nice deal, and maybe even a better purchase than a fuji newest 3.0 or k2 mach 1.0 when you think about it.


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## Slim Chance (Feb 8, 2005)

Come guys, get creative. Craig’s List isn’t the only place to look. Ever heard of Good Will? How about yard sales?


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## kykr13 (Apr 12, 2008)

One tip if you're willing to travel a little bit: crazedlist.org

I agree that it isn't the only place to find a bike. You could search ebay listings by zip code, go see something and if you can't buy it now at least know that you really want to bid on it.


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## Pelvic_Banana (Jun 30, 2009)

Slim Chance said:


> Come guys, get creative. Craig’s List isn’t the only place to look. Ever heard of Good Will? How about yard sales?


Bull. Nearest Goodwill has crap that would absolutely need revitalizing. It's all department store mountain/hybrids that isn't worth the time or money to replace parts and deal with the crappy components.

I tried salvation army, but am kinda appalled at the ridiculous prices on all of their junk. It's as if they're making a fortune on people's junk just because they can.

If I wanted to spend $250 on a hybrid, I'd get a Fuji absolute on clearence/sale and go from there.

And hell, if Goodwill had a schwinn super sport with downtube shifters for $125, I'd pass it up. It's not worth the fixed conversion. Been there done that with a Nishiki.

I ride my mountain bike in the suburbs, I look out for garage sale signs. There was one a month ago and it didn't have any bikes.


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## instanium (Jul 13, 2009)

Pelvic! Guess what man! I found a Vintage Schwinn Continental Track bike for only $80! I'm going to see the guy on Sunday and purchase it! Woo! You think it's a nice find?  By the way, what should I be keeping an eye at if I'm going to purchase it used?


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## Pelvic_Banana (Jun 30, 2009)

instanium said:


> Pelvic! Guess what man! I found a Vintage Schwinn Continental Track bike for only $80! I'm going to see the guy on Sunday and purchase it! Woo! You think it's a nice find?  By the way, what should I be keeping an eye at if I'm going to purchase it used?


First off, make sure the frame fits you perfectly. Because its a track bike, fit is even a larger concern than a townie or city bike.

Second, inspect the frame, the welding, the lugs, everything on it.

Third, check the wheels, the hubs and spoke tension.


Does the bike have a brake on it? I'm guessing no. Check it anyway.

I'm hoping the bottom bracket is in decent condition, but at $80 dollars, a $20 dollar BB overhaul at a bike shop isn't a bad idea.

As long as the frame, wheels and fit are all good, you could easily replace saddles, brake pads, stems, handlebars, chains(single speed chains go for $12 bucks compared to their $30 9 speed brethren lol) and even the front chainring and rear cog. You could also get a flip-flop hub to go SS to commute with it.

Basically, you could get parts to help touch up the bike for as little as...maybe $40 depending on how much stuff just isn't to your liking. For $120, that's not too bad.


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## instanium (Jul 13, 2009)

This is how the bike looks like. The seller is only 5'2" so he said that this bike is big for him. I'm 5'10" so I hope it fits good.










He doesn't have the rear wheel on, but that will be included with the purchase. He said if I wanted the front wheel as well, then I'd have to put a little more in. In the picture, it looks like there is no back brake, so I'll probably have to buy a new pair of decent brakes on CL or eBay.










That's how I want my Schwinn Continental bike to look like, but I want it to be single-speed instead of fixed gear. I'm also going to add some brakes. Take off the shifting and take off the bigger chainwheel, leaving the small one. I'm wondering how many teeth it has though. I want it to be a right gearing such as 44/16 like my BMX.

What I'm wondering is that, will I be able to get a new threadless fork later on when I get more money after getting some new Deep V's and a flip flop hub. But that is going to take awhile since I don't always have a job. I'm going to try to follow Sheldon Brown's way of making a cassette hub into a single speed. That means I need to ask some friends for cassette wheels they're no longer using anymore for the spacers... unless if I can buy those somewhere. https://www.sheldonbrown.com/singlespeed.html


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## Pelvic_Banana (Jun 30, 2009)

instanium said:


> This is how the bike looks like. The seller is only 5'2" so he said that this bike is big for him. I'm 5'10" so I hope it fits good.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I'm also around 5'10/5'11. 52 cm frame would be too small, even if most frames come in vastly different geometries. A 54 cm frame would be the perfect bike frame for road/track bikes for people our height, but you may luck out on the 52 if you put the seatpost at its maximum height. Since the stem is threaded, raise it all the way up to maximum and pray that it's not too small for your body's geometry.

44/16 or even 44/18 would be a blessing for commuting. I rode 46/17 and got my arse handed to me on some of these hills. If you gear it low, you'll just have more fun commuting. Period.

The schwinn passage bike came in that craigslist listing I mentioned was a 52 cm, too small for me. Wish the guy actually put the frame size in his damn listing in the first place. The GT isn't looking good either, since the guy hasn't got back to me in almost 3 days. Sigh.

About the thread less fork, you can get an adapter from Performance.
https://www.performancebike.com/bikes/Product_10052_10551_1033269_-1_400021_400002_400204

That's all the advice on the fork/stem I can provide.


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## instanium (Jul 13, 2009)

Pelvic_Banana said:


> I'm also around 5'10/5'11. 52 cm frame would be too small, even if most frames come in vastly different geometries. A 54 cm frame would be the perfect bike frame for road/track bikes for people our height, but you may luck out on the 52 if you put the seatpost at its maximum height. Since the stem is threaded, raise it all the way up to maximum and pray that it's not too small for your body's geometry.
> 
> 44/16 or even 44/18 would be a blessing for commuting. I rode 46/17 and got my arse handed to me on some of these hills. If you gear it low, you'll just have more fun commuting. Period.
> 
> ...


I think the bike is probably a 52/53/54. Looking at the head tube seems to give you an idea... 

Anyways lets hope the seat post will work out. Otherwise, I'll be stealing the one from my Haro and putting it onto the Schwinn. I'm also going to need to find a seat! I've been riding a crappy Mongoose seat that a friend has given me. Riding anything past 2 miles will start making my ass feel uncomfortable while riding with that seat. 

By the way, do you know of an article where they show you the correct knee bend while riding so that your knee won't be destroyed? 

Sucks how you had to wait for them to reply for that Schwinn Passage. It looks like a nice bike if you fix it up!  Lol, I think craigslist needs to have a rule where you need to type down all the correct information for the bike... but I bet they're all lazy so they wouldn't even bother to research for the specs of the bike. That's why I only deal with local sellers... they're closer and you don't need to travel too far to find out what you're wanting to buy isn't what you expected due to misleading information in the posts.

Thanks a lot for the suggestion for the 1" stem adapter! Hopefully there's some cheap, but good quality threaded forks out there I can buy!


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## Pelvic_Banana (Jun 30, 2009)

instanium said:


> I think the bike is probably a 52/53/54. Looking at the head tube seems to give you an idea...
> 
> Anyways lets hope the seat post will work out. Otherwise, I'll be stealing the one from my Haro and putting it onto the Schwinn. I'm also going to need to find a seat! I've been riding a crappy Mongoose seat that a friend has given me. Riding anything past 2 miles will start making my ass feel uncomfortable while riding with that seat.
> 
> ...


Regarding seat height and angle:

http://bicycletutor.com/adjust-seat/

Bicycletutor.com has been a wonderful resource for bike repair. All I need to really learn first hand is overhauling bottom brackets, truing wheels and maybe overhauling a threaded headset.

The Haro seatpost may be long enough, but the bike's geometry might not really be comfortable with a super long seatpost, don't you think?

Regarding saddle, make sure it accommodates your sit bones. No larger or smaller. You may like a cut-out or not. Saddles are all about preference, but the general guide is to think with your sit bones in mind. 

Well, for now I'm commuting with my 90s steel mountain bike. I put slicks and bar ends on it and it's been fun, but its geometry and engineering clearly makes it much more useful on single track. A hybrid would be better right now but the mountain bike conversion is all I have now.

I still got til late august until I'd like a new commuter, but a SS/FG conversion may be the ticket if all else fails.

I think http://www.irocycle.com/ should hook you up with a fork thing if you want it. Lots of guys on the SS/FG forum use Iro parts on their rides, so it may help you out.


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