Originally Posted by Splice

1.) How old should I get and where should I draw the limit in terms of age. I've been told new Sora/Tiagra parts aren't the best but I can't imagine a 6 year old Ultegra would be better than a new Sora.

Much like chosing a girlfriend, it's not the years, it's the mileage. Old doesn't have to mean used up. In fact, if you like to ride steel or aluminum, old is often where the deals are. And most importantly, thinking that new Sora will be better than 6 year old Ultegra is a fundamental flaw in your logic train. One we tried to point out in your other thread. Repeat after me, "Quality is Quality from the day it's created till the day it's destroyed. Crap is Crap forever."

2.) While prices vary based on a lot of factors can someone please give me general costs of things to look for on used bikes, otherwise I don't have much of a choice of either just paying whatever or posting here and asking for more help every time I see one that might fit. Maybe find the MSRP on bikepedia and pay a % of that as a rule based on the year. Any way of determining a good price will help.

Dude, you should be able to spot a good deal when you see one...oh wait, did you think the Denali was a good deal?

If you could give me examples of bikes with prices so I could compare them to what I find that would also help a lot.

Used bike prices vary from region to region, day to day, and seller to seller. I could give you some examples of prices I've seen in my area for used road bikes, but that will have absolutely no bearing on what a similar bike might sell for in your area.