Sorry, I was gonna use "experience", but I had to continue the alliteration....
Last night, I emailed someone about buying a used bike. He emailed me back with some info on it (including claiming it was worth $1000), which did not tell me what I needed to know, so I asked him a couple more questions. His reply to me was, I don't know, and I don't really have any more time to spend on this. If you're going to buy the bike, call for an appointment.
So this morning I called, set up an appointment (I asked to come in in the afternoon, he insisted that I had to come right away, which was kinda a pain cause I had to figure out how to get to his house then shower), and headed over there (40-50 min drive). When I got there, I saw that the supposed $1000 bike had two flat tires that I would have to buy a pump adapter for, and had only a single front gear, with the shifter for the back placed in a position that would not only be impractical, but also dangerous to try to shift while riding.
I started checking out this bike, making sure everything was at least working.I went back into my car and got a wrench and a pedal to see if my pedals would fit, and when i tried unscrewing the pedals he had on, it felt like he had tightened them with power tools (I couldn't get these off, only two or three days after taking out some pedals from a bike that they were rusted into). Then I wanted to see if the bike was the right size for me, but the seat was set way up too high (he claimed that this was his bike before- he wasn't all that much taller than me- there is absolutely no way he rode it like that), so I asked him if he had tools to lower the seat. At this point, he started giving me a real attitude, muttering something about me wasting his time, but, grudgingly, went into his house and got his set of allen keys. He loosened the seat, I lowered it, then it seemed like he forgot that he had to re-tighten it... at this point I wasn't too sure about this guy.
So, with the seat lowered, I started to get on the bike, to see the height. At that point, I had a minor brain glitch, and forgot about the flat tires, and was barely starting to move the bike out a little bit to ride (y'know, forgetting about the flats, I was figuring, I'm buying a bike, I want to make sure I can ride it), and the guy snapped at me and yelled at me for trying to ride a supposed $1000 bike (by this point, it was clear that even if the frame itself was worth something, the bike was in such bad condition that I couldn't have damaged it enough to bring the value down on it at all, even if I was trying to). That was the last straw. I got off the bike, told him that I'm sure as heck not buying a bike that I can't even see if it wourks (not in those words, but he knew exactly what I meant), and headed back to my car without another word (he, on the other hand called after me something about being able to get the bike sold in two days and not needing me to buy it and probably some other compelte rubbish that the bike is worth $1000).
He told me that if I looked online, I would find that bike going for hundreds. The only couple mentions of the bike online (Raleigh Technium 400) show the resale value to be about $50 (he wanted $65), and there is not a single one up on ebay (he assured me there would be plenty).
All that to say, if you're buying a used bike, make sure (1) the guy knows a little something about bikes, (2) make sure he is willing to invest a few minutes to help you check out the bike and make a good decision, and (3) you're not going to drive an hour to see a jerk anda chronic liar.
And if anything I said is complete rubbish, please tell me
Last night, I emailed someone about buying a used bike. He emailed me back with some info on it (including claiming it was worth $1000), which did not tell me what I needed to know, so I asked him a couple more questions. His reply to me was, I don't know, and I don't really have any more time to spend on this. If you're going to buy the bike, call for an appointment.
So this morning I called, set up an appointment (I asked to come in in the afternoon, he insisted that I had to come right away, which was kinda a pain cause I had to figure out how to get to his house then shower), and headed over there (40-50 min drive). When I got there, I saw that the supposed $1000 bike had two flat tires that I would have to buy a pump adapter for, and had only a single front gear, with the shifter for the back placed in a position that would not only be impractical, but also dangerous to try to shift while riding.
I started checking out this bike, making sure everything was at least working.I went back into my car and got a wrench and a pedal to see if my pedals would fit, and when i tried unscrewing the pedals he had on, it felt like he had tightened them with power tools (I couldn't get these off, only two or three days after taking out some pedals from a bike that they were rusted into). Then I wanted to see if the bike was the right size for me, but the seat was set way up too high (he claimed that this was his bike before- he wasn't all that much taller than me- there is absolutely no way he rode it like that), so I asked him if he had tools to lower the seat. At this point, he started giving me a real attitude, muttering something about me wasting his time, but, grudgingly, went into his house and got his set of allen keys. He loosened the seat, I lowered it, then it seemed like he forgot that he had to re-tighten it... at this point I wasn't too sure about this guy.
So, with the seat lowered, I started to get on the bike, to see the height. At that point, I had a minor brain glitch, and forgot about the flat tires, and was barely starting to move the bike out a little bit to ride (y'know, forgetting about the flats, I was figuring, I'm buying a bike, I want to make sure I can ride it), and the guy snapped at me and yelled at me for trying to ride a supposed $1000 bike (by this point, it was clear that even if the frame itself was worth something, the bike was in such bad condition that I couldn't have damaged it enough to bring the value down on it at all, even if I was trying to). That was the last straw. I got off the bike, told him that I'm sure as heck not buying a bike that I can't even see if it wourks (not in those words, but he knew exactly what I meant), and headed back to my car without another word (he, on the other hand called after me something about being able to get the bike sold in two days and not needing me to buy it and probably some other compelte rubbish that the bike is worth $1000).
He told me that if I looked online, I would find that bike going for hundreds. The only couple mentions of the bike online (Raleigh Technium 400) show the resale value to be about $50 (he wanted $65), and there is not a single one up on ebay (he assured me there would be plenty).
All that to say, if you're buying a used bike, make sure (1) the guy knows a little something about bikes, (2) make sure he is willing to invest a few minutes to help you check out the bike and make a good decision, and (3) you're not going to drive an hour to see a jerk anda chronic liar.
And if anything I said is complete rubbish, please tell me
