WANTED: Complete steel road bike 54/55cm

I am in Oxford for a year and was disappointed by the local selection, so I figure I will give this a try.

Back home I ride a 70's lugged steel 10-speed with mid-grade Italian components and am looking for a comparable bicycle at < £200. I may opt to install mudguards and a rear pannier rack. I am 5'9".

Please respond with photos and the information you've available.

Cheers,

Mark

Mark,

I posted in the other thread but I figure you'll probably see this here faster. I might be able to help you here.
Firstly, have you tried the Broken Spoke? They often have nice 70s and 80s steel bikes- there was a nice Mercier hanging up in there for ages, and I've seen other nice bikes from time to time. If a comparable bicycle is what you're after, they're probably your first port of call.

After that, I'd say, try the Daily Info's bike page, occasionally there are bargains.

If you can wait a few weeks, it's worth befriending some Oxford students (assuming you aren't one already) and going to some college bicycle auctions, which usually take place towards the end of this term. They sell off bikes left by leaving students- I've seen decent bikes go for silly money in them before, as most people just don't know the value of what they're buying. Although sometimes, things have been left for a reason.

Honestly though, you're going to struggle to find something fitting that description in Oxford right now- it's the first half of the first term of the academic year, so the price of bicycles is heavily inflated to make the most of the new freshers who need a bike and don't know much about them, so are easy for sellers to rip off.

(As an addendum, I have a rather nice, albeit quite heavy, three speed with drop bars that might shortly become surplus to requirements, let me know if this takes your fancy.)

As a further note, some of my friends at Oxford were international students, and they shipped their bikes over. It usually costs between £20 and £50 to ship a bike internationally, so it may be worth your while, unless your bike has too much sentimental value to bring to a place with relatively high theft rates.

Thanks for the thorough reply, @oxpoleon. I'm a student visiting for the year, but have decided against shipping my own bike for various reasons. I had heard of the Broken Spoke, but did not know that they sold bicycles. I have some free time today so I may stop by during their open hours.

Otherwise, I've been scouring this forum, retrobike, and CTC, but it's been slow-going.

If anyone is just seeing this thread--I am most definitely still looking!

I fixed up this Mercier bike at the weekend.

55cm Columbus Aelle frameset (stickers removable)
90mm Cinelli Stem
2x6 speed, Shimano groupset 1/2 600 (brakes, chainset, downtube shifters), 1/2 105 (brake levers, FD, RD, headset)
New saddle/outer brake cables/bar tape/tyres.

All works well and ready to ride. I am after £200 for it.

I sent you a PM, @Vince.

Hi, I've got on here: http://www.lfgss.com/conversations/261946/ if you're still looking?