i was talking to a salesman on a local bike shop about a used bike i found on ebay for a great price, he said "i dont even have to look at it but i can tell you it's probably trashed" what did he mean by this? i told him the dude has 1000 miles of racing on that frame, do carbon frames degrade after alot of stress like races?

So you were talking to a salesman?

Have mom pick a bike out for ya

You know like how rock stars tear up hotel rooms and smash guitars against the stage? Well... racers do that with bikes. That's what he means by trashed

clearly your salesperson has awesome psychic powers.

It's not the stress of racing, but the stress of crashing while you race that could trash a frame in just 1,000 miles.

Carbon has virtually no fatigue life right? (Means that stress and strain won't cause it to eventually brake like aluminum).

Maybe he was just trying to get you to not buy a used bike, but buy a new one from local businesses.

he was trying to sell you a bike, duhhh.

i was thinking he was just trying to get me to buy a bike there too but he recommended i just stick with what i have now and upgrade it but assuming he did not crash during any races, at the 1000 miles of races he has done, should the carbon still be good?

yes

Your safest bet is to take the frame into a bike shop and have the mechanic, not the salesman, evaluate it. This assumes the current owner will allow this to happen. Otherwise 'you pays your money and you takes your chances'.

i shall ask.

I would've told you the same thing if I were a bike salesman.

But I'm not, and I can tell you the salesman is FOS.

I can also tell you the ebay seller is FOS. 1000 miles my ass.

I'd rather buy a new bike from the LBS (not the one you went to) even if I have to downgrade. I'll take a brand new 105 drive train over a potentially abused Ultegra any day of the week.

What's hard to believe about 1000 miles? OP said raced 1000 miles, not ridden.

yeah...i don't think i have anything that's older than 2 months old on the bike that doesn't have 1000 miles on it...maybe my new seat i put on a few weeks ago.

yeah im gonna check out the bike next weekend, hopefully he does hold it for me like he said. if i do purchase be on the look out for some pics

People crash when they race... really inspect the frame before buying it, that's all.

sounds to me that the sales dude was hating...


the guy at my lfs encouraged me to look at craigslist for a carbon bike... but yes... if the dude is cool, he wouldn't mind taking a trip to get the frame inspected... there are also the nickle/tap test...

"Raced 1000 miles" may be meaningless. The condition of the frame is what is important. I would think having a lot of close up photos of the frame, especially around the drive train...chain slap, etc..., under the bottom bracket shell, etc. would give a better idea of the condition of the frame. Having a bike shop mechanic, etc. look at it is probably "after the purchase". If anything amiss is found where does that leave you and your money? Perhaps having a reputable shop in the sellers area inspect the frame would be a good idea.

A frame may last for a decade as a racer or one trip around the block if it is crashed, etc.

Go to a Chevy dealership and ask the salesman if you should buy a Ford...

So, is one to assume that the frame in question was only ridden during races? *Never* used for training?

No, but it seems the point of the issue was that it was the racing usage that the OP/sales guy was "worried" about.

People crash when they don't race too.

That was the point of my post.

Personally, I don't differentiate between racing and non-racing. Hence my confusion about the OP's statement about miles.