Hey y'all! I'm new to old bikes and can use some recommendations. Just starting to browse options. Looking for something to get a workout in, mostly around town on paved roads with some hills. Thoughts on this option for sub $200? I plan to take it in to get tuned if needed.
Open to other recommendations in the sub $300 range.
Thank you!
by redbeardedbard
11 Comments
Yes, it’s a very good bike for the price
It is your size?
Yes. That’s a good deal, assuming it’s your size. I recently paid ~$100 for a 1988/9 Schwinn Prologue frame that needed and is in the process of getting a complete repaint along with repairing a dent in the top tube. It is almost identical to this Panasonic, including Tange Prestige tubes, and in fact Panasonic was the behind the scenes manufacturer that made all of the Prologue frames for Schwinn.
Yes! Probably.
That looks like it may be a Panasonic Team “_____” (holland?) bike. Very nice Tange Prestige frame, and it looks like maybe Dura-Ace crank and some other decent parts. If so, it would have been a top-of- the-line bike.
The one caveat is that these two pictures don’t show the whole story. It appears the owner removed the front derailleur and one chainring, which is not really a good modification as the chain may fall off. If that’s all that’s been done to it, I’d probably snag at this price, assuming the other parts are Dura-Ace.
But if it has lower end parts, I may think twice.
[Team Holland](https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vintage/1246380-1989-panasonic-team-holland.html)?
[Team America](https://www.pedalroom.com/bike/1988-panasonic-team-america-custom-44761)?
Yes! Sweet paint and nice steel yeah baby
Looks like there’s only a single front chainring. If you have hills, you may run out of gears pretty fast.
Looks to be about a 54-56cm frame. What’s your inseam length?
Panasonic made some amazing steel road bikes back then. That is most definitely a stellar bike. I had a Panasonic road bike back in the old’n days and absolutely loved it. 🙂
It is and it isn’t. I’ve looked at it on FBMP too and gone back and forth and I’ll tell you why I haven’t pulled the trigger on it.
**Pros:**
Great frame, great tubing
Frameset has some resale value
Was a $2000 bike originally
**Cons:**
Not likely to go up in value
Low demand on the frameset, it’ll take a while to sell.
Not Italian, not hand made
Seat, bars, stem, pedals have all been replaced and not as good as original parts
The more you actually ride it, the less the frameset is worth
Not utilitarian, not well set up for bigger tires or fenders or racks
If you really love it, get it. You’re probably not going to lose money on it. If you don’t really love it, keep looking. This is an incredible time to buy used bikes right now, people are just giving them away. I got a Schwinn Tempo the other day for $30 and its not as good as that Panasonic is but I would rather have a $30 Tempo and $150+ in my pocket.
Hey I actually almost got this bike from the guy, turns out it was too small for me tho. I am a taller guy tho so it’s not uncommon for that to happen to me lol
I have a Tange prestige Panasonic and it’s not really anything to write home about. However if yours is in fact a team bike then it’s probably built to a higher standard.
Looks like a nice bike, 200usd.. dono but if you are only getting into it id pick something a little newer than that (even if its like mid 90s ) that doesn’t have down tube gears and index gears. But gl with the hunt.