Brand new, $400, just sayin': Final Clearance Deals On Road Bikes, Roadbikes - Mercier Galaxy AL

At 6'2", the 61cm will likely fit ok.

hahahah great post timothy

joejack -- I've read mixed reports about the mercier bikes. Do you think it'll be a good first bike for me?

IMHO, the Mercer would be an excellent first bike. Even has a carbon fork which smoothes the ride on chip seal roads. I have two bikes from Bikes Direct,and there isn't a thing wrong with them. More than enough utube videos to teach you what you need to know. But you would need some basic tools for tuning gears and assemble, but those don't have to be expensive tools.

I have a few friends and a cousin who I set up with Bikesdirect bikes. Overall, the bikes arrived pretty well set up and required minor tuning only except for one freakish incident. The bike I purchased for my cousin had a 9 speed Sora group and a Sunrace chain clearly marked '9 speed' but the chain was too wide to work properly with a 9 speed cassette (took a little while to diagnose this). I swapped out the chain for a KMC 9 speed chain and all was well. That was my worst Bikesdirect experience, which is to say that I've been pleased with them for good quality bikes at a good price.

Thanks again everyone for all the replies!! I think I probably will get the mercier bike. I have a separate question if you all don't mind helping me a bit more. Looking at a post like this:

Fuji road bike

How would you go about assessing the value (both monetarily and in terms of quality) of this bike with such limited info? Does that number on the side of the bike allow it to be looked up on some database? I'm sure there are some great articles about this but I haven't had much luck finding them.

Hard to say, but that looks like a "barn find" that has been sitting for many years in who knows what conditions.

Hard to say from the pics, but I certainly would not rate that bike as "Excellent" condition. None of the pics shows you the gear system or even the rims and tires.

I would be concerned with rusted cables, mechs, need new tires/tubes, maybe new wheels, lubed, tuned, etc. Good friend of mine bought a similar bike a month or so ago. Paid $75, but nearing $300 in additional work and parts to get it to good riding condition.

Personally, I would pass on that bike. Too much potential cost, compared to buying new. $100-150 for good riding condition with everything tuned lubed etc.

For comparison, look at this bike.

https://fayar.craigslist.org/bik/5671523236.html

6'2" is pretty tall. That will put a target size somewhere between 58cm and 62cm or so, which will limit your bike choices a bit.

You might look at this Scattante, but the size will be on the low end of your size range.

E-Bay?

Perhaps expand your search to some big cities, and see if you can find someone on BikeForums to help facilitate a purchase. Unfortunately one has to act quick for "hot" deals.

When I'm weeding through the bikes on Craigslist (and there's hundreds listed every day in my region), I look for one thing on a road bike which I've found to be a solid indicator of a bike that's worth putting some effort into: downtube shifters mounted to braze-on posts (not a clamped-on adapter). If I don't see that feature, I move on to the next bike. With downtube shifter braze-ons, one can cleanly install modern shifters whereas a frame that lacks those mounting points needs some clamped on mount to use them. Given that people sell quality bikes for the same price as junk bikes (or so it seems based on listed prices), I just wait for the quality bikes to show up.

For those bikes, I spend anywhere from $40-200 depending on condition and desirability. Paying more hasn't necessarily meant I'm getting a better bike, though. Sometimes real deals can be found (like the Cannondale Criterium series I paid $60 for) and other times I find something the right size at a decent price and just buy it so I can end my search. I get a lot of requests from relatives and friends for bikes so I've been down this road several times. Much above that $200 mark and it just makes more sense to buy new, unless it's something really unique.

While someone may find that bike intriguing, to me it's junk (that just happens to be very clean). Varsities are everywhere. Back when I was learning to work on bikes, I bought two for $20 from the local Salvation Army. They were such heavy, awful bikes that once I put on new tires, trued the wheels, regreased all the bearings, and installed new cables and housing I sold them for $40 each. I've bought decent quality bikes for $50, put in less effort, and sold them for $200 for comparison.

quick -- I can definitely see the differences between the two! Thanks so much for the reference!

CliffordK -- I saw that Scattante but wasn't sure if that was a good deal or not. I was wondering if at the 400 dollar price point it wouldn't be better to get the previously recommended merciers?

JoeJack -- I can't thank you enough for the info about what to look for!! Those pointers are really really really helpful.

You all are the best

I did not make it clear, but I was simply using it as a bike that is in excellent condition. I would not pay that much for it by any means. Sorry for the confusion.

Got ya. Not the OPs size and no where near him geographically, but here's an example of a bike in the OP's price range that I'd take over a new Bikesdirect bike: 2003 Specialized Allez Vita - 48cm - Great Condition

keep looking sometimes it takes a while to go through a cpl seasons before you get the perfect match of bike and size. such is the life of a used bike shopper. I start shopping for my next car pretty soon after I start driving the car I just bought