General Cycling Discussion - Can new bikes be financed?

I'v been wanting to buy a real road bike for years now, but I dont have $600+ to do so with. Can cyclist finance bikes from the manufacturer or bike shop? Who has $800 cash on them?!!!!!! and no, I dont have a credit card!:beer:


I could never understand how people can just yank $800 out of there pocket. Thats alot, and I could never save that much, never.:D

Alot of Bikeshop's offer financing on bikes. Even some manufactures directly offer financing, this is not extremely common though. I know supergo always has signs up 90 days same as cash and so on, similar to a car dealer.

I'm sure you'll be able to find a finance company which would finance a bike.
I'm in Australia and there are a few options for financing bikes from the LBS.
Some of these are even interest free for the first 12 months.
Check with a few bike shops - they may offer credit through a 3rd party financing agency.
You could also look up financing companies in the US - they should be able to advise you either way.
Only problem with financing though is that you always spend more money than you intend to .. too many cool bikes out there!

Originally posted by smelly
I'v been wanting to buy a real road bike for years now, but I dont have $600+ to do so with. Can cyclist finance bikes from the manufacturer or bike shop?


Litespeed offered financing for a while. Maybe they or others will do it again.

http://www.litespeed.com/asp/dealersearchfinance.asp


Originally posted by smelly

Who has $800 cash on them?!!!!!! and no, I dont have a credit card!:beer:

I could never understand how people can just yank $800 out of there pocket. Thats alot, and I could never save that much, never.:D

People come up with enough cash through a variety of means. I was only a poor highschool student just about to start college but I paid $850 in cash back in 1990 for a Nishiki Ariel by saving up money from my summer jobs. At the time, it was the most amount of money I had ever spent on a single item. I know it's a lot of money. Hell, any amount of money is a lot of money but if it's important enough it'll be well worth the wait and effort to save for.

If you are short of cash, you should definately consider a used bike. Police often auction recovered stolen bikes, and club riders often sell their old bikes. There is Ebay, your local paper as well as bike shop noticeboards.
You may not be riding the very latest technology, but you really wont be any slower on a decent used bike.
Even when you have a swanky new machine, an old training bike is really useful. You wil also be able to discover your ideal riding position and bike size without making an expensive mistake.

Most bike shops will do a "lay-away" plan. And the incentive of knowing the bike is just waiting for you to pay it off may help you be a better saver.

Can cyclist finance bikes from the manufacturer or bike shop? Who has $800 cash on them?!!!!!! and no, I dont have a credit card!

Hey, stinkbomb, if you don't even have a credit card, who do you think is going to finance a bike for you? Besides, minors need to have a parent co-sign any loan.

BTW, MichaelW, police auctions here in upstate NY (probably elsewhere in the US, too) contain nothing but abandoned ***-mart bikes and wrecked bikes. Better bikes get stripped when they are stolen, which fuels the component market on eBay. Last bike auction I went to had something like 200 bikes, and not one was decent. Most sold for $5 or less. One guy bought about 20 for parts-it turned out he was managing a charity that gave bikes to poor kids, so he needed all those bits.

I do a 90 day same as cash layaway I do not use a finance dept. or require a banl loan although if you get one that is your choice. Of course that may not apply to shops around your local. Just check around!

I think supergo has no payments for a year.

Originally posted by D*Alex

police auctions here in upstate NY (probably elsewhere in the US, too) contain nothing but abandoned ***-mart bikes and wrecked bikes. Better bikes get stripped when they are stolen, which fuels the component market on eBay. Last bike auction I went to had something like 200 bikes, and not one was decent. Most sold for $5 or less. One guy bought about 20 for parts-it turned out he was managing a charity that gave bikes to poor kids, so he needed all those bits.

I also do a community service project with my students where we refurb bicycles for various charitable organizations. I am always checking out the police and Sheriff's auctions and have found several nice bikes, including; 2 Trek 830's, Late 80's Panasonic, Bridgestone RB, A nice Falcon w/ Reynolds 531 frame, FS Mongoose, Nice older Miyata tourning bike, First generation Ross Mtb, several high end BMX rides, and many others I don't remember. In our area I am competing with Flee market operators who buy in bulk for their markets.

i would not finance a bike

those 90 day same as cash and "no payments for a year" are not good deals. with most of them you either have to pay off the entire amount in a short time (90 days, 1 year)...or you will pay a high interest rate (20-30%) retroactive to the time of purchase. same holds true if you are late on a payment.

i hate it when i sound like my grandfather...but this is one thing he was right about.

If you can, get a credit card and finance the bike with that. The in store financing we have has a high interest rate, much higher than a credit card.

Right now, I am paying on the Giant Team ONCE Frame with the 90 lay away. That lets me pay for it over 4 equal payments.

Well,

I always say if you can't pay cash you can't afford it, with the possible exception of a house. I say possible because financing a house though there are other options at least isn't altogether financially ill advised.

With that in mind, financing a bike is a bad move. It will only depreciate, and any kind of intrest rate you would get on an unsecured loan like that would probably end up making the bike cost you double to triple the asking price by the time you clear the note.

What I am saying is if you can't afford to pay for it up front, you can even less afford to pay triple over some years.

So, stop eating out, stop buying nintendo games & nike shoes. You'd be amazed at how quick the money can stack up when one redefines "need."

take care,

Jester

P.S. Lay away makes sense if it is a one of a kind item/special sale, otherwise you are better off putting the lay away payments in savings till you have it all, then go to the store.

Originally posted by bandaidman
i would not finance a bike

those 90 day same as cash and "no payments for a year" are not good deals. with most of them you either have to pay off the entire amount in a short time (90 days, 1 year)...or you will pay a high interest rate (20-30%) retroactive to the time of purchase. same holds true if you are late on a payment.

i hate it when i sound like my grandfather...but this is one thing he was right about.

Hate to break it to you bub but like I said, "90 days same as cash." Notice there was no interest charges. No set payment plan no games. Is this a bad deal?

yes, if you do not have the money than it is a bad deal...your chances of having the money in ninety days are low statistically (i believe 80%+ of 90 days/1year same as cash deals end up with interest charges applied..a lot of interest charges)

unless this is something set up by the bike store itself (very rare with consumer goods....seems to be the case with hunter though)...read the fine print carefully before you sign anything...a contract is a legally binding document...no matter how onerous or bad the fine print is...if you sign it you are stuck with the terms.

why not just wait 3 months and save up the bucks?

Originally posted by D*Alex
Hey, stinkbomb, if you don't even have a credit card, who do you think is going to finance a bike for you? Besides, minors need to have a parent co-sign any loan.

BTW, MichaelW, police auctions here in upstate NY (probably elsewhere in the US, too) contain nothing but abandoned ***-mart bikes and wrecked bikes. Better bikes get stripped when they are stolen, which fuels the component market on eBay. Last bike auction I went to had something like 200 bikes, and not one was decent. Most sold for $5 or less. One guy bought about 20 for parts-it turned out he was managing a charity that gave bikes to poor kids, so he needed all those bits.

Im a minor? Actually Im 21 years old.:beer:

Originally posted by khuon
Litespeed offered financing for a while. Maybe they or others will do it again.

http://www.litespeed.com/asp/dealersearchfinance.asp



People come up with enough cash through a variety of means. I was only a poor highschool student just about to start college but I paid $850 in cash back in 1990 for a Nishiki Ariel by saving up money from my summer jobs. At the time, it was the most amount of money I had ever spent on a single item. I know it's a lot of money. Hell, any amount of money is a lot of money but if it's important enough it'll be well worth the wait and effort to save for.

The time it takes me to save up $800 summer will already pass. Remember, I live in Rochester where it snows 6 months out of the year.:mad: