Originally Posted by
Hatchet
I agree - if you check something while the seller there, and it is broken (i.e. a stuck stem or seat post), that can aid in your negotiations. For many people, if the bike needs something relatively simple to repair - but they don't know how to do it, or don't want to pay someone to do it, that can bring down the price of the bike considerably.
I sold a bike a few years ago that suddenly developed chain problems during an out of sight test ride.
My wife and I both test rode the bike in the morning and the bike shifted nicely. A swarthy "buyer" test rode it around the block in the afternoon & brought it back with the chain skipping and stuttering on the freewheel, and rattling through the derailleurs. He still wanted to buy it, but at a healthy discount. A close inspection showed that a couple of pins about 10 inches apart in the chain had been mysteriously pushed out of position and were catching on the next sprocket to the left as the part of the chain with the protruding pins went through the freewheel.
I used a chain tool to push the pins back into the proper position and tried it out. The chain skipping stopped.
Big time bike flipper. I posted a warning about him on CL and the local buy & sell.