Thinking of buying a second hand bike? Think again.
I visited the cycling shop today to help a friend pick a mountain bike. She’s a bit of a beginner and needed some advice. Turns out I was merely there for moral support, since the salesman/owner was a lot more clued-up than I am.
I was amazed at the advances that’s been made since the birth of my Schwinn Moab in 2002. The materials used, design and fabrications are light years ahead of what was used back in the day.
When I decided to buy a bike in 2006, my friend offered me $500 for his Schwinn. I thought it was a pretty decent price, since he hardly ever used it and it was as good as new. Just to be sure I wasn’t getting ripped-off, I went to the shop to get a price for that model. I saw black and red one from the same range going for around $900.
Ok $500 against $900… no-brainer right? Two years later… think again.
See bikes are similar to computers. The technology is constantly evolving and improving. Had I decided to buy my friend’s 2002 laptop for $500 in 2006, I’d be an idiot. The same principle applies to cycles. The advances obviously happens at a slower pace, and perhaps less noticeable pace, but they are certainly there.
Today you can buy a brand spanking new bike, with more or less the same the specification as my Schwinn, for around $400. So my deal wasn’t too bad, but in hindsight it wasn’t that great either.
One also needs to consider another practicality of buying a 2nd hand bicycle; the hidden costs you are bound to be unaware of. Often times the bike needs a service, where they pick up a number of parts that needs replacing. In the end I had to pay $100+ just to be able to get going. Not to mention the effort of having to take the bike into the shop every other week, once you’ve discover a new ailment.
So unless you’re thinking of buying a gem of a second hand bike, be sure to consider the deteriorating value, hidden costs, and the time and effort it might take to get it going.
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1 Comment: :
Thinking of buying a second hand bike? Think again.
February 22nd, 2008 7:33 pm
Brad Hefta-Gaub says:
Great advice Andy. Also, consider that even if you are buying a vintage bike because you like it’s look and style, it’s going to be very expensive to keep it in vintage condition, and it will be expensive to make it ridable. When I converted the Shogan Kaze to a fixie, it still cost me about $200 dollars in parts, and I did all the labor. So all in all it is cheaper to buy a new fixie than to build up a bike from parts. And fixies are actually cheaper to build because they have far fewer parts.