Buying used (almost new?) bikes?

I am in the market for a new road bike. So far, I have ridden only low
end mountain bikes (Trek 800, Specialized hardrock) which served well
for commuting, but after my first Century ride, I decided I needed a
road bike.

I am looking at bikes with Shimano 105 or better components - like
Trek 1500, Klein Aura V, Giant OCR1 etc. From the classifieds, it
looks like I can get bikes that are "almost new", about 30% off what I
would pay at a LBS. Since I am only considering local sellers (as
opposed to eBay), I will be able to testride the bikes before buying,
and make sure the size/fit will be OK.

As far as I can make out, the main advantage is the reduced cost, and
to be able to get better components for my budget (around $1000). The
downside is that the bikes come with no warranty, and many LBS offer
free lifetime tuneups/adjustments for the first owner of the bike, and
so, I would lose that.

Any other issues I should consider? My wife is fairly adamant that I
cannot spend so much on a product without a warranty. Given that these
bikes are rather well built (I assume!), how important is a warranty?
Should I go for a new bike (I am not particularly concerned about the
cosmetics, or the psychic satisfaction of riding a new bike).

Thx,

Atri

"Atri I" wrote in message
om...

I am looking at bikes with Shimano 105 or better components - like
Trek 1500, Klein Aura V, Giant OCR1 etc. From the classifieds, it
looks like I can get bikes that are "almost new", about 30% off what I
would pay at a LBS. Since I am only considering local sellers (as
opposed to eBay), I will be able to testride the bikes before buying,
and make sure the size/fit will be OK.

As far as I can make out, the main advantage is the reduced cost, and
to be able to get better components for my budget (around $1000). The
downside is that the bikes come with no warranty, and many LBS offer
free lifetime tuneups/adjustments for the first owner of the bike, and
so, I would lose that.

Any other issues I should consider? My wife is fairly adamant that I
cannot spend so much on a product without a warranty. Given that these
bikes are rather well built (I assume!), how important is a warranty?
Should I go for a new bike (I am not particularly concerned about the
cosmetics, or the psychic satisfaction of riding a new bike).

Take a look at a Specialized Allez Elite. 105 components and sells for
around $1000. At least that what I paid for mine.

I agree with your wife on the warranty and LBS thing. Mine needed a couple
of trips back to the LBS to get everything adjusted properly. If you're a
competent bike mechanic, this may not be an issue, but I'm not, so it was.

Cheto

(Atri I) wrote in message . com...
Any other issues I should consider? My wife is fairly adamant that I
cannot spend so much on a product without a warranty. Given that these
bikes are rather well built (I assume!), how important is a warranty?
Should I go for a new bike (I am not particularly concerned about the
cosmetics, or the psychic satisfaction of riding a new bike).

You've probably already thought of this, but be sure to look carefully
at all the parts, or see if the seller will let you take it to your
LBS for a once-over. Especially if this is your first road bike,
there may be too many new things about it for you to catch all
defects.

JR

Cheto wrote:
Take a look at a Specialized Allez Elite. 105 components and sells
for around $1000. At least that what I paid for mine.

Wasn't there just a recall on (one of?) the Allez models?

Bill "'05s I believe" S.

Cheto wrote:

"Atri I" wrote in message
om...

I am looking at bikes with Shimano 105 or better components - like
Trek 1500, Klein Aura V, Giant OCR1 etc. From the classifieds, it
looks like I can get bikes that are "almost new", about 30% off what
I would pay at a LBS. Since I am only considering local sellers (as
opposed to eBay), I will be able to testride the bikes before buying,
and make sure the size/fit will be OK.

As far as I can make out, the main advantage is the reduced cost, and
to be able to get better components for my budget (around $1000). The
downside is that the bikes come with no warranty, and many LBS offer
free lifetime tuneups/adjustments for the first owner of the bike,
and so, I would lose that.

Any other issues I should consider? My wife is fairly adamant that I
cannot spend so much on a product without a warranty. Given that
these bikes are rather well built (I assume!), how important is a
warranty? Should I go for a new bike (I am not particularly
concerned about the cosmetics, or the psychic satisfaction of riding
a new bike).

Take a look at a Specialized Allez Elite. 105 components and sells
for around $1000. At least that what I paid for mine.

I agree with your wife on the warranty and LBS thing. Mine needed a
couple of trips back to the LBS to get everything adjusted properly.
If you're a competent bike mechanic, this may not be an issue, but
I'm not, so it was.

This is no small deal, especially if you need a true warranty repair -- like if
your fancy new Ultegra shifters quit working, which they sometimes do. At that
point you'd definately wish you'd bought the Tiagra bike with the warranty.

Matt O.

"Bill Sornson" wrote in message
...
Cheto wrote:
Take a look at a Specialized Allez Elite. 105 components and sells
for around $1000. At least that what I paid for mine.

Wasn't there just a recall on (one of?) the Allez models?

Bill "'05s I believe" S.

You are correct. A quick Google turned this up:
http://www.recall-warnings.com/cpsc-...-04-04226.html

Mine's an '04, but I'm call the LBS anyway.

Cheto

"Matt O'Toole" wrote in message
...
Cheto wrote:


I agree with your wife on the warranty and LBS thing. Mine needed a
couple of trips back to the LBS to get everything adjusted properly.
If you're a competent bike mechanic, this may not be an issue, but
I'm not, so it was.

This is no small deal, especially if you need a true warranty repair --
like if
your fancy new Ultegra shifters quit working, which they sometimes do. At
that
point you'd definately wish you'd bought the Tiagra bike with the
warranty.


This just goes to show you how important it is to be able to do our own
repairs.

I just bought a bike with a plain nashbar aluminum frame, ultegra/105 drive
train, profile carbon fork, chris king/openpro wheelset etc. for cdn$560
bucks. An hour ago I sold the wheels to a colleague at work for 400 bucks
(giving him a great deal too!).

In other words, I just got a much better bike than what you're looking at,
for about US$100 without wheels. Next season, I'll buy an older steel lugged
frame and I'll be all set!

By knowing how to repair my bikes, I've saved hundreds, perhaps thousands of
dollars over my lifetime.

Also, I can build my own wheels, so I can pick up hubs, rims etc. at
clearance prices or used and have great wheels for cheap.

Unless I had a ton of extra money lying around (who ever does??), I would
never consider buying a new bike, a new car, stereo, whatever. As far as I'm
concerned, you're just wasting your money, unless you can't do your own
maintenance.

d

"Atri I" wrote in message
om...
I am in the market for a new road bike. So far, I have ridden only low
end mountain bikes (Trek 800, Specialized hardrock) which served well
for commuting, but after my first Century ride, I decided I needed a
road bike.

I am looking at bikes with Shimano 105 or better components - like
Trek 1500, Klein Aura V, Giant OCR1 etc. From the classifieds, it
looks like I can get bikes that are "almost new", about 30% off what I
would pay at a LBS. Since I am only considering local sellers (as
opposed to eBay), I will be able to testride the bikes before buying,
and make sure the size/fit will be OK.

As far as I can make out, the main advantage is the reduced cost, and
to be able to get better components for my budget (around $1000). The
downside is that the bikes come with no warranty, and many LBS offer
free lifetime tuneups/adjustments for the first owner of the bike, and
so, I would lose that.

Any other issues I should consider? My wife is fairly adamant that I
cannot spend so much on a product without a warranty. Given that these
bikes are rather well built (I assume!), how important is a warranty?
Should I go for a new bike (I am not particularly concerned about the
cosmetics, or the psychic satisfaction of riding a new bike).

Thx,

Atri

Here's a suggestion: Right about now is when the bike shops begin to
discount 2004 models as the 2005's come in. In most cases, the new model
year is little different from the old. But you can get a discounted 2004
that comes with warranty and the backing of the bike shop. I did that a
couple of years ago and got nearly 30% of my LeMond.

"Atri I" wrote in message
om...
I am in the market for a new road bike. So far, I have ridden only low
end mountain bikes (Trek 800, Specialized hardrock) which served well
for commuting, but after my first Century ride, I decided I needed a
road bike.

Yes, a century on a mountain bike is a good argument for a road bike.

As far as I can make out, the main advantage is the reduced cost, and
to be able to get better components for my budget (around $1000). The
downside is that the bikes come with no warranty, and many LBS offer
free lifetime tuneups/adjustments for the first owner of the bike, and
so, I would lose that.

Any other issues I should consider? My wife is fairly adamant that I
cannot spend so much on a product without a warranty. Given that these
bikes are rather well built (I assume!), how important is a warranty?
Should I go for a new bike (I am not particularly concerned about the
cosmetics, or the psychic satisfaction of riding a new bike).

Risk of buying used is mitigated by these sorts of things:
* cheap price
* you can tell what you are getting.

Not sure from your letter that you meet these criteria. I've bought or been
given used bikes; only 2 of my current 7 bikes were bought new. My used
bikes have been cheap so one would expect "unexpected" problems. Most
commonly, mine have been sitting in somebody's garage or basement for a
while. Some have had critical problems that meant all I got was some spare
parts, but these were "free" bikes that just had a time investment.

You are looking for a "nearly new" bike, which means you need to closely
examine why the bike is being sold because your investment is substantial.
Will you need a new wheel or two? That might be your 30% right there,
combined with a spousal "I told you so". Are the tires half-used? Well,
that's a few more bucks there.

Would you be better off with lower quality components and a better warranty
/ dealer tune-ups? Hard to say, but this does lower the risk -- and the most
expensive bike is the one that you don't ride.

The #1 criteria for deciding whether it's worthwhile to spend more for a
bike is whether spending that extra money will increase the likelihood of
your riding it, rather than having it spend its life in the garage.

What could put a bike in the garage instead of under your tail end?

#1: Uncomfortable to ride. And this is all about fit. If you, or someone
you know, is really good about getting a bike properly set up regarding fit,
great! But if not, and you have a good bike shop that includes fitting
services with the purchase of the bike, then that might add immensely to the
value of the bike... perhaps much more than a 30% differential right there
(although I'm not suggesting that it should cost many hundreds of dollars to
get properly fit, just that the risk of *not* being properly fit is very
costly).

#2: Mechanical stuff. A lot of bikes sit in the garage because something
isn't quite right. Maybe the gears aren't shifting like they should, but
you really don't know if it's normal or what. Or you got your third flat
tire in a week. OK, it's absolutely true that working on bikes isn't rocket
science, but it's also true that some people are better at such things than
others. Getting a new bike from a decent shop assures you of a place you
can bring it into if things aren't quite right, and you often won't be
charged for minor adjustments.

A really good shop will make it clear to you that their job is to keep you
on the bike. That could be worth a lot. A so-so shop (or worse) will offer
nothing more than you'll get from buying the used bike, except for the
warranty. But even a warranty isn't as important as the other issues,
particularly getting the fit right.

I've rambled quite a bit here, but hopefully driven hope the point that it's
foolish *not* to spend more money IF it means you'll get more enjoyment &
use out of it.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com