need advice on eBay bikes

"Andrew Short" <[email hidden]> wrote in news:RYCZa.81330$cF.26650@rwcrnsc53:

Quoted message said:

I've noticed that one particular eBay seller, with multiple listings, is selling new "Mercier
Corvus" and "Motobecane Legacy Elite" bikes, among others, for around 1/2 of retail. Can anybody
tell me (1) if these are *the* Mercier and Motobecane lines traditionally associated with quality
bikes and (2) if there are any reasons to be suspicious of the legitimacy of these offers?

They are probably real bikes. Made in Taiwan or China, though. The real company is called Mercian
and is still in business in England. I don't think Motobecane makes bikes in France anymore, though
they may have sold the naming rights to someone who imports bikes from Taiwan.

"Andrew Short" <[email hidden]> wrote in news:RYCZa.81330$cF.26650@rwcrnsc53:

Quoted message said:

I've noticed that one particular eBay seller, with multiple listings, is selling new "Mercier
Corvus" and "Motobecane Legacy Elite" bikes, among others, for around 1/2 of retail. Can anybody
tell me (1) if these are *the* Mercier and Motobecane lines traditionally associated with quality
bikes and (2) if there are any reasons to be suspicious of the legitimacy of these offers?

If you were considering an entry-level road racing bike, would you consider / not consider these?

I'm not suggesting that there *is* anything to be suspicious about here, I'm just asking for
advice before I commit money.

Thanks.

Andrew Short

Andrew,

I'm not trying to sound condescending here, but look at the sellers rating. This will usually tell
you wheather or not his customers are satisfied. If he is selling knock-offs, he will most likely
have a bad rating.

- Boyd S.

Quoted message said:

They are probably real bikes. Made in Taiwan or China, though. The real company is called Mercian
and is still in business in England. I don't think Motobecane makes bikes in France anymore,
though they may

have

Quoted message said:

sold the naming rights to someone who imports bikes from Taiwan.

Mercian and Mercier were two different companies, with Mercier being a French bike along the lines
of Gitane, Motobecane, Peugeot etc.

A number of names of past bike lines have been purchased (or acquired at no cost due to trademarks
not be renewed) and applied to el-cheapo bikes made in factories that have no lineage whatsoever
with the original brand, and certainly no assumptions regarding quality are to be made based on the
name. That may not be totally accurate; it may be safe to assume that the quality is going to be
very low, with the selling point being entirely price + the old name, and the seller having the
advantage that the bikes aren't available anywhere for test rides or inspection.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles chainreactionbicycles.comchainreactionbicycles.comOpen ↗

andrew-<< Can anybody tell me (1) if these are *the* Mercier and Motobecane lines traditionally
associated with quality bikes and (2) if there are any reasons to be suspicious of the legitimacy of
these offers? >><BR><BR>

Look up 'caveat emptor'...and be wary...

Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St. Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535 vecchios.comvecchios.comOpen ↗ "Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

Quoted message said:

They are probably real bikes. Made in Taiwan or China, though. The real company is called Mercian
and is still in business in England. I don't think Motobecane makes bikes in France anymore, though
they may have sold the naming rights to someone who imports bikes from Taiw

Mercier is correct. This guy buys the rights to defunct makers like Mercier (a French maker for many
years) and puts the name on Chinese bikes Mercian is an Engilsh builder still very much in business,
see btinternet.comindex.htmOpen ↗ Phil Brown

Andrew Short said:

I've noticed that one particular eBay seller, with multiple listings, is selling new "Mercier
Corvus" and "Motobecane Legacy Elite" bikes, among others, for around 1/2 of retail. Can anybody
tell me (1) if these are *the* Mercier and Motobecane lines traditionally associated with quality
bikes and (2) if there are any reasons to be suspicious of the legitimacy of these offers?

As others have pointed out, these bikes have no connection with the Motobecanes and Merciers of old.

What really bothers me is the misleading commentary in the ads: "Motobecane is one of the top names
in the bike business - 75 years old, winner of the Tour d' France, winner of several world
championships..."

Art Harris

Quoted message said:

What really bothers me is the misleading commentary in the ads: "Motobecane is one of the top
names in the bike business - 75 years old, winner of the Tour d' France, winner of several world
championships..."

Art: They did say it was one of the top "names"... didn't say anything about the quality of
the bike! :>😉

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles www.ChainReaction.com

"Art Harris" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Andrew Short said:

I've noticed that one particular eBay seller, with multiple listings, is selling new "Mercier
Corvus" and "Motobecane Legacy Elite" bikes, among others, for around 1/2 of retail. Can anybody
tell me (1) if these are *the* Mercier and Motobecane lines traditionally associated with
quality bikes and (2) if there are any reasons to be suspicious of the

legitimacy of

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

these offers?

As others have pointed out, these bikes have no connection with the Motobecanes and
Merciers of old.

What really bothers me is the misleading commentary in the ads: "Motobecane is one of the top
names in the bike business - 75 years old, winner of the Tour d' France, winner of several world
championships..."

Art Harris

Andrew Short' may have said:

I've noticed that one particular eBay seller, with multiple listings, is selling new "Mercier
Corvus" and "Motobecane Legacy Elite" bikes, among others, for around 1/2 of retail. Can anybody
tell me (1) if these are *the* Mercier and Motobecane lines traditionally associated with quality
bikes and (2) if there are any reasons to be suspicious of the legitimacy of these offers?

If you were considering an entry-level road racing bike, would you consider / not consider these?

I'm not suggesting that there *is* anything to be suspicious about here, I'm just asking for advice
before I commit money.

Be aware that when buying a bike on eBay, many of the sellers tack on hidden handling charges or
inflate the shipping to make up for the apparent low price. That doesn't appear to be the case in
this instance, but there are other things that make me think this might not be the outstanding deal
that it's represented to be. First, the seller is in Florida, a region widely recognized as a source
of counterfeit and trademark-infringing goods. Second, although the seller tries to make it appear
that this is a competition-level unit, the description of the item shows that it is equipped with a
Shimano Altus rear der, which is hardly top of the line. (Other details fall in line as fitting in
the same category as the Altus der or below.)

Perhaps the most interesting part of the information I found, however, is this one: The ebay seller
is shown as being in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, and the domain registration for motobecane.com shows
*this* address:

C A Johnston (MOTOBECANE3-DOM) 176 Summerfield Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082 US

If that seems just a trifle too coincidental, perhaps it's best to look elsewhere.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail. Yes, I have a killfile. If I
don't respond to something, it's also possible that I'm busy.

Another interesting note: the seller also sells bikes from 'Mercier', and mentions that this is a famous company that started in 1921, and that Lance Armstrong's first race bike was a Mercier. But guess what? cyclesmercier.com is also registered to that town in FL! cycles-mercier.com looks like the real Mercier.

I contacted the seller in question and asked her what's up with the fact that motobecane.com and cyclesmercier.com are BOTH registered to someone in her town in FL. Here's what she wrote back. Also note that she admits that Lance Armstrong rode a French Mercier, not the ones she sells:

"first - Joe the guy with the domain name is a web designer
he does work for 6 bike companies I know of (I know him - but everyone in bikes knows everyone else)

Mercier is a USA corp
just like Raleigh America is a USA corp
Fuji America is a USA corp
so on and on
interesting note - when GT bicycles went Bankrupt - did not effect GT EURO or GT JAPAN - as they ard all different corps (maybe this is why they do it)
Bianchi is owned by Cycles Europe inc (biggest bike company in europe) BUT Bianchi USA is a different company
go figure

but all these guys have Ideal, Meridan, Giant, Overlord, etc make their bikes in Taiwan

I think the real question is:
Can you get a better bike for $700
if you think so and want to back out of the deal
just tell me and will get my fees back from EBAY
plus no hard feelings as I will sell out of these long before I can get more
(especially the Steel version - as there is a big demand for High grade steel)

Lance was on a french Mercier -- so different and not nearly as well made as the current bikes - but thats another story -- but no matter what brand you buy today
the quality is way above 20 years ago

courtney"

FYI, here's one of the bikes in question: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3627354666&category=7298&rd=1

Well, it seems nice enough bike for that price range. 105 is a good, entry level group set and many
riders never need anything better than that. I don't know the scoop on the crankset so I can't
comment on that (not a 105 crank).

It's hard to beat for under 700 bucks, but it's always better to buy at a local shop if you aren't
into the mechanical part of a bicycle.

It is surprising that the bike in the photo wasn't better set up for the shot. The seatpost is awful
high for anyone but Abraham Olanao and the seat is not level. You think they could have bothered
making it look better than that :-)

"theroboticone" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

FYI, here's one of the bikes in question: cgi.ebay.comeBayISOpen ↗
API.dll?ViewItem&item=3627354666&category=7298&rd=1

--

Quoted message said:

--------------------------<

Posted via cyclingforums.com cyclingforums.comcyclingforums.comOpen ↗

John Rees' may have said:

Well, it seems nice enough bike for that price range. 105 is a good, entry level group set and many
riders never need anything better than that. I don't know the scoop on the crankset so I can't
comment on that (not a 105 crank).

It's hard to beat for under 700 bucks, but it's always better to buy at a local shop if you aren't
into the mechanical part of a bicycle.

It is surprising that the bike in the photo wasn't better set up for the shot. The seatpost is
awful high for anyone but Abraham Olanao and the seat is not level. You think they could have
bothered making it look better than that :-)

Bear in mind these things:

The seller is apparently also the importer. They also sell bikes with a Motobecane brand label. The
Mercier and Motobecane names, having gone fallow due to the lack of a manufacturer to defend them,
have been pasted on to a bike that is from some blank-badge maker. This is not from the people who
made the historic Mercier (or Motobecane) bikes.

I would not judge these to be worth spending major amounts on. If I were going to lay out $500+ for
a bike, I'd want a lot more assurance about the nature of the frame and the identity of the actual
manufacturer than is presented in that listing. Yes, it has a Shimano 105 group on it; Pacific could
probably put those components on a $99 Roadmaster and sell the bike for under $190, but that
wouldn't make it a good unit.

If you are shopping for a quality bike, shop at the lbs. If you feel tempted to buy on eBay,
research your brands carefully before doing so. The Mercier and Motobecane brands are just
paste-on labels for all intents and purposes at this point, and there is probably no support
structure to back up the name at all. Part of what you pay for with a brand like Specialized is
the presence of an organization behind it with the knowledge, talent, and capacity to ensure that
the product is everything that you would reasonably expect, and that if something is wrong, that
it can be made right.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail. Yes, I have a killfile. If I
don't respond to something, it's also possible that I'm busy.

The bike looks decent enough. My guess is that it's a reasonable deal at a selling price of $750 or
less. The seller appears to have a great positive rating. I'm not impressed by the Cyclone cranks
though. Don't get carried away, because Bikesdirect.com sells the bike for $795.

r.b.

theroboticone <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

FYI, here's one of the bikes in question: cgi.ebay.comeBayISOpen ↗
API.dll?ViewItem&item=3627354666&category=7298&rd=1