London Secondhand buying advice

[Jgibbons]

Hello everyone,

I am currently in the market for a secondhand bike. I have a max budget of £400. I am 6'4" and will be riding on average several hours a day, both a commute to a job and doing courier work. I have been looking online trying to find a decent deal but feel like I don't know what I am doing. I would like to support a local business and buy from a secondhand shop, a place where I know the bike has been checked out and is roadworthy. Looking around can't help but feel that some of the shops on London will try and rip me off. Does anyone have advice on where I should go on London and what I should look out for? What bikes would be my best bet for hours of riding through London each day? Thanks for you time guys and gals.

[Jdsk]

Welcome.

What's your own experience of bike maintenance, and your intentions for this one?

Other posters might like to note that this is a first post...

Jonathan

[gaz]

Welcome to the forum.

Community Cycleworks, Southwark: https://www.communitycycleworks.co.uk/, although I'm not sure when their next pre-loved bike sale is on.

London's a big place, there are sure to be others. It might help suggestions if you could narrow down your preferred search area.

[Airsporter1st]

My only recent experience of a bike shop which sells secondhand, is that they are very expensive in comparison to what can be bought privately.

Personally, therefore, much as I agree its good to support local businesses, I would be looking to buy privately.

I have 2 bikes bought that way - both hybrids, which I think would be what you would want. The first one was bought from a member of another forum I used to frequent. It cost him over a grand at a time when the RRP was £1250. He rode it twice and decided it was too much like hard work, so left it in his dining room for a year! I bought it therefore, to all intents and purposes a brand new bike (on which I had only to pump the tyres up), for £375. The second was from eBay. The guy bought it new for £750 and then realised it was too big for him, so he too, only rode it a handful of times. I bought it, again practically brand new, for £400.

I’ve certainly not got the expertise of many on this forum, but its not difficult to judge whether a bike is nearly new, well used but well maintained or a shed. Equally, its fairly easy to spot the genuine sellers.

[Jgibbons]

Thanks for the welcome.

So little more information. Living in Southwark but happy to travel in London for a good shop/bike. Maintenance wise, I am wanting to the majority of that myself, anything I am not 100% confident in doing I will be taking it to a shop. I have a fair bit of experience over the years maintaining bikes and mechanical things, had a terrible old MTB when I was younger and spent many an hour tinkering and fixing it up.

[markjohnobrien]

Thanks for the welcome.

So little more information. Living in Southwark but happy to travel in London for a good shop/bike. Maintenance wise, I am wanting to the majority of that myself, anything I am not 100% confident in doing I will be taking it to a shop. I have a fair bit of experience over the years maintaining bikes and mechanical things, had a terrible old MTB when I was younger and spent many an hour tinkering and fixing it up.

That’s good to know that you are good at maintenance - it will save you a fortune over the years.

[mattsccm]

Maybe have a look at the cycle recycle trade.

[Jupestar]

At that budget I’d be buying secondhand single speed, decent brakeset/ pads and decent tyres and either doing it myself of getting a local bike shop to check it over.

If your doing that sort of mileage in London on a day to day basis, anything else will just end up costing £££ useless your meticulous with the cleaning.

a bit further but I use a bike shop in Lewisham which have never let me down.

[rogerzilla]

Have some sort of discussion with the seller to convince yourself the bike isn't stolen.

[londonbikerider]

Have helped a few friends in regards, used bikes can have any sort of hidden problems: bottom brackets/rims/drivetrain and especially shifters can be very expensive to replace (if not impossible, when discontinued).
Caveat Emptor!

Like said above, being able to spot those things in the first place, and doing some work at home, like cleaning/replacing cables/etc, can save some vey good money.

[simonhill]

£400 is price that you would expect to get a secondhand bike that originally retailed at 2 or 3 times that. In other words quite a good bike. Hopefully it would be something lightly used or well maintained. You may get a bargain, but as said before, you could have a lot of expensive trouble.

So how about another thought. £400 is a price that you could probably get a new bike from somewhere like Halfords or Decathalon. It is well above the cheapo rubbish level and such bikes seem to get good reviews on here (I know nothing of them). The advantage of a new bike is that you won't need any major maintenance or replacement so have a fixed price. Also you can then start your own maintenance as things need to be done. By the time something major is needed you will be more experienced, competent and confident.

Just a thought.

[LuckyLuke]

Agree with all the good advice above.
Last time I looked there were some decent hybrids for £400 brand new from Halfords or Decathlon. Definitely not BSO territory. Decathlon Surrey Quays branch isn’t a million miles away from you?

2nd hand can yield some treasure if you can sort the wheat from the chaff. Lots for sale on Gumtree. If you’re reasonably handy you could do the basic service that a lot of 2nd hand hybrids need, and you can use the fact that a new chain, cables etc are required to haggle with the seller.
Historically, when buying 2nd hand I found the prices were a bit cheaper in the outer London suburbs & Home Counties.
You could also email Southwark Cyclists for advice, maybe they have their own classified ads section for members?
Good luck!
Keep us posted how you get on.
Best wishes
Luke

[LuckyLuke]

https://southwarkcyclists.org.uk/

[Jgibbons]

Hello,

Thanks for all your advice so far, been super helpful.

Wondering what people's opinions are on this...

https://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/road ... cial&utm_c

[Jamesh]

It's an old Cannondale synapse, good bikes.

Look over it for cracks as the aluminium cannondales can be prone to cracks.

Check the wheel bearings and rims.

Check the bottom bracket and headset

Check the sti levers work properly.

Everything else is easily fixable.

Cheers James