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What's the Ramifications with Buying Really Old End of Year Close Outs

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Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

What's the Ramifications with Buying Really Old End of Year Close Outs

Old 09-30-15, 05:44 PM
  #51  
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Originally Posted by Dan333SP
It seems you've already been afflicted with the curse of a broken sarcasm meter.
I've been afflicted with a number of things. Perhaps the afflictions are spreading.

Or, the sarcasm was not obvious to me.
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Old 09-30-15, 06:46 PM
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I don't think there's a huge downside to buying an older model. I had my choice of newer models vs a year older and actually ended up buying a 2013 Felt F75 last month. I tried a bunch of bikes out and this particular bike just felt the best so I bought it. Simple as that.

They actually pulled it out just for me to compare against the Trek Domane and Scott CR models I was testing out and it was the most comfortable, had better components and the price was significantly discounted. They offered to order any model in for me to try but I was really happy with the bike and bought it. It was also my first road bike purchase so I was looking for a deal anyways.

Also, being in business making consumer products as a manufacturer in my daily life-there are times where we have old new stock that is 100% fine to sell and we do happily offer it to our distributors and retailers at a discount, which they in turn can pass onto their customers. That very well could have been the case with my Felt. Maybe the distributor or manufacturer had stock and the LBS picked it up and it just worked out....

I say go with the bike that feels the best regardless of age. As long as the price is right and you feel good about the purchase, why not?

Last edited by onuraybar; 09-30-15 at 06:50 PM.
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Old 09-30-15, 09:50 PM
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Originally Posted by dtrain
^ okay. So you'd pay a little more for NOS vs. lightly used...just not a bunch more. I generally agree, and now I'm not sure why I thought we were disagreeing.
Were we disagreeing?

Ah, like [STRIKE]I[/STRIKE] we said...it's all about price.
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Old 09-30-15, 09:59 PM
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No it isn't. It's not about the price at all. I've come here for a disagreement. [/Monty Python voice]
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Old 10-01-15, 05:27 AM
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Originally Posted by Inpd
Holy Cow Phil! I'm guessing your a murder mystery readers ....
You're right! I just finished Property of a Gentleman, which was a 1970s gothic style mystery and light romance set in a 500 year old Tudor mansion and involving antiques, a centuries-dead Spanish Woman, intrecately interwoven families, all set in in rugged English countryside. It was actually pretty well written.

Sorry for jumping way too far to a conclusion there. PG
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Old 10-01-15, 09:05 AM
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Originally Posted by dtrain
No it isn't. It's not about the price at all. I've come here for a disagreement. [/Monty Python voice]
I agree.



[Fixed you!!]
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Old 10-01-15, 09:36 AM
  #57  
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Originally Posted by dtrain
No it isn't. It's not about the price at all. I've come here for an argument. [/Monty Python voice]
NOW it's fixed
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Old 10-01-15, 12:07 PM
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Originally Posted by Doctor Morbius
Saving money from buying NOS?
Perhaps not having the latest and greatest if that is important to the person buying the bike?
Possibly not being able to find replacement parts?
Well, 105 and Ultegra were upgraded between 2013 and 2014. May not make much of a difference for Ultegra, but 105 went from 10-spd to 11-spd.

Other than that, some frames may have been upgraded in that time. Others haven't. You'll have to look at the spec details to find out if there's a big enough difference to matter to you.

Also, some stores haven't discounted the 2013/2014 bikes as much as they should have, especially considering that the 2016's are starting to roll in.

GH
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Old 10-01-15, 12:10 PM
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Originally Posted by ColaJacket
May not make much of a difference for Ultegra, but 105 went from 10-spd to 11-spd.
Ultegra went from 10 speed (6700) to 11 speed (6800) as well. It was a similar upgrade/difference.
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Old 10-01-15, 12:12 PM
  #60  
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Upgrades in the last 30 years have been freehubs and threadless stems. Nothing else made really better. So old models are as good (if not better) then the "improved" newer ones.
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Old 10-01-15, 12:22 PM
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Originally Posted by Slaninar
Upgrades in the last 30 years have been freehubs and threadless stems. Nothing else made really better. So old models are as good (if not better) then the "improved" newer ones.
So quill to threadless stems is an improvement, but downtube shifters to STI brake levers didn't really improve anything?
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Old 10-01-15, 12:24 PM
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Originally Posted by RoadGuy
...Also consider that some manufacturer's start the warranty on the items they manufacture after a specific period of time, even if the time has not been sold. This is to limit their obligation under the warranty to what they consider to be a reasonable period of time...

Originally Posted by RoadGuy
If you were to find a NOS 1990s bike with 7-speed Shimano STI 105 brifters, and you bought it, would you expect Shimano to honor the new warranty on the brifters if it turned out they were gummed up, and not operating properly?.
Wrong and wrong. No company backdates warranty coverage to the date of manufacture. This is nonsense.
If there was a 1992 7 sp. NOS bike, Shimano WOULD honour the warranty of one or two years from original date of purchase - and of course (as you said in your second post) this will not be a simple like-for-like replacement, but probably some credit to purchase SHimano parts... not convenient, but far from 'no warranty coverage'. In fact, when standards change (things like headsets, bottom brackets, axle style) between a bike being purchased new and the purchaser requiring a warranty replacement frame, it is often the purchaser who has to figure out (or pay the LBS to figure out) how to make everything work together, up to and including the purchaser paying for more modern parts to fit the replacement frame.
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Old 10-01-15, 12:36 PM
  #63  
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Originally Posted by Dan333SP
So quill to threadless stems is an improvement, but downtube shifters to STI brake levers didn't really improve anything?
Not IMO. High price, next to impossible to fix and a lot easier to break. DT are just fine for me. Most older bikes equipment in any way. Since 6 speeds (and first triple crankset), I've had enough gear range and braking power and that was it.
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Old 10-01-15, 01:00 PM
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Originally Posted by Slaninar
Not IMO. High price, next to impossible to fix and a lot easier to break. DT are just fine for me. Most older bikes equipment in any way. Since 6 speeds (and first triple crankset), I've had enough gear range and braking power and that was it.
You're right on the difficulty of repairs and fragility versus DT, but when a complete set of decent used 10 speed 105/tiagra levers can be found easily for less than $50, and when they really don't break all that frequently, I don't think those arguments outweigh the increased ease of shifting. Obviously lots of folks still on DT disagree, but I like being able to shift whenever I want with both hands on the bars.
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Old 10-01-15, 01:06 PM
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Originally Posted by Slaninar
Upgrades in the last 30 years have been freehubs and threadless stems. Nothing else made really better. So old models are as good (if not better) then the "improved" newer ones.
Originally Posted by Slaninar
Not IMO. High price, next to impossible to fix and a lot easier to break. DT are just fine for me. Most older bikes equipment in any way. Since 6 speeds (and first triple crankset), I've had enough gear range and braking power and that was it.
Also, Grape Nuts are the perfect breakfast cereal. IDK why anything else was ever introduced.
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Old 10-01-15, 01:16 PM
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The thing I don't like with more than 8 speed is not just the cost. It's the robustness and error margin of the whole shifting system. 8 speed and less give wide enough spacing that both friction shifting is easy and indexed shifting is flawless even with old/dirty cables, not perfect derailleurs etc. I recently swapped 105 10 speed setup for an 8 speed Claris/Sora one - shifting has improved. Same bike, same mechanic (me), same housing and cables.

Got the alu frame at a very low price, and it's tube is too thick for mounting DT shifters - the ones available at least.

MTB has friction shifters, 3x6, and has been going strong since 1996. No need for a change.


I cycle a lot. Don't have a car - it's my main means of transport, my sport, passion, hobby. I fix bikes for hobby, for friends and for money sometimes. My conclusion is that for the way my friends and I ride bicycles, most new stuff is just made to make you spend more money. It lasts less, costs more, is more difficult to repair, maintain. And it brings nothing really better - not to the way we use bikes. Climbing mountains, riding to work, hauling groceries etc. I even ride with some amateur racers occasionally. When I'm dropped, it's never the bike.

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Old 10-01-15, 01:37 PM
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Originally Posted by dtrain
Also, Grape Nuts are the perfect breakfast cereal. IDK why anything else was ever introduced.
Plot twist- I love 10 and 11 speed STI drivetrains, but I also love grape nuts.
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Old 10-01-15, 01:43 PM
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Originally Posted by dtrain
Also, Grape Nuts are the perfect breakfast cereal. IDK why anything else was ever introduced.
You'll have your porridge, like it, and beg for more with a smile.

GH
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Old 10-01-15, 02:01 PM
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Originally Posted by Dan333SP
Plot twist- I love 10 and 11 speed STI drivetrains, but I also love grape nuts.
But there are no grapes or nuts in the box?!
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