Where do all the bling £2.5 / £3k frames end up ?

Are they all broken / back of sheds? Don’t see too many 5 / 6 year old (especially carbon) frames about….

Mine will be three in October or is that not old enough?

I have a 6 year old SC Blur XC Carbon in the garage that gets occasional usage. Resale value would be pants (straight steerer etc) so I’m just hanging on to it. As long as replacement forks are available it’ll ride as well as it always did.

Maybe that’s the thing – folk spending that sort of money on a frame really are keeping them for a long time and that’s why you’re not seeing them second hand (other than from sponsored racers)

Rode my Mojo sl to work this morning. 2008 vintage. Still a great bike but doesn’t get used much these days.

Maybe that’s the thing – folk spending that sort of money on a frame really are keeping them for a long time and that’s why you’re not seeing them second hand.

Yup. 2010 carbon 100mm Pronghorn and 2011 160mm Pronghorn here. Both working as well as the day I bought them, no desire to look for different/new bikes as they both do me just fine.

Sold my 4 year old ibis mojo HD frame for £750 a couple of years ago.

They don’t fetch much second hand,so maybe people are happy to keep hold of them rather than sell?

I suspect that despite the ‘new golf’ reputation that:
1) There’s less £3k+ frames sold than those afflicted by inverse snobbery would like to believe. Even Swinley, the trail center at the epicenter of the Audi Driving, Santa Cruz riding stereotype, is still mostly people on £500-£1000 aluminium hardtails.
2) That most expensive frames are bought by keen MTBers, and probably ridden until they snapped. Rather than cheaper n+1 bikes wheeled out a few Sundays a year.
3) Carbon full suspension wasn’t that mainstream in 2010, mostly just the very highest end models of the big brands who could afford the upfront R&D and tooling costs. Loads of carbon Enduro’s for example on ebay.

They don’t fetch much second hand,so maybe people are happy to keep hold of them rather than sell?

I suspect this has hit the nail on the head!

folk spending that sort of money on a frame really are keeping them for a long time

That’s what they think when they buy them anyway, not the reality in many cases though.

Sold my 4 year old ibis mojo HD frame for £750 a couple of years ago.

You did well!

3) Carbon full suspension wasn’t that mainstream in 2010, mostly just the very highest end models of the big brands who could afford the upfront R&D and tooling costs. Loads of carbon Enduro’s for example on ebay.

And this.

I’ve got a 2012 Santa Cruz Blur LT Carbon you can have for a lovely price!
Sat in my garage as a ‘spare’ bike.
Mainly because its 26” nobody seems interested in buying it…..

Well yes – we have an admittedly 11 year old s works fsr stumpjumper in the garage which my wife’s friends sometimes use – worth bu@@er all to sell

To date I have bought £1000 – £1500 ally frames and got roughly half my money back after 3 / 4 years; not sure that would be the case with £3k of carbon

Maybe the question should be – where will all those 3 / 4 / 5 year old nomads / bronsons / sb66’s / carbines etc end up??

I’ve just retired a 2011 Yeti frame (suspicious crack in the paint around a shock mount) so not going to sell it.

I’ve got a 2012 Santa Cruz Blur LT Carbon you can have for a lovely price!

seen a few bikes I’d quite like at some lovely prices.

All too small for me tho 👿

2012 scalpel still in use. Best frame In the world, ever ever ever.

Is there much of a market for second hand ‘super bikes’? I personally wouldn’t consider paying over a grand for a 2 or 3 year old frame when you can get something brand new for that.

Sure it wouldn’t be as light, or as blingy, but it would probably have more up to date Geo, will come with a warrenty, you know it aint going to break on first ride, and it’ll still be a damn good frame.

That of course soesn’t particularly answer the OPs question, unless others think the same and realise that they won’t get anything like the 3k back they spent, and as such decide to just keep them..

I’m reluctant to sell my ASR5 frame, it was ‘only’ £1800 so not at your end of the scale, but it’s not going to go for much even though it’s in good nick and an amazing ride. Stupid 650b!

I’ve got a couple of carbon S-Works frames in my loft, an Epic & a SJ HT. Doesn’t really feel worthwhile selling them.

Is there much of a market for second hand ‘super bikes’? I personally wouldn’t consider paying over a grand for a 2 or 3 year old frame when you can get something brand new for that.

Sure it wouldn’t be as light, or as blingy, but it would probably have more up to date Geo, will come with a warrenty, you know it aint going to break on first ride, and it’ll still be a damn good frame. I think that’ll be the jist of it, Canyon, On-One etc dampen the market for boutique second hand bikes. Because even if a cheap brand does zero R&D they can just copy the last version of a boutique brands geometry and it’ll be competitive against those s/h frames. And in reality those brands are probably churning out new models quicker than SC, Yeti etc can.

What I hope doesn’t happen is ‘normal’ keeps getting more and more expensive until it puts off new people to the sport (as happened in Sailing and windsurfing, the plethora of carbon and n+1 boards just elevated normal to the point where the average participant couldn’t afford it and would rather go kitesurfing than be below normal). Hopefully the market will mature and consolidate with development slowing down and mid range offerings improving. Remember when the Pike came out, and all of a sudden the best fork on the market was also <£300, it was great, everyone had one. I suspect/hope that competition for the mid-range will force manufacturers to trickle down the good stuff quicker and TBH I can’t see things like dampers making another leap like they did with things like Fox RC2, RS Mission Control etc because those are pretty dam good.

My 2009 Scott Spark 10 Carbon is still my only mountain bike. Gets used every week – still brilliant, although I appreciate designs have moved on since then

I’ve wondered about this. I came to the conclusion that those types of frames get sold on to friends. My conclusion was not based on anything in particular. My other conclusion was that if you can truly afford an expensive bike frame, you may not need to sell it to buy another.

I think my conclusions are actually assumptions.

TINAS – The ‘normal’ has already risen to a level where people are put off.

The industry has left a lot of people behind in the rush to chase monied newcomers.
I won’t be too sad if some of those involved get bitten when the bubble bursts.

Hora’s shed?

“The ‘normal’ has already risen to a level where people are put off.”

Has happened to me. Have a 4 year old 5 that’s due for replacement, but decided last year to just rebuild it with loads of cheap new 26″ parts and have it powdercoated. Total cost was £1k where any replacement would be £2.5-3k to keep a similar level of kit. A similar new 5 would be £4k+ 😯 Nearly bought an Aeris but the difference between the two was not enough to justify £2k+ to change.

Last MTB I sold was a 2010 Top Fuel 9.9 SSL, cost £5k new, I tried to sell it after a year and found the problems people expect – no one wants to spend big money on a second hand bike. It went to France in the end for £3000, he grumbled it wasn’t in showroom condition (it wasn’t a million miles off!). Decided after that id give up changing MTB so often.

Replaced with a 2011 Top Fuel which I kept for 3 years until it cracked, replaced that with a Superfly I still have. Prior to the first Top Fuel prices were slightly more sensible – I had (and sold) a 2006 S-Works Carbon HT, then 2007, 2008 and 2009 S-Works Epics.

The only ‘super bike’ I’ve sold was my 2006 S-Works Epic, sold in 2009 as a complete bike. Got half the new value for it, so really, just in line with anything else at that point in its lifecycle.

My current S-Works Epic… I guess selling it now, at four months old, I’d lose absolutely shed loads, but I suspect the depreciation curve will flatten out after about the three year point assuming it’s looked after, which it will be. But I can’t see myself getting rid for a long time, it’s the perfect bike for the ride I do, and always have done. And I didn’t buy it for its resale value, I bought it to ride it.

I also have a theory that people don’t like to spend more than 2k on a secondhand bike irrespective of what it was new.

2008 mojo here, is/was that a top end bike? I bought it 2nd hand from here, the previous owner bought it new but it was barely used and ended up hanging in the shed. He certainly didn’t ‘need’ the cash I paid. I suspect that people who can afford such stuff new don’t need to punt it on to fund the next bike. Seems to be the case from a couple of responses above ^.

The bike? It’s out of date, living on past glory and looking a bit worse for wear. So am I, so we get on well.

2012 Yeti Asr5-c here. Built up from secondhand bits in 2013… Coming in around that magic 2k mark (okay, so it may have been nearer 2.5 built with separate bits). Will never part with it – cos it’s ace!

I also recently built up a 2010 Mojo Sl, coz I’d always wanted one. Top spec build with nearly new bits came in just over 1k

These things are such great value! Why get rid of them when new bikes either look a bit work-a-day, or are insanely expensive (for something you might actually be proud to own)?

Just retired a 2005 6-pack. I say retired, it’s still built up and will be ridden from time to time. Two point above are pertinent.

I keep my bikes for a long time.
No one would offer my anywhere close to half decent money for them.

Rusty Spannner – I would love it if the MTB bubble burst. I started riding BMX in the mid nineties after the 80’s BMX bubble HAD burst – although I didn’t know it at the time BMX was really dead, a lot of the big manufacturers had given up and there was no money in the sport. So riders started to ride how they wanted, where they wanted and had to develop and make a lot of their own parts. This was good as it wasn’t the manufacturers dictating to you what to buy – maybe 27.5 is a good example of this!

We have a 2010 Zesty 917 Carbon – bought cheap from neighbour/fellow STW’er, as it had BB glued back in.

Now waiting on a helicoil, as eldest_oab rode it for too long with iffy rear bushes.

Just retired a 2005 6-pack. I say retired, it’s still built up and will be ridden from time to time. Two point above are pertinent.

I keep my bikes for a long time.
No one would offer my anywhere close to half decent money for them.

Bingo, very similar to me, 2001 RFX semi-retired, not worth selling it even though its a corker of a frame, so it’s a spare bike to loan out to friends or maybe take on the odd uplift day.

I would love it if the MTB bubble burst. I started riding BMX in the mid nineties after the 80’s BMX bubble HAD burst – although I didn’t know it at the time BMX was really dead, a lot of the big manufacturers had given up and there was no money in the sport. So riders started to ride how they wanted, where they wanted and had to develop and make a lot of their own parts.

The flip side of that is a legacy of disused BMX tracks which unless there’s an active club maintaining them won’t draw kids in. Ditto sailing clubs struggle for members. Back when boats were wood there’d be a waiting list, since if went polyester, then epoxy and now carbon numbers keep dwindling. Apparently the number of people learning to sail has remained fairly constant, but they’re not then getting involved in racing.

I suppose MTB is different because there’s less reliance on clubs and infrastructure, but then neither was windsurfing.

A few guys I vaguely know buy a new such frame every year, sell on the used one. They take a big hit price wise but its their main hobby, I imagine they get good discounts too from the shop. My ex-neighbour is still riding his 2005 (?) SC Superlight

@thisisnot – I don’t think construction methods have led to the decline in sailing, its purely economics. Most dinghy clubs are still focused on grp designs like Lasers or the trusty toppers for kids – both available for £500-1000. My mate boight and sold a £5k carbon fibre RA losing only £500 after a years sailing

How much of it is a distrust of second hand carbon with no warranty?

If I’m buying a second hand frame I’d be thinking it could break tomorrow and any use I got out of it was a bonus. That would place a limit on the amount I’d be willing to spend. I’d not be spending a grand and a half on some second hand boutique carbon frame, but if it was silly cheap I might be tempted.

I think the wheel size change has had a big impact. I have two Covert frames, both 26 inch size which will be worth very little. I will get more selling the CCDB shock, Fox 36’s, Chris King hubs and Saint brakes than the complete bike.

Lots of small things change so stuff becomes out of date in the eyes of buyers, like handlebar diameters, straight steerers vs. tapered etc.

I have a mate trying to sell his immaculate SC Heckler, hardly used, mint conditions full of top spec stuff, but its 26 inch flavour. Worth 3-4k, but wont sell for much more that 1k if he is lucky.

still have a Merlin Works 4.0 from 2007, light fast not much clearance for wide tyres, no dropper but some days is pleasure spin around on. Also have a Cotic Soda thay I’ve often thought of selling but never get round to it.

With so much more top end kit around now, it will be interesting to resurrect this thread in 2020, and see what’s happening too all the stuff that’s been bought from 2014 onwards. Maybe 27.5 will be gone, and they will be gathering dust as spare bikes in people’s sheds. Can see it happening a bit already, with boost hubs, and + size compatibility, my 2014 Carbine 29er seems a bit dated.

The last couple of posts have been pretty much bang on. Warranty transferability or lack there of and wheel size has a big hit on values therefore people are more likely to keep bikes or pass on within their local community at mates rates rather than push it out to stroppy buyers on here, eBay or Pinkbike.

How much of it is a distrust of second hand carbon with no warranty?

That is a common distrust I think which could be seen as odd given carbon fibre frames can generally be repaired quite easily whereas aluminium ones can’t.

Also have a Cotic Soda

Was tempted by a few SH Soda’s a few years back. I guess it’s much the same thing with carbon frames these days, that distrust of longevity of material associated with lack of warranty and far from disposable price.

That is a common distrust

I think anyone who was into MTB during the years when carbon was introduced has likely ended up with a nagging distrust of longevity in the back of their minds. As you say, probably misplaced as it is repairable and technology has moved on considerably.