Purchasing a second hand bike
 

Hello Folks, Brand new to this nice forum :lol:

So I posses right now and Old horrible bike absolutely heavy it needs tons of effort to take some speed and now the chain is jumping :twitchy: I am traumatized taking out the wounds that I got wen the chain jumped and the disk sliced my leg in pieces I really dont fell any pain with this bike, not even my knees quite fun...



Sooo to come by with this problem I searched a Bike near my house, I just :love: vintages bikes with the dropped bar and all and all.... little problem, I never ever had one or rided one on my life, and I learned really really early riding bike. I remenber wen I was a kid my parents installed this little wells for helping, I got so pissed that I rammed my bike and took the big one from my dad I trowed myself from a hill and here I was never forge-ted. I always had mountains bike because I lived on a farm and every morning I had to pedal 10km going and back to get into school.


I found quite a lot next to my town I wrote yesterday Many emails to offers which could be nice, I am kind of a noob with knowledge of bicycle but I always learned on my own how to fix on my own and I have good mechanical logical skills...

Ok after all those email in the end I found myself with a tough 2 choices... with the exactly same price of 150euros. (I know its not much) So I am basically here because I am on a real hard choice, and many brains working together is better :lol:

This is the first one, THE BIG advantage in my opinion is because I already have a date with the guy on a fast food not far from me on monday and I can test and see the bike: =Click me I´m a link :thumb:=

Now the 2 one THE BIG advantage would be the lights and all the rain protection stuff etc... and I like the color a bit better xD, Buuut its really far from my house, The seller said It would cost me 50Euros to send to me so total 150 both of the bikes: =Click me I´m a link :thumb:=

I am really on doubt, If you guys propose anything or would recommend something better I am really open (even open to offers) I live in Heidelberg Germany, or even a modern bike if you guys think I will die and waste my money on vintages Peugeot bikes.

little point, a bit a part I measured myself and apparently around 24" 25" bike would be the recommended this 2 are 28" would this be a fatal thing ?.
For usage would be for a everyday use I use several times per day going everywhere I live on a small town In Germany.

Billions of thanx in advance Peps

Your sizing does not make sense. Google bike size, road bikes are pretty much all in metric sizes, even here in the US.

Size first, then shop. Nothing worse than buying a bike that is the wrong size. Hopefully your experience in Germany will be better, here in the US, sellers get size wrong at least 90% of the time, often they are not close.

Hi and welcome to Bikeforums. As WRK said, I would focus on determining the right size. I'm 6 feet tall and a 24 inch bike would be too large for me. How tall are you?

The bike featured on the link is a 57cm, if I read the description correctly. That might fit, it's certainly a mid-sized bike that would fit a normal sized person better than a 24 inch bike would.

HI there all thanks for all the repplys so I am 1,84m. and measuring from my legs I am 89 ~ 90 cm

Edit: I am really and never ever used mesures for chosing a bike so in this domain I SUuuuuuck hard...

It is hard to see much detail in those pictures, but we can see some things. The white one is probably 10 years older, and probably heavier with those fender and the lights. Neither of those bikes is a high-performance model but either one could give you good transportation if they are in good condition and if they fit you. Like wrk101 says, check the fit first.

One thing to check is whether the fork is bent. Look down the fork from above and see if the blades are in line with the head tube (the part of the frame that holds the steering). If the blades look like they bend backwards then it was probably in a collision.

By the way, there was no model named "record du monde". That is just a meaningless label in French for "world record" that Peugeot put on all their bikes for a while. When the seller calls it a record du monde that is a good indication that the seller is not really knowledgeable about bikes. It's a bike he has owned and ridden for a while.

I can't compare those models to any that I know. The lugs on the white one suggest that it wasn't the cheapest bike Peugeot made for the US, but the cotter-pin crank and those pedals suggest that it wasn't especially expensive either. Similar comments apply to the red one.

Can you stand over the top tube with both feet on the ground? For a typical bike this measurement works okay for a typical person. If you can't straddle the bike, then it doesn't fit. The real question is - how typical are you?

Are your legs longer (or shorter) than average for your height? If the bike fits your legs but your legs are long for someone of your height, the the bike might be too long, meaning the handlebar might be too far away. If so your back will get tired riding it. Better to have it slightly small than slightly too large.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=376820 ok so I did some measures I couldn't be so precise because I am alone... I am more tall legs skinny body long arms my uperbody is short compared to others.

So after reading all your comments I should go more with the red bike ? ;) thank you all really make me fell more confident:)

Edit: Forgot to ask xD, would be possible to upgrade a bike like this ? I am not so sure for example with the breaks and the gear system, would be possible for example to modernize such a bike ?? like change the breaks leaver and take out the actual gear shift and put one modern break and gear shift lever set ?? Thanks again

You are about my height. I would try bikes in the 58cm to 63cm size, if the bike is an older bike with a horizontal top-tube like the one in the eBay advert. Bike size is measured from the center of the crankshaft axle to the top of the top-tube (where the seat-post emerges). Chances are that bikes smaller or larger are not going to fit.

The red bike is probably too small.

I would buy a bike without a test ride.

Thanx Barrettscv did you mean you Wouldn't buy a bicycle without a test drive or are you insinuating I should go the white ?? :roflmao2:

The white bike might be smaller than the red. The 28 inch specification describes the tire size, not the frame size. I doubt if either of these would fit.

dam it ok, I will still go this Monday to check the red bike and see if could eventually work, is there any good easy fast technique to see if the bike is to small ? for the 2-big if I got right if I can put my legs between the top length bar and be able to put both of my feet on the ground its a good way

You asked about upgrades to modern equipment. Most likely that would not be easy. It is easy and inexpensive to upgrade to a better derailleur, for example, but not to a modern indexed shifting system. That red bike has shift levers on the stem (the part that holds the handlebar). I don't like that position for several reasons. The white one has the levers on the down tube (the tube that runs from the steering down to the crank). That is the traditional place for them. It gives more precise shifting because the cable and housing lengths are shorter. New riders are often scared of them because they think they are harder to use, but you get use to them quickly. The brakes may not need upgrading.

Done, I was there on Monday, the bicycle was really pretty and in good shape, I drove a bit but immediately as the user Barrettscv said the bike was to small, So I didn't concluded a deal.

I did some clean up. Please remember that while this site is in English, this is an international forum and not everyone learned English as a first language.

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CbadRider
Forum Admin

Understood.

For the Original Poster pepslight (and for our good administrator CbR):
When someone wonders if you are a troll and you more or less admit it and post an icon showing that for you it is "roll on the floor laughing" funny (*), perhaps you should think about the process. Both wrk, Barrett, and myself spent a not insignificant amount of time formulating answers for you. If you are not a troll then I'd say I at least owe you an apology, but how would we know? (AFAIK, our administrator wouldn't know either.) In fact, we started by charitably assuming you were not. If you are a troll then you have wasted our time and attempted to make fun of those who wished to help you, so you owe us an apology instead.

* I see that these posts have been removed. I assume that CbR removed them. However one possibility is that you removed your own post before complaining to the administrators. Otherwise why would CbR have become involved at all?

I will continue to offer advice when someone asks, if I have anything useful to offer. But how would I know the request is real? That's a serious question.

Well thank you administrators, Jimmuller.

I apologize for any trouble I may than have caused! for me on the Troll meaning I understood as a brute person with little knowledge of something, and not as I can see now, a person trying to waste time of the others. I am really thankful for every help I received with this post and was very useful.

Welcome to C&V. I apologize for my comment. Of course a troll could be a brutish or ignorant beast. In English trolling is also a method of fishing, typically dropping a line in the water from a slowly moving boat and seeing what bites. That's the usual meaning in a forum, someone tossing out a piece of bait for sport and waiting to see who bites.

Speaking of biting, it is good that you didn't bite at a bike which doesn't fit. You have a limited budget, but neither of those bikes would be especially high performance. They would be good for utility transportation, but you might eventually wish for something better. Good luck in your search.

would be as well a good idea to self assemble my own bike ? Like I buy a bianchi frame I add some used 105 equipment some continental tires a nice rim, Im not sure how more expensive it would be xD

I think you should spend about $5000 on a custom build by ribble or PBK.

What RobbieTunes is trying to say (I think) is that we can't really judge costs for you. It is usually cheaper to find a complete bike than to assemble a bike from pieces. However if you buy a complete bike it may have a few things that aren't as good as they could be. You can always upgrade individual components later as your budget allows. All this should be obvious.

Assembling a bike from components and a good frame will usually get you a better bike. 105 components are good. Finding a good frame requires patience and knowing what you are looking for.

Achsooo! I see now, thank you, I will stick than more to a pre-assembled bike, I didn't knew the frame was that critical to chose thank you all.

Edit: For the frame choosing, I wasn't able to find on Google, I somehow only got frame size topics, any one would know a good guide teaching how to select frames, or just an opportunity for more knowledge thx

Just walk into a bike shop with $5000. They'll take care of you.

On what makes a frame good, go to Randy's site: "my ten speeds". For building up a frame, you really need to have the time/tools/aptitude/skill/workshop space/pile of parts, otherwise, its a waste of money and time. Good complete new or used bikes will be a better deal.

A complete USED bike is ALWAYS cheaper than building up a frame.