Water damaged bike would you buy one?

mosa
mosa Posts: 754
edited November 2012 in Road buying advice
Local bike shop had a flood with at times £800 + off bikes. No warranty though. Would you buy one?
My bikes

2018 Trek Emonda SL6 Pro
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Comments

  • Herbsman
    Herbsman Posts: 2,029
    Yep
    CAPTAIN BUCKFAST'S CYCLING TIPS - GUARANTEED TO WORK! 1 OUT OF 10 RACING CYCLISTS AGREE!
  • mosa
    mosa Posts: 754
    Example 2011 trek madone 4.5 £799? Pity no frame warranty. Seems better than buying 2nd hand I thought
    My bikes

    2018 Trek Emonda SL6 Pro
  • dodgy
    dodgy Posts: 2,890
    I suppose it depends on how deep the water was, you have to assume the water has been at bearing level (bottom bracket? Hubs? Headset?!!). In which case budget for replacing or repacking the affected bearings and it sounds like a good deal to me.

    Unless it's carbon, water can melt carbon.
  • yep I would although swerve any di2 haha. I have bought many salvage cars with flood damage and only ever had one bad one and there is a hell of a lot more to go wrong on one of them than a bike. Yep buy one and try knock a bit more off for the bearing change (which you would probably not have to do but budget anyway) No warrenty but it woudlnt worry me i have never claimed on a warrenty in my life for anythign other than a casette walkman back in the late 80s which is no bad thing!
  • Getting it wet doesn't mean it's damaged. Chances are, your first ride will get it wet through anyway.
    If the bearings etc are well greased they should be ok. It's possible the cables may clog up a bit sooner, but that's no big deal.
  • jordan_217
    jordan_217 Posts: 2,580
    Yes
    “Training is like fighting with a gorilla. You don’t stop when you’re tired. You stop when the gorilla is tired.”
  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,673
    would I buy one sure as I can fix/replace what is needed. can you? if you can not then you may have to pay out for who knows.
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
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  • dodgy
    dodgy Posts: 2,890
    What's the name of the shop? Perhaps your fellow forum users could benefit.
  • Tom Butcher
    Tom Butcher Posts: 3,830
    I'd do it if the discount was big enough but I don't think warranty claims are all that unusual - I've known a few people claim on warranties for bikes - two Cervelos for starters (frames cracked), my own Look (bottom bracket sleeve came unstuck), a Kinesis that cracked, a Scott - that's people I know not things I read on forums. OK it's a fairly small minority of bikes but a warranty is worth something and as you can normally get a discount on bikes anyway I'd want a real bargain to make it worthwhile.

    it's a hard life if you don't weaken.
  • mike6
    mike6 Posts: 1,199
    If the frame is carbon there is no problem. As has been posted, bikes get wet in the winter anyway.

    Full flood could get into the cables but some lube will sort that. BB bearings should not be a problem, they are packed with grease anyway. If you have concerns strip it and check, its easy to re pack with lube.

    If you normally have your bikes serviced by the LBS take it there and get them to do a full service, that would sort any problems or give you peace of mind.
  • broona
    broona Posts: 414
    It's KB Cycles, nice bunch of people, but unfortunately their whole shop was under water a few weeks ago - http://kbcycles.com/holding.html
  • christ there is some bargains there. Im liking the sound of this although di2 i would imagine?

    Scott Foil Premium 2012 – RRP £9499.00 – Sale Price £2499.00
  • mosa
    mosa Posts: 754
    So put another way if one of these bikes was under water for say 2 days would you still buy one? I hear that water can melt carbon or if gets into the strands where components meet etc it will be knackered?
    My bikes

    2018 Trek Emonda SL6 Pro
  • dodgy
    dodgy Posts: 2,890
    mosa wrote:
    So put another way if one of these bikes was under water for say 2 days would you still buy one? I hear that water can melt carbon or if gets into the strands where components meet etc it will be knackered?

    Drl63.png
  • pkripper
    pkripper Posts: 652
    Shame that the shop has to go through all of this. I'm guessing that they're probably all insurance write-offs hence the lack of any warranty. Some cracking deals to be had there, but looks like visit only.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,665
    I got caught out in the rain once while testing a bike.

    When I came back they said it was water damaged I had to buy it
  • i owuld have told them to f*** off? Water damages on a test ride? I wouldnt buy it on the basis that if they were right (which they would not be) then its clearly not up to the job intended. I hope you didnt buy it unless you really wanted it. jesus.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,665
    We're gonna need a net to land this one.....
  • ShutUpLegs
    ShutUpLegs Posts: 3,522
    What a whopper :lol:
  • prawny
    prawny Posts: 5,451
    Flipping heck, some right bargains there. I'd be up for a road bike from there. Probably not a full suss mtb though, although that trek 9.6 looks tasty.
    Saracen Tenet 3 - 2015 - Dead - Replaced with a Hack Frame
    Voodoo Bizango - 2014 - Dead - Hit by a car
    Vitus Sentier VRS - 2017
  • I went out in the rain earlier. My Canyon is now fused to me like that scene in the Thing.
    My blog: http://www.roubaixcycling.cc (kit reviews and other musings)
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    Facebook? No. Just say no.
  • coriordan wrote:
    I got caught out in the rain once while testing a bike.

    When I came back they said it was water damaged I had to buy it

    Ha what a load of shi* I' think I would of laughed at them.... How can a bike get water damaged from riding it in the rain. Next people will be saying "don't wash your bike if it gets dirty, it'll shrink" ......

    These bikes should be snapped up by anyone currently looking for a off the peg machine. There a real bargain. I can't see or understand how standing water in a shop regardless of how deep it might of been could cause damage to the bikes. Scott foil ltd reduced by £7k, for that saving I think I'd chance my arm over any potential water damage with no warranty....
    Look 595 ultra - F+F for sale.....
    Cervelo r5
    Kinesis T2 2013 winter bike
    Merida Carbon 1500 flx MTB
  • EKIMIKE
    EKIMIKE Posts: 2,232
    ^^^ Quick! Where's the other net... :lol:
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,665
    We're gonna need a bigger boat
  • damn, some really good deals there. shame it's all the way up in NCL
    Road - Cannondale CAAD 8 - 7.8kg
    Road - Chinese Carbon Diablo - 6.4kg
  • I'd be happy to buy a water damaged bike - unless it's spent a lot of time in deep water, it would be fine, I'd just want to be sure that the discount more than covered the cost of any replacement parts.

    I'd be a lot more worried about no warranty though, I'm not a heavy or aggressive rider and I've had to claim on warranty for two high end frames that have cracked. Just make sure that you're happy the discount offsets that risk.
  • andyrr
    andyrr Posts: 1,824
    Just adding to the warrant issue - I'd be sorely tempted at the advertised prices - some massive reductions there and until my latest bike (£300 Trek SS) I'd never thought about that as being at all important but I recently spotted a decent sized crack near the TT/ST junction and took it to the shop. Decision made quickly that Trek would replace even though it might just be the paint - I wouldn't have been too happy had I just been told to go away it was not important as the crack was a good inch+ and could be felt with fingernail. End result was I got a complete new bike within about 3 weeks. Without warranty then I might easily have had to ride warily fearing it would fail at any time and then potentially fork out for new frame / bike.
  • andy_wrx
    andy_wrx Posts: 3,396
    I wouldn't be greatly worried about the warranty issue.

    The shop aren't giving you any warranty so if there's some sort of problem with bearings, cables, chain, etc caused by the flood, well you expect that don't you and that's why the prices are cheap, the shop won't sort it out for you FOC you'll have to fix it yourself or pay for them to fix it, fair enough,

    If it's a frame or fork cracking type issue though, then the warranty will be from the manufacturer/importer. The shop generally takes the bike off you, sends the details to the manufacturer/importer, they then replace it
    This sale will be legit, it's not a grey import or anything, so I'd expect the manufacturer/importer would deal with it as normal.
  • giant_man
    giant_man Posts: 6,878
    coriordan wrote:
    I got caught out in the rain once while testing a bike.

    When I came back they said it was water damaged I had to buy it
    lol classic :roll:
  • There must have been about 2,000 people there this morning at 9am. Chainbridge road and all the industrial estate nearby were carnage. Didn't even bother getting out of the car. Just turned around and went home. Hopefully somebody somewhere picked themselves up a bargain.