Second hand bike pricing....

[Gunk]

I still can't see many used bikes being sold at the moment as even if you offered delivery by a courier is it really an essential delivery ???

As for collections i can't see it either .

And as for house / car purchases i don't think they will happen much till we are out of this crisis

Its a shame as my Brompton is now finished and I now have plenty of time on my hands, I’ve serviced and cleaned all 6 bikes, my next job is to get the little Elvish down and just do a little more work/detailing to it to keep me busy.

 

[biggs682]

@Gunk that's a nice looking machine for sure
My job is to start tidying and sorting my garage so i could easily spend the next 12 weeks in there and still not be done
At some point i will need to sort a bench for in there so that could be fun trying to order one of them , i might even start a thread on the task

 

[wafter]

When I assess how much of a bargain I've bought I price-adjust the original cost of a bike for inflation to the time of secondhand purchase, then measure how much I actually paid against that.
For example, the list price of the Raleigh Royal Tourer I own, I've found out, was originally £343 in 1987, which is £1,000 in today's money. Mine cost me £30 used, so I paid 3p in the £ of it's original cost, or a discount of 97% - whichever way you want to look at it. The value of money is not constant, and comparing the secondhand value of a bike priced at say, £1000 ten years ago, without adjusting for inflation, gives a false impression of the true amount of depreciation that occurs.

Interesting exercise; although the stuff I'm in the market for is all pretty new so inflation is less of a concern.

Unsurprisingly the number of new (used) bikes hitting the market appears to have slowed to a trickle; I have seen an apparently barely-ridden 2016 CdF 20 for £650 with a few extras, which seems like a reasonable buy. Unfortunately it's 150 miles away; a journey I'd certainly not be entertaining in the current climate

Meanwhile the muppets continue to re-list ridiculously over-priced stuff on ebay, which unsurprisingly continues to generate zero interest. In principal I'd rather wait until the current situation has abated to see what comes to market, however half of me is expecting a bit of a bounce in bike prices and tbh the longer this drags on the more inclined I am to just chuck a load of money at getting one delivered - especially if we end up with tighter restrictions on cycling and I have to turn to rural paths away from prying eyes to get my fix!

 

[Gunk]

@Gunk that's a nice looking machine for sure
My job is to start tidying and sorting my garage so i could easily spend the next 12 weeks in there and still not be done
At some point i will need to sort a bench for in there so that could be fun trying to order one of them , i might even start a thread on the task

I’ve thought about sorting out my garage but all the local tips are closed so what do you do with all the crap?

 

[Shearwater Missile]

I’ve thought about sorting out my garage but all the local tips are closed so what do you do with all the crap?

Same goes with garden rubbish

 

[biggs682]

I’ve thought about sorting out my garage but all the local tips are closed so what do you do with all the crap?

Are you suggesting that I have some crap

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Meanwhile the muppets continue to re-list ridiculously over-priced stuff on ebay, which unsurprisingly continues to generate zero interest. In principal I'd rather wait until the current situation has abated to see what comes to market, however half of me is expecting a bit of a bounce in bike prices and tbh the longer this drags on the more inclined I am to just chuck a load of money at getting one delivered - especially if we end up with tighter restrictions on cycling and I have to turn to rural paths away from prying eyes to get my fix!

Luckily I've got plenty of bikes, so I can just watch and laugh at the muppet listings. I'm not convinced about any possible price bounce. Yes, I'm seeing a few more bikes being ridden around parks etc, but there are literally millions of the things lurking in sheds & garages across the land and currently a small number of those are being dusted off and ridden, maybe for the first time in years. Utilisation of the existing pool of bikes might increase slightly in the short term, but it may not translate into higher prices or more new sales. Cycle sales are fuelled by good intentions that rarely last!
The current restrictions on everyday activity are probably responsible for me getting a couple of FOC parts donors to strip last week, as they would have ordinarily have been destined for the tip. Someone I work with is having a garage clear out as well, and he's got ones that I can have before they go in the scrap. Waiting to see if they are my sort of traditional steel stuff or not....

 

[Pale Rider]

I’ve thought about sorting out my garage but all the local tips are closed so what do you do with all the crap?

Dump it in my back lane - everybody else does.

 

[wafter]

Luckily I've got plenty of bikes, so I can just watch and laugh at the muppet listings. I'm not convinced about any possible price bounce. Yes, I'm seeing a few more bikes being ridden around parks etc, but there are literally millions of the things lurking in sheds & garages across the land and currently a small number of those are being dusted off and ridden, maybe for the first time in years. Utilisation of the existing pool of bikes might increase slightly in the short term, but it may not translate into higher prices or more new sales. Cycle sales are fuelled by good intentions that rarely last!
The current restrictions on everyday activity are probably responsible for me getting a couple of FOC parts donors to strip last week, as they would have ordinarily have been destined for the tip. Someone I work with is having a garage clear out as well, and he's got ones that I can have before they go in the scrap. Waiting to see if they are my sort of traditional steel stuff or not....

Aye; you're probably right about prices - easy to over-think stuff when you've got a lot of time on your hands and I'm sure we've all got bigger things to worry about than having to spend a few extra quid on a new toy.

Good luck with your colleague's garage clearout - may its fruits be festooned with Reynolds stickers

 

[Gunk]

There has been a couple of decent projects popping up on Gumtree recently but goodness know how on earth I could actually buy and collect whilst staying safe and within the guidelines.

Shame as I have loads of time on my hands at the moment.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Good luck with your colleague's garage clearout - may its fruits be festooned with Reynolds stickers

Most likely only old cheapo MTB's in the wrong frame size, knowing my luck I've got nothing to lose though - he's going to take pictures of what he drags out and send them to me so I can see if they're worth salvaging or not.

 

[ChrisEyles]

I've got a few bikes on FB / gumtree and have had an explosion of interest in them over the past week.

Mind you, they are pretty basic 90s MTBs priced to sell and I guess will go to people who need a bike to commute for a short while due to changing circumstances with work. A shame as a couple are really quite nice and I hoped they'd go to someone who'd appreciate eg a full 90s Exage groupset But if they do someone a good turn in difficult times that's even better.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

The basic 90's variety are the only type worth owning, IMHO. I much prefer just riding them to spending cash and time sorting out suspension problems. If I had a 26er with full Exage kit on it there is no way I'd be getting rid of it. Even if I didn't need the bike itself I'd keep it as a parts donor. Decent MTB mechanicals are always worth holding on to for future replacements. I salvage anything I can get my hands on, from basic low-end Shimano upwards.
I'm not actually seeing that many more cyclists about. There's definitely a few more leisure riders out on paths and in parks, but offset by not so many commuters. Overall I think any change in cyclist numbers is very marginal.

 

[ChrisEyles]

They're certainly very versatile steeds!

Must admit personally I'd rather use a road bike for road riding (a steel frame shod with 32mm / 1,1/4" tyres is more than capable of a bit of light off road too), and then use a hardtail/FS for proper MTB riding in anger. Having said that I rode a rigid 90s Marin for years on the same trails and still had a lot of fun, it was just hard work and rather bruising!

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I've ridden my Raleigh Royal tourer in some of the places I use an MTB, and with care, they can cope with light off road, as can a steel 700c hybrid like my Pioneer. However, road-based frames are ultimately limited by having less BB and pedal to ground clearance than a purpose-built MTB and 26" wheels are stronger than 700's or 27's.
I tend to choose a bike based on how much of the ride is intended to be on tarmac and how much off. If the off road bits are mostly just cut-throughs linking roads and won't form the majority of the ride mileage, I'll take a hybrid, tourer, or maybe even a 3-speed - depending on my mood! If I'm setting out purposely to spend a couple of hours riding on gravel paths and in woods, with minimal tarmac, then out comes a 26er!