Hi guys I am looking for a beginner road bike and I ran across a trek 1.2 2009 model. It is in like new condition. What would be a fair price for this bike?
Thanks,
Clint

I sold my 2013 Trek 1.2 in February for $650.00. The bike looked new and had 1500 miles on it. I sold it the day I put it on Craigslist so maybe I didn't ask enough.

where did you run across it? Is this a private seller? Used from a shop?

Origional MSRP for the bike was $800, I would say about $350.

Go to www.bicyclebluebook.com to get a list of prices based on condition.

It is a private seller - he was asking 650. I looked on bicyclebluebook.com already and I am trying to negotiate a fair price. This is a 2009 model but it is in like new condition - basically it has never been used much.

Considering that the 2014 Madone 1.5 is $929 then $650 sounds too much even for the condition. If I remember correctly last years 1.5 was even less than this years.

I bought a brand new 2013 1.5 from a shop with lifetime service for $900 around 3 weeks ago.

For $650, you could probably find a 2013 1.2 in a shop dying to get rid it.

Mind if I ask where you got the numbers for that? The MSRP I see for the 2013 1.5 is $1100, not sure what it is for the latest version. May have paid too much

MY bad, I was looking at the 1.2, the 2014 1.5 is $1199

Way too much. In late 2012, I bought a 2011 Alpha (Madone geometry) 2.1 on eBay for $750 shipped, very good condition with 105 group. In 2013, I bought a 2013 Madone 2.1 with the latest geometry for only $600 from a local clubmember...granted, that was an amazing deal and the guy was just getting out of cycling entirely, but that goes to show you that $650 is WAY too much for a 2009 Trek 1.x or 2.x. Looks at Bicycle Blue Book, and considering that this is (is it?) a 9-speed rear, I wouldn't pay more than the $350 suggested earlier. Around $650 (or less!) you should be able to get your hands on a 2011 or 2012 Trek 2.1, simply a better bike all around and with better groupset too.

Thanks for the info - he came down to 450 and I was seriously considering it but after sleeping on it and reading you post I will pass on this bike. I think I can find a better deal if I just be patient. I am trying to get into bicycling and this is my first bike in many years.

Thanks

what area do you live in? I don't mind searching your local craigslist to help you in your search. What kind of budget do you have? And last, do you know what size you need?

You don't say where you live; if I could buy used bikes for what responders say they're worth I'd have quite a stable. Locally, really nice bikes seem to sell for more than blue book, but then the vast majority of the bikes on CL are $20 junkers priced at $250. The real test may be whether the bike is still there in a week.

I live in North Mississippi. I have been looking in the Memphis area on craigslist and some surrounding areas. I am 6'3" so from all the information I have gathered so far I have been looking for 62cm bike. Recommendations were 60 - 64 on a website I used for sizing. Since this is a beginner bike I would like to find one in the 200 dollar range -used of course. But I would be willing to go up to about 500. My idea was to find a quality bike that fits and one that I can upgrade in the future if needed or get my money back out of ii if turns out to be something I am just not interested in. Oh - the goal is to do triathlons but only for fun. Of course I have no idea of the various line of bikes and what is high end and low end until I run across them and search them out on the web.

It would be worth a trip to an LBS to try bikes for fit. You may find a deal on a leftover that makes used not as great a bargain, and if nothing else narrow your search for used. I'm 6'4" but long legged and short torsoed, so fit better on 60-61cm. You can only tell so much from "information," you have to try. There is some value to expert individual guidance, which your LBS may or may not provide.

bckoon, depending on how you are proportionally, you may consider anything as small as 57cm up to 62 cm. It's a wide range but certainly do able. I'm 6'2" and ride a 58 (road) and 56 (TT) for reference.

Good luck with your search.

I think you are giving sound advice. I also think you are right in telling someone with limited knowledge to try a shop. Where I think differently is when I look at the OP's budget. I can't speak for ALL bike shops but I have NEVER been in any shop that sold any bike for $500. The shops around here don't even sell their bikes equiped with Shimano 2300 for that cheap. One of the local shops here does carry used bikes. Currently the cheapest used bike they have in stock is $600 +tax.

I don't know what the market in Mississippi is like so the OP may have better luck at a shop in his area, but from my personal observatiion the only thing one can get from the LBS with $500 is accesories.

I'm origionally from MS too, but much further south than you. I grew up in Hattiesburg. When you say north, are you around Tunica? Tupelo? Clarksdale?

If it is in like new condition, $450 really is not a bad price for that bike. Contrary to what another poster had, I recently sold my 2012 2.1 that I purchased brand new last summer new for $1000. The bike I had before that, which I had for about 6 months, was a 2010 1.5 that I also bought new as leftover stock. I sold that for $800 last summer. Maybe our market here is a little tighter, not sure. Treks are pretty hot here.

From what I have seen so far you are correct about the 500 budget only getting me accessories - this is why I started looking for used bikes. I have seen some fairly nice bikes for sale. Most of the ones in my price range have sold already. I think if I keep my eyes open and stay on top of this I can find something. Also if it comes to a 700 - 1000 dollars for a bike to test the waters then I will have to just go to wally world. I am trying this out in hopes that I will like it as much as I think I will but I can't go out and drop that kind of money on a bike when I am not sure - besides my wife would kill me...

Do not go to wally world, you will find something if you keep looking. I wish you were in this area. I just checked my CL and there is a Specialized Allez in size 62 being sold for $500 obo.

Been there. You start out reading on the internet about how somebody got a mint Bianchi for $250 and somebody else found a LeMond for $300 but when you look at CL all you see is clapped-out Motobecanes for $275. If a $300 Klein shows up it's gone by the time you call. Everybody is different in what they consider to be satisfactory. I won't spend money I don't have and I try to avoid unwise purchases, but once the money has changed hands that's the end of it for me, I won't lose sleep over what I paid and I won't compare myself to the guy who found the same bike in a dumpster after an estate sale. Losing any appreciable amount of riding because a bike was priced $100 higher than the internet said doesn't strike me as a great deal, especially if your rebound move is to buy a bike from Wal-Mart. But you're the one to live with the hole in your wallet.

For reference, I bought a last-year's aluminum Jamis for my wife from a LBS for $600, MSRP was $8-something. Road bikes are a couple hundred more than entry level in other categories. But I still would give LBSes a chance. If nothing else, the test rides may help you with your uncertainty about whether you'll enjoy it or not. You may find that you'd be happy on a hybrid or a city bike, which would save some money new or open up your search options a bit on CL. In the end, unless it's a matter of paying your bills or not, it doesn't whether you spend $300 or $450 on a bike, it matters whether if fits you and you will ride it and improve your health and life.

I also think that if you're worried about not liking it, you could always just pick up a beater bike, and if you hate it you're not out that much.

The route I went was to get a beater, and when I ended up liking it I bought from the LBS so that I was sure that I got the right size and got everything adjusted as it should be. Happy as a clam

OP, there are deals to be had in the used market as well as new. I am not one to tell you how to spend your money because I'm not the one making it. I had to go used for my first bike and I got a nice bike. My budget was $600 TOTAL. I didn't have a helmet, pump, or anything to get me going so I was forced to go used. Everyone will in fact have a different experience. I try to be completely realistic in my thinking. You set a $500 budget for a reason and that's the big picture here. If you can wait, then by all means wait a couple months and save another 2-3 hundred.

There are deals out there, here is an example. This is on the small side for you but it shows you what you can get if you look,

$450 obo Specialized Allez road bike 2012 model

Tupelo