Dodgy bikes for sale?

sturmey

Saw the following ad on Ebay and thought it was a bit odd/possibly dodgy.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/COLNAGO-C40-Full- ... 911.c0.m14

The seller is offering TWO carbon roadbikes which look as new but apart from quoting the spec of the bikes he/she does not give any background at all, i.e. reason for sale,how old the bikes are,where they were bought etc etc.
There are some pretty crass spelling errors too which suggest limited knowledge of the bikes/components. And seller has never sold or bought any bikes or cycling stuff before on ebay.

Either someone who is cr*p at selling on Ebay or something more sinister. I suspect the latter.

drummondjhn

bit strange

drewfromrisca

Tell ebay then.

sturmey

Tell ebay then.

Already have old son. Thanks for your brilliant bit of advice though.

johna101

I bought my wife a Trek mountain bike 2 years ago , £650 new. It's been ridden less than five times as it causes her pain in her arms/wrists due to arthritis. I've though of selling it online a few times but have never gotten round to it because I never fancied explaining the reason for the sale.

crankycrank

Username sounds female and she seems to have sold mostly clothing and shoes and all with good feedback. These could possibly be the bikes that she bought for some creepy, unemployed, ex-boyfriend and she is trying to limit her financial loss on these bikes of which she knows nothing about. At least that's one possible scenario. :P

sturmey

Username sounds female

Don't take everything at face value. A female username will often convince potential buyers that the seller is trustworthy when in reality a more believable username would be something like 'Dodgyken' , 'Shadyshaun' or 'Dirtythievingscum'.

Anonymous

HOW MUCH??!?!

Juju_uk_68

Well, seller is in South Croydon.

The Colnago will almost certainly have originated at Geoffrey Butlers.

Perhaps someone more motivated than me could email them and ask if any of their customers have suffered any losses, or if they're missing any bikes.

ademort

For anyone interested in buying either of the two bikes you could always email and ask for more info or ask if you can call personally or even visit the seller to view the items if they allow it. It may be that the seller is selling on behalf of a friend or partner,and there could be a genuine reason for sale. However if you dont ask you will never find out will you?
Ademort

sturmey

I have emailed and asked if I can view one of the bikes. seller has agreed but failed to give any info as to where that would be. Am awaiting reply to a second email.

ademort

sturmey wrote:

I have emailed and asked if I can view one of the bikes. seller has agreed but failed to give any info as to where that would be. Am awaiting reply to a second email.

I hope that the seller is genuine and you get yourself a bargain, but just to be on the safe side could you take somebody to view it with you.Please keep us informed.
Ademort

downfader

Looks like a loverly bike, but I'm anti-ebay thesedays. The hold no control over some listings and punish valid sellers on others. :? The fees are also stupid... most of the stuff on there though - just sell it down the car boot tbh. I can see its benefit for the more expensive stuff though.

freehub

£1750 for that? Does it have a fusion powered engine in it or something?

nicensleazy

Yes, it does appear very limited with information. I think on these things, go with your gut feeling!

KonaMiniMula1

Woaahh talking of dodgy....

http://www.gumtree.com/london/23/44903823.html

"I DONT LIKE THE WAY IT DRIVES"

Scum.

will3

KonaMiniMula1 wrote:

Woaahh talking of dodgy....

http://www.gumtree.com/london/23/44903823.html

"I DONT LIKE THE WAY IT DRIVES"

Scum.

Swap for a BMX?
Hmmm

freehub

You'd not want to call him up and arrange to go to his house to pick it up, it's likely it won't exist and you'll get a knife lodged somewhere in your body.

Mothyman

... his bicycle clips kept getting caught up in the chainset perhaps.....

..or his ball and chain more like..

drummondjhn

KonaMiniMula1 wrote:

Woaahh talking of dodgy....

http://www.gumtree.com/london/23/44903823.html

"I DONT LIKE THE WAY IT DRIVES"

Scum.

Tommy who?

so dodgey

Clum84

Dont see the slightest thing wrong wioth the ebay ad. shes been a member since 2006 with good feedback. Both bikes are similar sizes. Perhaps her husband died and she's selling his bikes.....


Gumtree however must be a joke!

will3

KonaMiniMula1 wrote:

Woaahh talking of dodgy....

http://www.gumtree.com/london/23/44903823.html

"I DONT LIKE THE WAY IT DRIVES"

Scum.

I notice he's keeping his pedals though. Presumably for the BMX.

EdZed

Maybe it's just me or the angle of the photos, but does the spoke set-up look odd? :?

bobpzero

drummondjhn wrote:

Tommy who?

Lets call out his name
Tommy k tommy k
Tommy k the d.j.
Tommy k tommy k
maybe not tho sorry couldnt resist

knedlicky

Although a bit of scepticism is always useful, I think there a few too many doubting Toms here about the bike’s origin. And it’s not really that good value, or that suspect a starting price.

Despite the newer stuff like the pedals, the C40 frame could easily be over 10 years old, and if so, the initial required starting bid of £1,750 is too high. Despite some legendary qualities, a C40 that old is probably not worth more than about £1,400.
If it’s 5 years old, the starting price is okay but I wouldn’t go above £2,000, if I were interested.

You might even find you can get a new C40 for about £3,300 if a LBS decides to sell off its shop ‘exhibition model’ this Autumn, now the new bikes are coming in.