What's this worth?

Jules said:

Friend needs to offload a road bike, and I happen to be looking for one
;-) Size is right.

Gitane Mach 1800
2.5 years old
6200km
Full 105, carbon fork.
Lights, Sigma comp with cadence.
Recent new cassette + chain
- wouldn't have thought that'd be needed after 6200km?
Few scratches here and there.. frame and wheels are clean & straight.
Apparently was $1595 new.

So what is a fair price for it now?

Here are the official specs:
TYPE Road Bike TYRES Kenda 700x23c
COLOR Vivid Trans. Blue and White F/DERAILLEUR Shimano 105
FRAME Kinesis 7005 double butted R/DERAILLEUR Shimano 105
FORK Martec Carbon w/alloy Steerer SHIFTERS Shimano 105
HEADPARTS VP Fully Integrated Threadless FREEWHEEL Shimano 12-23t 9 Speed
BOTTOM BRACKET Shimano 105 F/BRAKE Tektro Dual Pivot
HANDELBAR Kalloy Road R/BRAKE Tektro Dual Pivot
HEADSTEM Kalloy Road. Extension for: 49cm = 90mm, 53cm =100mm, 57cm =
110mm, 60cm = 120mm BRAKE LEVERS Shimano 105
CHAINWHEEL Shimano 105 Length for: 49cm = 165mm, 53cm = 170mm, 57cm =
172.5mm, 60cm = 175mm PEDALS VP-R70 Clipless Look type
F/HUB Shimano 105 SADDLE Gitane embroided
R/HUB Shimano 105 SEATPOST Zoom Alloy
RIMS Alex DA-28 32H EXTRAS Stainless steel spokes

Well, presumably you have determined first it is the right bike (key
step), now you want to get it for the cheaper end of the fair range?

For starters, what he paid for it or what the list price was is less
relevant than what you can get a similar bike for now. You can
probably do a bit better than that for a respectable bike with 105 10
speed, once you look for the sales and do a bit of bargaining to get
the shoes and helmets thrown in. Note the Gitane has Tektro brakes, so
it's not true to say it's full 105. It seems this one is 9 speed, so
it was probably a run-out as the 10 speed came in.

6500 km is not a lot. Yes, it's a surprise the cassette was changed so
soon - that's only one chain life or so, and you should get three or
so chains per cassette ... wonder why?? Has he reset the speedo and
forgotten about that other 10,000 km? Has he got a good reason for
selling it? At 6,500 km there should be a lot of life left in the bike
- something you should check carefully if you have any doubts.

One rule of thumb is to pay 2/3rds new for an item in excellent
condition and 1/2 for good condition (don't buy it if it's worse!),
but I don't know how that applies to bikes. Have a look what you can
pick up on ebay for a guide. Lastly, make him an offer just above the
limit where he won't speak to you ever again and see how you go.

That's what I'd be doing, anyway!

Donga

A birdy tells me the Gitane Mach 1800 is also a Scattante R650 and an Orbea Mitis, and a few other "brands", from Europe's finest, ( and USA's mass producer too- (like a Schwinn fastback Comp)...all from one generic factory in Asia ( it is a Taiwan made) for mass produced 7005 frames with carbon rear stays...

so the same bike and similar level of equipemnt had prices ranging from $1300 (Schwinn-Gitane to $2200 for the orbea- something about badge engineering and the mystique of some one's name so it's said!)

anyway....they came into Australia as frame onlys too and there are quite a few around Melbourne with various house brands (Omara's had some and had them painted up and sold locally- I have one here that belongs to a friend who is overseas at the moment ) - he said it's not a bad frame for the price....had some reasonable performance angles and were ok to ride in sprints and on a day round to Portsea etc..., the one here is a 57cm , my mate tossed all the house gear and dropped Campy Record on it and its a reasonable ride ( he says)....too small for me..so I cant say how I feel about it...

they came out in 03/4 with Ultegra on the Scattante R650 & Orbea Mitis and with 105 on the Gitane Mach 1800.

2nd hand now in the US with Ultegra they bring around $650USD.

as for a local price...up to you, if you want it and they want to get rid of it, you will have to decide what it is worth to you. But they have been reasonable bikes for the original price so...anything less than that is a plus, allowing for wear and tear and the difficulty vendors have getting top dollar for 2nd hand bikes anyway...

good haggling!