Second-hand bikes?

[Cycleops]

If @SkipdiverJohn reads this thread be prepared for a very full answer!

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

You can buy new bikes?

Most of mine have been found in the dump.

Mine are a mixture of intentional secondhand purchases, unintentional secondhand purchases, and ones that just happened to be in builders skips at the time I was passing!

You really can't beat a used bargain bike, so long as you're not a mechanical numpty and can sort out any issues with them without paying someone else to do it. I've got some nice classic stuff with brazed & lugged frames, Reynolds tubing etc, that I really admire for the fact that they are British-made, and weren't built by a robot. I would not even consider buying a new bike as nothing available in the mass-produced market today is anywhere near as nice as any of my old British ones, and the only new stuff now that is nice is also extremely pricey and still won't give me anything I can't get from my old bikes.

 

[raleighnut]

Most of my bikes were acquired as old frames then built up by me.

 

[kingrollo]

You would be daft not consider 2nd hand. There are a lot of people who jump up on summer morning rush about and buy a new bike - then discover that it takes a good deal of effort to make that thing go up hill !!! - Hence a lot of used bikes aren't actually 'used that much'

I also work out the cost new then factor what might need replacing on a used. For example I brought a used giant defy - cost new would have been £600 - factor in in £50-60 for a bit of TLC - But I got the bike the for £275

I took a chance on some shimano c50 carbon wheels £600 new - I got then for £350 they have been fine.

What would worry about high end carbon frames is the amount of fakes out there now.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

You would be daft not consider 2nd hand. There are a lot of people who jump up on summer morning rush about and buy a new bike - then discover that it takes a good deal of effort to make that thing go up hill !!! - Hence a lot of used bikes aren't actually 'used that much'.........

What would worry about high end carbon frames is the amount of fakes out there now.

You can usually tell from just a listing picture if a bike has had much actual use or not. A bike that has seen some service will often have odd front and rear tyres fitted, because one wore out and was replaced before the other. Anything that has done much commuting will have some frame scrapes and the mudguards might look a bit battered where other bikes have bashed into it in cycle racks. Rust on the chain is also a telltale sign of commuting use and/or outdoor storage.

I try to avoid anything hard-used and go for bikes bought in a rush of enthusiasm then soon laid up with minimal use. There's plenty of them around! I got an immaculate 1994 Raleigh for £20 from a chap who had it new to ride along a towpath, but anglers he encountered got on his nerves so he soon gave up and stuck it in a shed for the next 22 years!. The fact the 23" frame was a bit big for him, with the saddle set as low as it would go, probably didn't help as unplanned dismounts would have been "interesting"
Another tidy one, also £20, came from a posh part of South London. Seller bought the bike in 1989 for his boy as a teenager, who clearly rode it carefully for a few years before moving out and leaving the bike behind. Same story, bike goes into the shed and gets forgotten about for the next 25 years until the old man decides to have a sort out. By this time the grown-up son has no interest in riding bikes, so it gets sold to me.

I don't worry about buying (or salvaging) secondhand steel. Any serious frame damage will be evident in the form of crinkled paint or visible misalignment of the tubes or forks. In my experience, most steel bikes, no matter how shabby and scruffy they may be cosmetically, have perfectly sound and safe to ride frames. I wouldn't trust secondhand carbon frames either, but then I don't like the look of carbon bikes anyway and have no desire to own one.

 

[Gravity Aided]

Same here, last bicycle I got, a Specialized Hardrock Sport, was going into a skip where my friend was helping clean a garage. I was quite ill at the time, so Mrs. GA went along. Mrs. GA has often been my assistant in these endeavors, as she drove a different section of town than my commute to work, and could spot lugged steel at some distance. I'd get an excited phone call, and swing by on my way home from work, or go back with our truck, or later, car to pick up bikes.

 

[biggs682]

Another tidy one, also £20, came from a posh part of South London. Seller bought the bike in 1989 for his boy as a teenager, who clearly rode it carefully for a few years before moving out and leaving the bike behind. Same story, bike goes into the shed and gets forgotten about for the next 25 years until the old man decides to have a sort out. By this time the grown-up son has no interest in riding bikes, so it gets sold to me.

I don't worry about buying (or salvaging) secondhand steel. Any serious frame damage will be evident in the form of crinkled paint or visible misalignment of the tubes or forks. In my experience, most steel bikes, no matter how shabby and scruffy they may be cosmetically, have perfectly sound and safe to ride frames. I wouldn't trust secondhand carbon frames either, but then I don't like the look of carbon bikes anyway and have no desire to own one.

@SkipdiverJohn i totally agree with your comments older steel bikes are galore and some good bargains and normally run of the mill components can last for ages where as some of the modern stuff is a nightmare