Opinions on buying a 2005 specialized dolce

[Juan Kog]

Hmm... maybe it's a good time to sell on my Giant TCR, threads like this remind me that I've not even ridden it once in a year since I got my tourer.
Ive got CUK / CTC membership... Just need some Jesus sandals and a beard now.

Plus Brooks saddle ,carradice saddlebag and mudguards all year round .🤔 That’s me
( edit) I’m a CUK life member I have no chance of being a normal cyclist .

 

[CanucksTraveller]

Plus Brooks saddle ,carradice saddlebag and mudguards all year round.

Erm, embarrassing to admit but.... check! (On all three)....
Time for me racy bike to go i feel.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I'd hazard a guess, but I'd say that the vast majority of bikes bought from Halfrods et al, end up at the back of garages with no more than 20 or 30 miles under their belts?

Fact is, if you do your due diligence, you could end up with the bargain of the century. If you don't, you could end up buying a nice looking frame needing £500 worth of parts to make it properly rideable.

Not just the cheaper Halfords bikes either. My '88/89 Raleigh Gemini hybrid was a fairly expensive bike in it's day, being 531 and having some decent quality mechanicals. That was supplied new by FW Evans in Kingston, according to the dealer sticker. When I bought it in 2018 for £20 it still had the original Michelin World Tour tyres, and they weren't worn just shabbly. It had only had either one or two puncture repairs (can't remember which), and mechanically it rode like new - and still does. At a pinch, it might have done a couple of hundred miles, which is peanuts in 30 years.
Much the same story with my 1985 Raleigh Royal tourer. Expensive bike new, paid £30 for it in 2019. Original Michelin tyres again. One repair patch in a tube. Mechanically very smooth and quiet, not the bag of spanners feel you get from knackered high mieage machinery. few more minor dings and scrapes where it had been leaned against poles etc, but I still reckon the mileage was in the few hundreds, no more and that was spread over 34 years! In both cases we are probably looking at a yearly average of no more than 10 or 20 miles having been ridden.

 

[fair weather cyclist]

Try a wanted ad in the classifieds on this forum?
Where in the country are you. There’s an active Facebook group for bike sales in Yorkshire as an alternative
Or treat her to a new bike and take the risk out...but let her choose it!!!

Cheers for the advice.

That was a bit short lived, as I've already decided against getting her a bike at all.

As mentioned by others, the second hand market is a rip-off right now. She doesn't seem too bothered by having a bike either, like...she wants it but doesn't want it. Too big a gamble to get here something new plus there's nothing at all even in the new market. Everything is out of stock anywhere.

Oh well, cake and vouchers it is...

 

[AuroraSaab]

Sounds like the right decision. Used bikes are overpriced at the moment so you could easily spend a lot on a fairly knackered bike that was rarely used. If you see a decent bike going cheap you could always revisit the idea. It's not just the money; bikes take a lot of space up too.