2nd hand bike acquired, advice needed

Mr. Manager

So today I got my hands on a second hand Trek from a friend. As I'm new to the world of cycling I've just got a few questions to ask.

Here's some pics of the bike:













Right so first off, could anyone tell me what model the bike is and how much is it worth?

The reason I ask this is because the frame is only 53cm and from what I've googled this appears to be too small for someone of my height (6'0)

The front wheel is buckled, not badly, but buckled none the less. How mush would it cost to replace the front wheel?

The saddle is about as comfortable as sitting on a bed of nails, could anyone tell me how much a good saddle would cost? I plan on cycling to Galway in spring of next year so it's gotta be able to handle that journey while keeping my ass comfy.

It's also got a touch of rust on the chain so I guess that could do with replacing too...

Would I just be better off getting rid of it and getting a new bike from a shop??




Any and all help is greatly appreciated!

Mr. Manager

Anyone? Anything?

granda

i would say it is to small for you i think you should be looking at 56-58 cm but i may be wrong there

its a trek 1.2 i think at the minute it sell for about 600-700 hundred euro new

as for the seat its in the wrong position the front of it should be flat or a little down (get a good pair of cycling shorts they will help with the comfort)

front wheels can be got for 60euro upwards i think
as for the chain bring it to your local bike shop and they can tell you what needs done as the brake cables may need replaced ( they look a little rusty in the pic) aswell and get it service to be safe
hope this helps

blorg

53 is much too small, although AFAIK Trek make even number increments. As granda says, you need 56 or 58. I am the same height as you and rode a 58cm Trek.

There is no point keeping it if the size is that far off, sell it and get a bike that fits. Fit is essential on a road bike.

The saddle: road bike saddles are meant to be hard; they support the sit bones. You will get used to this. A soft saddle is bad over long distance as it presses up into soft tissue. Apart from that saddles are an entirely personal thing and you can get a decent one from €25 (something like the Charge Spoon which gets good reviews) to several hundred euros. FWIW I did my first Wicklow 200 (harder than Dublin-Galway) on an entry level Bontrager (eg Trek) saddle and it was fine. The entry level Trek saddles are actually softer than most road saddles, you go harder from there.

But this is moot as the bike doesn't fit you so you are going to have to replace it.

Mr. Manager

Cheers for the posts, I've decided to sell it on and buy a new one. Hopefully someone will take it off my hands.

TheBlaaMan

I think you need to be realistic as to the value of this bike. Fair enough, you can ask what you want for it and see what offers you get, but thinking you will get the €600 (that you were advised they go for when new!) for a bike in poor condition is not reasonable - in my opinion. You cannot seriously regard this as being in "good condition" as stated in your advert and if I was in the market for it and traveled to see it on the basis of that description, I'd be pretty be pretty pissed at wasting my time.

The seat rails are rusted, the chain is useless, the brake calipers need a good strip down and cleaning, the wheel hubs also look to be rusting, the lacquer appears to be peeling on the paintwork - I doubt this list is a complete summary of the bikes low points. Its quite likely that new brake pads and possibly new tyres are going to be needed as this bike was probably stored outside and they may have perished beyond safe use.

Given that the sale of bikes will be slowing at this time of year, I think you shouldn't expect to get more than €300 for it in that condition; unless you are very fortunate.

(preparing to by flamed by OP)

Lemag

I'm with you BlaaMan on this one. The OP's asertion that the "Bike is in good condition. Could probably do with a small service as it's been lying idle for a bit." is disingenuous to say the least. Poor poor form.

Holyboy

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

I think you need to be realistic as to the value of this bike. Fair enough, you can ask what you want for it and see what offers you get, but thinking you will get the €600 (that you were advised they go for when new!) for a bike in poor condition is not reasonable - in my opinion. You cannot seriously regard this as being in "good condition" as stated in your advert and if I was in the market for it and traveled to see it on the basis of that description, I'd be pretty be pretty pissed at wasting my time.

The seat rails are rusted, the chain is useless, the brake calipers need a good strip down and cleaning, the wheel hubs also look to be rusting, the lacquer appears to be peeling on the paintwork - I doubt this list is a complete summary of the bikes low points. Its quite likely that new brake pads and possibly new tyres are going to be needed as this bike was probably stored outside and they may have perished beyond safe use.

Given that the sale of bikes will be slowing at this time of year, I think you shouldn't expect to get more than €300 for it in that condition; unless you are very fortunate.

(preparing to by flamed by OP)

I'd have to agree, what's a new one these days, about 700?Maybe a little more, it needs a whole load of work,but as people on here say "a bike is worth as much as some one is willing to pay for it" but the OP will be ripping a buyer off at that price! If some one is stupid enough to pay that for it though it's their own fault really.this kind of thing keeps me in business!

blorg

You have an offer for €300- take itq, that is a good offer. These bikes in good condition go for around that or €50 more, and it will cost more than €50 to get this bike into good condition. If the buyer knows what they are at I would expect them to lower the offer when they actually see the work it will need (and I would take €275 too, given the amount it will cost to put right.)

RacoonQueen

Did you pay for this bike or did you get it free from your friend?

You've an offer of 350 there, you can't expect someone to pay 500 for a second hand bike that goes for 680 brand new...

cdaly_

BTW, are those cracks at the top of the fork?

Cereal Rapist wrote: »

Mr. Manager

Just to point out, I had a look around to see what this bike was going for brand new, some varied but the general price was €900.

I've listed it as €600, maybe a bit optimistic but I'm not looking to rip anyone off. Not ever. I'm not a massive bike enthusiast so wouldn't have a huge knowledge on bike repairs but from initial inspection, it's not in that bad condition. I listed it as good condition because, to me, it's in good condition.

Again, I don't know a huge amount about bikes but I wouldn't imagine it would cost much to get the bike in perfect order.

Also, no, the fork is not cracked.

While I'm here and on the subject, does anyone know if bike shops do trade ins?

cython

Cereal Rapist wrote: »

Just to point out, I had a look around to see what this bike was going for brand new, some varied but the general price was €900.

I've listed it as €600, maybe a bit optimistic but I'm not looking to rip anyone off. Not ever. I'm not a massive bike enthusiast so wouldn't have a huge knowledge on bike repairs but from initial inspection, it's not in that bad condition. I listed it as good condition because, to me, it's in good condition.

Again, I don't know a huge amount about bikes but I wouldn't imagine it would cost much to get the bike in perfect order.

Also, no, the fork is not cracked.

While I'm here and on the subject, does anyone know if bike shops do trade ins?

You've gotten some very good advice regarding the worth of the bike, and I have to agree that €600 is not "a bit optimistic," rather it's borderline delusional. As far as condition goes, and how much it would cost to repair it, I'd take Holyboy's assessment as being more accurate than yours, as he runs a bike shop! Blorg is also no slouch when it comes to these things, so make what you will of their advice, and that of others.

Personally I paid €390 for the preceding model to this (Trek 1000) a couple of years ago, and it was in great condition, much better than the 1.2 that you have, so factor in the likes of that too.

Some bike shops may do trade ins (I've seen wheelworx upload photos of second hand bikes for sale on facebook), but not all of them by any stretch. They will also generally give you a worse price than a private sale, because while they will be able to manage the repairs for cheaper, they still have to make a profit on the whole thing. Much like selling a car privately as opposed to trading it in.

Mr. Manager

cython wrote: »

You've gotten some very good advice regarding the worth of the bike, and I have to agree that €600 is not "a bit optimistic," rather it's borderline delusional. As far as condition goes, and how much it would cost to repair it, I'd take Holyboy's assessment as being more accurate than yours, as he runs a bike shop! Blorg is also no slouch when it comes to these things, so make what you will of their advice, and that of others.

Personally I paid €390 for the preceding model to this (Trek 1000) a couple of years ago, and it was in great condition, much better than the 1.2 that you have, so factor in the likes of that too.

Some bike shops may do trade ins (I've seen wheelworx upload photos of second hand bikes for sale on facebook), but not all of them by any stretch. They will also generally give you a worse price than a private sale, because while they will be able to manage the repairs for cheaper, they still have to make a profit on the whole thing. Much like selling a car privately as opposed to trading it in.

Cheers for the reply. I'm not going over the head of anybody's posts, just looking for more info. If you think the bike is over-priced then I will reduce it.

I'm not looking to profit from the bike in anyway shape or form. Genuinely looking to get into biking (posted a thread recently about what to buy and where etc).

With the money from this bike I will put towards one that is of the right size for me. Was looking forward to working on this one as a little project to help me get to know things a bit better.

Thanks for all posts.

Tonyandthewhale

You might get 400e for a trek 1.2 (just not this trek 1.2) if it was in good condition throughout and not abused or over-used but even in perfect condition 350e would be a decent price.

Considering the condition this bike is in I'd take pretty much whatever I could get for it within reason (obviously you shouldn't have to go below 200e or 250e unless there are more major problems we don't know about.

You said the front wheel needs to be replaced, you were told that's 60e min. From your pictures the tyres look flat, it's pretty clear that this bike has been sitting around outside so they're quite possible worn down or rotten. You might be lucky and not have to replace them but if not 40-60e will get you a good set of tyres plus roughly 10e for tubes (see we're already over 100e). The chain is rusty as fudge and just because it still makes the wheels turn doesn't mean it's not worn out. Chains wear out over the course of normal use and they wear out especially fast if you don't look after them and let them get rusty. Replacing a chain and cassette is going to cost you 40 or 50e at least plus the cost of tools or the cost of labour in a bike shop. Cables are also rusty so need to be replaced, they're only 2e a pop but still a hassle you don't want when buying a bike. Frame is all scraped and fittings are rusty which probably won't affect the usability of the bike but it means youever buys from you won't be able to sell the bike on for a decent price should the need arise.

You might also need brake pads/brake caliphers, headset, bottom bracket or drive-train components such as shifters and deraileurs depending on how lucky you are.

Obviously any second hand bike you buy isn't going to be immaculate and there may be mechaical problems and there will be some wear on the tyres and the chain and the like but some bikes are better than others in this regard and this bike doesn't seem to be one of them.

Finally, just because some people charge 900e for a brand new trek 1.2 doesn't mean a brand new trek 1.2 is worth 900e just as your trek 1.2 isn't worth 600e. It's a nice enough bike and you might be lucky and not have to put too much money into getting it running but I'll be steering well clear of any of your ads in future anyway.

RacoonQueen

Cycle superstore do trade ins.

Mr. Manager

Tonyandthewhale wrote: »

Finally, just because some people charge 900e for a brand new trek 1.2 doesn't mean a brand new trek 1.2 is worth 900e just as your trek 1.2 isn't worth 600e. It's a nice enough bike and you might be lucky and not have to put too much money into getting it running but I'll be steering well clear of any of your ads in future anyway.

It's not some people, it's some/most companies I found online. People selling the same bike second hand on DoneDeal are looking for €750. Given the condition I thought €600 was a reasonable price. Apparently not.

Thanks though for giving me a bit of slack regarding my ad. I came here asking for advice, I've taken it on board and since accepted the offer of €350.

Sold 2 other products on Adverts without any hassle, mainly because I knew more about them.