Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 76 total)
  • AIBU, 2nd hand DH fork content.
  • weeksy
    Full Member

    I know mostly the answer to “Am i being unreasonable here” is yes… But… Well, i’m not sure i am.

    I bought these forks for the boy as he snapped his
    https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/3394185/

    So they arrived and if you ask me, they’re a bit tattier than the photos.

    Firstly… Would you be happy if you’d bought these ?
    Secondly, it’s only decals mostly… so does it really matter anyway ?
    Thirdly… It is £600 though… Surely they should be better for £600 ?

    I’ve spoken to the seller and he’ll take them back … but well, i don’t know if i’m being unreasonable.

    FWIW all the adjusters etc seem to work OK.

    [url=https://flic.kr/p/2nXT7uu]2022-11-07_05-57-23[/url] by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

    [url=https://flic.kr/p/2nXQKLf]2022-11-07_05-57-28[/url] by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

    [url=https://flic.kr/p/2nXQKR5]2022-11-07_05-57-36[/url] by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

    weeksy
    Full Member

    [url=https://flic.kr/p/2nXNdoq]2022-11-07_05-57-41[/url] by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

    [url=https://flic.kr/p/2nXSa4t]2022-11-07_05-57-51[/url] by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

    razorrazoo
    Full Member

    I’d not be spending £600 on used Select (base) level forks.

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    weeksy
    Full Member

    That’s not the point lol..

    £600 is a fair price… that’s what they cost used… the question is more ‘if you’d spent £600, would these be acceptable’

    honourablegeorge
    Full Member

    £600 seems very expensive considering they can be had new for 999 Euro (£870)

    That said, I think the seller’s original pics do show the scratches clearly

    https://www.bike-discount.de/en/rockshox-boxxer-select-rc-29-debon-air-200-boost

    weeksy
    Full Member

    Mine are 27.5 and that’s £870 + 20% import duty ….

    Which is about £1050…

    There’s a massive difference in the wallet between £1050 and £600.

    weeksy
    Full Member

    That said, I think the seller’s original pics do show the scratches clearly

    That’s the AIBU part of it.

    honourablegeorge
    Full Member

    It would be 870 minus 21% German VAT, plus 20% UK VAT and a little duty

    razorrazoo
    Full Member

    £600 is a fair price… that’s what they cost used… the question is more ‘if you’d spent £600, would these be acceptable’

    Taking that philosophy forward, what are other equivalent priced sold items like in terms of condition (eBay filter sold items for reference)?

    I still think £600 is a lot for what you got regardless of condition, but you did buy the first thing that was available rather than wait to see what came up for sale.

    For example there’s a Boxxer Team on eBay at £650 taking offers (so let’s say £600) in better condition.

    weeksy
    Full Member

    I still think £600 is a lot for what you got regardless of condition, but you did buy the first thing that was available rather than wait to see what came up for sale.

    Well no, i never really…

    But there’s very much a lack of availability.

    bails
    Full Member

    I’m not sure with used stuff that you can say “Surely they should be better for £600 ?”. It’s not like a business where “I paid £1000 a night for this hotel room, surely I should expect proper coffee” Vs “I paid £35 for this Travelodge, a sachet of Nescafé brown drink™ is fair enough”.

    They’re used, they’re available for a price, you were happy to pay that price, now you’ve got the thing that was for sale, in the condition it was advertised at. Unless the photos hid serious damage or the damage was done after the photos were taken i don’t think you can expect a refund.

    zerocool
    Full Member

    Only you can decide if they’re the right price. Look on PB snd eBay and see how they match up to others.

    It’s just scratches. And if they work and you were happy with paying £600 then keep them.

    There are WCs on eBay for £450 but no idea if they’re borked or good ones.

    Tracey
    Full Member

    I would have been uncomfortable selling them in the condition the photos show them unless the buyer had physically seen them and agreed they were right for them and also on a price v condition.
    Even as a DH fork I’m not sure I would have advertised them.

    sharkattack
    Full Member

    What do they look like on the inside? That’s the important bit and would be the decider for me.

    Northwind
    Full Member

    The condition’s not bad at all for dh forks, but then that’s not quite the question you’re asking. Looking at the ad with my jaundiced eye, I’d have said that the pic from the rear especially shows a fair amount of finish dulling which always comes along with scrapes etc. But the fork arch looks pretty different? The pictures are a wee bit lacking, but not enough to say that they were chosen to give a false impression- the lack of a picture from underneath and of the sides has left it a bit open to end up here…

    Your pics are also definitely less flatteringy, if you’d posted clean pics with a wipe of gt85 or mucoff bike protect ed Parts Flattery Spray to be equivalent to the for sale ad I think it’d stand out much less.

    Don’t think you’re being unreasonable necessarily but equally I think you’ve walked into it a bit. At the end of the day dh forks are always either scratched already, or scratched tomorrow so if the stanchions are good, they’re straight and all then it’s still better than it could easily have been buying used.

    weeksy
    Full Member

    What do they look like on the inside?

    TBH mate, if i take them apart then i wouldn’t be happy sending them back. If the situation were reverse i wouldn’t be happy accepting them back as a return if they had been opened up, so i would’t do it either.

    tabletop2
    Free Member

    If he will take them back then no one is being unreasonable.

    The question is if you want them for £600 or not? That’s up to you

    scotroutes
    Full Member

    there’s very much a lack of availability.

    Isn’t that the answer to your question

    weeksy
    Full Member

    But, they look like you’ve fitted and used them? Your pics are also definitely less flattering partly because of being dirty, if you’d posted clean pics with a wipe of gt85 or mucoff bike protect Used Parts Flattery Spray to be equivalent to the for sale ad I think it’d stand out much less.

    I fitted them, but i’ve certainly not used them or been anywhere with them other than in the garage for a bounce up and down and testing the adjusters. Currently the boy has a broken clavicle and we don’t have a crown race (i forgot to take it off the broken forks) so they’ve 100% not moved.

    I agree, a bit of a clean up would make them a bit more respectable… but that’s not really the point. None of that is ‘dirt’ as such, it’s marks that are on/through the paint/decals.

    weeksy
    Full Member

    Isn’t that the answer to your question

    Well as with everything in life, these things come up for sale…. they certainly come up for sale for more money too, i can get a lovely new set of Ohlins for £1500 lol. Lack of availability maybe wasn’t the correct choice, but there’s a lot less DH forks for sale both new or used than there are say a set of 160mm 29er forks.

    Northwind
    Full Member

    Sorry, yep, I took another look and realised it was just the flash making them look dirtier- too slow on the edit!

    weeksy
    Full Member

    Sorry,

    Nothing to apologise for, perfectly valid question.

    tjagain
    Full Member

    to me they look like they have been hard used and I would be uncomfortable paying that much for something that does not appear to be cared for. Have they been serviced at all? do they move smoothly?

    But then I have not bought on the second hand market for years and never DH

    But you agreed to buy them so I think it would be a poor move to return them given they are not misrepresented

    dc1988
    Full Member

    If they are working perfectly and all the bolts are in good condition and no marks on the useable stanchion then I’d probably be ok with it. Function over form IMO.

    It’s brings back the helitape argument, a lot of people argue bikes are supposed to get scratched. I personally like to helitape my forks to avoid silly knocks and scratches causing damage.

    thegeneralist
    Free Member

    They look am absolute state. They look as bad as……

    .. the stuff I sell. Seriously, they’re a mess. I generally couldn’t give two shits about how the stuff I buy or sell looks, but they’re beyond scuffed

    Mine are 27.5 and that’s £870 + 20% import duty ….

    On a more important point, have another look at the prices thing. You don’t pay the VAT in order country and the destination.

    Basically this:

    It would be 870 minus 21% German VAT, plus 20% UK VAT and a little duty

    HobNob
    Free Member

    They look am absolute state. They look as bad as……

    .. the stuff I sell. Seriously, they’re a mess. I generally couldn’t give two shits about how the stuff I buy or sell looks, but they’re beyond scuffed

    That’s a bit of hyperbole really. Have you any experience of uplifts? Admittedly it’s been a few years since I raced proper uplifted DH, but a set of new forks can look like that after a weekend in the back of a van or truck with a few badly stacked bikes against them.

    if you’re not happy, send them back & get a refund if thats what they have offered, nothing lost then.

    julians
    Free Member

    The pics in the original ad look like the pics you took,so I don’t think they misrepresent anything, however the condition description on the pink bike add is “excellent” is clearly not true.

    If I was the seller I’d be annoyed that someone bought them but now wants to send them back, if I was the buyer I might be tempted to buy some new decals from slik graphics, and polish out the worst of the scratches and chalk it up to experience – this is all assuming they are functionally fine, if they don’t actually work then fair enough send em back with no guilt.

    docrobster
    Free Member

    I’m not sure how people conflate scruffy on the outside with trashed on the inside. A fork that looks ridden hard may well have belonged to someone who was meticulous with servicing. A pristine fork wrapped in copter tape from new may have sat in a garage for months at a time and never had the lowers off for a service.
    My stuff all ends up scraped and scratched in use but then I tend to use stuff to death and not sell on.

    chiefgrooveguru
    Full Member

    It’s a long time since I’ve bought any secondhand forks but based on what I now know about forks I’d be inclined to have the seller send them to someone like tftuned for a service immediately – and then you’ve got a professional’s opinion to go back with if the innards don’t match the seller’s claims.

    tjagain
    Full Member

    Good point docrobster.

    zerocool
    Full Member

    Helitape any frame and forks that you might sell, especially if you’re uplifting. And doubly if you plan to sell them again.

    Does anyone remember when there were companies that made fork ‘armour’ to protect them?

    5lab
    Full Member

    how did your kid snap a set of boxxers? I ride hard on all sorts of bikes, including some with boxxers which have taken an increadible amount of abuse (and I’d bet I weigh getting on for double what your kid does). Actually snapping them is pretty much unheard of

    either way, pictures on the add are accurate, doesn’t matter what you paid. Your shots are taken with a direct flash which will highlight the blemishes. Unless they misled you I’d say you have no comeback

    weeksy
    Full Member

    Like that, trying to quad the whale tail.

    might be tempted to buy some new decals from slik graphics, and polish out the worst of the scratches and chalk it up to experience

    I’m leaning this way.

    5lab
    Full Member

    also is the seller naked when taking pictures of the fork specs? first warning sign right there..

    thegeneralist
    Free Member

    That’s a bit of hyperbole really. Have you any experience of uplifts?

    Not much as most of my riding tends to be XC, but I’ve done some bits and pieces in:
    Moab
    Finale
    Lecht
    Inners
    Antur
    Lakes
    Ochsenkopf
    Saalbach
    Leogang
    Serfaus Fiss Ladis
    Verbier
    Champery
    Morzine
    La plagne
    Tignes
    Val d Isere
    Les Arcs
    Meribel
    Ardeche
    La Thuile
    😉

    Not sure that materially impacts my view on those forks TBH. They look well bashed about, even compared to my exceedingly based about kit.
    Im surprised at a price of ~ 70% of RRP
    Last 3 Sets of forks went to the charriddy shop. ( they were 26″ tHhough TBH )

    bikesandboots
    Full Member

    The ad is missing photos of the sides of the lowers. Given the condition you’ve received them in, I’d assume that this was a deliberate omission.

    The ad says “excellent” condition, the ad photos I’d say are “very good”, your photos I’d say are “good”. That’s cosmetic condition.

    sharkattack
    Full Member

    I’ve done some bits and pieces in:
    Moab
    Finale
    Lecht
    Inners
    Antur
    Lakes
    Ochsenkopf
    Saalbach
    Leogang
    Serfaus Fiss Ladis
    Verbier
    Champery
    Morzine
    La plagne
    Tignes
    Val d Isere
    Les Arcs
    Meribel
    Ardeche
    La Thuile

    joebristol
    Full Member

    I mean they’re tatty on the outside – but you had photos which showed that. The ‘excellent’ tag on Pinkbike is clearly not true though – for me that’s functional but cosmetically rough.

    Bearing in mind you’ve fitted them to the bike now (I think from what you said above) my feeling is you should just keep them now – assuming they work properly. I think you’ve got a touch of buyers remorse as £600 is a lot of money and your new parts aren’t as shiny as you might hope for that money.

    I’d put new graphics on and give them a good polish and forget about it. At least you won’t wince about the bike next time there’s a crash as the forks are already scratched 😄

    5lab
    Full Member

    Like that, trying to quad the whale tail.

    jeez, he was no-where near that. And that’s speaking as someone who loves coming up short. what actually snapped? new stanchions (I imagine that’s what went) are ~£100 each..

    DickBarton
    Full Member

    My forks looks that dull…but I don’t tend to polish up the forks…when I do take a duster to them, they come up nicely again so I suspect some of the dullness will disappear with a good wipe down (should have been done before sending them to you though).

    I’ve a Pike Select but upgraded it all over last 3 years so it is now a Pike Ultimate on the inside…Select on the outside. They get serviced but I don’t get out the dusters to polish them.

    Not seeing the advert and based on the pics, I’d not be happy I’d paid 600 for those, but I’d be ok if it had been 500…as you’ve said supply isn’t high so you have take what you can so these could be a good buy if they work well. I don’t see my fork when I’m riding so it would only be after the ride when I’m staring at the bike that I may be a bit fussed.

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