Recumbent - Advice on buying a Rans v2 XL

A friend of mine is about to be very nice to himself and buy a Rans V3 Titanium and wants to sell his 2001 Rans V2 XL. The bike rates 9.5 on a 10 scale and has likely seen 7k miles in its life. The current owner has been into bikes for more than 50 years and has some real vintage stuff still in premium condition. I know it's been maintained very well. Any guess at a fair price to offer? I'm after a fair deal, he's going to use the funds to help get the V3.

Good choice the V2 is my first recumbent I I just bought it in November and paid $1800 2 weeks ago I saw on ebay a 3 month old bike go for $1050 Ihope to get a lot of use out of this bike on one ride I hit 29mph on flat ground never been that fast on my cannondale R900

Mine is a 2002. I think I paid around $1900 for it then at the LBS. A few years later, I believe RANS was listing tje V2 for about $1500. They don't seem to change hands very often, so a used price is difficult to establish.

I was going to sell mine recently and figured I'd try around $750-800 based on half the last retail price. It's probably an 8/10 as it was used for a 20 mi RT daily commute for a couple of years, but well maintained. Just the normal dings and scrapes.

It's a great bike. I ónce did 55 mph downhill with it. Totally stable, but an image of a skinny 20" front tire came into my head just as I hit that speed, and I never did it again. I had a guy on a Harley pull up next to me on my commute and yell, "Hey, do you know you're doin' 35 mph?" That was on a flat road. I couldn't sustain it for long, but I did it with that bike. :)

I still ride it at least weekly. Mostly to pull a trailer to our RC flying site about 20 miles away. I'm retired now, so no more commute. If you can work out an equitable price between you, it is a fast, comfortable bike, and should last nearly forever.

Eric

The V2 XL is an excellent choice. I choose the XL to keep some of the weight off the rear wheel for touring. The 2001 had better components than some later models, Deore LX hubs, Shimano 105 crank and front der., and everything else SRAM 9. It also had the fairing as standard.

Not long ago, I saw a used Velocity Formula (26-20) in mint condition, with Paul thumbies/levers and a perfect Windwrap fairing. It was going for $1300. The 2001 XL was, I think $1995. If it is mint, $1000 would be a fair price.

Tom