I don’t think this is a fair comparison, cheap used bikes are always the best dollar value. You pay more for new handmade quality. I just picked up a Bridgestone mb-3 from 1987 for $30, very similar to yours. I will probably spend a couple hundred on making it more suitable for my use.
That’s a great find and those Bridgestones were actually from Grant Peterson’s tenure at the company so they’re sort of an early iteration of a Riv. That’ll be a fantastic bike I’m sure.
It doesn’t have the mile long chain stays and beautiful lugs. Doesn’t make it any better, I like these bikes cause I can throw it around and not feel too bad about it. Nice bike!
100 percent agree! Best thing about these beater bikes is that you never worry about taking them out. I've got a carbon fiber gravel bike in my barn that I haven't taken out for years...
I think Miyata was a well respected Japanese brand. From the ones I've seen the level of quality is mid to high. Vintage Trek touring bikes are awesome. Good find!
It's a great bike but this is as far as I'm taking it. It's safe and reliable so just flipping it to keep the cash flowing. The more time I spend restoring it, the less profitable since there's a max that these bikes will sell for and it's not super high.
Prices depend a lot of location, time of year, weather, heck even gas prices. In the US I think this could range from $25 in Small-town USA TO $300 In Brooklyn. Others may disagree but that's my experience. How about you? Where are you located and how much would this go for?
@@stockton350 I'm from Croatia so a totally different market. Bikes like these are 100eur plus, maybe 200 in the season, people got wise pretty fast about the worth of 80s 90s mtbs, theoretically you could find them for 50 listed in winter
Wow. I visited Istria once and loved it. So prices are not too different to here. Can I ask what websites people there use to sell second hand bikes? Is Facebook Marketplace used at all? It's the main one over here.
There is no reason old mountain bikes or any bike for that matter with the better frames and componentry shouldn't be cleaned up to take on a new owner. I don't think you can say that for carbon fiber. The bike industry is always working to try to obsolete previous models but if your not addicted to the latest and greatest thing movement, then you can likely appreciate quality regardless of age or having to change out a bunch of parts unnecessarily. The only weird thing are those Biopace chain rings. They make no sense and to be more practical, would need to be rotated 90 degrees but can't. I've rotate some 1/5 or 2/5s of a turn to get them to work more like the modern oval chain rings but your better off with standard chain rings, if you have them. Otherwise if you have to buy new, they're excessively expensive. It's always great to find such bargains on the upper tiered bikes in need of an overhaul but I don't think some people realize just how much it can cost to refresh a bike, even doing the work yourself, so it has to be worth it from the get go.
I agree with what you're saying. This bike, for example, can last forever but the original company sure isn't making any money from that so I guess it makes sense to have planned obsolence but it's kind of sad. The Biopace chainrings are odd - I was aware that oval rings came back but didn't know how they related to the old ones.
@@stockton350 I find it really strange that people will overlook these MTBs because they've gone to 29" wheels, one-by drive trains and revised the geometry to be more like a downhill bike yet the 90s MTBs maintain classic geometry making them suitable for all purpose bikes.
The thing I love about these bikes especially is how good they are all around, for general purposes. (To be fair, early hybrids are like this also but in my experience have lower component quality.) Maybe it's just as well that most people gravitate to fashionable new bikes because it keeps these old mtbs ridiculously affordable.
@@stockton350 The sad part is a boat load of these bike get parted out since the pieces sold separately fetch more money then the complete bike. But I've been able to get some decent parts on Ebay because of it.
@@chrisharper2658 agreed. I think it's good that the parts are made available but I have a feeling a lot of the frames get tossed or recycled. Are you a Linux fan by any chance?
What a find!
That’s a cool looking bike
I don’t think this is a fair comparison, cheap used bikes are always the best dollar value. You pay more for new handmade quality. I just picked up a Bridgestone mb-3 from 1987 for $30, very similar to yours. I will probably spend a couple hundred on making it more suitable for my use.
That’s a great find and those Bridgestones were actually from Grant Peterson’s tenure at the company so they’re sort of an early iteration of a Riv. That’ll be a fantastic bike I’m sure.
It doesn’t have the mile long chain stays and beautiful lugs. Doesn’t make it any better, I like these bikes cause I can throw it around and not feel too bad about it. Nice bike!
100 percent agree! Best thing about these beater bikes is that you never worry about taking them out. I've got a carbon fiber gravel bike in my barn that I haven't taken out for years...
Doesn’t have the fancy reputation? I have two 80’s vintage Trek touring bikes, so I may not be a good person to ask.
I think Miyata was a well respected Japanese brand. From the ones I've seen the level of quality is mid to high. Vintage Trek touring bikes are awesome. Good find!
@@stockton350 Miyata was like Schwinn or Peugeot, making a range of bikes but nothing that was really low end.
@@rafriedman Thanks. That's a good way to put it. I've never seen a super low end Miyata.
Das it man, when will you restore it?
It's a great bike but this is as far as I'm taking it. It's safe and reliable so just flipping it to keep the cash flowing. The more time I spend restoring it, the less profitable since there's a max that these bikes will sell for and it's not super high.
@@stockton350 yep, how much can it go in US?
Prices depend a lot of location, time of year, weather, heck even gas prices. In the US I think this could range from $25 in Small-town USA TO $300 In Brooklyn. Others may disagree but that's my experience. How about you? Where are you located and how much would this go for?
@@stockton350 I'm from Croatia so a totally different market. Bikes like these are 100eur plus, maybe 200 in the season, people got wise pretty fast about the worth of 80s 90s mtbs, theoretically you could find them for 50 listed in winter
Wow. I visited Istria once and loved it. So prices are not too different to here. Can I ask what websites people there use to sell second hand bikes? Is Facebook Marketplace used at all? It's the main one over here.
You sell it already?
Not yet. Sold the blue one that I got with this lot but these bigger bikes tend to move more slowly.
There is no reason old mountain bikes or any bike for that matter with the better frames and componentry shouldn't be cleaned up to take on a new owner. I don't think you can say that for carbon fiber. The bike industry is always working to try to obsolete previous models but if your not addicted to the latest and greatest thing movement, then you can likely appreciate quality regardless of age or having to change out a bunch of parts unnecessarily. The only weird thing are those Biopace chain rings. They make no sense and to be more practical, would need to be rotated 90 degrees but can't. I've rotate some 1/5 or 2/5s of a turn to get them to work more like the modern oval chain rings but your better off with standard chain rings, if you have them. Otherwise if you have to buy new, they're excessively expensive. It's always great to find such bargains on the upper tiered bikes in need of an overhaul but I don't think some people realize just how much it can cost to refresh a bike, even doing the work yourself, so it has to be worth it from the get go.
I agree with what you're saying. This bike, for example, can last forever but the original company sure isn't making any money from that so I guess it makes sense to have planned obsolence but it's kind of sad. The Biopace chainrings are odd - I was aware that oval rings came back but didn't know how they related to the old ones.
@@stockton350 I find it really strange that people will overlook these MTBs because they've gone to 29" wheels, one-by drive trains and revised the geometry to be more like a downhill bike yet the 90s MTBs maintain classic geometry making them suitable for all purpose bikes.
The thing I love about these bikes especially is how good they are all around, for general purposes. (To be fair, early hybrids are like this also but in my experience have lower component quality.) Maybe it's just as well that most people gravitate to fashionable new bikes because it keeps these old mtbs ridiculously affordable.
@@stockton350 The sad part is a boat load of these bike get parted out since the pieces sold separately fetch more money then the complete bike. But I've been able to get some decent parts on Ebay because of it.
@@chrisharper2658 agreed. I think it's good that the parts are made available but I have a feeling a lot of the frames get tossed or recycled. Are you a Linux fan by any chance?