On Mon, 16 Jun 2014 13:51:42 -0700 (PDT), Sir Ridesalot
wrote:

How old does a bicycle or part need to be before it's considered vintage?

In electronics, something is vintage when the manufacturer refuses to
supply replacement parts:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1752
This is sometimes called "designed obsolescence".

HOw old does a bicycle or part need to be before it's considered antique?

There's an intermediate stage called "obsolete". That's when
something prevents using the bicycle in its originally intended
manner. That might be due to the risk of having it fall apart,
defective metallurgy, inadequate mandated safety devices, or
insufficient durability of some components (leaky tubes).

I would think that it would be considered an "antique" when even the
owner would have second thoughts about riding it, or possibly when the
major dealers selling the bicycle are all purveyors of antiques.

I don't think 2001 stuff qualifies as either vintage or antique. Does it?

Well, if it's an Apple computah, 2001 most certainly does qualify as
both vintage and antique. However, bicycle age at a much slower rate,
and may not be old enough to qualify.

In my never humble opinion, the dealer is who determines when
something is an antique. Antique dealers sell used merchandise for
far higher prices than what one would normally consider its value for
utilitarian purposes. In other words, the value is not in the
bicycles use, but rather it's rarity, oddity, or value as a collectors
item. On a timeline, a typical antique bicycle would show an
initially high value (inflation adjusted), which declines to
worthlessness over some period of years. At some point, the antique
dealers take over from the junk and scrap dealers and sell the bicycle
as an antique, thus raising the selling price and value. I think this
is the date that you're looking for.

There is also a criteria for what might be considered an antique.
Rarity is certainly a requirement. Oddity, uniqueness, and documented
history, are also important as in a bicycle owned by a famous person.
You have only to watch Antique Roadshow on TV to see how it works.

The actual value of an antique bicycle is primarily set by what buyers
are willing to pay for it. If it's sufficiently collectable, the
prices can be astronomical. To get there requires promotion,
documentation, and possibly a shill[1] make it look desirable and
increase the selling price. For example, if you owned a bicycle that
was ridden by an obscure racer that won a few odd races, getting
articles published featuring the racer and his "miraculous machine"
might gain sufficient attention to make it desirable owning the
bicycle.

I guess if something fails to sell at auction, it's no longer an
antique, and is reclassified as "junk".



[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shill


--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558