My family and I are wanting to get into biking. We live in Hershey, PA. There are lots of paved trails as well as crushed gravel trails. I found a bike on some facebook ads. The seller said he thinks it's a 2013 cannondale quick cx. I looked at the color scheme in the photos and looked at the cannondale catalogs on their website. As far as I can tell, it's a 2010 quick cx rigid. Please correct me if I'm wrong. The seller wanted $400 for it, but he said he would take $300. I looked at bicyclebluebook.com and it says in excellent condition, it is around $218-$224. Is this an accurate website to base values on. So I guess my questions would be: Is this the correct bike looking at the photos? Is the blue book website accurate? Is $300 a good price? Does anyone have experience with this bike and can comment on its performance? I have attached all available photos. Thanks
Prospective bike purchase advice
- Thread starter Ronnie L.
- Start date
It's an extra large. Make sure it fits.
It's a good choice for casual trail riding...Montour, Oil Creek and Allegheny trails are awesome.
The pics look like it's in really good shape. If it is, it's worth $300 regardless of vintage. Bluebook prices are pretty realistic, but you do have to factor in wear, maintenance and condition. Check it over closely and if it's as good in real life as it is in the pics I would have no problem paying the seller his 3 bones. Again, make sure that frame size does fit you well.
It's a good choice for casual trail riding...Montour, Oil Creek and Allegheny trails are awesome.
The pics look like it's in really good shape. If it is, it's worth $300 regardless of vintage. Bluebook prices are pretty realistic, but you do have to factor in wear, maintenance and condition. Check it over closely and if it's as good in real life as it is in the pics I would have no problem paying the seller his 3 bones. Again, make sure that frame size does fit you well.
Thank for the reply! Yeah ill make sure its fits. Im 6'2, so it would be either the xl or l I'm assuming. Ill probably check it out this weekend. Thanks again, can't wait to start my biking adventure.
I found 2 more bikes local that seem like they might be good as well:
- Diamondback Response 29 for $300, Its either a 2015 or 2014. Its the black and green one.
- The other picture is another diamondback, but not sure what kind or year. Haven't received a response from the seller yet. Just says 29" 21 speed. Selling it for $275.
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FWIW ...
In MY mind, if you are only going to have one bike, then a 29er is theoretically a better choice than a CX bike because the former can accommodate ANY size tire which the rim's width will accept (you could have mor than one set of wheels which have different size rims to broaden your options)...
And, while a 700x52-or-fatter tire may be more than your riding will ever require, it's a nice option to have (IMO).
On the other hand, a "competition" CX frame is only going to accept a 700x32 tire and a "recreational" CX frame might accept a 700x40-42 tire.
While you may NEVER put fenders on your bike, the future option is nice to have (IMO) ...
And, while a 700x52-or-fatter tire may be more than your riding will ever require, it's a nice option to have (IMO).
I agree with Alfeng, to own one bike you want it to be more capable of doing more things and thus his recommendation for the 29er.
However having said that my question is to you is why you think you need a front suspension fork? If you are riding aggressively down rock strewn trails then maybe, but if not you really don't want the hassle, or the weight, or the power loss of a suspension fork. A used bike with forks like that if not ridden much and taken care of could last a long time, but if ridden a lot you may have worn out internal components which makes replacing the fork an expensive part. Besides I've ridden down rough trails in the mountains of California on a rigid frame/fork bike and never had a want for a suspension fork, and most people don't have the need either. And the DiamondBack fork on that particular bike is a low end unit which it makes it highly unreliable and unnecessarily heavy.
Besides all of that the Diamond Back is overpriced which could be the nature of where you live too.
However having said that my question is to you is why you think you need a front suspension fork? If you are riding aggressively down rock strewn trails then maybe, but if not you really don't want the hassle, or the weight, or the power loss of a suspension fork. A used bike with forks like that if not ridden much and taken care of could last a long time, but if ridden a lot you may have worn out internal components which makes replacing the fork an expensive part. Besides I've ridden down rough trails in the mountains of California on a rigid frame/fork bike and never had a want for a suspension fork, and most people don't have the need either. And the DiamondBack fork on that particular bike is a low end unit which it makes it highly unreliable and unnecessarily heavy.
Besides all of that the Diamond Back is overpriced which could be the nature of where you live too.
Yes I doubt i will have much of a need for the suspension and seeing that most of my riding will be on smooth trails. There are some roots and rocks, but not too much. It will mostly be paved seeing that a lot of riding will be with my 7 year old son. Im going to look at the cannondale and maybe the db response tomorrow to see how they fit. The cannondale is an XL. I'm 6'2, so we will see if it fits. Might need a L, so I am unsure. The seller message me earlier and lowered the cannondale from 300 to 250. So the price seems right
Thanks for the reply. I'll keep that in mind when I look at both bikes tomorrow. The main thing is to see how they fit me. I'm 6'2. The cannondale is an XL and the seller never told me for sure if the db was a L or XL
So i went yesterday to look at the cannondale. I messaged the seller around 10am and wanted to know when I could come look at it. He said he usually got off work at 3pm. So we drove about 45 minutes to York, PA around 12pm. I took my family (wife, 7 year old son, 2 year old girl) with me so we could do a little shopping and check out the area cause we'll be buying a house soon. We finished up close to 3pm. The seller wouldn't return my messages until around 4:30pm. He said he was running late from work and would be home at 5pm. So we waited around 2 hours on him, basically sitting in a parking lot. So we met him at his house at 5pm. He texted me 5 minutes before he got home and gave me the address. When I arrived he already had another buyer there looking at it when we arrived
! He said he wanted to get someone else, just in case I changed my mind. He messaged me 5 minutes before he said he was home, which was 4:55, and said he was almost home. We was there at 5pm on the dot. The other buyer was in the driveway looking at the bike and he had the air compressor out pumping the tires up because it hasn't been rode since last summer. Theres no way he had just got home. Plus he's a mechanic and did't have a spot of dirt on him and had shorts and a hoodie on. So i'm sure he had been home for a while. What a piece of ****. The only thing I can figure is the other guy offered him more money. My wife got out of the car and gave him a piece of her mind and we left. Definitely a piece of **** punk. So now since the weather is going to be bad for the next couple weeks, Im going to hold off for a better deal. That bike was really nice.
GEEZ, that sucks big time! I've never met anyone like that, but I know they're out there.
Don't get bummed, just keep searching, they pop up quite often especially in the area you live. Next time don't make any offers over the phone, just ask about the bikes condition, and what they've done to it recently like any maintenance work, then get the address and go look at. Once you're there and you've studied the bike for a while and taken it for a test ride then make your offer, because now you're there and you're his exclusive potential buyer, if the seller doesn't come down far enough for you to consider buying it don't get into an emotional buying frenzy, just leave your name and phone number and tell him if he changes his mind to call you, then walk away. If they do accept an offer you agree on then make sure you then ask for any extra parts, bottle cages, seat bag, tools, etc, the original sale invoices and perhaps even the brochure he might have for the bike, A lot of these guys buy a bunch of bike gear for their new bike hobby and then give it up so they could have all that stuff and have no need for it anymore but they forgot to include it all.
About 60% of the time when you walk casually away (to give them a bit more time to think) from a deal they'll yell at you to come back before you get the car started if you didn't offer a ridiculous offer and the seller knows it's within reason, if they don't yell at you to take the deal about 10% of the time they will call you within a week after they got no other better offers. There are some sellers who simply don't care if they have to wait 6 months to see the bike, they want the maximum price and they feel if they wait long enough they'll get it, but others are in a hurry for cash and or clear out the space the bike is taking. So it's sort like gambling, the odds are in your favor but not by much. If you do walk away just keep looking, don't wait for the previous seller to call, and don't get into a hurry either or you won't get a good deal.
Don't get bummed, just keep searching, they pop up quite often especially in the area you live. Next time don't make any offers over the phone, just ask about the bikes condition, and what they've done to it recently like any maintenance work, then get the address and go look at. Once you're there and you've studied the bike for a while and taken it for a test ride then make your offer, because now you're there and you're his exclusive potential buyer, if the seller doesn't come down far enough for you to consider buying it don't get into an emotional buying frenzy, just leave your name and phone number and tell him if he changes his mind to call you, then walk away. If they do accept an offer you agree on then make sure you then ask for any extra parts, bottle cages, seat bag, tools, etc, the original sale invoices and perhaps even the brochure he might have for the bike, A lot of these guys buy a bunch of bike gear for their new bike hobby and then give it up so they could have all that stuff and have no need for it anymore but they forgot to include it all.
About 60% of the time when you walk casually away (to give them a bit more time to think) from a deal they'll yell at you to come back before you get the car started if you didn't offer a ridiculous offer and the seller knows it's within reason, if they don't yell at you to take the deal about 10% of the time they will call you within a week after they got no other better offers. There are some sellers who simply don't care if they have to wait 6 months to see the bike, they want the maximum price and they feel if they wait long enough they'll get it, but others are in a hurry for cash and or clear out the space the bike is taking. So it's sort like gambling, the odds are in your favor but not by much. If you do walk away just keep looking, don't wait for the previous seller to call, and don't get into a hurry either or you won't get a good deal.
