Replacing 10 year old Claud Butler

MikeK34

About ten years ago I bought a Claud Butler for approx £200. It was stolen recently and my insurance is offering me a bike costing £250. The insurance company say you get more for your money now that's why the replacement is only £250 but a bike "expert" I know says CB's were well made (weren't made in China back then) and to get a bike of the same quality you're talking £500. He says it's the frame that makes the difference.

Can anyone tell me who is right and if I should be getting more from the insurance company how can I back up the arguement?

Thanks in advance.
MikeK

JxL

It will probably be hard to make them pay more than the value of the bike, although I guess it is worth a try. A signed letter from Claud Butler might be of some aid to convince the insurance company, although I do think it is unlikely they will pay more (but worth a try).

For £500 you can get a very decent bike, but most things are still "made in china", even with british designed bikes e.g Genesis, Orange.

supersonic

A 250 quid bike today will be vastly better than one of 10 years ago.

wings988

If you had a 10 year old car stolen do you think the insurance would give you one of equivalent value to when it was new? get real man and take the offer before they get a grip on reality and change their minds. Your 10 year old CB wouldnt have sold for £250 therefor it wasnt worth that much. Effectively you've had 10 years use out of it for free.

gthang

agree £250 is very generous imo. Your old bike would (as a guess) have a 2nd hand value of about a 5th of the payout. I'd suggest you take the money and run.

Northwind

He's maybe got a point in that a £300 bike today will probably be a bit less well made than a £300 bike 10 years ago, because the budget is stretched more thinly- disc brakes, better forks etc so there's less money left to spend on the core parts. But the performance doesn't compare at all, today's bike might not be quite as high quality but it'll be much better.

Take the money and run, before they realise they're paying you about 4 times the actual market value!

Andy B

I had a 2&1/2yr old £2800 bike stolen, I was offered £1400 as a replacement,needless to say I took the money.

I'd take the money, yes the frame may have been a better build quality, but the ride compared to modern bikes may not be as good.

You can get pretty decent bikes for ~£300 these days, yes the frames will be made in the Far East, but a lot of £1000 bikes are made over there, the quality can be very high, it doesn't matter where a bike was made if the design is good & the build quality is good.

supersonic

A 200 quid CB 10 years ago - be lucky to get even a 7 speed freewheel, canti brakes, cup and cone BB, hi ten frame, galvanised spokes, steel bars, quill stem...