Advice on buying used road bike

"Michael S. Moorhead" <[email hidden]> wrote in :"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Hello,

A friend and I have been taking longer and longer weekend rides on our hybrid and mountain bikes
and have been contemplating buying used road bikes during the off-season.

When is the best time of year and where should we be looking for used bikes?

I would say during the Fall / Winter. This is when most bike stores and racers are trying to unload
last year's inventory. Try www.eBay.com or www.roadbikereview.com. Also rec.bicycles.marketplace You
could also try the LBSs in your area and scope the classified ads in your local newspaper.

Quoted message said:

How old is old? Does quality fade off dramatically after 5 years or so?

Its not about age, but mileage. If its been sitting in a garage for 5 years, than the only thing old
is the technology. If its been ridden 50+ miles a day for 5 years, odds are (unless very well cared
for, worn out parts replaced, etc.) its *old*.

Quoted message said:

About what could one ask for ~$300?

That depends on how good of a bike wrench you are 😉 $300 won't get you much... unless you enjoy
wrenching a lot. With road bikes, up until around $1200 you pretty much get what you pay for.

Quoted message said:

I know these are very general questions, but your advice and any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks,

Mike Moorhead [email hidden]

Your welcome,

- Boyd S.

Michael S. Moorhead said:

When is the best time of year and where should we be looking for used bikes?

At stores, end of season is coming up, or maybe here already.

Better: people's garbage. I found a very good Peugeot that needed a little work and is now a rather
nice road bike.

Of course, you have to be not embarassed to pull a bicycle from somebody's garbage on garbage day,
and it's hard to find one when you want one. When I wanted one, I could not find one for months.
Since I've gotten it, I see them all the time [and salvage some].

Quoted message said:

How old is old? Does quality fade off dramatically after 5 years or so?

Technology becomes obsolete. However, you can replace parts whose technology isn't to your liking
easily enough.

Quoted message said:

About what could one ask for ~$300?

That should get a moderately nice used road bike, if you buy from the owner. I get the feeling that
you won't find many used road bikes at LBSs.

Consider, also, that you can get new low-end road bikes for about $500 at LBSs; and if you have a
[censored]'s Sporting Goods near you, they have a Diamondback road bike that seems to be better quality
than you'd expect from a seemingly department store bike, and it goes for about $300.

Quoted message said:

Thanks,

Mike Moorhead [email hidden]

--
Rick Onanian

In article <[email hidden]>, Boyd Speerschneider

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

How old is old? Does quality fade off dramatically after 5 years or so?

Its not about age, but mileage. If its been sitting in a garage for 5 years, than the only thing
old is the technology.

This can be important. Not as new as 5 years, though. I have an old thing, and things like my 6
speed cogssets (not freewheel) are not easy to find.

--
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LITTLE KNOWN FACT: Did you know that 86% of North Americans cannot taste the difference between
fried dog and fried cat?

"Michael S. Moorhead" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

A friend and I have been taking longer and longer weekend rides on our hybrid and mountain bikes
and have been contemplating buying used road

bikes

Quoted message said:

during the off-season.

When is the best time of year and where should we be looking for used

bikes?

Garage sale time is a pretty good time, if you are looking for something modest. There's a bunch of
things to look for; Jon Isaacs has a writeup he will send on request giving a lot of tips about
looking for a used bike (search up his e-mail address using Google on this newsgroup.)

Beyond size, the main thing to look for is wheels. If they are steel, you will need to get the bike
very cheaply, because you are probably going to want to replace those steel rims with aluminum
alloy wheels, and that will be about $130+. That's not necessarily bad (because a bike with new
wheels is a good thing), but something you should prepare for. Also, you should know that 27 inch
wheels are an obsolete size; you can still get replacement parts, but there are no new ones made
(700mm replaced
it).

Quoted message said:

How old is old? Does quality fade off dramatically after 5 years or so?

Not really quality. The two road bikes I have were made in 1976 and 1980. HOWEVER, newer bikes will
have better shifting (e.g. STI rather than those downtube friction shifters). If you grew up with
friction shifters, these are OK, but if you really like the grip-shift type of shifting on modern
hybrids and mountain bikes, you will find friction shifting an adjustment.

Quoted message said:

About what could one ask for ~$300?

You can certainly get a moderate original quality road bike you can put thousands of miles on, if
you are patient. However, it may be wise to look for something in the ~$200 range, with the idea of
spending ~$100 overhauling the bearings, replacing some of the rubber parts, and just generally
getting it in tune.

When I returned to riding a road bike, I bought one for $40 at a rummage sale -- then spent $40 on
an upgraded saddle, and $140 for new wheels and $40 for one new tire and new tubes. So, the $40 bike
cost $260 to get outfitted -- on the other hand I now have over 7000 miles on this bike.

Some of the best garage sale values are bikes that have not been ridden in a decade or more, and the
owner just wants the garage space back. However, 10 year old tires that have been sitting in a
garage are not tires you will want, and bearings that haven't moved in 10 years will greatly benefit
from cleaning and new grease.

None of this contradicts what the other posters said; there was good advice there, also.