Hello people,

I received a Specialized Epic Comp carbon 2011 as a replacement for a stolen bike through the insurance company back in May. My previous bike was a Kona Dawg 2008, and I had began to consider that too good a bike for my infrequent riding.

My plan has been to sell the Specialized, and have money for a cheaper bike up to £1000, and some cash to spare.

When new the bike was going for £2800.

I first put it on ebay for £2500 (20 days). Then dropped it to £2300 (30 days) and finally had it on at £2000 for 10 days.

My auto reject for offers was set to £2000 the whole time. The maximum offer I received was £1900.

Do you think I am just asking too much for this bike?

I understand that warranty is lost to anyone who buys from me, but the bike is completely new and I feel reluctant to let it go for less than £2000.

Evans have the bike for £2399 now, but I have not found it for less than that anywhere… so a buyer is still saving £399 from retailers price.

I know that the 2012 bike are soon for release and prices of last years drop, but I also gather that retailers and distributors don’t stock up on as many as they used to so the discounts may not be as big as people expect.

Below a certain price, I feel I am getting more value just to ride the bike and enjoy it. The thing is… I have in the meantime been riding my 2000 Hardrock with V brakes and SR suntour fork… and it is just about enough for my needs… so it really is ideal if I can sell the bike, buy a cheaper but still nice bike, and walk away with about £1000 in cash.

I am not sure if I should hang on a bit until 2012 bikes are available, and then sell when the last years models prices have settled down… or if £2000 is just more than anyone will pay for a ‘second owner’ new bike.

Any opinions and advice much appreciated! 🙂

And if you see anyone riding a Kona Dawg 2008 in the Herts / Beds area… then please let me know in case it is my stolen one! 😉

Cheers,

Mark

Yeah sadly it’s just too high a price for used. A quick google shows that you can buy one new for under £2k, most being discounted to £2.4k.

See Here

Maybe see how much you can get for all the parts if you split it?

If the hardrock is fine, why get another bike? Pocket the cash…

i would want more than a £400 discount for a second hand bike, appreciate its not been ridden, would think more like £1700

I’m amazed someone was willing to offer £1900. 17% off the new price for a second hand bike with no warranty seems pretty steep to me but you might be lucky. I wouldn’t hang on as it is just losing value

oops scratch that then with ziggys post, new one for 2K
second hand one £1500, i would think

Thanks for the link (and any more are appreciated).

That one is not the same bike though. I have the carbon version… damn close in every other way though. It’s entirely red except for the rear triangle.

Dickbarton, I have though of just getting some new forks for the Hardrock and sticking with that. It really is fine for my riding, but I would like something a little better. I do like the frame though.

I found out I am not cut out for jumping the hard way (broken clavicle on the left and AC link separation on the right). The biggest issue is that these days cycling is my secondary exercise priority so a few hours a week is the best I can really manage.

Cheers 🙂

£1500 sounds about ballpark to me too – sorry

i would want more than a £400 discount for a second hand bike, appreciate its not been ridden, would think more like £1700

Surely it’s still as new then ?

I’d have bitten their hand off when offered £1900

the link ziggy posted is the carbon version

Yeah, you were being a bit optimistic.

£1,900 would have been a good result IMO.

Get shot quick before the 2012s come out and value goes down even more!

still new but maybe without warranty, thats the risk, and thats why i would want a good discount.

The description says “FACT IS 9m carbon frame with M5 alloy rear triangle” so to be honest that link has me confused. In their ‘title description’ they don’t call it the carbon.

On the Specialized website the carbon version is certainly all red (as is mine).

I really don’t know what to make of that. Could it be a mistake on the website, or are they just selling a different colour.

Hmmm

Edit: That link appears to be the ‘Epic Marathon Carbon’, which I guess is perhaps an even better model than mine.

Wow. Evans have the ‘Epic Marathon Carbon’ listed as £3599, and that is with discount.

If they are selling that bike for £2000, then it’s a damn amazing deal.

Thinking again, £18/1900 would be about right

But I guess a lot would worry about spending that much on a carbon frame without warranty – the alloy one in the same condition may well be worth as much

Yeah, the specialized warranty is v good and will be a consideration for people buying a high end carbon frame. It’s not like it’s an orange or something where you wouldn’t be arsed.
Contact the £1900 bidder again and see if he’s still interested? [expect a wee bit of haggling downwards]

Specialized Epics have also in previous years (2008 / 2009) had some warranty issues with own brand shocks which they’ve now stopped using. So while the warranty is very good not getting it would be be a major factor that I would want a discount for. I think that most Epics are either all aluminium or carbon front / aluminium rear (don’t know of any that are all carbon)

Looking at the cyclestore link, its states its carbon, then says it alloy front end, may not be the carbon version at that price then

Of the £2,800 sale price of any new bike £560 in sales VAT goes to the Cameron/Clegg cadre for splurging on god knows what never mind all the other taxes added in along the way in the production process
No VAT payable on 2nd hand…

Should have taken £1900 tbh.If it was used you’d be looking at £1400-1500 max.

I think that most Epics are either all aluminium or carbon front / aluminium rear (don’t know of any that are all carbon)

The S-Works is.

If you can get £1900 I’d be biting their arm off.

Thanks for all the replies. I know have a lot more to go on that before when making my decision.

I also learned that I don’t know how to spell optimistic! 😮

£1900 in the pocket is a damn sight more attractive than a bike gathering dust and depreciating every day.

Of the £2,800 sale price of any new bike £560 in sales VAT goes to the Cameron/Clegg cadre for splurging on god knows what never mind all the other taxes added in along the way in the production process
No VAT payable on 2nd hand..

Not sure that’s really relevant to any one that’s not VAT registered

Anyway, you need a new calculator
The VAT paid on £2800 would have been £466.67

As said, £1900 is decent for a secondhand (even if unridden) bike that you can pick up for £2400 new with warranty. I’d get rid before the 2012 bikes drop – any day now apparently – and it stops being a “current” model.

Spesh have one of the best warranties in the business. Although not at liberty to, chances are they would honour a warranty issue or crash-replacement to a second hand owner based on 1) believing the owner to have looked after the bike, especially bearings and bushings on a FS, and 2) asking for a comparitively small contribution.

They did this for me years ago and I’ve since been to their workshop 5-6 times since. Very good people.

OP: what size is the bike you’ve got?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160636548954

19 inch in the advert

In the days before MTBs/indexed bar mounted shifting etc a road bike with a 531 frame and good parts would hold most of it’s value year on year. Now we are blessed with new models of bike/suspension/shifting/graphics every year a bike (like every other item of our consumer society) has it’s “value” slashed the minute you slide your card in the reader. It is very painful I know, but just how things are in our society at the moment. My Intense Spider cost me almost £3k to build best offer 3 years later was £600, managed to just about get £1k by splitting it up as parts.

I would now say that as others have, be prepared for £1500 and hope that somone may offer you more.

Size affects value. Medium and large are easy to sell.

It’s a large.

It’s very likely I am just going to plug in some pedals and begin riding it over the next week or two.

I can look at it this way. My Hardrock from 2000 is as good as new having had just a few replacement parts. So although this is a far better bike than I really need, the way I look after things it should still be in good shape ten years from now… any any money gained from a sale will be loooong gone by then! 🙂

keep it and ride it