Should I buy a second hand road bike?

[User48980]

With new bikes you get what ever amount you pay for.

But I have seen some bikes second hand which were like £6000 rrp and being sold for £2000

Then it made me realize i could get a really great deal for a second hand road bike?

Any thoughts or advice?

 

[CanucksTraveller]

Yes, it's generally very good value to buy used, so long as you know what you're looking for of course.

 

[biggs682]

@Novantix and a lot of them wont have seen much use either so yes

 

[gbb]

I suspect with close inspection you an tell a bike that's had little use...and therefore could be a bargain.
It's in the detail, scuffs on the cranks, abrasions on the teeth of the chain rings with use, wear on the bar tape, wear on the rims etc etc...you can't easily make a well used bike look new.

The flip side is if you get it wrong and buy let's say an Ultegra equipped bike, parts start to get expensive.

 

[vickster]

If you're 15, are you still growing? Thus, is it wise to spend £2k on a bike you could outgrow?

 

[wheresthetorch]

Ask to see a receipt as well, to ensure the bike hasn't been stolen. If it looks too good to be true . . .

 

[Dogtrousers]

"£2k" "bike" and "bargain" are not often seen together in the same sentence.

 

[400bhp]

It depends on the age, use and components.

I'd personally not buy a £2k used bike unless I knew of the owner or unless it was very very clean.

I have a couple of second hand bikes now and am very pleased with them,

 

[S-Express]

With new bikes you get what ever amount you pay for.

Not sure that's entirely true..

 

[User6179]

You could get a really good new 2016 bike for 2k , Just spent £940 on a new bike and got 11 speed 105 , carbon frame and forks , Fulcrum 5 wheels , for £1600 I could of got full Ultegra and Mavic Ksyrium Elite wheels .

 

[Dogtrousers]

You could get a really good new 2016 bike for 2k , Just spent £940 on a new bike and got 11 speed 105 , carbon frame and forks , Fulcrum 5 wheels , for £1600 I could of got full Ultegra and Mavic Ksyrium Elite wheels .

And what's more you'd get a full guarantee, and you'd know it hadn't been crashed or stolen.

 

[User6179]

And what's more you'd get a full guarantee, and you'd know it hadn't been crashed or stolen.

Warranty is the deal breaker when buying a bike for me as I have broken 3 of the last 5 bikes I have bought , snapped off BB shell on a Aluminium Specialized , cracked BB shell on a carbon Cube , water cage bosses loose on a aluminium Trek .

 

[CanucksTraveller]

One more thing to consider is that there are an awful lot of new old stock bikes sitting around the country going unsold, and they're priced very well since many riders buying new don't want last year's model. As an example, Paul's Bikes have the 2015 Giant TCR Advanced 3 for 649 pounds which isn't that far off half the original list price of 1049.

Edit; A point already made well by @Eddy ! Sorry, I should have read the thread properly.

 

[HarryTheDog]

In the last 11 years I must have bought around 18 bikes for myself and family. Only 4 were new and 2 of those new ones were cost price ( bought when my son was working in a bike shop). The only one that had problems was a MTB where the forks lost air and I had to buy another set of forks, the seller refused to accept responsibility ie sold as seen.
Bikes are generally simple bits of kit, over the years most enthusiasts change all the parts on a bike anyway. For me secondhand is usually the way to go, a new bike loses pounds as soon as you wheel it out of the shop. I recently sold a track bike I bought 5 yrs ago secondhand for more than I paid for it.

 

[MarkF]

Go for it, I've only had 2 new bikes and one of those was an insurance replacement. Since 2008 I've bought second hand (not 4rd or 5th) from (usually) fat people who have given up after a just ride or two, they are "as new". I'd prefer a new bike tbh but this way helps me to have more bikes.