Good Secondhand Bike Shops?

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geomannie
Posts: 1093
Joined: 13 May 2009, 6:07pm

Re: Good Secondhand Bike Shops?

Post by geomannie »

simonhill wrote: 21 Oct 2021, 8:25pm Apart from the refurb charity/local council type places, secondhand shops often have a business problem.

When they sell a secondhand bike it it has to be guaranteed. It has to meet safety standards, etc. There is usually VAT on the price. (I don't think there is a second hand scheme for bikes like there is for cars or antiques.)

A bike has to be acquired fairly cheaply in order to be able to sell at a reasonable price but still turn a profit. Hard to compete with Argos, etc.

Maybe The Chancellor can address some of these issues in the upcoming budget.
Yes, I think that simonhill encapsulates they key business issues of selling second hand bikes. Add to the above the number of person- hours and materials required to turn a used bike into a safe saleable commodity, the profits are slim if non-existant. It is only through the efforts of volunteer mechanics that many bike refurbs are financially viable. (note: where I volunteer, volunteer refurbs are checked by professional bike technicians before resale).

Here is a fairly typical example of what I had to do yesterday to get a low-mid range mountain bike ready for sale.

1 Rough front hub. Strip, find cone pitted, & replace with similar but slightly shorter from second hand parts box. Fiddle for ages with spacers.
2 Chain very worn, replace. Thankfully cassette & chain rings seem to accept the new chain.
3 Front derailleur shifter pod broken. Find replacement from old parts box
4 Front derailleur seized. Remove clean, ease-off, refit.
5 New derailleur cable, problem with indexing, much cursing.
6 Rear wheel out of true. Retrued.
7 Rear disk pads replaced, disk cleaned. Efforts needed to stop the subsequent break squeal including sanding rotor.
8 Headset service
9 Clean, adjust & index rear derailleur
10 Bike filthy, serious cleaning required.
11 Replace grips
12 Lube seat post

All the above for a bike that might sell for £200. If my 5 hours of labour were not free and if we didn't use second hand parts if available, the refurb would be financially unviable. For me, however, I am delighted that the bike will not go to scrap & will have a second life.
geomannie
Wilhelmus
Posts: 124
Joined: 19 Oct 2021, 4:35pm

Re: Good Secondhand Bike Shops?

Post by Wilhelmus »

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Last edited by Wilhelmus on 25 Nov 2021, 1:59pm, edited 1 time in total.
Tangled Metal
Posts: 9505
Joined: 13 Feb 2015, 8:32pm

Re: Good Secondhand Bike Shops?

Post by Tangled Metal »

It's on a side street off the big carpark in town.
Wilhelmus
Posts: 124
Joined: 19 Oct 2021, 4:35pm

Re: Good Secondhand Bike Shops?

Post by Wilhelmus »

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Last edited by Wilhelmus on 25 Nov 2021, 1:59pm, edited 1 time in total.
CinnabarMoth
Posts: 50
Joined: 5 Nov 2021, 7:46am

Re: Good Secondhand Bike Shops?

Post by CinnabarMoth »

Tangled Metal wrote: 20 Oct 2021, 9:12pm Anyone got a few recommendations for secondhand bike stores?

Anyway, any secondhand bike shops you can recommend?
In Bath and Trowbridge there are a couple of Julian House ( homeless charity) shops which take in donated bikes and rebuild them to sell on.
Well worth a visit if you are in the South West.
mr_mark_sid
Posts: 104
Joined: 8 Mar 2011, 4:13pm

Re: Good Secondhand Bike Shops?

Post by mr_mark_sid »

Bristol Bike Workshop is excellent - a good range of refurbed second hand bikes
rogerzilla
Posts: 2887
Joined: 9 Jun 2008, 8:06pm

Re: Good Secondhand Bike Shops?

Post by rogerzilla »

Gloucester bike project is also good. The commercial operations, less so. As helpfully explained above, you can't easily make a profit if you are paying for labour, so you are either buying very cheap and selling high (arbitrage) or seriously cutting corners.

I can tell you a couple of commercial operations to avoid, with personal experience, but not in open forum.
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