Roche

I wouldn't know for sure, but I'd imagine that professional cycling teams go through lots of bikes and frames every year. Over the last 20 years, there must be many thousands of frames out there that are no longer needed by pros but of course are still awesome and usable by mere mortals such as me.

Does anybody know what happens to these frames? Are they sold? Is there a collectors market for bikes that have been in big races or used by pro riders?

thewalrus

All those Phonak BMCs have to go SOMEWHERE...

Roche

Where is it now?

ryanbee709

Many team bikes were for sell at Velo Swap in SF last month. <<https://www.veloswap.com/expo/why_attend_sf.html>>

You could've gotten yourself a Sierra Nevada Team Merckx <<https://www.kgsncycling.com/equipment.html>> for about $4K. Personally, I wouldn't buy one. Those guys tend to be hard on their bikes -- plus all the travelling -- and it can be difficult to assess the integrity of the frame w/o an x-ray machine handy.

socalrider

back in the early 90's I had a friend who worked for the Motorola team and I was able to get 2 of there team bikes. You have to know someone connected to get a decent deal..

urbanknight

I'm not sure where they enter the market, but used to race on a 1976 Olympic Team bike, and have seen a number of team bikes for sale in the past (mostly local pro or elite teams, though). I imagine most of the big time bikes end up in Europe, and that they start out in the hands of people who have connections with the team. I'm sure the big ticket items are auctioned off somewhere though. Like movie star clothing.

ed073

Yes.

Teams will sell bikes and kit, not being used by riders over winter, at year's end form their service course, basically a big warehouse in Belgium or Holland....somewhere central in Europe.

They'll often sell bikes and kit at the final races of the year as well, so they don't have to transport home (Sun Tour was good for this)

Some riders also often sell bikes and kit on eBay.

Send the team an e-mail about what's on offer....you'll never know if you don't ask.

botto 

+1

last year a buddy of mine got a t-mobile team bike fvia a team connection for 1/3 of the retail price.

alanbikehouston

I was reading an article about bike racing in Europe. The author mentioned seeing team bikes being sold right off the roof of the support car at the end of the season. A team finished its last race of the year, and the bikes were sold that afternoon. The article implied that they went cheap...anyone standing nearby could make an offer, and in a few minutes, the bikes were gone.

trin2du

Same situation at the flea market at Trexlertown Velodrome in October. I've got a trainer that I bought used from Navigator's a couple of years ago. Never seen so many Colnago's in one place!

Grasschopper

I have seen the Mavic neutral support bikes for sale and nearly bought a Mavic Scott CR1 but went with the Roubaix instead.

Cyclist0383

I know a guy who sells them. The Velo Mafia I call it. I recently picked up a Colnago Master Competition frame, fork, and a Campag headset for around $200. He gets kit and spare parts as well.

The cool thing is that when you go to look at bikes and you see a T-Mobile bike, you know it's a T-Mobile bike....I love that place!

Cyclist0383

It's in Belgium.

The_Convert

theprosstuff.com

ed073

this is true.

I bought brand new Mavic Cosmics from Henk Vogels for $800 AUD inc tyres, tubes and cassette.

Tristan Hoffman offered a mate of mine his TVM 853 Gazelle for $2 000 in 1995 or 1996. He'd only had the bike about 2 months.

Marcel Wust would come to the Sun Tour with his own little case, and two enormous duffel bags of kit every year....entrepreneur!

brunning

word to the t-town swap. i frequently see team stuff there. it's usually being sold by a dealer, which leads me to believe dealers can buy lots of team stuff, maybe through some hookup, maybe an auction.

an NYC bike store had about a dozen fuji frames from some smaller pro team a few years ago. lightly used training bikes, i was told.

i would not pay good money for a used carbon or lightweight aluminum frame with thousands of pro miles and races on it.

jitensha!

good point, but kind of a non-starter. most probikes are used for maybe one race/stage.

ed073

not quite.

EventServices

Talk to the mechanics during - not after - a race. Exchange cards. Call them in September. Buy them food. They'll let you know where to go to get their bikes at the end of the year.

I bought an old Team Saturn bike. No problems with it.

And don't assume that these bikes are the shizzle. Last year, Navigators rode a HEAVY Colnago.
I picked up Kirk O'Bee's. Surprisingly, it was was a boat anchor with a nice paint job.