Buying Advice for complete Beginner...please 🙏

[CP87]

Hi,

I’ve been looking for a second hand bike for an occasional cycle around Richmond Park, up the Thames path etc nothing too drastic or for regular commuting. I’ve had cheap bikes in the past that have fallen to pieces, so I dont want to go down that route again.

I found on Gumtree a BTwin Riverside Hybrid bike, I think it’s roughly 7 years old, original price approx £600 and it’s up for £350ish. I have no idea on bike brands, qualities or values. Is this:

a) a good bike/brand
b) a reasonable asking price for a 7 or 8 year old bike? (it looks in very good condition tbf)

thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

B'Twin stuff is good value new, as is much of what Decathlon sell, but £350 for a 7/8 year old bike that was supposedly £600 new is way overpriced. You wouldn't pay more than 50% of the new price for a car of the same age. Bikes depreciate heavily and are only worth half their new price after two or three years.
There's a lot of new junk about and there's a lot of overpriced used stuff with cheeky sellers trying to profiteer off the back of the virus. Real bargains are currently few and far between.
You can get the basic versions of the B'Twin Riverside for less than £200 new, and for the sort of use you want one for they should tick the boxes. Avoid the more expensive models with suspension forks. They make the bikes heavy and are a maintenance liability. The less parts bikes have on them the better, since you have to propel all those parts around.
If you want a decent secondhand hybrid, buy a steel framed Raleigh Pioneer from the 1990's and don't pay more than £100 even for a really clean tidy example.

 

[CP87]

Thank you. Really helpful and literally everything I needed to know. Much appreciated!!