Any tips for buying secondhand?

pete75 · Post by **pete75** » 30 Jan 2008, 8:52pm

I've bought 2 good tourers on ebay over the past year and one thing I've noticed is that Dawes go for a hell of a lot compared to most other makes.
Both the bikes I got were 531ST machines - a British Eagle touristique and a more bespoke type of tourer built by MB cycles . Both were little used and in very good condition and both were £100. My point is if you look for makes other than a Dawes Galaxy you will get better for less. Even Mercians don't seem to fetch any more than a Dawes on EBay.

Millhouse · Post by **Millhouse** » 31 Jan 2008, 11:51am

Just had a look on e-bay, it's £205 already!!

Millhouse · Post by **Millhouse** » 1 Feb 2008, 2:55pm

I went to view the Dawes Galaxy this morning. It is in great condition. No scratches or marks, that I could see, on the paintwork. The bobbles were still on the tyres but the tyre walls were cracking due to age. It rode well, the gears changed smoothly and the drive train was not worn at all.
ARCHY STURMER - I checked the stem and post, they both moved freely!

No-one else has been to view the bike, so it's currently at £255 unseen on e-bay!
I'm 6'2" and the bike felt a little small for me, probably best for someone no more than 6'.

I won't be bidding on it, but felt confident in my inspection thanks to your good advice.

I called at Paul Hewitt Cycles, Leyland, on the way back. His touring bikes look fantastic, but a little out of my budget, at this moment in time.

I think I will treat myself to some handbuilt wheels and new 12/34 cassette for my 'Grand Tour' of France on my Ridgeback Horizon in May!!

Regards
Millhouse

fatboy · Post by **fatboy** » 1 Feb 2008, 3:13pm

Millhouse,

Sorry to widdle on your fire but for your Ridgeback Horizon to have a wider range cassett you'll need a new rear mech as well. Looking at Shimano's website for a Sora rear mech it'll only take a 27 tooth rear sprocket.

My tourer which has Sora for everything else has an Acera MTB rear mech to allow for the wider range of gears. Mind you a new mech isn't too much of an issue in terms of cost but I guess you'll also need a new, longer, chain. It soon starts to add up I'm afraid.......

PinkPanther · Post by **PinkPanther** » 1 Feb 2008, 3:45pm

Don't know whether it's just my imagination but I don't think there's as good a selection of Galaxys, Mercians or Raleigh tourers on ebay as there was at this point last year and the ones that are there seem to sometimes go for silly amounts.

The prices asked on the For Sale/Wanted section on this site, ACF or Bikeradar seem a lot less - I suspect these people don't want the hassle of ebay and would like the bike to goto a like minded person and I'd think there would be a lot less chance of buying something stolen by that route.

Lawrie9 · Post by **Lawrie9** » 1 Feb 2008, 5:38pm

The local paper used to be the best place to buy a good s/h bike. You could have a good look at them and ride them in some cases. My day bought my first serious bike for £12 out of the paper- a gents raleigh 5 speed It was way to big for me but I grew to fit it eventually and I had 20 odd years of use out of it. Also local auctions held in small market town type places were good for picking up a bike bargain. These days I've seen good looking bikes in charity shops, car boot sales and bike shops often have a good collection of reconditioned used bikes. Of course there is ebay The problem with ebay is that not many people are willing to post their bikes and you can't see if what your looking at is a bit of a duffer.
On ebay I,ve seen 531 and 501s go for as little as £20 and the other week a Mercian tourer went for £410. Have you noticed how every bike older than 10 years is retro, vintage and highly collectable.