Could something be made of this (wife wants a bike now)

[crog]

ebay link

She has an MTB but something a little easier for on the road, might go the rebuild for her as well.

I like to tinker

[MountGower]

Error. This post can no longer be displayed.

[Kid_Carbine]

That eBay listing quite clearly says "Local pickup only" with payment to be made at time of pickup.
Since it is in Adelaide & you're in Melbourne, this might prove uneconomic.
Describing it as 'Vintage' is really taking a few liberties with the language too.

[crog]

In Adelaide weekly so pick u not a problem. Wife does not intend to do bay rides etc so I was looking for something a littel easier for commutes etc.

She is not a big fan of the MTB although I may try to put slicks etc on it to make it a bit easier to pedal.

I think we may opt fopr something off the shelf, but it was a thought??

As to "Vintage" i had not idea some of the bits sounded old.

Che

[xx68]

Its kind of groovy tho , for $25 - $50 you can't go wrong really , set of flat bars and see how it goes ....I just sold a lucious pink one on ebay and it had 9 watchers so if you don't like it someone else might !
And you have to admit its got a patina no Kmart pushy will ever get , its not lairy and plastic , will also just keep rolling on and on with next to no maintenance

[Kid_Carbine]

As to "Vintage" i had not idea some of the bits sounded old.
Che

My father, who was one of the three founders of the Veteran Car Club of Australia back in about 1954, was quite adamant.

According to international agreement, he said, 'Vintage' was clearly defined as the period from the first of January 1919 untill the thirty first of December 1930. This is for cars & since bicycles pre-date automobiles, I could see that he had a point.

Me? Well, I'm a little more liberal & would be prepared to stretch it out to something like about 1960, but it would seem then the vast majority of sellers don't have any reservation in using the term on anything that's out of warranty, thereby watering down the historic significance of the word & relegating it to just another synonym for 'yesterdays news'

Rant now ended

[531db]

I agree that this early/mid 1980's ladies '10 speed' is not vintage in any sense. It's just a 25 year old lowend bicycle, which may be of interest to some (not me!).

I note that on ebay and elsewere there has been a predominance of terms like 'vintage', 'classic' and 'retro', where in all honesty, the term has just been a bit of used car salesman type bullsh!t.

Caveat Emptor.

[stryker84]

Agreed. I usually search ebay for "vintage" +cycling, but often come across stuff from within the last 20 years, which can barely be classified as "old", let alone "classic" or "vintage".

Although the term that I've only seen once to describe a bike is that new retro look descriptor, "shabby chic". For bikes, as far as I can gather, it basically means still in working order, but not been looked after properly.

[Kid_Carbine]

often come across stuff from within the last 20 years, which can barely be classified as "old", let alone "classic" or "vintage".

Absolutely, right on the money.