Thoughts on this bike

hillman365

Hello,

First let me introduce myself. I am 44, live in Switzerland and plan to start my daily commute of 15 miles ew by bike.
On an auction site there is currently a bike available for 480 chf (about 320 gbp). It's a 'Crespo Pipi' with dura ace groupset. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on whether this would be something suitable to use, or on an alternative.

Here's the link to the bike.



http://www.ricardo.ch/kaufen/sports/radsport/rennvelos/schoenes-rennvelo-crespo-pipi-gr-55cm-nur-9-6-kg/v/an685210334/

Cheers!

Harry182

Seems like a few nice parts put on a cheap frame. Also, the frame itself has some peculiarities - very short head tube and is that a 1" fork steerer? For £320 I'd give it a pass but would consider buying it for the parts if it was about £100 cheaper and the parts were in good nick.

Dazbot

I agree with Harry, for £320 you could a very decent brand bike with quality parts.
Are you sure you want a road bike? Are you just going on roads or paths etc as well?

hillman365

It's about 90% cycle lanes, 10% road with 1 steep but short climb.
The problem over here is bikes are very expensive. A Sora equipped bike would be about 500 quid.

Thanks for your responses.

schweiz

Gruss aus OW!

Firstly, second hand bikes in Switzerland are often overpriced compared to UK prices but the market sustains these prices as the price of new bikes is so much higher (even though VAT is 8% and not 20%). Some of this is due to the fact that the Swiss often pay RRP or think they've got a bargain with a 3 or 5% discount!

crespo.ch is not a bicycle manufacturer, so what that bike frame is, I'm not sure although there must be someone on here who can say what it originally was. Plenty of Dura Ace bits on there though make it worth the money. It's 7700 series Dura Ace which is 9 speed and dates it anywhere from 1996 to 2004. For reference, I bought a 2-3 year old second hand 9-speed Ultegra (6500) equipped bike (BMC Streetfire SSX) in 2007 and paid CHF 1500. 9 speed spares are still easy enough to get hold of so if anything needs replacing then it won't be a problem.

It looks like a standard chainset i.e. the chain rings will be 52 (or 53) and 39 tooth. If you live in a hilly area and are on the portly side, then it may be a struggle compared to a compact (50/34) chainset. Although, you can always fit a cassette with a 27 tooth sprocket if you want a lower gear.

I guess questions to be answered art: where in Switzerland are you?, what is the profile of your commute? and do you want to do any alpine riding when not working? As a commuting bike though, I think it'll will be more than OK!

hillman365

schweiz wrote:

Gruss aus OW!

Firstly, second hand bikes in Switzerland are often overpriced compared to UK prices but the market sustains these prices as the price of new bikes is so much higher (even though VAT is 8% and not 20%). Some of this is due to the fact that the Swiss often pay RRP or think they've got a bargain with a 3 or 5% discount!

crespo.ch is not a bicycle manufacturer, so what that bike frame is, I'm not sure although there must be someone on here who can say what it originally was. Plenty of Dura Ace bits on there though make it worth the money. It's 7700 series Dura Ace which is 9 speed and dates it anywhere from 1996 to 2004. For reference, I bought a 2-3 year old second hand 9-speed Ultegra (6500) equipped bike (BMC Streetfire SSX) in 2007 and paid CHF 1500. 9 speed spares are still easy enough to get hold of so if anything needs replacing then it won't be a problem.

It looks like a standard chainset i.e. the chain rings will be 52 (or 53) and 39 tooth. If you live in a hilly area and are on the portly side, then it may be a struggle compared to a compact (50/34) chainset. Although, you can always fit a cassette with a 27 tooth sprocket if you want a lower gear.

I guess questions to be answered art: where in Switzerland are you?, what is the profile of your commute? and do you want to do any alpine riding when not working? As a commuting bike though, I think it'll will be more than OK!

Gruezi Schweiz!

Great info, thanks.
I'm in Muri AG and the commute is to Baar ZG. so it's all pretty much flat. I'm looking for something solely for the commute.

schweiz

Looking at TwixRoute, you couldn't get a flatter commute if you tried! It'll be fine.

If you need spares then bikecity.ch in Luzern usually has good prices although limited stock. Rocky Bikes in Zürich have also had some of my business.

Wiggle also post free to CH. If you keep the VAT under CHF 5 (i.e. the package is worth no more than CHF 60) then it will come through 'Abgabefrei' and not only do you not have to pay VAT, more importantly there's no CHF 18 SwissPost admin charge! When I can, I split all my orders up and save a fortune!

schweiz

what we haven't established is whether the bike is the right size. If you're around 6'/180 cm then it'll be okay.

That stem looks massive though. Must be 130 or 140 mm! If you feel as if you are stretched out then a shorter stem won't cost much.

hillman365

Thanks once again.

I'm about 176cm. Do you think I would fit a 52cm bike? There is a Price 105 on Ricardo for the same money.

Cheers.

schweiz

My wife is 169 and rides a Trek 52 cm frame. I know that one manufacturers 52 cm can be different from anothers but I'm guessing it will be to small.

If you're 176 then I think 54-55 in most of the manufacturers won't be too far out, but that stem will have to change! If you look at the bike, the saddle is all the way forward too so it looks like it's previous owner either had short legs and a long torso and or arms or, as it seems that crespo.ch sponsor triathletes, it sould have had clip on aero bars fitted and the long stem helped the TT/Tri position.

At 176, I think 54-55 in most of the manufacturers won't be too far out.

schweiz

saying that, the advert for the Price says it has a top tube length of 54 cm. Could be worth a punt!

For reference, a new Price Comp with 105 is CHF 1600

schweiz

http://www.ricardo.ch/kaufen/sports/rad ... 690267504/

http://www.ricardo.ch/kaufen/sports/rad ... 689072608/

hillman365

Cheers. I've taken a punt on the Price. If it's too small I'll either sell it on or give it to my teenage son.

Thanks for your help once again.