Who’s been left with a bike they can’t sell? Who’s picked up a bargain?

Just put my road bike up for sale. I’m thinking it might take quite a while, but thankfully an urgent sale isn’t needed. I remember selling my Giant Reign back at the start of 2022 when the market was getting very full, and was surprised it went within a week or so. Not sure it’ll be that easy this time around.

I suspect there may be a few “well I have got it advertised but nobody wants to buy it darling” bikes for sale out there.

Or the high price askers aren’t involved enough in the scene to know how much new bike prices have dropped in the sales.

I would literally rather go running than ride a road bike with rim brakes and 25mm tyres again. Just crap in every way.

You bought a crap bike? Fair enough.

If anyone is selling a nice posh frameset Basso or something exotic in medium for next to **** all I’d be interested.

I’m genuinely astonished that people have swallowed the kool-aid so badly to be giving away some of the rim brake road bikes and components I’m seeing right now

I’d be all over it if i had the space and money (not that i’d need much money!).
Unfortunately, most of the frames are in size massive or gargantuan.

I shouldn’t have moved to a land of giants.

I might have to take a look at all these bargain rim brake road framesets.  My rose is got to be getting on for 10 years old now, still really nice with 10speed force and zipp 404s, but fancy trying something different.

I too mostly just keep my bikes, kids are getting to the age where soon they will be able to inherit bits and bobs.

Just built up my old dmr sidekick with 9 speed and pike454’s.  Nothing wrong with, lots of fun still.  Does weigh the same as the moon though

I’m genuinely astonished that people have swallowed the kool-aid so badly to be giving away some of the rim brake road bikes and components I’m seeing right now

I still have a (very rarely ridden) rim brake road bike, the problem is not that it’s got rim brakes, it’s that trying to get decent parts for it now is like trying to get blood out of a stone. Anything of that era has a retro tax attached to it and nice rim brake / QR wheelsets are increasingly hard to come by.

It’s also pretty much worthless to try and sell it.

I have a Cannondale synapse in alloy with rim brakes and 25c tires.

It was my commuter for a while but has been down graded to a pub bike. Round town it’s harsh but it’s still ace on smooth country roads

I’ve though about selling it a few times. It might be worth £200 on a good day. I’ll not be able to replace it with anything nice and light for £200, so I keep it and ride it occasionally

What are those smooth country roads you speak of? 🙂

There’s a 10 year old Velorbis city bike sat in my office that got ridden at uni by the lad about 3 times. Cost him a grand I doubt I could shift it for £200

A grand for that! ? He was ripped off when it was new. That’s a fifty quid second hand bike for sure.

Prices have gone up since https://velorbis.eu/product/arrow-classic-gents-jet-black/

I’ve hit both sides in the last few years as I’ve been trying to find my perfect everyday bike and am also thinking about overhauling the whole squad.

Built my lovely Pace HT 2022/23 using plenty of bargain PSA’s and ended up with a well spec’d bike for around £1600. Then everyone started selling HT’s at half price and everyone decided they didn’t like 650b. I’ve considered selling as part of the re-org but can’t imagine it’s worth much, even in mint condition so I’ll probably just keep it.

Bought a Ragley Trig via C2W just as low stock hit. Sold it a couple of years later for less than half what I’d payed after tax discount but luckily missed the epic Ragley dump by months. Luckily I managed to buy a bargain Cube carbon HT that was heavily upgraded for the same price. Then sold it on again a year later for the same price!

My Stage 5 is also possibly on the chopping block as my current thinking is I want a big bike (160/70mm 29er FS) and an XC whippet (120mm carbon XC FS) but I’d hate to think what that’s worth with Orange selling similar frames for cheap, cheap!

Unless I become rich all of a sudden I reckon I’ll buy the XC bike but just keep hold of the Stage 5 and Pace until I make the jump to a big electric thing some time in the future.

@tthew I can’t PM you for some reason.

I have a Medium Day One SS I’ve been meaning to put on eBay. I’m in Leeds. It’s well used but well looked after. Switched to a IGH bike a couple of months ago for commuting on the hills round here. My price expectations are more inline with yours if you want to PM me.

I still have a (very rarely ridden) rim brake road bike, the problem is not that it’s got rim brakes, it’s that trying to get decent parts for it now is like trying to get blood out of a stone

Wheels are becoming increasingly difficult to find for rim braked, QR bikes.

I’m genuinely astonished that people have swallowed the kool-aid so badly to be giving away some of the rim brake road bikes and components I’m seeing right now

I’m guessing that plenty of owners of those bikes don’t need Kool Aid to make the calculation of how much the bike is worth and  how much it will cost to replace worn out parts against the cost of a new, modern spec’d bike.

Wheels are becoming increasingly difficult to find for rim braked, QR bikes.

Thankfully hubs, spokes and rims aren’t, yet.

I have 2 mtbs that haven’t been used in years. One, a heavily upgraded 2015 trance in good nick with mattocs, carbon wheels, hope brakes, fox dropper etc. Only offers have been from scammers, and one bloke offering me 200 quid.

My other, a lovely yeti asrc also appears to be worth buttons.

At start of year I put up a fully hydro ultegra disk roadie for sale for 300 quid. Didn’t sell that either.

On the flip side I had numerous offers for a sworks tarmac frameset recently, despite me not even thinking it was particularly competitively priced! So expensive fashionable stuff does tend to still sell

I’d rather keep stuff than just give it away for peanuts tbh.

Wheels are becoming increasingly difficult to find for rim braked, QR bikes.

I see plenty for sale on FB marketplace 2nd hand for very good prices (£200 for lightly used carbon wheels with 25mm new tyres fitted) Tubular versions seem real cheap as no one really wants them anymore

The first disc road bikes came with 100mm & 135mm QR disc wheels, then came along 100mm & 135mm disc wheels with thru axles using 15mm on the front and 12mm on the rear, these wheels are getting harder to find!

@tthew I can’t PM you for some reason.

I have a Medium Day One SS I’ve been meaning to put on eBay. I’m in Leeds. It’s well used but well looked after. Switched to a IGH bike a couple of months ago for commuting on the hills round here. My price expectations are more inline with yours if you want to PM me.

I might PM you about that too.

Actually @snownrock I cant even work out how to find the messaging system, never mind how to send a PM. Is it a paid member only thing now?

Anyway, I’d be interested if @tthew isn’t.

I’ve got a rigid single speed inbred.  Bought when they were the latest thing on here. In fairness I used it loads for winter night rides. I had it refurbed a few years back but a move in job and doing some Zwift racing means that I ride less outdoors after work now in winter.

It’s decent enough. I’m considering splitting it as I’d probably get nearly as much for the brakes, pipedream fork (29er) and hope pro 2 hubs as I will the complete bike.

Not wanting to post it limits my market. It’s in the classifieds and I’m based in Newcastle if anyone wants a niche pink bike for £200. It’s gathering dust which is a real shame.

Haven’t second hand bikes always been worth buttons?

Covid was an aberration but I can’t recall a golden time before that.

@tthew I can’t PM you for some reason.

Will message you later, it was working for me last week. Thanks.

My Transition Klunker isn’t selling for £250 against another at £400 on eBay, a stealth ad on here might work……if not I’ll hang it from the rafters in the workshop.

I’ve come out on the right side of the market this week, son No.1 needed a road bike with a double on it so we could sort out the frankly bonkers U14 / Youth B gearing for him – FWIF 6.45m gain so 48/16 or 46/15 on 25mm tyres – as it’s not achievable on a single ring like the younger age groups are due to having no low gears for climbing if he actually rode it somewhere other than a closed circuit.

Also with the added factor of him being an average sized 12yr old at a smidge under 5’2″ it was time to look for XS road bikes in good condition that don’t weigh a ton; we happened upon a very nice Ridley Helium SLA with 5700 105 (2×11) and some decent (enough) qr wheels with RS400 hubs for just over £300, which is nice.

I look at things like this and thing “mmmmmm” I don’t know how much he’s dropped on this, but it looks a bargain to me.

https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/3676113/

That Santa Cruz is in great condition but I don’t think it’s a bargain as no one wants short travel 650b. Orange 4’s sell for peanuts compared to their 29ers or longer travel bikes.

Who’s in the market for a short travel, small wheeled bike in large?

What’s wrong with 130mm and 27.5 – ohh that’s nice, but probably would have to get rid of the NX.

There is a Colnago V1-r ‘ferrari’ edition on ebay for less than £700 (as new) – these were mad money frames.

I got a bird AM9 with Lyriks and DT swiss wheels for £800 a couple of weeks back!

My Transition Klunker isn’t selling for £250 against another at £400 on eBay, a stealth ad on here might work……if not I’ll hang it from the rafters in the workshop.

So it’s yours? I’ve got it on my watchlist as I used to really want one. Not sure what I’d do with it though.

I’m also watching a Kona Bike Hotrod on marketplace which is even more ridiculous. It’s 7 feet long, I’m not sure I can sacrifice the space.

That Santa Cruz is in great condition but I don’t think it’s a bargain as no one wants short travel 650b. Orange 4’s sell for peanuts compared to their 29ers or longer travel bikes.

Who’s in the market for a short travel, small wheeled bike in large?

Close – Me. Got growing kids. But need it in XS or small.

Plenty of 27.5 kit in my stock control system.

I missed a really tidy nice upgraded Marin Rift Zone for 650 the other week. As we move through winter I think prices will fall but there’s a lot of people asking crazy prices as they bought in lockdown and think they deserve some money back.

FWIW, I sold a model car on ebay at the weekend. Listed at 40, then 30, then 25. Got bid up to 38. [shrug].

What’s wrong with 130mm and 27.5 – ohh that’s nice, but probably would have to get rid of the NX.

Absolutely nothing at all, it’ll be ace fun but the market for them is tiny so prices are low.

Close – Me. Got growing kids. But need it in XS or small.

Exactly, s or xs would be fine, the big ones less so.

@thepodge give me a nudge in a few days on this thread if you don’t hear anything

I bought a Trek Madone 9 in 2017/18 and upgraded it a di2 groupset and carbon wheels from day 1, think I paid around £4k at the time. It’s got rim brakes but I don’t ride it in the wet/winter so I don’t really miss disc brakes (although they would be nice).

To buy a similar bike now it would cost considerably more, I don’t even think it would be in the same league as the Madone for a similar price.

Second hand value of the Madone isn’t great, no one is looking for rim brake bikes these days! I’m occasionally tempted to get a new road bike but I’ll keep the Madone for another couple of years if I can.

I recently sold a Cannondale SL4 MTB with 26″ wheels (I think it was a 2012ish bike) for £200, I paid about £500 when it was new and I don’t think I did too bad getting £200 for a 12 year old bike!

Not stuck with anything but I’d maybe have a reshuffle if I thought I could get a bit more for one or two of them. Focus Jam2, Bird AM9 & Cotic BFe Max all serve a similar sort of riding, albeit one is power assisted; I’d probably swap the Bfe for a Chisel FS frameset or build.

@snownrock … I’ve just PMd you too. In Leeds also.

Interesting everyone saying that there are road bike bargains out there…

Earlier this year I was after a good condition road bike that I could just jump on and ride with little maintenance. Was really looking for discs and was thinking I’d get an unused COVID special for £750 🙂

Well, my expectations shifted fast. Downwards. There was nothing less than £1,500 with discs.

The best I could do in a size 56 (L or M/L) was a carbon Planet X from a good few years back (2015?) with rim brakes, Ultegra 11 speed and silly short cranks (167.5).

Bike is fine, but finishing kit is basic and tyres were grim, even though they were unused. That set me back £450.

I was finding lots of old bikes that had been worked hard and were advertised at well over £750, even though they looked done in.

Would be interested to see if anyone can find a finished bike with rim brakes and good condition for much less than £500.

There are low(er) prices but IME that reflects the fact the groupset is worn, the paint is peeling and it will be due a headset, BB and probably new wheel(s).

Not sure that counts as a bargain. But happy to be proved wrong as I might change the Planet X for the right alternative.

AIBU

Facebook Marketplace is your best bet, i see lots of nice rim brake road bikes going for around £500, of course they are going to have some wear and need a little spending on them but they did cost over 2k when new

This is a quick serch i did im my area

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1049528373502921/?ref=search&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3A933da2eb-0ba4-4939-a231-6940d62f53a9

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/522185397088149/?ref=search&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3A933da2eb-0ba4-4939-a231-6940d62f53a9

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1256721498667170/?ref=search&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3A933da2eb-0ba4-4939-a231-6940d62f53a9

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/2922389781260242/?ref=search&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3A933da2eb-0ba4-4939-a231-6940d62f53a9

I agree there are some shonky bikes out there.

However, it can be a matter of timing and moving quickly. I bought my Vagabond a year ago – chap said that he had someone else due 15 minutes after me, and sure enough as I paid him someone else arrived…

I bought a Vagabond (£1300-£2000 RRP) with 35 miles use and a single chip in the fork leg for £500.

Agreed with FB as a source:

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/2069655296739256/?ref=search&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3A98c783f0-6044-4dd6-bd5e-4ddf62934143

and

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1712447009522503/?ref=search&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3A98c783f0-6044-4dd6-bd5e-4ddf62934143