>>1897721old road bikes are fantastic. If you want something smooth and comfy you're looking for an old sport-tourer
>is it hard to find replacement parts for stuff this old?No. The major exception is french bikes. And inexpensive classic or classic-style wheels in actually good condition. So if you buy a project getting one with decent wheels is the most critical thing.
>i know in this instance he spent very little to fix it upYou're looking at 100-200 on most overhauls for nice consumables.
>almost every time i see someone wanting to restore a bike all the comments say its not worth itIt's because most old bikes floating around aren't classic they're just old. You want to overhaul something that was somewhat expensive when it was new. Most people can't tell the difference. It doesn't mean there aren't a tonne of worthy projects around.
Some bottom tier models from nice brands with cool paint will ride reasonably well, but it's still not what you want unless you're operating on a hard budget. Your pic is an example of that.
The expensive new stem and saddle they have put on that bike cost more than the entire thing would have new.
This pic may help you.
That batavus for example has flat stamped steel dropouts with a claw hanger, and suicide brake levers. It also has very flat lugs which are probably stamped steel. A shitty fork crown. And shitty brake calipers/derailers. I would pass on it just at a glance, but if it was like $20 maybe it's a good buy because nice paint. It's a very low spec bike. I've had some true shitters i quite liked but boy an actually nice classic is a thing of beauty to ride.
