First road bike advice
 

I have been riding a crappy old road bike 16 miles nearly every day on regional trails. I am looking at buying a quality bike and have found a 2009 Trek 2.1 on craigslist for $650. I got it down to $600 and am wondering if this is a smart purchase.

Here is the bike
http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hn...984983455.html

I will be using it for exercise and don't plan on becoming a competitive cyclist... yet. I just want a quality bike for a descent price. I will continue biking on the regional trails on a 16 mile route on average. I'm meeting the seller in about 4 hours and any immediate advice would be SUPER appreciated! I don't know very much about bikes but this seems to be a good choice from what I've read. Also i'm 5'8 and this is a 54cm frame.

Frame size seems right for you (I am the same height and ride a GIANT 54CM Frame.) The bike has some 105 components. See if you can get him down to $500. I would recommend taking the bike in to your LBS and spending the extra $100 on a good once over / tune up. Looks like original tires, so I would but new rubber and tubes on. Overall I say go for it!!!

I don't think it's a bad buy. would you happen to know what year model this is. At 5'8" 54 should be a solid fit, you may have to do some saddle adjustments and maybe a new stem but that's usually not much.

edit...found the year, it's a 2009 here is the bikepedia http://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/B...del=2.1+Triple

and blue book http://www.bicyclebluebook.com/searc....aspx?id=17564

agree with the other poster, try to get him down more, the money saved can go towards tires/tubes/tune up

Based on that info, if it is in good condition, should I go ahead with the purchase or is there something comparably better I should be looking for? It is a lot of money for me so I want to be sure. Thanks!!

edit... He told me 600 is as low as he can go. It's possible that if i backed out he might drop the price, but the last time i did that it didn't work out.

It's not really a bad buy, but it's not outstanding. Bicycle blue book is a great tool if you can manage to find the bike you're looking for. I believe this is that bike.
http://www.bicyclebluebook.com/searc....aspx?id=17564

With that in mind, maybe try to talk the seller down just a little further.

On a smaller note, that groupset isn't fancy, but it's solid, and Tiagra levers are a great way to go on your first bike because they have a little dial just above the hood that shows you what gears you're in. It helps you get used to the whole system. The components here all work pretty well once they're tuned properly too.

Well, if it really is in excellent condition as he states (don't they all...) then sweating over $12 isn't really worth it. Just make sure the seller honors the $600. As for comparable bikes, there are several other bikes out there that you could get that would be essentially just like this deal, but none would be a significant better/worse deal for the money. Anything you might find would really just be the margins of the market, so this is a plenty safe bet. And it will make a really nice first bike too.

If you do get it, let us know how you like it!

+1. If you can, print this out and take with you. You do still need to get it tuned and fitted for you, so it is going to cost another $100 or so. At worse case, based on this data, you should be able to get him to $550. Let us know how it turns out (with pictures!!!!!! :))))

THANKS FOR THE HELP! I posted on bikeradar and they were completely snobby.

blue book is $588, so I wouldn't mind paying 600 to be honest. What should I look for in the tires? That could give me a little leverage if I had to replace them. I actually know someone that could tune everything up for me at no charge, so that is not a very big deal.

Yeah, no problem =]

Tires have a couple tell-tales. If they have tread that goes over the top of the tire and it's worn flat, then they need to be replaced. In most cases, and I'm guessing with this bike, the tires wouldn't have had tread over the top from the beginning. They'll have tread on the sides and bald on top. What you should do is make sure they're up to acceptable pressure to test-ride (~100 psig) and run a thumb over the arch of the tire. If you feel any bit of an angle on the top of the tire, that means they have been worn down pretty far and should be replaced. If you can't feel anything and it seems pretty rounded still, don't worry about them.

When I bought a bike about this old, the tires needed to be replaced, so it's not unlikely that you will need new ones. Still, you can get them pretty cheap, so it's not terrible.

to be honest, if they are the origional tires from 2009, I would replace them no matter what they look like. some may feel otherwise but tires are not so expensive that it's worth the risk. You can get tires really cheap online...just ask questions, with the savings on the tuneup, you can get a nice set of clipless pedals too.

how cheap are we talking, and what kind of tires should I be looking for? I really don't need anything fancy at all.

23" http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-x-Michelin...item33845d0349

25" http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-x-Michelin...item33839350dc

want to match the bike: http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-x-Michelin...item338461f5c0

good pedals for cheap http://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Product...76_-1___202531

Yeah, not a bad call.

I think I got some wire-bead tires from my LBS for like $25 each? They're a bit heavy (don't worry about that) but this was also a pretty high-end store, so I wouldn't be surprised if you find something even cheaper. You could probably find something under $20.

Pedals and shoes are a FANTASTIC investment. It's a totally game-changer. Local Bike Shops are great to keep the business local, but ebay can get you some used stuff for cheap if you need to save some money.

Awesome, this was a very pleasant experience. I appreciate the help!!!!! I will let you know how it goes, thanks again.

Ironically, the Michelin Lithion's Seymour linked are what I have right now. I go back and forth between them and the Continnental 4000's. Both great tires. Michelin's are a bit cheaper.

Good examples, but one thing I didn't think to mention earlier:
Most road tires are 700c, so that's what you're most likely to find on quick searches. The wheels on this bike are 650c. So make sure you get tires accordingly. ^Those blue ones are pretty hot, though, so those if you can find the in 650c, haha!

At least I think they're 650c? I'm a little lost on notation. It looks like he cut and pasted from a typo in the bluebook page? can I get a second opinion on this?

Edit: Oh, dang, nevermind that, those wheels are 700c. It's just saying that the wheels for the 43cm model are 650c. My bad on not figuring that out sooner, and his for putting it in the ad. All is fine.

650c is for frames smaller (43cm) the 54 has 700x23 stock bontrager's. If OP can swing $57 for the blue ones that would look hot though.

How did it go?

I bought it and I LOVE IT! I payed $600, probably could've brought it down a tad but whatever. I was worried about dropping that kind of cash but it was definitely worth it. The bike is SUPER light and quick and feels great. It was well taken care of, I will be replacing the tires tho. Thanks again!

Congrats on your purchase. You got a nice bike, and best of all you love the bike Enjoy it and ride it much. Good call on the tires, when time and money permits get those. be sure to have at least one spare tube as well flats do happen. Don't leave yourself stranded. Congrats.

Glad you got it. I'm always a bit surprised how finely cyclists parse out the used value of a bike. I remember reading some random thread where a guy was ranting how he'd NEVER pay $250 for a certain used bike, but he'd be all over it at $200. $50 was the diff between "never" vs. "jump on it!"... seems a little odd to me. It's $50.

My comment (other than the above, lol) is that as a fellow $600-used-bike purchaser: go for it! You're gonna think you died and went to heaven. Ride it like you stole it and then start plotting your upgrade. But fair warning, any true upgrade gets into $2k+. Another way of saying, you just bought a darn nice bike.

My $600 bike got a very hilly 46 miles on it yesterday, a route that had my grizzled more experienced biking buddy whining a bit. I've been riding like a fiend, he's been slacking, so I wanted to whip on him a bit, haha. He still outclimbed me, damn his hide. But my $600 bike gets me out doing 40-50 miles every other day in relative style. I'm sure I could in theory have gotten it a bit cheaper (it was at a LBS and I didn't haggle, just snagged it as bikes that fit me are rare) and I've never worried about "overpaying" a bit.

Anyway, OP, glad you got it and now, WIYNW! :)

I ride Continental Super Sport Plus tires and really like them.
They are puncture resistant with a tread that is similar to the Grand Prix.
Alot cheaper than other Conti's, and they roll nicely.
Great value, and cheap if you shop around online.

These guys have them for cheap, but their shipping is SLOOOOOOW:

http://www.outsideoutfitters.com/p-1...FUxo7Aodej4Alw

Congrats on the new ride. Enjoy.

S

Congrats!!!!