How to Buy a Vintage Racing Bike

Searching out the perfrect vintage racing bike can take quite a while and, even if you do find one, you need to inspect it and then get it home.  When it comes to online technology, the Italians are notoriously old fashioned, so you will find very few bikes available online direct from reliable sources in Italy.  

When buying a vintage bike from Retrospective Cycles all the hard work has been done for you. We have driven around Italy and personally searched our supply network and inspected many hundreds of racing bikes, selecting a handful that we will bring back here ourselves and put up for sale on our website.

The ideal bike to buy is one that is in its original condition, with original components and paintwork. We do not restore the bikes we buy because they do not need restoring – if they did we would not buy them (unless they were really special).

We have touched, stroked, fondled, ridden and close-up inspected every single bike that is for sale in our Showroom.

The key things you need to look for when buying a vintage racing bike include:

• Good manufacturer
• Frame size
• Frame material (lugged steel)
• Frame condition (no rust, dents, cracks, creaking etc)
• Paintwork and decals in good condition (minimal blemishes)
• Functioning componentry (original if possible)
• Wheel alignment and secure fixings 
• Ready to ride (with a minimal TLC)

Considering every bicycle sold at Retrospective Cycles has passed our inspection process to ensure its quality, the most important thing for you to do when buying form us is to  ensure the size of the bike is right for you and within your budget.

No matter how perfect a vintage racing bike may seem, it still needs to be the right size. Use the sizing guide at the bottom of every page and compare the sizes of the bikes in our Showroom to those of a similar style bike that you ride of have tried already, getting this right will ensure you and your bike become the best of friends for many years.

If you want to find out more about buying from us then take a look at the information on our How To Buy From Us section.