Is it worth doing up a cheap bike to sell?

prhymeate

I have a Triban 3 with Mavic Aksium wheels, 63 frame. It's been in the garden a couple of months and has a little rust on it. The gears aren't changing well either. Personally, I'd want to buy a new rear cassette, bar tape, chain (£25) and get it serviced (£40 minimum) if I were to ride it myself. As I want to sell it I'm wondering if it's worth doing any of that, or just selling it as it is? I had it on gumtree for a while but no interest and I'm thinking first timers are usually looking for something they can ride right away. Any advice is appreciated.

gethinceri

It will have cost you £300.00 some time back, I guess and now needs £65.00 and some tlc. No-one wants to buy it so why not find a tall youngster and give it to them?

MountainMonster

Remember there is a right and a wrong time to sell. I have struggled to sell most of the year until the weather gets really nice. Especially bargain bikes, as they won't be on beginners radar until the sun comes out.

prhymeate

Gethinceri wrote:

It will have cost you £300.00 some time back, I guess and now needs £65.00 and some tlc. No-one wants to buy it so why not find a tall youngster and give it to them?

It has £150 wheels on also. I guess I'm not feeling that generous or rich at the moment, and wouldn't mind a bit of money to buy some new bibshorts. I think I'll just buy the parts it needs, do what I can and try and learn a few mechanical bits and pieces and take it to a shop if needed. Once it's done I'll re advertise it on a nice sunny day. Cheers for the replies

ai_1

If you're not feeling generous or wealthy I'd stay away from spending money on a bike you're no longer riding on the off-chance it helps you sell it.
I'd say you have a much better chance of selling it as is for £100 than spruced up for £180 to cover the costs of the additions. If it has light coloured bar tape that's looking scruffy then I might consider replacing that with some new cheap tape (Deda cork tape perhaps?) as that does effect it a lot visually. Anything else sounds like a waste of money to me.

supermurph09

Are you buying something else? If so keep it, get it running right and use it when the weather is rubbish. Having a spare bike that you can stick on the turbo or put mudguards on in winter is a real plus imo. I've ridden my Canyon through all weathers, I wished I'd kept my Cube Agree GTC Race to use for the above instead of selling it on the cheap to make space. (Urrggghh I feel ill.).

chris_bass

The reason you can't sell it might be because it is enormous!

Buy a new chain, new casette, a couple of tools and a bottle of GT85 or similar and get it up and running again.

And maybe don't leave it outside anymore

dai_t75

Does it really need a new cassette and chain? How many miles have you done on it?

Just thinking if you gave it a really good clean (take chain and cassette off and soak in some good degreaser for a while) to get it nice and shiny and re-tune the gears if it would shift OK?

What would a £40 service include that you couldn't do yourself?

Also agree with suggestions above - new bar tape and sell when the weather gets better!

prhymeate

I've given it a good clean in the garden just now and I don't actually think it needs the spare cassette and chain. It could still do with some kind of service, the gears just aren't quite right and I can't fix them...I've tried many times.

I did think of keeping it as a second bike, but it's been my second bike for a year and I haven't used it at all. I don't have the option of keeping it inside where I live now, so it's outside under a cover or nothing.

KonkyWonky

It's a pretty large bike to be fair, might have more luck selling it as a garden gate?

debeli

Prhymeate wrote:

I've given it a good clean in the garden just now and I don't actually think it needs the spare cassette and chain. It could still do with some kind of service, the gears just aren't quite right and I can't fix them...I've tried many times.

I did think of keeping it as a second bike, but it's been my second bike for a year and I haven't used it at all. I don't have the option of keeping it inside where I live now, so it's outside under a cover or nothing.

You've already done the hard bit... Getting started on the task.

The rest is easy. You would gain hugely in your understanding of bicycles and your ability to use and enjoy them if you used this bike as a means of learning to service it. This may sound patronising, but we all had to learn these things and all started with no spanner-twiddling abilities or confidence.

In these days of the internet, there are a billion clips on Youtube telling you how to set up gears. Once you've done it a few times, it becomes a quick and almost instinctive task. There is no magic involved. Derailleurs and the cables and adjusters are designed and built to be easy to adjust.

Lube all the cables, clean the thing, check the bearings, run a finger over the tyres, ping the spokes and then get those gears sorted.

1. It will sell once you've done that.
2. You will enjoy bikes way more when you're more familiar with their workings and less daunted by seemingly tricky tasks.
3. Even if you don't sell it, who wants a 'second' bike with annoying gears.

You know I'm right. And even if you don't, I am.

Get on Youtube, get some screwdrivers and allen keys and something to lube the cables and fulcrums and you'll be on Cloud Nine within days.

craker

Debeli wrote:

You know I'm right. And even if you don't, I am.

Of course if it's something like a bent mech hanger then he wont have the tools to do it. You can't sort out everything on your bike by rolling up your sleeves and sticking youtube on.

Matthewfalle

Convert it to single speed and use it as your winter hack.

ben@31

^ Beat me to it. My suggestion would be, put mudguards and lights on it and use it as a winter / wet weather bike, to stop your new favourite bike from getting covered in crud.

fudgey

To get rid of surface rust, believe it or not use some coca cola and a sponge!

I have no idea what this guy is saying but it works pretty well!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=U0Ww30FqdyA

Of course to do the job properly that bumper in the vid needs acid dipping and re-plating as its pitted, but i expect your bike wont be as bad as that!

apreading

How much you looking for and where are you?