Has anyone on here bought an ex-hire bike?
There seems to be a few good deals on 1 year old bikes out there but will are they likely to be more abused than a private sale?
My gut feeling is that they're likely to have been ridden by less experienced riders so are likely to have been used to bimble about rather than having been massively abused
Depends on where is been ridden
Due to his forks dying mate had to hire one of the bikes from BPW, trek remedy I think, was a rattly death trap
Most bikes are rode a few hours a week, a hire bike is rode everyday. I'd steer clear.
Wouldn't touch one with a barge pole. Ridden by people with no sense of ownership, and will have had the bare minimum of maintenance to nurse it to year's end without it being out of circulation.
Imagine an equivalent classifieds ad: one year old, 15 careless owners.
The few times we've hired bikes they've been dogs that I've had to work on to make safe/usable.
They also sell for a similar price to private sales, you can get a good deal on most second hand bikes
It's not something I'd be up for - not at the prices some places want for them, it's almost like they're saying the fact it's a hire bike is a plus!
Anyway, as above, yeah I'm sure they're well looked after, but I'd have to budget for a set of bearings and suspension service when buying.
Having worked in bike shops who run a fleet of demo bikes I would personally advise you to turn around and walk away.
Buy something that someone paid full price for because it seemed like a fun idea at the time which then spent its life sitting in a nice warm garage. There's loads of those around.
Yep. Orange 5rs, well ex demo bike. 2 grand below list price. Changed pads and bottom bracket. Been ridden hard for 18 months no problem.
My son bought an ex demo reign from Rutland cycles, totally unloved and bodged by their grease monkeys who really haven't a clue.
Be careful!
Had a look at the ex hire fleet at Glentress last week , was pretty appalled by the state of the bikes for sale. There was a trek Remedy with a knackered dropper for £1200 , when you see some of the bargains you could get for £1200 I wouldn't go near one.
Ex-demo yes (I bought an ibis mojo for £900 5 years ago and it's still going strong) ex-hire nope. Similar experience to others here - never ridden a nicely maintained hire bike