I recently sold a bike to a friend of a friend. Wasnt a particularly bling bike but one that had been sitting in my garage for a few years.

Fixed it up with a load of spares I had lying around and sold it for £180.

The guy that bought it had a test ride of it and was happy so payed me in cash.

2 weeks later my friend says that he is not happy with the bike because the drivetrain is shot and the BB needs replacing.

He asked for a full refund, which i said no. But I will have a look at the bike to see the problem and if it can be fixed up.

Would you have given a refund or discount? The bike was used, and at no point did i say the parts were new apart from the wheels.

Cheers!

Who knows what he’s done in two weeks. Blasted the BB with a pressure washer?

Caveat Emptor.

bb

buyer beware

tell him to FO

What would you expect if the positions were reversed?

if you bought a car off a guy in the paper …youd get **** all …you wouldnt even ask … infact if it wasnt a friend of a friend would the guy even have asked ?

If you want a decent bike then buy new.

2nd hand bikes are always going to be worn, the fact it was £180 surely tells him something, plus if he had chance to look over it and you explained the fact that parts are worn then how can he complain.

He shouldnt have been a tight arse in the first place if he wanted something perfect. If I buy something 2nd hand I usually expect to have to replace bits, unless the seller has said it is all immaculate.

Well, there was new cables on it, basically a new front mech and a good rear mech. The cassette hadnt done many miles, could just be the chain.

Well yeah i woulda tested the bb before i bought it but these are parts that wear out. At no point did i say they were brand new. So yeah i wouldbt expect a refund or discount cos buying used parts is a bit of a gamble.

If it was frame, forks, wheels then i would see different, and i would be willing to give him a refund.

he had a chance to inspect – he wasted it, his look out.

The guy that bought it had a test ride of it and was happy so payed me in cash.

He had plenty of opportunity to see what was what. It’s not as if he bought it on ebay unseen.

Next time he’ll look a bit better.

Keep your money.

I dunno, If you are really happy with your call then why post for advice? If a friend of a friend sold me a bike i would kinda hope they would point out the bits that aren’t quite perfect, if it was a complete stranger then maybe would expect some hassle, but i dunno, i wouldn’t wana sell a shed, been done to me too many times and most of the time if you’re honest the buyer doesn’t mind knowing they have to replace x and y. I might be wrong but surely you’re asking if we think its ok to sell a bike thats not in decent working condition and not tell the seller? Hmmmm.
Caveat Emptor – isn’t that something you would say when advising someone who was going to a dealer known to do dodgy deals… I am not judging, just calling what i see..

I recently bought a Chameleon off of here (2 weeks). Resprayed and ridden. If its snapped today TOUGH ON ME. Sorry. Drivetrains wear.

Could of swapped bits over?!

dr_adams i see your point. But i test roade it along the street a few times and it was fine to me. I wouldnt have sold it I had known the gears were slipping and that when I had it.

And the parts i put on it had all been taken off one of my bikes before they were totally shot. I replace everything in a oner when replacing drivetrain so in my eyes these bits were only half worn

Cheers for all the replies though

i agree with dr. adams – you would not be happy if you bought a bike and it turned out it was in a worse condition then you were led to believe. you can’t just blame him for not looking at carefully enough, especially so if he was under the impression he was amoungst friends. If the item is in the same condition i sold it in, i would always offer to buy it back for the same money (i’d ask they pay for postage though) – back to square 1 and no harm done.

check the bike, and if he hasn’t done any damage to it, give him a refund and sell it to someone else, that way no one gets hurt and he want feel the need to take revenge on you by smacking the wing mirrors off your car. he knows where you live…

sonic I see your point however he checked it in person and has had it two weeks, wear and tear sometimes takes a while to show and after all drive train has to be expected to wear out at somepoint if it isnt new. If you received a frame or forks that were different to described then yes I can understand a buyers complaint but sorry unless the OP described the drivetrain as ‘couple of rides only’ then I think the buyer in this instance is definitely trying it on.

MS, MTFU and tell the buyer ‘sorry but no dice’.

On a strictly commerce issue I think you are fine to hang onto the money, but given there are friends involved I’d probably take a line that takes into account these issues. If the mate in the middle was a really good mate, who was feeling a bit piggy in the middle, I’d probably refund and flog the bike on elsewhere.

I’m with sonic, if I had paid tuppance hapeny for a working bike & it didn’t work I’d be peed off.
If he paid for a frame & forks you cobbled together to make in to a working bike, then tough.
The onus is on you to decide how your description was interpreted, if you described it as a working bike, & it doesn’t, then give the money back, end of.

Oh, if it was me I’d refund & go again with a fair description, but thats just me 😉

Subjective

I had a friend buy a bike from me which was mint and serviced-never treated badly.

I’ve seen him drop the road bike from kerbs at speed and warned him it wasn’t a mtn bike and he’ll break the rim.

2 months later he complains the rim broke…

Well I told him to f-off as he was trying it on to see if I would buy him a new wheel.

I won’t do business with a friend again.

But the drivetrain is shot in two weeks? Replace the bottom bracket but it sounds like the bike was pretty worn anyway and he should have thought of this before buying. Did you sell him a pile of crap?

If he is a good friend then treat him like one or if you hate him tell him to f off.

I’d buy the bike back, fix it up and put in the classifieds with a full description and make sure it is working or tell the buyer it has a prob or will need new rings and cassette soon etc.

Treat people how you wish to be treated.

I doubt he’s worn it out in 2 weeks but the BB can easily go-replace/compromise with your friend?

Explain to him about the ancient Chinese philosopher Fu Cof.

As i say it was working perfectly when i built it and test roade it. I am getting it back for a look to see what the problem is.

I put new cables on it so it may just be that they have stretched.

Il make a decision when i see it and test it agian myself.

Hes not a good friend, just a guy in the bike club, but i dont want to screw anyone over.

Luckily i havnt spent the money!

Surely if you’ve spent time building a bike with used kit you have a good idea as to whether it was a bit worn or shot to the point where it would scrape through a test ride.

If it’s the former then no refund, if the later then it’s down to your conscience.

I know how you feal, I recently GAVE a bike to someone, and explained that some of the drivetrain was worn. I had replaced the wheels, front mech, shifters and cassete from another bike i had just got, which had only had very light use, probably no more than 100 miles max. They took it to their local shop for some reason, who then said the whole drivetrain was totaly shot and needed replacing! the most it needed was a new chain and chainrings and rear mech. They ended up with a bill of about £250 on a free bike! I was only trying to do them a favour and stop them hiring a bike each time they went out. They didn’t expect anything from me though, but it can make you feal bad about it. Surport your LBS… B****cks to that, if thats how they are surviving!

mickasaki, funny that, I ‘gave’ my brother a bike for the cost of the new tyres it needed, £20!
Years later he bought a new bike, I asked if I could have my old one back (nowt great, a Raleigh SP bike) & he told me he had bought it from me & it was his, oh how I laughed!
Some lesson’s in life are cheap, learn from them before it cost’s you dear.