WilmingtonSkip

Hi all, found this forum looking for info on a bike I'm probably going to buy and was hoping for some input.

Little history, I don't know much about bikes. Did a triathlon (sprint) last year just to see if I could and rode my alluminum 7speed cruiser. Not sure how dedicated I am and can't put much money into it but I know I have to have a better bike before trying (no pun intended) again. Been keeping an eye on local craigslist and found this bike.

Looks pretty clean to me. Serial Number OA*****. Clearly has had some work on it, the shifters are now on the handlebar stem with a clamped cable stop around the down tube where the lug for the shifter was. Everything I saw component wise was labeled shimano with one the front derailer having a logo on it that included an arrow inside a roughly U shaped symbol.

Seller is an avid rider who bought it as a backup on the spur of the moment when his primary wrecked several years ago, it's been sitting since his other was repaired. He says it will need new tires but they looked fine to me.

He's asking under $100 for it. Should I jump on it or wait for him to be ready to bargin a little?

wrk101

Stem shifters are a negative, but it is still worth more than $100. I would jump on it before he changes his mind.

WilmingtonSkip

@#$%#@%^@%^@^% Emailed him last night soon after the reply here. No response by 10:30 this morning. Called him, sure enough he's changed his mind. Thanks anyway.

tmh657

It happens all the time. I call on an ad 12 minutes after it's posted. The guy says, "I have had 6 calls already, maybe I underpriced it". Usually he says he is going to raise the price or take offers. That's when I bail out unless I REALLy want it and make a slightly higher offer.
Although a week ago a guy says he had a bunch of calls on voice mail and I happened to get him answering. He said just come and get it so it's over and out of my hair.

You will find a bike that works for you and at a good price if you are persistent and patient. You will be told by many that you need to go and buy the bike and not ask first if it's a good deal. It will be gone already. Good luck.

cb400bill

Do your homework first, know what to look for, and then when you see a bike you like, jump on it.

wrk101

+1 When offered a good bike at a good price, you need to reach for your wallet and close the deal. That is not the time to begin the research process. Grab now, study later. Invariably, if you don't grab it immediately, either someone else comes right after you and pounces on the deal, or the seller changes his mind.

If you are not in a position to grab now, study later, then just realize you will miss out on most of the really good deals out there. There always is someone else out there ready to grab it if you do not. Some time spent searching the web, looking at other sales, reading the various threads on this forum, and you will become an expert. We have had dozens of threads on how to spot a nice bike. And at certain price levels (like $100 or less), once you know a couple of features to look for, you really can't make a mistake.

MRT2

It is always a fine line between under and overpriced, but that is annoying when the seller re considers the asking price. There is a well known auction site for that sort of thing.

The flip side is the seller who thinks he struck gold with an entry level bike boom or department store 10 speed and wants a couple of hundred. That was my experience last week with a seller who wanted $100 or so for a 1980 Kabuki Super Speed that needed some work. The seller was a nice enough guy, but misguided in his thinking that an entry level 30 year old 12 speed that needed work was worth $100. His rational was 1. a LBS told him they would sell that bike for $200 and 2. even an entry level bike from a LBS goes for $350 to $400.

I pointed out the following. Maybe a LBS might ask $200 for that bike if it had new tires, tubes, service and was ready to ride. I would think it would be more like $100 to $150 at most.

WilmingtonSkip

I'm starting to learn those features, I guess I'm just not used to person to person sales not including a bit of negotiation, couldn't believe he'd only come off the price $5.

Now I've posted another thread on a bike I thought had gotten away, I'll be less upset if it gets away, from the research I've already done it's a lesser bike and the guy wants more for it, plus it's right at that $100 threshold of where it seems like too much to risk.

On the Miyata I'm now a lot madder at myself now than him. We were only $10 apart when I left but it was all I had on me (intentionally) and assumed the next morning would be soon enough, should have driven to the atm and gone right back.

wrk101

Good lesson learned. I like deals too. But when I see something that is really a good deal, I gladly just pay full price. If you can get a $200 bike for $100, I would not waste time negotiating. At most, I might feel the seller out on pricing, ask a question like: "This is a really nice bike. What is the best you can do on it?" If they tell me $100, I pay up. I try to never insult them, or disparage the bike. If it has obvious defects, I might mention them briefly. But chances are, they already know about those defects, and have priced the bike accordingly (or I would not even be looking at it). But I usually have done better when I just acknowledge the obvious: "nice bike" and then just ask about any flexibility.

I just bought a frameset 15 minutes ago. I answered the ad, looked at the frame, and just paid full asking price. The deal was good enough as it was.

We all have missed out on deals, and have made mistakes on buying bikes. I know I have made a lot of them. And I am sure I will make more mistakes.

It is hard to get anything decent road bike wise for $100. There are too many people scooping those deals up immediately.