Buy New or Buy Used??

Thick Soup

Good Afternoon guys,

1st post so apologies if it’s in the wrong section but I’m after a little bit of advice on what to buy.

I’m looking to get back on the bike after 20 years when I discovered cars, nightclubs, alcohol and women!!

Initially i’d like to spend around £400 but if the right bike was available I’d stretch to £600. Would I get a better bike for that money on a used bike rather than a brand new one??

If used, could you recommend a couple of makes/model?? The last bike I bought was a silver/purple Marin Palisades trail circa ‘94.......

I’m looking to use it on the easier trails and paths to begin with so My 2kids 11 and 8 can come with me.

Cheers

kajjal

It really depends how confident you are with buying used. If you can tell if a bike is in good condition and worth the money used you can get some real bargains with a bit of hunting around. If not it can be risky.

For new bikes if you are after a proper mountain bike have a look at something like the Voodoo Bizango from Halfords or the one linked to below.

http://www.mbr.co.uk/reviews/27-5-hardt ... eus-275-vr

02gf74

Definitely used if you know what you are looking for.

For example I paid £1700 for a used albeit mint bike, 1 year old, with RRP of £ 6,500.!!!! For bikes up to three years old in good condition, expect to pay half to one third of RRP.

Look on ebay and most sellers are honest, as a precaution I travel to view bike before handing over money.

Thick Soup

02GF74 wrote:

Definitely used if you know what you are looking for.

For example I paid £1700 for a used albeit mint bike, 1 year old, with RRP of £ 6,500.!!!! For bikes up to three years old in good condition, expect to pay half to one third of RRP.

Look on ebay and most sellers are honest, as a precaution I travel to view bike before handing over money.

Thanks for the replies, this is what I was aiming for.

Is there any brands I should be looking at in the used market?

Thick Soup

Kajjal wrote:

It really depends how confident you are with buying used. If you can tell if a bike is in good condition and worth the money used you can get some real bargains with a bit of hunting around. If not it can be risky.

For new bikes if you are after a proper mountain bike have a look at something like the Voodoo Bizango from Halfords or the one linked to below.

http://www.mbr.co.uk/reviews/27-5-hardt ... eus-275-vr

Cheers Kajjal, i’ll keep these in mind if I’m to buy new.

02gf74

Thick Soup wrote:

Is there any brands I should be looking at in the used market?

There are probably more brands than flavours of jam, and everyone has their favourite.

I've not been disappointed by cannondale, specialized, scott, bianchi, ibis, mondraker and ktm (yes, they do mtb)

I avoid cube and yeti as their large/19 frames have different geometry re top and seat tubes to the above, ofcourse that may not affect you. .

Thick Soup

02GF74 wrote:

Thick Soup wrote:

Is there any brands I should be looking at in the used market?

There are probably more brands than flavours of jam, and everyone has their favourite.

I've not been disappointed by cannondale, specialized, scott, bianchi, ibis, mondraker and ktm (yes, they do mtb)

I avoid cube and yeti as their large/19 frames have different geometry re top and seat tubes to the above, ofcourse that may not affect you. .

Cheers pal.

When I was younger and into bikes, Marin where the holy grail.

It doesn’t seem that way now.

The Rookie

02GF74 wrote:

Thick Soup wrote:

ktm (yes, they do mtb)

Not really, as it's a completely separate company to the motorbike company.

On the used market some of the own brand bikes (Carrera, Btwin/Rockrider, Calibre and Pinnacle) offer better value than some of the big brands which command a premium even for their low end (and sometimes really rather dreadful) bikes. Clearly not all models from those are good, but the decent ones come up at a good value.

Thick Soup

After visiting my local bike shop, I told the bloke what I was after and my budget was Upto £600 he advised that I didn’t need to spend that much on a bike and he offered me a Bergamont Roxter 4.0 for around £400.

I’ve never heard of this brand before, is that a good deal for the bike he’s offered?

I must say he was very helpful and patient with me and offered what seemed like good advice.

billycool

For what you want to ride, you don't need anything too clever. Some bikes at that price point are sold for `leisure riding`, which is what you want to do. Just don't try jumping off stuff or going too mental on it!

Bergamont are German and seem to be okay. Just not so popular in the UK. Just check the spec on the bike and see if you can get any better from another brand.

Nice to see the bike shop not trying to sell a bike for your max budget as well.

02gf74

What size frame should you be riding and what size was the being offered. If they match then you will know if the assistant was offering good advice or just trying to flog a bike in Stock.
Did you get to sit on the bike for size.

steve_sordy

As for bike sizing; because bike geometry varies by manufacturer and model, you really need to try them out, or at the very least sit on them. If I can do neither I am comfortable with analysing the geometry because I know what I'm looking for in terms of fit.

I found this Bike Radar article on mountain bike fit very useful. I follow its guidelines when setting up a bike for a test ride.

https://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/ ... fit-29498/

Thick Soup

02GF74 wrote:

What size frame should you be riding and what size was the being offered. If they match then you will know if the assistant was offering good advice or just trying to flog a bike in Stock.
Did you get to sit on the bike for size.

Yeah I sat on a few, around the 19/20”. I’m 6ft 1” with a 29” inside leg. I sat on the bike and it felt really nice, though I sat on a 19” trek and that felt better but was £200 more than the Bergamont.

I was chatting to him for a while as I was looking for bikes for my son and daughter. It’s turning out to be a very expensive trip to the bike shop