Buying Used Bikes

[ruffers]

Thanks for all your info and help, eventually got lucky and got this merlin, made up with the purchase and can’t wait to take it for a spin

 

[tom73]

Nice look's hardly used.

 

[ruffers]

Thanks, the chap who I bought it off said he bought it as a 2nd bike but just never used it as much as he thought he would

 

[Gunk]

There are some proper bargains if you look carefully, I picked up my 2016 BMC ALR01 Team Machine off eBay last year for £475, it had only ever been on a turbo trainer and was genuinely unmarked and like brand new, he even threw in two extra sets of tyres, I upgraded the brakes and crankset (to match the other 105 5800 components) and for under £650 I’ve got a bike which currently retails for just under £2000. The only caveat is that it is tricky finding the exact bike you want in the correct size, but I got lucky.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I picked up my 2016 BMC ALR01 Team Machine off eBay last year for £475...…. he even threw in two extra sets of tyres, I upgraded the brakes and crankset (to match the other 105 5800 components) and for under £650 I’ve got a bike which currently retails for just under £2000.

This is why I'm always banging on about horrendous depreciation on new high end stuff. Think about it; @Gunk buys a virtually unused, then 3 year old bike for a quarter of what the original owner paid for it, plus a couple of sets of tyres that could well have been another hundred quids' worth if they were premium rubber.
Even after some upgrading, it's still a £2k+ package bought for just 30p in the pound, and the bits taken off still have some value as useful spares. Its not my sort of bike at all, but it's the way to get a bargain when buying!

 

[Gunk]

Its not my sort of bike at all,

It wasn’t mine either, but my son kept banging on at me to buy a decent modern road bike, so I caved in, but I’m glad I bought it, it’s a really nice bike, beautifully finished, the 105 5800 is a great groupset and it’s just really nice to ride.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Glad you're happy with it. I just can't bring myself to like the aesthetics of modern roadie stuff no matter how light and fast they might potentially be. I will say it's not the worst looker out there by a long way though, and it's not covered with really garish decals. There's some real mingers that actually hurt my eyes.....

 

[12boy]

I once bought a full Campag hand made bike for $5.00 at an estate sale. Hardly ridden, made from Columbus tubing, weighed less than 20 lbs. Only downside for me was sewup wheels. Couple of years ago I got a Holdsworth Special, also Campag with Phil hubs, a tool box full of extra parts, a bike stand, a truing stand etc, for $180.00. A little patina, no rust or dents. Used bikes can be great!

 

[Gunk]

Our best bargain was this 2009 BMC Streetfire with a full 105 Groupset on it bought off Gumtree for £30!

it was just filthy with two flat tyres, I cleaned it, serviced it and spent about a tenner on it and we sold it on eBay for £330

 

[Knightly85]

I used facebook.