Used Bikes - Athens, GA area
 

where's the best place to look for used bikes? i know about ebay and craigslist, but are there any other websites i should know about? have any of you had any luck with garage sales?

Garage sales are hit or miss. You need to go into older well off neighborhoods to find real gems. I wouldn't go to garage sales just to go bike shopping unless it's a hobby of yours. Even when I find a really nice older bike it's always the wrong size or destroyed. I've had much better luck with craigslist in my area.

If you live in or near a larger city check the local Goodwill - not the usual retail store, but the central drop-off/warehouse/administrative headquarters. The one in Richmond has bicycle auctions Mon, Wed and Fri and you can usually find some fairly decent stuff there.

Otherwise, it's hit and miss, and you've got to be lucky. Craigslist is usually quite good, just watch out for the numbskull quotient. You'd be amazed how many people are selling that done realize the bike has a bent fork or other such damage.

Pawn shops sometimes have good stuff. They are ridiculously overpriced. You need to just ask them what their lowest CASH price is and they will usually come down a whole lot. Example: the other day they had a nice Specialized Sirrus with $425 on the tag. I asked them for their lowest cash price on the spot and they said $325. I said...oops sorry, my budget is $300. They wouldn't come down the last 25 bucks so I walked. But they still came down almost 25 percent.

Since this can very much be a regional issue, I moved this to the Southeast forum with a thread title change to reflect the OP's location.

It really depends on how much you want to spend. If you have a good chunk to work with there is Ben's Bikes on Oneta Street in the Boulevard District who does a great job with restoring and other stuff. He's a really personable guy and will fix you up right. I'm getting a bike fabricated from scratch as I type! :thumb:

perfect! does he have many single speed bikes set up on the sales floor? and how do his prices range?

Check with all of the bike shops in Athens. Some will have a limited but decent selection of used bikes.