How much should I pay for a used bike?
 

Just curious, I was looking on craigslist and saw a 2011 specialized allez elite selling for $650 obo. Is that a good price? How do you figure how much a used bike is worth?

to determine the year model
http://www.bikepedia.com

to get a bare bones price
http://www.bicyclebluebook.com

+1 on bikepedia. I was looking for a new bike, but when I realized how much more bike I could get by buying used, I quickly switched to craigslist. Using bikepedia to determine year, equipment, and original price.

Over here in Oz, the general way is to check out a site called bike exchange that a lot of bike shops advertise on. On that site you can get an idea of what shops are selling new old stock for. From there, you make your own assessment on how much less than that price you would allow for used. Of course you also need to factor in any mods that might be made.

Not sure if you have an equivalent site over in the US. By doing this simple search you'd be surprised how often you can actually buy a brand new old stock bike for less than what some people want second hand in Oz!

Of course this method only really works for newer models

You can always look for the bike on Craigslist or even better E-bay to see what they go for that way. It takes a while but you get a feel for $ on a given bike. I would suggest finding "the bike" you want to ride and then shop for it the way I mentioned above.

Ryan