CraigB

Since I can't afford a new bike right now, I don't know why I'm scouring Craig's List, but I am. Yesterday I found a bike that caught my eye, but the closer I looked, the stranger it seemed. Tell me what you all think:

It's an '05 Trek Madone in my size (56), all carbon, and they're asking $1050. The ad says it's never been crashed and has always been stored indoors. Price aside, that's good info for starters, but the seller posted quite a few large pics and it seems that this "never crashed" bike has significant abrasions on the faces and outboard edges of both brifters, and even the rear wheel QR lever is heavily scratched up. OK, maybe it wasn't crashed, but it sure looks like it's been dumped a few times. The frame looks OK, though given the state of these other parts, I'd sure want to take a good, close look at it.

Then I looked at the other pics. This thing has Ultegra brakes and front derailleur, but the rear derailleur is Dur-Ace, and the crank is Tiagra. Weird, huh? Sort of a Frankenbike. My thinking is that this guy is not the first owner, and what he's saying may be true about his time with the bike, but not necessarily the original owner's.

Any comments?