Vintage Bicycle Worries?

With the economy slowing down, cost of living on the rise and natural disasters striking left and right, there are fewer people willing to pay the premium prices once enjoyed by top eBay sellers such as Sydney Vintage Bikes. Compounding this is the fierce competition, even dirty competition, and the influx of cheap alternatives to restored vintage bikes, which has resulted in vintage bikes losing a considerable amount of value. 

I recently had the pleasure of speaking to Lucy from Sydney Vintage Bikes (SVB) and she gave me permission to write about what we spoke about… I was immediately surprised by her bleak outlook for the future of SVB. SVB’s prices have dropped to as little as $470 for a fully restored bicycle. For consumers that’s brilliant; a massive saving! But for Lucy, her husband and her two children, it will mean some concern since SVB is their primary source of income.

I was surprised mainly because of the success SVB has enjoyed in the past. Just two years ago SVB bikes would frequently auction for over $1000. However their success attracted as much negative attention as it did positive. SVB received constant threats and harassment from other competitors. Competitors would even bid on SVB’s bikes and not pay up. They also dealt with copycats completely ripping off their ideas and claiming it for themselves. The most notable perpetrator was actually Melbourne Vintage Bikes (MVB). Both businesses claim to be the original, the most experienced and the most professional. But Lucy from SVB informs me that MVB is full of s*&^.

You may not believe her, but I certainly do. There’s always room for scepticism but after a bit of investigating myself, MVB did not seem completely upfront and honest and the only conclusion I can draw from that is that SVB must be in the right.

My suspicions about MVB were somewhat reinforced by the realisation that MVB had another alias Wheelsanddames (WAD). Additionally, shortly after this post was made public WAD then changed their name and location to “vintagemodernlovers” (VML) located in Australia in an attempt to limit their losses (this post was updated 9 May 2011). If you pay close attention to the angled photos of the bikes sold under all three ebay usernames, you will notice that the wall in the right hand corner is exactly the same. I cannot rationalise why a reputable eBay business would require so many aliases.  

We actually bought this from wheelsanddames in March 2011

On sale under MVB as of 30 April 2011

There are some major differences between the three alias. The major difference between the three aliases is MVB’s appeal to professionalism, 6 years experience and the promise that utmost care is taken to produce a safe reliable and beautiful vintage bicycle, which is no where to be seen on WAD’s or VML’s listings. The descriptions for bicycles listed under WAD/VML make no mention of whether various parts on their bicycles have been serviced such as the bottom bracket, headset, or hub bearings. According to the listing, I assume that WAD/VML has simply checked-out that everything is in working order. In contrast, under MVB listings, all bikes are said to have been completely serviced with “all parts…stripped down cleaned/polished then carefully reassembled.” Further MVB bikes have had their wheels “trued and tensioned” and have had a “thorough clean”. 

It appears that WAD/VML provides a far less professional service, even though it is run by the same professional outfit responsible for MVB. I can do so because my cousin actually purchased a bicycle from WAD in March 2011 and I have to say I wasn’t completely impressed. I had to give the bike a good clean and also change the brake and gear cables. More worryingly parts of the bike including spokes and fender stays had simply been sprayed over with silver paint rather than diligently cleaned up or replaced. Its that kind of corner cutting which is a cause for concern.

Its therefore likely that the reason behind having two aliases is that MVB and WAD sell different products. MVB sells completely stripped down, rebuilt and powder coated bicycles similar to SVB; which is a service you would expect would come with professional warranties and guarantees about the quality of service customers are purchasing. WAD in contrast sells bikes in more original condition, where corners are cut and liability becomes an issue, hence the lack of warranties and the absence of any claim that WAD bikes have been given any kind of service. 

Its not then surprising that WAD does not enjoy the 100% positive feedback that its more famous MVB alias does. Make of it what you will, but the only thought that comes to mind when I think about a professional ebay seller who has an unprofessional ebay alias, is that I have complete faith in what Lucy from SVB has exposed to me including being the subject of harassment and dirty tactics.  

SVB also faced fierce competition from other eBay merchants. There are now modern vintage bicycle copies and dutch/european styled bikes, probably manufactured in Asia, selling for between $200 and $350. Its hard to compete with that because at those low prices, who wouldn’t want to buy them. In fact SVB have been getting more inquiries about building restored vintage bikes for $200 which is just not possible, let alone viable.

There are a few noteworthy differences between vintage bikes and modern copies including the lack of lugs at the joins of the metal tubes on the frame; instead the tubes are welded and the welds in my mind don’t look as appealing as the clean lines that lugs provide. Other differences include the use of U-brakes, quick release seat post clamps, modern brake levers and powder coating. There’s nothing wrong with any of this. These mass produced, cheap, imports are justdifferent because they aren’t genuinely vintage. And by vintage I don’t mean vintage-like, vintage-esque or modern copies with a vintage look; when I say vintage I mean properly vintage bikes manufactured prior to 1987. And just like vintage clothes, cars and cameras, they don’t make bikes like they used to. While modern copies look almost the same from a far, the devil is in the detail and modern copies of vintage bikes seem to gloss over the finer details for the sake of time and money.

Another problem I can see for SVB is that its possible that people are simply over the SVB style. Their bikes can be absolutely stunning, but they can also be very similar to the other 1000 bikes they’ve already sold. This is a problem because if you think about why you buy vintage, it’s sometimes not just about style, its also because you want to feel different or special, and definitely not the same as the 999 customers before you. This will probably end up being a problem for the mass produced copies and dutchies coming from Asia as well. The first few customers will have a cheap and unique bike. But it’ll be hard to feel like your bike is the only one like it in the world if you see another 20 people riding the same $200 bike alongside you.

SVB has some serious struggles ahead. Lucy already alluded to calling it quits which would be very sad in my mind. So is this the beginning of the end for vintage bicycles in Australia? Well not necessarily. All of this just means that it’s a good time to buy a vintage bike right now while prices are low. Its also a great time to buy because I see one of two things happening in the near future being:

a) bicycle restorers calling it quits which will make life harder for anyone who would like to own a genuine restored vintage bike, or
b) the market recovers, and bicycle prices climb back up again as governments around the world push for greater push bike use.

I certainly hope the latter occurs. Clearly the vintage bicycle market is going to go through some changes over the next few months. Its sad to think that a business that has produced over 1000 bikes will be discontinuing business. I think there will be less and less merchants who make their living from their bicycle restoration business and leaving people like me who simply live to restore bikes and who will continue to do so as long as someone is happy to simply cover all the expenses.