2nd hand bikes

Lungs94

My mate is looking to buy a second hand bike and he'd like some suggestions on what to look for and what to avoid when looking to buy a secondhand bike? thanks

chrisdouglas

Obvious thing to look out for is any excessive play. The cranks should be shuffling around laterally, the bar shouldn't move without the wheel moving with them, the headset doesn't want to be moving around.

Any clear signs that the bikes been abused (paint scuffs/chips/scratches) unless they're superficial, anything down to the metal can be problematic later on.

The forks should be a nice smooth action through the stroke, no sticking whilst travelling. Similarly the rear shock should be able to travel through it's stroke with no issues.

Ideally the brakes won't make a sound, i'm sure you can identify any issues with that. Also no visible leaks of fluids, that's always good if you're not spraying brake fluid down the trails.

Similar to a car I'd say if the seller has an abundance of receipts either for work done or parts that's always nice because you can see where those parts/work have come from/been done.

Honestly I've never considered buying second hand and probably won't in future but those are things that I look out for in my bike and things if I did buy used that I'd probably look out for. I'm sure others will be along with more info too.

cooldad

I don't think I've ever bought a new bike.

Lungs94

Thanks, What about ordering without inspecting the bike first hand, how safe is that. Also we are looking on Pinkbike (my bad if not allowed to say the name of website)

The Rookie

If you are buying sight unseen you need to make a bigger allowance for those items you may need to replace, you could end up with a great bike or a pile of scrap.

As an example we bought my Son a spesh with 'gear changing problems' for about half price, the problem was someone had fitted a new rear wheel with a 9 speed cassette into an 8 speed bike, cassette changed and it was perfect....oh and the 9 went back on later when we converted it fully to nine speed!

chrisdouglas

Like the Rookie said if you're buying it unseen be extra careful and look at what might go wrong (Everything has a weak point find out that bikes) and make an allowance for possibly having to replace stuff. If stuff thats very expensive isn't functioning correctly then maybe look elsewhere.

Follow you're gut too. You're instincts will go far when dealing with the unknown.