So many bikes on sale that seem to have seen so little riding action? Do folks actually ride these bikes and they stay pristine?

Its a lot of money for something just to polish

Bikes?

Is this not a single’s website?

So many bikes on sale that seem to have seen so little riding action?

I know, it’s brilliant. I’ve rarely bought anything new since finding this place…

i just wish someone would sell an ‘orange’ orange alpine in large, pref a 2014 model ;o)

I think some folk look after them better than others. It amazes me how some folk treat their bikes and kit. If you look after things they tend to look better once cleaned up. That said, I can’t afford to replace my bikes these days so I treat the accordingly. I ride daily, but clean and inspect after every ride.

Its a lot of money for something just to polish

You could say the same thing about penis enlargements.

that invisiframe stuff is very impressive, wish id done my bike when new

friend got his done- we both got bikes about the same time, both ridden a fair few races over the winter; scotland, wales etc by strava his done a lot more miles than me and his bikes looks perfect, wherease mine has a fair few scratches, chips and rub marks- i did try and tape up the vuknerable areas

Rob Hilton

Is this not a single’s website?

If you were going to pick one thing EVEN more unlikely than bike riding on STW, then picking up women is right up there……. 😉

I ride daily, but clean and inspect after every ride.

Each to their own but how much time a week do you end up spending on cleaning?!

Poignant as I’ve recently, just about admitted to myself I’m not an MTBer any more.

..and in true spirit of the OP, I have an expensive shiny race HT (well, a bit dusty) doing nothing other than sit indoors, depreciating.

Right now, swimming/gymming and walking is far more pleasurable and convenient.

When my life gets to a point that I start cycling again, I actually think I’ll buy a road, or one of those strange cross-bike things.

It feels like a relief to type that 😕

Bikes? I’m only here for the coffee

Don’t knock it. When i was looking for a ‘new’ bike, the classifieds was on here were my first port of call. Ended up with a Stumpty Evo and it was immaculate looking. I discovered the brakes and dropper didn’t work but that down to neglect more than abuse (you can’t really polish brake or dropper innards 😛 ) and it was an easy fix. Two hours into my first ride and i had inflicted more damage than the original owner managed in two years 😳 . Nearly new bikes for half price = very good indeed.

If I were the sort of person who did new bike every year I’d make sure I really looked after it. However my last new frame was a 4-5 year plan so cosmetic damage is just that. The important stuff is safe but the rest can age a bit.

I just rode one of mine til it fell to bits. Just broke the last original frame component. Solution? Replace bits, ride some more.

Bikes have become a object of someones (supposed) wealth just like cars. I know a couple of lads who live in shit holes but have 3k bikes. When they’re out they feel like kings but can’t a actually ride that well. They push up hills in the wood and do their jumps before loading their bikes into the rented t4.

Ride it til it dies. The last original bit of Inbred MK1 died today, so I’m gonna buy a new wheel.

My own philosophy is always find a way to update the kit with something better.

Pro 2 on Ex front please.

I look forward to, seriously lust for, the brief phase in my life where I have disposable income available to buy someone’s “status symbol” V10 and love it my way.

When they’re out they feel like kings but can’t a actually ride that well. They push up hills in the wood and do their jumps before loading their bikes into the rented t4.

swoons at you obvious superiority

darrenspink – Member

When they’re out they feel like kings

Sounds like a win

I often wonder this. Within a few weeks of buying it new, all my kit starts looking scruffy despite cleaning / greasing / fettling. My bike always works perfectly but it looks kind of old – not like the stuff for sale here. Scuffs / scrapes / scratches / dings are unavoidable where I ride, but perhaps other places aren’t so bad.

I imagine that a lot of the stuff for sale in the classifieds gets bought by people with a lot of money to spank, used for a couple of rides at a trail centre with no hazards, and then sold to make way for the next best thing. Whatever floats their boat – I suspect there will always be someone on here to hoover up the bargains, so it’s all good 🙂

I imagine that a lot of the stuff for sale in the classifieds gets bought by people with a lot of money to spank, used for a couple of rides at a trail centre with no hazards, and then sold to make way for the next best thing.

It really depends, I’ve seen 12 month old frames that have been hammered that look better than 1 month old frames. It’s 50% about prep and 50% about ongoing.

Professional wrapping helps but some people know a bike is going to be resold and swap out things like wheels so keep them in the garage and refit when it’s time to sell on.
After a few frames you get the idea where the rub points are and where things need a little more protecting. As I said above if your going to sell it on soon you will make more of an effort to look after it.

There are also people who ride well enough to avoid trail hazards.

17yr old Kona Lava Dome and 6yr old Spesh Enduro S-Works in my shed – from a few feet away they both look like new.

They both get ridden regularly (the Kona not so much now) in the same places my mates ride and just as hard. They aren’t invisiframed, but they don’t get thrown in the back of vans like I don’t care about them.

My mates sometimes take the piss about me being precious, but then in the next breath appreciate how good my bikes still look. They have battle scars, but get looked after.

Ive 3 bikes atm. Road, mtb and cx. Both the road and mountain bike get regular rides and neither are taped. The mountain bike will be ridden till dead. The cx on the other hand is pristine. Got it to ride to work and then they changed the start/finish times so I no longer have time to get home from work for the school run, it is getting advertised later!!!

Promises, promises DV! 😉

Yes I do promise Slackalice ….Minivader is going to help me split the chameleon and clean it then everything is getting photographed and advertised…. you can have first dibs on the cx if you like 😉

Guess it depends OP if you have more than 1 bike and if you have a particular preference for one over the other…and then realise having more than one isn’t feasible.

For me, if I’m going to spend hundreds of pounds on a frame and forks…then I’m going to helitape them to death with stuff off eBay for a tenner. Washing a bike down, drying and lubing takes 30 mins…why wouldn’t you did after every ride?

It’s surprising how good you can make a bike look with a bit of TLC throughout its life.

I sold my old CX frame module when it was 6 years old. Most of the bike was shot to pieces – drivetrain was knackered, rims were worn through the ceramic and most of the way through the aluminium. The bike had done 5x Three Peaks and nearly 25,000 miles of riding in all conditions/terrain/weather but the frame itself was pretty much unscathed bar a couple of cable rubs.

Admittedly I’d looked after it well, the bike got a yearly strip, clean & rebuild so its not hard to see how a good clean can work wonders for photo purposes on here.

mikewsmith
There are also people who ride well enough to avoid trail hazards.

S W O O N

I tink some areas are kinder to bikes than others. Chunky bits of Wales Scotland and England with mountains and loads of rocks will naturally beat bikes up more than the Surrey Hills.

My bikes are mostly secondhand and seem to reflect the use they get even with some strategic heli tape. But the new bike that will come this summer is going to get wrapped – forks and frame.

The Pitch I bought new I went over the bars coming down Wansfell Pike, it was one of this slow hanging tottering OTBs and finally collapsed with me on the ground and the bike landing on its side and the left chainstray found the only rock on the grassy hillside. Dinked chainstay made my bike instantly secondhand.

I have discovered the secret of eternal bike youth…….RAW!!!

bought a second hand cotic soda frame 5 years ago and dispite been ridden ( and crashed) hard on a regular basis the frame at least looks brand new. In the same period my big bike has got really tatty,

So a couple of months back a bought a raw intense tracer 2 frame to replace my old Norco 6. They make a lovely pair.

Why do people paint bikes!!!!

There are also people who ride well enough to avoid trail hazards.

Do you mean they ride flat paths with no rocks?

No way of avoiding rock strikes IMHO

Do you mean they ride flat paths with no rocks?
No way of avoiding rock strikes IMHO

80% of the riding I did in NZ last week was rock free, lots of dirt and roots. Plenty of hard and technical riding just not many rocks.

When they’re out they feel like kings but can’t a actually ride that well. They push up hills in the wood and do their jumps before loading their bikes into the rented t4.

Win!! 😛

No way does my riding justify the bikes I own (buy/test-ride/sell on) but new bikes freakin’ rock and keep me (relatively) sane 😀

Win!!
No way does my riding justify the bikes I own (buy/test-ride/sell on) but new bikes freakin’ rock and keep me (relatively) sane

Yeah maybe im just jealous of them.

Got a Mk1 Soul that needs a respray and a rebuild, rather scratched 6 year old Roubaix, and a battered 1 year old CX commuter. Manage 4-5k miles a year between them, more than half on the commuter, though.

Not cleaning or looking after your kit doesn’t make you any more of a MTBer. I paid a lot of money for my bikes and I feel they deserve to be looked after.

+1 Dibbs 😀

Not since I moved to Finland. Loads of forests but the riding is totally uninspiring. Flat flat flat. I come from Wales too 🙁

Mine get ridden but looked after too.

Crash damage and general riding damage us fine but the stuff that annoys me is the careless damage putting bikes in the car or mates leaning their bikes up against yours in a less than sympathetic way. It’s annoying because it can be prevented with some thought.

My Rube has the Invisiframe kit on it which I have been really impressed with. There are loads of scratches and nicks in it. All my bikes get taped up by cables.

Indeed cleaning is just maintenance.

Riding like a proper MTB’er is using them for their intended purpose and surely that is the reason you spent the big wedge on the nice bike? The bikes I see looking mint don’t appear to have done much of this.

There is an advert on eBay at the most that typifies what I mean

Specialized FSR STUMPJUMPER elite not the cheaper comp model
LARGE 19″ FRAME very light
Early 2011 model
Hardly used not abused at all
Just serviced also new brake pads front and rear plus bearings
Ready to ride away no play in any bearing
Rides like new in very good condition hardly used at all
No off roading at all on this bike
elixir rsl brakes really sharp
Fox talas forks which have been serviced with no wear plus lock out
Xtr rear mech
Metallic silver with chrome stickers
New tyres front and rear
New ztr crest light weight tubeless wheels with
Hope evo2 hubs
Must be seen amazing bike through out
First to see will buy
Bike Must go as Iv ordered my new 29er carbon bike
quick sale needed cash on collection open to sensible offers

tomaso – Member

So many bikes on sale that seem to have seen so little riding action? Do folks actually ride these bikes and they stay pristine?

Its a lot of money for something just to polish

I just take mine out and take pictures in the forest after I throw some dirt at it

Not cleaning or looking after your kit doesn’t make you any more of a MTBer. I paid a lot of money for my bikes and I feel they deserve to be looked after.

I’m not convinced that the amount of cleaning and stripping/lubing that some riders do is a good thing. Yes, if you get back from a ride with a wet and muddy bike then gently hosing it down before lube/corrosion prevention products are applied makes sense – but jet washing isn’t good unless you like changing bearings frequently. Hosing down a dry-ish muddy bike is just making it wet again, bad for bearings/drivetrain corrosion. Cleaning a dusty or lightly speckled with mud bike is again making it wet – wet is bad and drying off a bike comprehensively is difficult (and products designed for this tend to remove the thick grease from bearings/suspension).

A bike looking ‘looked after’ isn’t the same as it being well looked after – jet wash a bike after every ride and you risk wrecking every part that needs grease or oil in it, though it will look nice and shiny. Filthy drivetrains, creaky pivots or dried mud on fork/shock stanchions is bad! Assuming cable rub spots are protected there’s nothing bad at all about a muddy frame, it just looks muddy.