For sale, excellent condition 1995-1997? Litespeed Hiwassee Titanium 18" Mountain Bik

[smbisig]

For sale, excellent condition 1995-1997? Litespeed Hiwassee Titanium 18" Mountain Bik

i hope that its ok to post this here. if its not, let me know and i will delete it.

i am selling this bike for my friend who already has to many bikes. this thing is in almost perfect condition. if you are interested, send me a pm. i have attached the link to the listing.

http://www.ridemonkey.com/classifieds/showproduct.php?product=8173&cat=3

 

[DaveInDenver]

How cool. You need to somehow get it over on the VRC (vintage, retro, collectible) forum at MTBR:

http://forums.mtbr.com/forumdisplay.php?f=39

If only I had the money, one of the bikes I've always wanted was an early Litespeed.

 

[Scott Brady]

Great bike!

 

[smbisig]

How cool. You need to somehow get it over on the VRC (vintage, retro, collectible) forum at MTBR:

http://forums.mtbr.com/forumdisplay.php?f=39

If only I had the money, one of the bikes I've always wanted was an early Litespeed.

thanks, i will look into it.

 

[Christophe Noel]

I collect vintage road and mountain bikes myself. That is a great rig, but probably still a tad new to catch the eye of the vintage collector. The condition is primo which eventually will make it a collector item. The prime age for a true vintage mountain bike is probably still in the late 80 range. Something like early Fisher (non-"Gary" Fisher) Mount Tams or Super Cals. Early Bianchi Super Grizzly bikes from 86-89 go for big bucks. Tom Ritchy P24s are rare.

In short, in a couple years, that Litespeed will definately hit the vintage cycle radar, but for now it's probably still too new.

Keep on that fork!!! Have it rebuilt soon if it hasn't been already. You don't want that thing pooping out on you.

THe thing about collector bikes is the lack of increasing value. I have an '85 Bianchi Centinario that has only been on the pavement for one 30 mile ride. It was $3100 new. A similar bike today would be worth $10,000. In the right circles, my Centinario could probably fetch $3100.

 

[DaveInDenver]

In short, in a couple years, that Litespeed will definately hit the vintage cycle radar, but for now it's probably still too new.

Keep on that fork!!! Have it rebuilt soon if it hasn't been already. You don't want that thing pooping out on you.

Sometimes it's hard to say. It's not vintage, but it could be collectible being that it's a yellow Hiwassee. Most of them I think were nekked titanium because it was the entry level (still US made, tho!) Litespeed. Back when I was still working in the shop we sold them for just under $1000, which back in the mid 1990s was still a lot of money but getting affordable for a ti bike. Just sometimes it can be surprising.

As far as that fork, yeah, it's a Quadra 21R. All elastomer undamped fork. We used to gut the internals instead of rebuilding them, which made it a passable fork. Speed Spring used to make a kit to replace the stack (expensive, like $60) or we used to use a stack of 6 springs in place of the individual elastomers. If you go into any machine supply catalog you can find springs that will work. Still flexy as all heck, barely 2" travel, 3.5 lbs fork. There's not much to them, but elastomers do have a limited life. Rock Shox does not support them anymore and finding parts is tough (mostly all you need elastomers, bushings and a tub of Rock'N'Roll super slick).