chinolatino

So i've been looking for a road bike and I found a 2008 Trek Madone 5.2 Pro going for $1450. It has 4800 miles on it. The owner changed the tires, retaped the handle bars and did a full tune up. Sounds like the owner was an avid rider and took pretty good care of the bike.
Would this be a bike I should consider buying? I believe the bike was around $3000-3200 new.
I asked a friend of mine who does Tri's and he believes that its heavy on the mileage. I had looked some other used bikes and his opinion was if I could get a lower mileage 2009-2010 madone 4.5 or say a 2006 madone 5.2 with low mileage that these would be better buys if they I could find them in the same price range of $1300-1400.

chadwick

Yeah they were about $3200 new MSRP in '08. I sold my '08 5.2 for $2K a few months ago with 5K miles, so that price is not out of scope.

pjn0629

Depends on wheels/gruppo/conditions. 4800 wet, dirty rainy miles will generally be terrible for the components, I've got over 7000 miles on my 9 speed Dura Ace from 03 and its still going strong, although I think it'll need a new chain soon. I keep everything clean and very rarely ride in the wet. I've put roughly 2200 miles on this summer alone, and I havent had any problems. Carbon has a great fatigue life, so barring any big crashes, the frame/fork should be fine. $1450 for a madone is a good deal imo, especially if you're going to race it. then you wont feel so bad when that first crash happens

rydaddy

I don't think 4800 miles is much at all. I would be concerned if the chain were still original, though. You will end up needing a new cassette, and possibly chainrings, when you get a new chain.

No comment on the price though.

Grumpy McTrumpy

I just checked my computer data and it says I had just under 8000 miles in the past 12 months.

The previous year I had a bit less but not by that much.

None of the 4 bikes that I ride have needed anything but new chains in that time.

mustachiod

4800 would be less than a year's usage for alot of folks. it's just getting broken in!

Velo Vol 

If the owner has indeed been taking good care of the bike it shouldn't need much with < 5,000 miles. Perhaps a chain and new cables. Maybe a new cassette.

I can't speak as to the pricing.

Grumpy McTrumpy

I guess I did change the cables and bar tape few times. Forgot about that.

Inertianinja

it's the owner, terrain, and weather that's more important.

I rode 3500 miles on my bike this year, and my bike is pretty much indistinguishable from the day I got it - except for the brake pads and tires. i replaced the chain at 3000, noticed an improvement. I keep it clean, and periodically disassemble things to clean and re-grease them.

i'm actually selling my bike now, and as far as i'm concerned the mileage has not depreciated it significantly.

akansaskid

New chain, $35-40; new shifter cables if Shimano STI ($5-10); maybe new brake pads ($10-20). True the wheels if needed. Check the frame when clean very closely for cracks.

Price and mileage would interest me if I wanted the bike. But if I had the cash, I'd always prefer a new CF bike over a used one. Of course I'll pass up some terrific buys with that mindset, too.

Your Tri friend must not ride much. 2400 mi/yr is laughable among serious cyclists.

mrrab

I'm new to the game, but 4800 miles is nothing. I think most here will put well over 4000 miles on their bike in 1 year.

Concur with other user's comments about the chainring and chain, possibly cables as well.

My bike I ride on everyday is a 2003 Trek 5200 w/Dura Ace components that had around 4K - 5K miles on it before I bought it this year. Thus far, I've put 2100 miles on it. Also, bought it for $1K, so I think that price it very reasonable.

a_phat_beat

4800 miles is about a years worth of riding for me. but there are too many unknowns, as someone said riding conditions, crashes, aggressive vs. relaxed riding styles. inspect it carefully and take it for a spin, chances are it's good to go as 4800 miles really isn't very much, especially for a frame.

prathmann

4800 miles wouldn't be a concern. Tires and chain would probably need to be replaced if they haven't been already, but those are standard wear items. My main road bike has 110 kmiles on it now and still has most of the original components. Tires, chains, cassettes, one chainring, seat, cables, handlebar tape, and one rim have been replaced.

chinolatino

So how do I inspect the bike and what parts should I focus on and what do I look for?

umd

No

stevegor

Isn't that what Pcad does in a week?

urbanknight

Miles, not forum posts.

patentcad

No.

patentcad

I have about 44,000 posts since late 2005. I have ridden about 60K miles in that timeframe.

That means I have a 15K post deficit based on the Pcad BF Miles:Bull***** Ratio.




I'll take care of it.

urbanknight

ahsposo 

For a Tri Guy that probably is a lot. As you can tell nobody here is real impressed with that figure.

Can you take it to a shop and pay them to check it out for you? Or maybe the seller has a record of when he replaced the chain. Some riders are a little O-C and do stuff like that.

patentcad

I have four road bikes and an MTB, I ride 12K miles annually. I figure I ride the TT bike 800 miles, the Ibis Ti Road 4000, the Scott 4000, the Cervelo 3000, the MTB 500. They would all last another ten years at that rate, but we all know the Schwagaholic in me won't ever wait that long.

Chris_F

I have almost that same number of miles on my road bike right now and there's still a ton of life left in the frame and components. Little things like cables, brake pads, chain, tires, etc have been replaced but whole components are still solid. Frame is just fine. The mileage to me wouldn't be a concern.

umd

Fwiw, I have about 28,000 miles on my Tarmac. It's only 2 years old though, I've been told it will spontaneously combust after 3 more years.

rekmeyata

This post was a joke right? So every time a set of tires wear out, just go to the bike shop and get a new bike. Geez, one of my bikes has well over 100,000 miles on it and still going strong.