mrn5022

Ive been on the prowl for a decently priced road bike to be my first. I have a Giant Roam hybrid that I love but lately Ive had the itch to ride a road bike and I feel like I should own one.

I just came across this Giant Kronos on craigslist and was wondering what you all think. Its listed as best offer and he needs to sell before he moves. How much do you think I should offer/pay for it?

https://allentown.craigslist.org/bik/3281384423.html

catonec 

it looks ok.

so long as it is ride-able and the wheels are true, Id offer $75, and see if he bites.

I would go up to $150-$175 tops. depends how desperate you are and how saturated your market is.

the grip shift is some funky rig job. the crank and deraileur are low end and old.

94 was the most recent model listed as having down tube shifters on bikepedia. $500 brand new

https://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/B...e#.UGPtfT02gbs

wrk101

Jerry rigged, crummy replacement parts, no thanks.

T-Mar

The subject bicycle is Giant's 1996, entry level, road sport model and from what I can tell it is not Jerry rigged. Gripshift and Acera-X rear derailleur are OEM. The crankset is period correct Tourney and is almost certainly OEM. The brakes appear to be 300EX and if so, are also OEM. Frame is striaight gauge CrMo. MSRP $425 US.

While it's certainly not a great bicycle, it's not a bad one either, just low end. The GripShift and subject cable routing make for a somewhat messy cockpit but that doesn't seem to bother owners with this setup. If it can be had for the suggested $75, it may be a good choice for the OP's entry to road bicycles. At that price, he could probaly flip it at no loss, whether he loathes road biking and decides to ditch it or decides he loves it and wants something better. If the fit is appropriate, I'd seriously consider it. There's not much risk if the seller takes the offer.

wrk101

Well, I stand corrected. I had a 1995 Kronos, it had much nicer parts, RSX STI bike, lugged steel frame, etc. They really cheapened that bike up in one year.

Per bikepedia, the 1996 also came with RSX STI. I'm not seeing a grip shift version, maybe it varied by country, or bikepedia definitely can be wrong.


One thing I know for sure, TMar's knowledge on vintage bikes is about 100X mine.

T-Mar

Your confusion stems from the fact that the bicycle is not a standard Kronos but a Kronos GS. You can see the GS in the picture, on the top tube, and it stands for GripShift. My 1996 literature shows the Kronos GS (Shimano Acera-X/GripShift) at $425 and the Kronos (Shimano RSX STI) at $650.

wrk101

Thanks for the clarification. Wow, that Kronos GS is really low end. I would definitely pass.