Pricing used bikes

Hello,

I used to (past tense) be into biking way WAY back when I was in
college. In fact, I still have the bike I rode with some of the guys
on the bike team - a 1985 Specialized Allez.

Is there a market for a bike that's almost 20 years old? I also have
a 10 year old Specialized Stumpjumper that cost me $900 way back when.

I am contemplating entering a triatholon (want to do one of those
before i turn 40)...and was thinking it might be a good time to buy a
new bike. I just ran by a high-end bike store...wow, bikes going
anywhere from $1500 to $5k and higher.

I contemplated just riding my old Allez, but its a 12-speeds with a
13-23 ratio in the back...I'd be afraid I'd have a heart attack if I
had to climb any hills of note. When I was riding in my younger days,
it didn't bother me to climb hills with the bike...but 3 kids later
and 20 years later, along with a few inches to my waist...alas, its a
different story.

I was looking to sell both of my bikes and then try and cobble some
money to buy a new bike. With 3 kids under 6, and the need to pay
mortgage, I don't think I can spend anywhere close to $1,000.

Should I just look at newer used bicycles? Or is there a bike out
there for under $1000 that would be suitable. I don't think I'll be
coming anywhere close to the 120 miles a week I was riding in college,
and probably more riding with the kids. But I wanted something that
would be suitable for triathalons?

Suggestions for places to look to price my used bicycles? Suggestions
as to what I might look for in my new bike or newer used bike?

Thanks for the assistance!

26 Apr 2004 14:15:18 -0700,
,
(FFBSensei) wrote, in part:

Suggestions for places to look to price my used bicycles?

E-bay has pretty much defined the market values for used bikes.
Here's some WAG for vintage lightweights
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/vrbn-a-f.html

But I wanted something that would be suitable for triathalons?

Suggestions
as to what I might look for in my new bike or newer used bike?

Cervélo Soloist 105 - ~$1700
--
zk

FFBSensei wrote:

I was looking to sell both of my bikes and then try and cobble some
money to buy a new bike. With 3 kids under 6, and the need to pay
mortgage, I don't think I can spend anywhere close to $1,000.

Or take option #3

I'm assuming you have DT shifters and a steel frame.

New cassette (12-27) $40
New (9-speed) rear wheel $80-120
Cold-set rear triangle (LBS) $15
Bar-end shifters (9 spd) $50
or 105 STI levers $160

So including labor and miscellany, call it $250-400 for a decent upgrade.

If you want an even wider cassette you might pick up a new long-cage
(MTB) derailleur for $20-25, and that would allow you to run a 12-34 or
11-32 cassette.

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
"How should I know if it works? That's what beta testers are for. I only
coded it."
(Attributed to Linus Torvalds, somewhere in a posting)

Should I just look at newer used bicycles? Or is there a bike out
there for under $1000 that would be suitable. I don't think I'll be
coming anywhere close to the 120 miles a week I was riding in college,
and probably more riding with the kids. But I wanted something that
would be suitable for triathalons?

Suggestions for places to look to price my used bicycles? Suggestions
as to what I might look for in my new bike or newer used bike?

Thanks for the assistance!

The best values in bikes are the used ones. Cars are just like bikes: they
depreciate 30% as soon as they are off the lot, and they are down to half of
purchase price after a couple of years. Best value: a high-end 80's vintage
steel frame bike.

Second tip: if a used bike has STI shifters on it, assume that they are shot
or will be within a few months. The #1 reason for folks selling road bikes
is that their shifters are dying.

STI problems can often be fixed by cleaning out the internals with WD-40.
If that doesn't work then the problem is probably terminal. Campagnolo
Ergopower shifters however can be serviced relatively inexpensively.. A lot
of 10-year old Campy shifters are still on the road, like a pair of mine
that have been overhauled recently, and are good as new.

My recommendation: get a high-end older steel bike from someone you trust,
and then buy and install some STI or Ergopower shifters yourself. This
approach should bring in a whole bike for about $500.

On Mon, 26 Apr 2004 15:19:39 -0700, Dane Jackson
wrote:
Or take option #3

I'll second that!

New cassette (12-27) $40
New (9-speed) rear wheel $80-120
Cold-set rear triangle (LBS) $15

It may be tough to find a LBS to do this in many areas. I'm not
sure, never tried, but I doubt any here would, and especially not
for $15. Sheldon Brown's website makes it sound easy enough to do at
home anyway.

Bar-end shifters (9 spd) $50
or 105 STI levers $160

I'd add a triple crank, BB, and appropriate front derailer (if
planning to use STI or other indexed shifters):
Sora triple crank: $60
BB: $15-20
Derailer: $17

So including labor and miscellany, call it $250-400 for a decent upgrade.

Maybe as much as $600 with everything above and $100 worth of the
tools to do it yourself. That's probably a high number; but it's
probably cheaper than labor either way, and you don't have to beg
and goad the LBS to install your mail-order parts (or pay 200% for
the parts, at least around here) when they'd much rather sell you a
new bike.

Oh, and $20 or $40 or whatever it costs for a Barnett's manual (or
download it if that floats your boat). It really is nice.

Even at $600 (or more for more-expensive components), this comes in
way under the target $1000 limit, leaving space for other nice stuff
like new saddle, pedals and shoes, aerobars, etc.

If you want an even wider cassette you might pick up a new long-cage
(MTB) derailleur for $20-25, and that would allow you to run a 12-34 or
11-32 cassette.

I'd even try the 11-32 on the existing derailer; those older
derailers often have pretty good capacity...but probably won't
index, so maybe new rear derailer anyway.
--
Rick Onanian

In article ,
(FFBSensei) wrote:

Hello,

I used to (past tense) be into biking way WAY back when I was in
college. In fact, I still have the bike I rode with some of the guys
on the bike team - a 1985 Specialized Allez.

Is there a market for a bike that's almost 20 years old? I also have
a 10 year old Specialized Stumpjumper that cost me $900 way back when.

The short answer is that I bought a half-decent rigid Skykomish mountain
bike with Deore LX components this weekend for C$15 including a BLT
lighting system (but no charger). Your Stumpjumper is worth a bit more
than that, because it's a Stumpjumper, but not more than $200 on the
best possible day.

As for your Specialized Allez, I offered C$20 for a similar (though
lower-spec) Ascente of about the same vintage. It was apparently $1100
new, and the asking price was C$40 (I didn't really need it; I'm grossly
over my bike-expenses budget this month).

I am contemplating entering a triatholon (want to do one of those
before i turn 40)...and was thinking it might be a good time to buy a
new bike. I just ran by a high-end bike store...wow, bikes going
anywhere from $1500 to $5k and higher.

I contemplated just riding my old Allez, but its a 12-speeds with a
13-23 ratio in the back...I'd be afraid I'd have a heart attack if I
had to climb any hills of note. When I was riding in my younger days,
it didn't bother me to climb hills with the bike...but 3 kids later
and 20 years later, along with a few inches to my waist...alas, its a
different story.

Hm. Well, if you're seriously training for a triathlon, there probably
won't be any hills. If you're seriously concerned about a lack of
ratios, you can probably upgrade to either a wider-ratio 6-speed cluster
out back, or for a little more money, to more gears and a new shifter,
or to a triple ring setup on the front.

I was looking to sell both of my bikes and then try and cobble some
money to buy a new bike. With 3 kids under 6, and the need to pay
mortgage, I don't think I can spend anywhere close to $1,000.

Should I just look at newer used bicycles? Or is there a bike out
there for under $1000 that would be suitable. I don't think I'll be
coming anywhere close to the 120 miles a week I was riding in college,
and probably more riding with the kids. But I wanted something that
would be suitable for triathalons?

Here's the thing. You could get a new Tiagra-equipped or Sora-equipped
bike for much less than $1000. Tiagra is perfectly serviceable gear, and
will build into a very rideable bike. I use a Sora shifter on a racing
bike, and as much as I wish it were the case, it's not the reason I lose
races.

Suggestions for places to look to price my used bicycles? Suggestions
as to what I might look for in my new bike or newer used bike?

At best your bikes are probably worth a collective US$300-400 to a
really motivated buyer. Check eBay for selling prices.

But are you just hoping to do triathlons? I would recommend taking the
Allez and as the song says, loving the one you're with.

To turn the Allez into a really serviceable tri-bike, I'll just go and
grab some components from Nashbar, picked because they are generically
good at pricing:

Visiontech Tri Max handlebar, $130 (I'm recommending you use your
current brake levers for now)
http://tinyurl.com/27e4a

Ritchey 9-speed OCR rear wheel, $110
http://tinyurl.com/36b98

Shimano 9-speed barcon shifters, $50 (technically, only the 8-speed is
in stock, but I'm going to assume the 9-speed will soon be available at
the regular price)
http://tinyurl.com/32muc

Shimano 105 11-34 (super-wide ratios!) cassette, $37.00
http://tinyurl.com/37xrw

Wipperman 9-speed chain, $23
http://tinyurl.com/2jvsl

Nashbar says they'll give me a 10% discount, and prices the package at
305.77. I think the shipping would be about $15 by ground in the US.

The upgrades I've specc'd would turn your bike into a fairly competitive
triathlon-only bike. For a more flexible version, you could use your
road handlebars and either the barcons or new DT shifters plus an
aerobar for about the same money and almost no aero disadvantage, but
then you could remove the aerobar part when you wanted a plain road bike.

The next step up would be one of two ways: if you wanted to go road
racing, the next big upgrade would likely be to buy STI shifters. If you
find after a few months of training on this bike that you're ready to do
a lot of TTs or triathlons, you could add a goofy aerodynamic front
wheel with too few spokes, but please don't use this for training (I
have a moral opposition to low-spoke-count wheels in general, but will
concede their slight advantages on the front wheel of a time-trial bike):

Velocity Spartacus Front Road Wheel, $120.
http://tinyurl.com/ytnzu

The above is not an endorsement of Nashbar, just a random jumble of
parts from their catalog. You could do a little better if you shop
around or buy through eBay or rec.bikes.marketplace. I'd also recommend
asking for a similar proposal from your local bike shop. This package
would get you a TT/triathlon bike that would have no signifcant
disadvantages over buying a new tri-bike for much more money. There is
some chance you would have front shifting problems with your old rings,
in which case you might have to spend another $50 on rings. The
wide-ratio cluster I have specified will give you a 39x34 low gear. If
there's a hill you can't climb with that, then you can't blame your kids
or your age for it. On the other end, it would have a 52x11 big gear,
which is probably way too much, but will ensure you never spin out.
Contemplate other cluster choices if you will.

Oh, one other bugbear, but it's a minor one: your frame is steel (I'm
995 sure of this), and you will have to spread it slightly to 130 mm
from 126 mm. This is trivial: on my own bike, I just manually spread the
dropouts each time I insert the wheel. For a tidier job, you cold-set
(bend) the frame, or get your LBS to do it.

Thanks for the assistance!

You're welcome. If you find an internal-gear hub (3,5, or 7-speed) lying
around somewhere, you can send it to me as commission.

--
Ryan Cousineau, http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine/wiredcola/
President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

Thanks for all of the input.

I had thought about upgrading my current bike with various components.
Heck, I don't even have clipless peddles. Altho, a part of me likes
my cleats and not having to worry about falling down (altho I've done
that with my bike with cleats!).

Let me call around and see what I can cobble together. That may be
the low-cost option. I was looking at the new Allez and their
cheapest model was $800 and spiraled quickly out of control into the
thousands.

This seems like a good avenue to pursue. No need to spend money
needlessly, and I doubt I'll have the time in the near future (next 5
years) to get into any serious riding. Nor do I think i would do more
than a triathalon a year.

I've got to start jumping into the pool and start training.

Thx again...I'll call up nashbar and see what they say.

Ryan Cousineau wrote in message ...
In article ,
(FFBSensei) wrote:

Hello,

I used to (past tense) be into biking way WAY back when I was in
college. In fact, I still have the bike I rode with some of the guys
on the bike team - a 1985 Specialized Allez.

Is there a market for a bike that's almost 20 years old? I also have
a 10 year old Specialized Stumpjumper that cost me $900 way back when.

The short answer is that I bought a half-decent rigid Skykomish mountain
bike with Deore LX components this weekend for C$15 including a BLT
lighting system (but no charger). Your Stumpjumper is worth a bit more
than that, because it's a Stumpjumper, but not more than $200 on the
best possible day.

As for your Specialized Allez, I offered C$20 for a similar (though
lower-spec) Ascente of about the same vintage. It was apparently $1100
new, and the asking price was C$40 (I didn't really need it; I'm grossly
over my bike-expenses budget this month).

I am contemplating entering a triatholon (want to do one of those
before i turn 40)...and was thinking it might be a good time to buy a
new bike. I just ran by a high-end bike store...wow, bikes going
anywhere from $1500 to $5k and higher.

I contemplated just riding my old Allez, but its a 12-speeds with a
13-23 ratio in the back...I'd be afraid I'd have a heart attack if I
had to climb any hills of note. When I was riding in my younger days,
it didn't bother me to climb hills with the bike...but 3 kids later
and 20 years later, along with a few inches to my waist...alas, its a
different story.

Hm. Well, if you're seriously training for a triathlon, there probably
won't be any hills. If you're seriously concerned about a lack of
ratios, you can probably upgrade to either a wider-ratio 6-speed cluster
out back, or for a little more money, to more gears and a new shifter,
or to a triple ring setup on the front.

I was looking to sell both of my bikes and then try and cobble some
money to buy a new bike. With 3 kids under 6, and the need to pay
mortgage, I don't think I can spend anywhere close to $1,000.

Should I just look at newer used bicycles? Or is there a bike out
there for under $1000 that would be suitable. I don't think I'll be
coming anywhere close to the 120 miles a week I was riding in college,
and probably more riding with the kids. But I wanted something that
would be suitable for triathalons?

Here's the thing. You could get a new Tiagra-equipped or Sora-equipped
bike for much less than $1000. Tiagra is perfectly serviceable gear, and
will build into a very rideable bike. I use a Sora shifter on a racing
bike, and as much as I wish it were the case, it's not the reason I lose
races.

Suggestions for places to look to price my used bicycles? Suggestions
as to what I might look for in my new bike or newer used bike?

At best your bikes are probably worth a collective US$300-400 to a
really motivated buyer. Check eBay for selling prices.

But are you just hoping to do triathlons? I would recommend taking the
Allez and as the song says, loving the one you're with.

To turn the Allez into a really serviceable tri-bike, I'll just go and
grab some components from Nashbar, picked because they are generically
good at pricing:

Visiontech Tri Max handlebar, $130 (I'm recommending you use your
current brake levers for now)
http://tinyurl.com/27e4a

Ritchey 9-speed OCR rear wheel, $110
http://tinyurl.com/36b98

Shimano 9-speed barcon shifters, $50 (technically, only the 8-speed is
in stock, but I'm going to assume the 9-speed will soon be available at
the regular price)
http://tinyurl.com/32muc

Shimano 105 11-34 (super-wide ratios!) cassette, $37.00
http://tinyurl.com/37xrw

Wipperman 9-speed chain, $23
http://tinyurl.com/2jvsl

Nashbar says they'll give me a 10% discount, and prices the package at
305.77. I think the shipping would be about $15 by ground in the US.

The upgrades I've specc'd would turn your bike into a fairly competitive
triathlon-only bike. For a more flexible version, you could use your
road handlebars and either the barcons or new DT shifters plus an
aerobar for about the same money and almost no aero disadvantage, but
then you could remove the aerobar part when you wanted a plain road bike.

The next step up would be one of two ways: if you wanted to go road
racing, the next big upgrade would likely be to buy STI shifters. If you
find after a few months of training on this bike that you're ready to do
a lot of TTs or triathlons, you could add a goofy aerodynamic front
wheel with too few spokes, but please don't use this for training (I
have a moral opposition to low-spoke-count wheels in general, but will
concede their slight advantages on the front wheel of a time-trial bike):

Velocity Spartacus Front Road Wheel, $120.
http://tinyurl.com/ytnzu

The above is not an endorsement of Nashbar, just a random jumble of
parts from their catalog. You could do a little better if you shop
around or buy through eBay or rec.bikes.marketplace. I'd also recommend
asking for a similar proposal from your local bike shop. This package
would get you a TT/triathlon bike that would have no signifcant
disadvantages over buying a new tri-bike for much more money. There is
some chance you would have front shifting problems with your old rings,
in which case you might have to spend another $50 on rings. The
wide-ratio cluster I have specified will give you a 39x34 low gear. If
there's a hill you can't climb with that, then you can't blame your kids
or your age for it. On the other end, it would have a 52x11 big gear,
which is probably way too much, but will ensure you never spin out.
Contemplate other cluster choices if you will.

Oh, one other bugbear, but it's a minor one: your frame is steel (I'm
995 sure of this), and you will have to spread it slightly to 130 mm
from 126 mm. This is trivial: on my own bike, I just manually spread the
dropouts each time I insert the wheel. For a tidier job, you cold-set
(bend) the frame, or get your LBS to do it.

Thanks for the assistance!

You're welcome. If you find an internal-gear hub (3,5, or 7-speed) lying
around somewhere, you can send it to me as commission.

Is this a troll or what? You are talking about entering a triathlon
without using up what miles you can on your old bike. If you are worried
about killing yourself on a hill climb or only putting in less than 120
miles a week, who are you trying to kid about entering a triathlon? If you
are married with 3 kids and supporting a family (=working 40+ per week)
where do you think you will find the tme to train?
Reality check.....

On 26 Apr 2004 14:15:18 -0700, FFBSensei wrote:

Hello,

I used to (past tense) be into biking way WAY back when I was in
college. In fact, I still have the bike I rode with some of the guys
on the bike team - a 1985 Specialized Allez.

Is there a market for a bike that's almost 20 years old? I also have
a 10 year old Specialized Stumpjumper that cost me $900 way back when.

I am contemplating entering a triatholon (want to do one of those
before i turn 40)...and was thinking it might be a good time to buy a
new bike. I just ran by a high-end bike store...wow, bikes going
anywhere from $1500 to $5k and higher.

I contemplated just riding my old Allez, but its a 12-speeds with a
13-23 ratio in the back...I'd be afraid I'd have a heart attack if I
had to climb any hills of note. When I was riding in my younger days,
it didn't bother me to climb hills with the bike...but 3 kids later
and 20 years later, along with a few inches to my waist...alas, its a
different story.

I was looking to sell both of my bikes and then try and cobble some
money to buy a new bike. With 3 kids under 6, and the need to pay
mortgage, I don't think I can spend anywhere close to $1,000.

Should I just look at newer used bicycles? Or is there a bike out
there for under $1000 that would be suitable. I don't think I'll be
coming anywhere close to the 120 miles a week I was riding in college,
and probably more riding with the kids. But I wanted something that
would be suitable for triathalons?

Suggestions for places to look to price my used bicycles? Suggestions
as to what I might look for in my new bike or newer used bike?

Thanks for the assistance!



--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/

In article , says...
Is this a troll or what? You are talking about entering a triathlon
without using up what miles you can on your old bike. If you are worried
about killing yourself on a hill climb or only putting in less than 120
miles a week, who are you trying to kid about entering a triathlon? If you
are married with 3 kids and supporting a family (=working 40+ per week)
where do you think you will find the tme to train?
Reality check.....

He's probably not entering an IronMan length triathlon; probably a 1/2,
or maybe an international distance. They're a *lot* shorter.

.....

--
Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in the
newsgroups if possible).

On Wed, 28 Apr 2004 06:35:57 -0700, Bill wrote:

Should I just look at newer used bicycles? Or is there a bike out
there for under $1000 that would be suitable. I don't think I'll be
coming anywhere close to the 120 miles a week I was riding in college,
and probably more riding with the kids. But I wanted something that
would be suitable for triathalons?

Suggestions for places to look to price my used bicycles? Suggestions
as to what I might look for in my new bike or newer used bike?

Thanks for the assistance!

Check out the Trek and Giant bikes. There are hybrids that will run under
$500, that will allow you to ride a short-course triathalon in the middle
of the pack. (1-2 mile lake swim; 10k to 10mile run; 15-25mile bike).

On the 120 miles a week. Pfft. I'm an 'over the hill bodybuilder type' and
I'm riding 120 miles a week just to stay in shape. That's only 20 miles per
day, and IMO, under 15-20 miles a day and you're just a 'recreational
biker'. ;-p

-B