A word of warning...........eBay..........

Snakeskin74

So i bought a Marin Attack Trail from eBay, but didnt go and look at it until i had won it ! Well when i picked it up i noticed that the back wheel had play in it, so i thought ok not a probleum, and the guy said that the gears needed setting up, as he had just put new cables in and hadnt set up the gears yet. So i looked it over and thought this is a bargain £360 for a bike that cost over £2000 new. Well i took it home and tried to sort out the gears, however i could not get them to work as they should, so i gave up and went out for a long ride with the Mrs to the New Forest. Well we didnt get far before i herd a horrible noise from the front wheel, and then noticed when going fast that i had a rear brake that would slow me down, but not stop me ! Anyway i carried on with the ride and enjoyed every minte of it. So when i got home i pulled the hubs apart, only to find that the front one had three bearings missing and the back hub bearings were rusty. Well i thought ok its not perfect but it was still cheap, so i left the guy positive feedback anyway. So today i took it to my LBS to fix it, and shock of shocks, its going to cost me £160 to put it right !! I need a new chain, rear casset, new rear hub, new front axle and bearings, new jockey wheels, and they are going to do there best to sort out the rear brake, but they said that it mite need replacing ! Plus the middle ring on my RaceFace chainset is worn and mite need replacing as well !!! So if you are thinking of buying second hand, make sure you know what you are getting, or you could be facing a big bill like me

Briggo

A word of warning, use paragraphs ffs.

njee20

Second hand bargain bike in needing service shock

MountainMonster

Well as you say you got a bargain. Even after all the repairs it needs.

scale20

That's ebay for you, some right dodgy sellers on there, had a few myself. I think its pot luck with some sellers I would say that about 98% of my buys have been spot on.

Ive sold a few bikes and frames on there and would never dream of trying to have someones eyes out.

Look on the bright side, after spending a few quid you will have a cracking bike. 8)

ricardo_smooth

So £520 for a £2000 bike still ..........

Snakeskin74

Cheers guys, i am happy with it, just didn't expect to spend £160 on it straight away.
I know its still a bargain really.

acidstrato

learn to service everything yourself....then when you purchase 2nd hand...service it anyway for piece of mind....

miss notax

I've just sold my old Superlight on Ebay and am dead chuffed - have ridden it hard for years, it's been well looked after though, and gone to some chap in Cumbria who's over the moon I must admit I had a tear in my eye as I replied saying that I hope he has as much fun on it as I have :oops:

The Superlight lives on!!

Snakeskin74

acidstrato wrote:

learn to service everything yourself....then when you purchase 2nd hand...service it anyway for piece of mind....

Well i can do most things, however i dont have the right tools to change the cassette or to do the rear hub So i thought i may as well let them do the lot lol.

Anonymous

What condition was it sold as? If it's described as spotless condition with everything working and inspected for safety then you'd have a reason to complain to the seller.

Otherwise I don't think it's a bad seller.

Regardless though, it's down to the buyer to inspect it before buying, same as buying a car privately. Ideally you'd want to have had a look at the bike before bidding if you were particularly concerned about it.

But anyway. Chain and cassette is probably a given on any second hand bike. Can be done for £30 and easy to do yourself. The rest, I'd have my doubts it all needs replacing. LBS will go for replacements as it's just easier and makes them more money. Could be the brakes just need new pads (again a given with a second hand bike) and/or bleeding, and the gears re-indexing.

Still, £160 to fix it up given the bike's value, it's still a bargain.

Anonymous

Sounds like a bargain.

Snakeskin74

deadkenny wrote:

What condition was it sold as? If it's described as spotless condition with everything working and inspected for safety then you'd have a reason to complain to the seller.

Otherwise I don't think it's a bad seller.

Regardless though, it's down to the buyer to inspect it before buying, same as buying a car privately. Ideally you'd want to have had a look at the bike before bidding if you were particularly concerned about it.

But anyway. Chain and cassette is probably a given on any second hand bike. Can be done for £30 and easy to do yourself. The rest, I'd have my doubts it all needs replacing. LBS will go for replacements as it's just easier and makes them more money. Could be the brakes just need new pads (again a given with a second hand bike) and/or bleeding, and the gears re-indexing.

Still, £160 to fix it up given the bike's value, it's still a bargain.

Hi, it was described as excellent condition, so he was wrong to list it like that.
Where do you go to get a new chain and cassette for £30 ? The deore cassette is £30 and a nickle plated chain is £20 ?
Also the brakes have had new pads in, but i think the back one mite just need bleeding.

cycleschemie

No disrespect, but:

"and then noticed when going fast that i had a rear brake that would slow me down, but not stop me !"

You didn't test the brakes on a new (to you, anyway) bike before setting off?

Snakeskin74

cycleschemie wrote:

No disrespect, but:

"and then noticed when going fast that i had a rear brake that would slow me down, but not stop me !"

You didn't test the brakes on a new (to you, anyway) bike before setting off?

Hi, yes i tested the brakes before setting off, and the back brake felt good, until i was going down hill fast. Then i realised that the back one was slowing me down but it wouldn't lock up. Front one was spot on though, so between the two i could stop alright, however i like to lock up the back wheel. Sorry if my post was a bit miss leading.

cycleschemie

I see, thanks.

Anonymous

Front brake is all you need, really.

Anonymous

Snakeskin74 wrote:

Where do you go to get a new chain and cassette for £30 ? The deore cassette is £30 and a nickle plated chain is £20 ?

I've got SRAM stuff on mine, 950 cassette £15 to £20, 951 chain £10 to £15.

Yeah it's cheap stuff and you can get fancy stuff, but to be honest, if you check the chain wear regularly the cassette will last ages, and a chain is a chain unless you want one that's blinging. Disposable stuff. Don't see much point in spending a lot of money on it.

thel33ter

Snakeskin74 wrote:

Hi, it was described as excellent condition, so he was wrong to list it like that.
Where do you go to get a new chain and cassette for £30 ? The deore cassette is £30 and a nickle plated chain is £20 ?
Also the brakes have had new pads in, but i think the back one mite just need bleeding.

On-one is doing Sram PG950 cassettes (SLX level) for £15, and you can get Deore chains on eBay for £10.

I got my Enduro for a bit over £500, and knew it needed a chainset, saddle, and all the obvious stuff, but considering it was 3k new, and had upgraded bits I didn't mind having to pay a bit more.

But you should always have a very good look at the bike before you hand over the money.

Where are my stabilisers?

I'd say that my bike was in good condition, but I bet if I took it into a shop for a service they'd find something wrong with it

Still think you've got good value for money though.

mea00csf

tbh, unless something says "immaculate, just been serviced" i'd expect to have to change all the disposables on a second hand bike, a lot of people don't even think of bikes having disposable parts, so wouldn't check chain/cassette for wear before selling

louse

I blame Wiggle.

Buckled_Rims

mea00csf wrote:

tbh, unless something says "immaculate, just been serviced" i'd expect to have to change all the disposables on a second hand bike, a lot of people don't even think of bikes having disposable parts, so wouldn't check chain/cassette for wear before selling

It's the definition of "service" that's tricky. A service can mean anything from just a few checks to changing all wearable parts.

I've been very lucky with my ebay bikes, all three have been genuine bargains. I've only paid just over £100 in chains, disc pads and pedals in total. It's the wheel trueing and other stuff I can't do myself that worries me regarding extra costs. If you've had bikes a long while that you should have a few spare parts lying around.

Snakeskin74

Thanks for everyone's help on this, and from what most of you have said, i think i have done well after all. One thing i have learned is, cassettes and chains are disposable !
At the end of the day, at least i will have a good bike with new parts.

colt

however i like to lock up the back wheel

While your doing this your skidding not braking, plus you'll make all the trail builders out there very angry!

Snakeskin74

colt wrote:

however i like to lock up the back wheel

While your doing this your skidding not braking, plus you'll make all the trail builders out there very angry!

I like to lock up the wheel......to do back wheel hops ! Not skidding ! I love the way people like you study post to try and pick fault, get your facts straight first !

Anonymous

But picking faults is what separates us from the animals

Snakeskin74

yeehaamcgee wrote:

But picking faults is what separates us from the animals

Ha ha, picking fault mite be the only thing separating YOU from an animal lol

Anonymous

I haven't even got that degree of separation, unfortunately.

colt

until i was going down hill fast. Then i realised that the back one was slowing me down but it wouldn't lock up.

Still sounds like a skid to me :?

My original post wasn't having a go, more about offering a bit of friendly advice hence the wink smiley.

You posted about a new bike then said you were surprised it needed repairs and didn't know that cassettes and chains wear out, I assumed right or wrong that you were a bit of a noob so offered a bit of tongue in cheek advice.

After you've been on here a while you may learn not to take every post quite so personal