jwats

All,

I am the second owner of this bike..in very good condition, tuned, new tires,..etc. a few blemishes and dings..but nothing obvious. Shimano 600.

What is a fair price? I not in a hurry to sell.

Thanks in advance

John

cannondale125

check out bicyclebluebook.com. Good luck with sale.

zazenzach

bluebook is just short of useless. i rarely see it give accurate prices.

not to mention, price is going to be highly dependant on location, photo presentation, cosmetic condition as well as riding condition (ie just overhauled or not).

assuming the bike is ready to ride, i think i'd sell it for $350 here

cannondale125

well what hat I always say to people is it's a guide not perfect. But most the people I see that don't like it, are the ones who want to much for there bikes. You know I paid $2000 new and it's 5 years old and I want $1500! Is this you?

FastJake

MSRP was $2200 new but this bike is in a strange no-mans land between classic and modern. Not old enough for any classic enthusiasts (carbon, STI, etc.) but too outdated for most people looking for a modern road bike.

It was a really nice bike in its day but I agree with the estimate of $350. I don't see any more than $400 even in a good market.

I'll see your "just short of useless" and raise you a "completely useless." As you point out, prices are so variable depending on all the factors you point out that no blue book could ever be useful. Each bike must be evaluated individually.

The bicycle blue book value given above of $500-700 is too high. 10 years ago this bike could've easily commanded that price, but not today.

zazenzach

actually, in most cases ive noticed the exact opposite. for some reason BB really tends to over inflate the value.

BB is claiming his bike is worth $624 in "Good" or $693 in "Excellent" condition (or $728 in like-new condition). That is absolutely looney tunes and no one would pay that.

himespau 

It's hard. I see it's a 16 year old carbon bike and hear the word "dings" and I get a little nervous. But then I like steel. Even if I didn't, I'm going to have to agree with FastJake that it's in a tricky zone to try to sell.

SwampDude

Do the older carbon bikes suffer from declining tube strength or weakness in points where the bike is glued together? My Trek 2120 carbon frame looks really good, but I've wondered about its integrity. If strength does decline over time, that would have a huge impact on market value.

FastJake

The Treks are pretty solid but I've seen some like yours (carbon tubes, Al lugs) with failed joints due to corrosion. As long as the frame is kept relatively clean and dry you shouldn't have an issue.

The Trek in the OP, however, is OCLV and a completely different frame construction. As far as I know these frames are very solid and not known for common failures. I myself have a couple ~10 year old OCLV frames I picked up used in "good" condition. They still feel good as new and I don't worry about them.

Poguemahone

^^^this. The part about the bike being in a weird no-man's land, definitely.

Chombi

It looks like a pretty nice bike,........except for that not-so-pretty unicrown style fork..... I bet if you just change out that fork to a nicer aftermarket CF one with a clear finish, you can sell it for quite a bit more money.

SwampDude

It occurs to me that my Trek came with a 'lifetime' warranty on the carbon frame to the original owner. Wonder if Trek would repair or replace my frame if problems start to develop.

jwats

I am the OP, and wanted to put a different spin on value...Imagine you need/want a different 54 cm road bike, have $400-650 to spend...and want to get riding. Even in a large metropolitan market ( I am in Minneapolis) there are very limited choices on Craigslist. Some are willing to buy sight unseen and pay shipping, but many are not. Currently, you have would 3 other choices: an R300 Cannondale that appears to be in OK condition( but far from perfect), an R500 Cannondale with a shifting problem ( and a $100 repair estimate) and a 2009 Fuji 3.0 newest road bike ( their bottom of the line). So, I think the decision is made relative to other choices, and your own tradeoffs. I am sure that many would never buy a bike as old as mine. Others detest cheap components..but you can't have new and quality at this price point. My hope is that someone will value quality, not be terribly concerned about age because the condition is very good, and buy it. Time will tell.

lostarchitect 

That is almost nobody who posts on this forum. I second: it is useless. The values are all over the place.

cannondale125

well im glad you second it!! So tell me another sight you get your values from?? Have to be comparing it somewhere since everyone knows the perfect prices!

lostarchitect 

There is no one source for bike value, sorry. Value varies a lot depending on market and condition, and there are just too many bikes to keep track of. If I need to know the value of something, here's what I do.

First, look at ebay completed auctions to get an idea of what prices things are selling for.

Second, check your local Craigslist to get an idea what people are asking locally.

Third, ask people here--there are guys here who have sold hundreds of bikes or more and have a good idea of value.

Finally, have a good idea of what makes a bike valuable--What's the tubing? Is it well constructed? Is the maker well thought of? Is the brand popular? What is the component group? What is the condition? Etc. Having a grasp of all these concepts helps a lot.

There's no magic one stop site to tell you all this.

Poguemahone

If you don't have to sell immediately, go ahead and list it at the 650 value and slowly drop it.

Be prepared to get a bunch of lowball offers, etc. Be sure to be polite to everyone! They may come back and buy it later.

However, my experience is the number of people searching CL for a bike worth much over 2/300$ is very small, and further limited by what size they ride. Every local CL has a different point where sales drop precipitously.

Poguemahone

Just took a look a the BBB... it seems to be missing at least one really important parameter (sizing). Inclined not to trust it just for that. Also missing plentiful models. Lost Architect's summation above is more valuable.

jwats

It gets odder and odder.

I have received 4 replies to my Craigslist Ad...all wanting to see the bike quickly...I gave them my number, suggested times to see it...and never to be heard from again. Why would anyone bother if they had no interest? Wouldn't it be a common courtesy to let me know? We live in strange times

lostarchitect 

Happens all the time. People on CL are probably emailing multiple sellers, they go to see one bike, buy it, and never reply to the other sellers. I shrug and move on.

lostarchitect 

Name, sure, but phone number? I have dealt with some weirdo sellers on CL, I don't want to send my phone number out to just anyone. We exchange numbers AFTER we set a time and place to meet--and I have determined they're not total nutballs. When I sell things, I specifically write in my ads, "I will respond by email, please don't ask me to call or text you."

Scammers are easily detected and dealt with--most of their emails sound fake right off the bat. "Hello sir! I am interested in the item you have sale! Please respond!" Sometimes in an ad I will note "please mention the specific item you are emailing about in the body of your email, so I know you're not a scammer." Problem solved.

eja_ bottecchia

Agree 100%. Bike blue book gave me almost identical prices for my C59 and for my Infinito.

Thumpic

I require a "code" word that I give in the ad. I do not respond to any inquiries asking if the bike is still available.

There is no better price guide than a thorough search of this forum and completed ebay auctions.

lostarchitect 

Right, I know. Let's say I'm the buyer. I don't know you--I don't want to give you my phone number until I know you're not a nut. My name and email should be sufficient. Maybe it's different where you are, but here in NYC there are a lot of nuts selling stuff on Craigslist. If we're going to meet and do a deal, then we can exchange phone numbers. Unless I am really desperate to get what you're selling, you lost my business by demanding my phone number.

Therefore, I don't ask for a phone number when selling, and if a potential buyer asks me to call them before we have established that they are not nuts, I don't give it to them.

FastJake

I've noticed a decline in spam e-mails on my craiglist sales lately. It still happens though. A real problem is when someone IS legitimate but it appears to be a spam e-mail. I actually sold a bike to one such person. I was 90% sure the first message was spam, but they ended up being a buyer.