second hand or new?

[grellboy]

Afternoon. On lookout for a road bike and selling my hybrid. Have kind of settled on Specialized Allez (basic model at c. £480) with Claris gearing, but just today been offered a 2013 model with shimano 2300 gearset. The price for this second hand bike is £200. Apparently the bike has a new chain and new rear cassette and has also just been serviced. What do you guys think.....£200 for the second hand or more than double for a brand spanky shiny one?

 

[biggs682]

@grellboy how much will the new one be worth once you have ridden it ?

go 2nd hand all mine are 2nd hand and over 30+ years old

 

[Dogtrousers]

Up to you really. £200 could buy a lot of gear/accessories. Claris is the new name for 2300.

PS. Is the second hand one the right size? If not, forget it.

 

[MiK1138]

bit of elbow grease will give you a sparkly shiny 2nd hand and you have £280 for upgrades/toys

 

[T4tomo]

If it's the right size then 2nd every time, especially for a first bike

 

[gbb]

Sounds ok. Check the gears work cleanly, ride it up and down, making sure the gears shift consistently. make sure there are no points where you operate the shifter ..and nothing happens at all, this indicates a busted shifter.
Quicklook around the frame, look at the welds, particually round the seatube and the BB, just to make sure there are no cracks. ..Unlikely anyway TBF.
Spin the wheels, true and free running ?
If the cassette and chain look new...200 sounds ok.

 

[biggs682]

If it's the right size then 2nd every time, especially for a first bike

it always amazes me the amount of nearly new bikes you see for sale as owner bought wrong size , so for a newbie go and sit on it and give it a spin round the block and see what it feels like , if in doubt ask a more experanced cyclist to go with you

 

[Cyclist33]

it always amazes me the amount of nearly new bikes you see for sale as owner bought wrong size , so for a newbie go and sit on it and give it a spin round the block and see what it feels like , if in doubt ask a more experanced cyclist to go with you

True although half the time they probably got the right size but don't know how to get the bike to fit them. Or they're lazy and had no intention of getting into cycling in the first place.

 

[biggs682]

True although half the time they probably got the right size but don't know how to get the bike to fit them. Or they're lazy and had no intention of getting into cycling in the first place.

thats also true but why go and spend stupid money

 

[Cyclist33]

I mean there's a bloke at work, I helped him source a brand new bike got him a great deal on a great bike for his objectives. I've asked him three times if he's got the ride fit sorted and he just says yep it's all fine, quite dismissively, but it isn't. He's a lot taller than me but his seatpost is a good three inches lower. He blatantly needs to have even a basic fitting but he can't be told.

I gave up.

 

[Cyclist33]

thats also true but why go and spend stupid money

Better cyclists on here will be able to answer that question.

 

[Cyclist33]

View: https://youtu.be/D_XI_290cfw

 

[MontyVeda]

If you can find the right bike 2nd hand then go for it... my current steed was only a couple of years old when I bought it for a 3rd of it's new price... all it needed was new rear rear dera... derer... derallue... gear thingy. Bargain. But I've known people just buy a bike because it's for sale and isn't quite what they're after but, blah blah £200 blah... and they seldom get used. Paying full whack encourages a more considered approach, and the same approach should apply when buying 2nd hand.

 

[vickster]

Two of my bikes were second hand. The first one, I always fancied that model but could never justify the £900 price tag for a commuter/shopper/potter arounder, so when a barely used one came up fairly locally at half the new cost on eBay, I jumped at it. I've put new tyres on it since, some mudguards, a rack and some ergo grips, nothing else needed

The other is the single speed, bit of a whim, so again when one came up here at a good price, I went for it (did need to spend a bit to get it as I wanted it, needed new forks as the steerer had been cut too short and the position was way too aggressive for me)

If you can get a good deal on the right bike, especially if barely used, go for it

I don't think I'd ever pay full RRP for a new bike, but that goes for most of the things I buy, be it clothes, toiletries, whatever!

 

[vickster]

Up to you really. £200 could buy a lot of gear/accessories. Claris is the new name for 2300.

PS. Is the second hand one the right size? If not, forget it.

Although 2300 has the shifter thumb button, Claris not. Similar but not identical