Winter bike

coltrane
coltrane Posts: 74
edited November 2011 in Road beginners
I'm after a second hand winter road bike/hybrid cost around £300. Anyone recently purchased anything off second hand sites and how was the experience?

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Go used. be patient. be wary of stolen bikes. prepare to travel out of london to get the best deals.


    ....at least that's what I did anyway, and when I started looking, I had no real idea about bikes.

    With a bit of research on parts, (and some patience) you can get some great deals on eBay. Unless you plan of giving your bike a thrashing, then a well looked after 2nd hand bike can represent fantastic value for money. (obviously no warrenty being the issue)

    I wanted Alu frame, carbon forks, tiagra (or equivalent) gears and a name I recognised (specialised, trek, giant etc). Or a vintage alu racer (some of those older colagnos are just beautiful).

    I pretty much added everything in my size (56cm) in MyEbay and was watching everything, removing it once I went over budget. If you aren't sure about it, then you can usually google most modern bikes to get an idea of the retail value anyway.

    I also had posts in the BikeRadar forums on the Road Wanted and kept a close eye on the Road For Sale threads

    I ended up with a 2001 Fasuto Coppi San Remo (I had heard nothing about it, and still no idea if I was ripped off) in showroom - yes, showroom condition - with carbon forks, brand new saddle, cleaned up immactulately (it looked unridden) full Ultegra throughout (and a dura-ace rear cassette), and the guy even threw in the old ultegra cassette and spare stem.

    All for 250 quid (and another 50 to get the train to Nottingham to get it).

    My in-the-know friends say I did well for that price. Also i LOVE the stickers. Fairly plain skyish blue just with the name on it.

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