Bridgestone XO-5 X 2

http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/bik/3799013631.html
Rare Bridgestone Bike Bicycles

I have 2 rare Bridgestone bicycles for sale. These are hard to find and there weren't very many made. One has been ridden once and the other three times. They are basically new, as you can tell from the pictures. Both are model XO-5. One comes with a water bottle and one has a rack on the back of it. Very cool bikes. These were very expensive when I purchased them at a bike shop in my area. One is mine and the other is my wife's. Both have been sitting in my garage for a long time! Asking $250 each. Please send an email with you name and phone number and I will contact you if you are interested!

First off, you'll just have to click the link for the images because they wont resize any better than that.  Lots of sticky areas here, we're dropping names, rarity, and value.  So one by one, shall we?  If you want to read original Bridgestone material, please click here: http://sheldonbrown.com/bridgestone/

These are indeed Bridgestone X0-5s, which were Grant Peterson's approach to the maligned 'hybrid' style of bicycle.  They're considered the forerunners of what he would go on to do at Rivendell, building bikes where safety, quality and comfort would not be sacrificed to performance.  The XO series was produced for two years and featured models 1-5, with the XO-1 being the most idiosyncratic and the XO-5 being the most compromised, typical hybrid.  The higher end XO series were lugged, Peterson being a vocal proponant of lugged steel to this day, and the XO-5 was tig welded.  So, undeniably these are bikes that are associated with prestige in the history of bike making, but Bridgestone is more remembered for the design innovations that were sadly left out here. 

Everyone likes to say 'rare bike.'  There's an often trampled difference between rare and uncommon.  You might not see a Mini Cooper every day but that doesn't change the fact that there are a billion of them out there.  It's generally hard to say with certainty how rare a bike is, and if you look at the market long enough you'll get a sense of what brands and models are in circulation.  But Bridgestone takes some of the guess work out of it and just lets us know via the catalog that the production run for 1993 was 6,900 bikes.  So, there you go.  I have seen XO bikes come up for sale before and at decent prices.  My friend was looking for a bike for his wife at the same time an XO-3 Mixte for $135 came up locally and I begged him to buy it, which he didn't.  But being a smaller/collectable brand you're not going to see these as often, they have greater purchase of the word 'rare,' but on this end of the range it's still probably safer to say uncommon.

Guy also says he paid a lot, and Bridgestone takes care of that too because they actually list prices in their catalogs.  He paid around $450 in 1993 or 1994 dollars.  He is now trying to sell them for $250.  For a hybrid bike that is a pretty great retention of value on his part.  But these are a reputable company with componants that are comprable to what you'd buy new on a hybrid now.  They design is better too, and if you want to sell it you should enjoy a similar retention of value if they're taken care of.  If these are indeed as pristine as advertised these are a pretty great deal, and you should buy them.  It's just a shame that they aren't that Bridgestone you were hoping for.

A funny side note, in the intro to the XO series they write about how people tend to start out on road or mountain bikes, and pick up a hybrid later, which seems to be the exact opposite of what you see now.