2nd Hand Bargains? £500 suggestions?

[Dan_1981]

Imagine looking for a second hand bike, either road or mountain something from the last few years.

Which models would you be looking for?

Nothing too hardcore for either, introductory let's say.

[PH5121]

For a road bike I'd recommend a Giant Defy.

I've just started using my Defy 3 which I bought 10 years ago but only did 50 miles on before deciding I preferred my mountain bike and leaving it in the garage.
I've started using it again in the last couple of weeks and it has a comfy geometry and has a good range of gears making it an easy bike to cover miles on (well easy as it gets for a lard arsed middle aged bloke)

[J4CKO]

Key thing is to decide on whether its an MTB or Road bike you want.

What do you propose doing on it ?

I have both and the MTB rarely gets used, its a fairly decent Trek hardtail from 2012 so not some pig iron Tescos job but its just a bit of a lump.

I have a Carbon Trek Domane which is a more relaxed geometry sort of road bike and its really comfy, came from an Aluminium framed Specialized Allez Elite and to be hones it wasnt night and day different despite being twice the price, the law of diminishing returns kicks in pretty quickly especially when you are just a commuter/leisure cyclist rather than a full on road warrior.

I take my Trek road bike off road, dirt roads and whatever and it is quite happy, just have to be sympathetic.

I think with MTB's, unless you intend sticking them in a car and doing some actual mountain biking a road or hybrid bike is the best option as I find MTB's too compromised on road, I did commute over winter on the MTB but mainly as it had suspension and disk brakes so was better in cold/wet/dark but was always itching to get back on the road bike. Always amazes me when I see someone on a full suspensions MTB on the road, must be hard work.

Watch some of the hybrids, I had a Cannondale Bad Boy, looked ace but the frame was so rigid it made it a bit like hard work.

[Dan_1981]

Thanks gents.

At some point in the near future my little boy is going to be progressing to wanting to go on bike rides with his old man etc.

So mostly it'l be park tracks, canal paths, some woodland things, local roads. No hardcore downhill trail riding or anything.

Of course when I actually start looking I end up wanting one of each in the fanciest carbon or whatever I can find.

Can't justify that so trawling the facebook marketplace etc, hoping for a preowned bargain sub £500 but not sure what particualr models come very well recommended from the last few years.

[Pupp]

How about a gravel or cyclocross bike... your budget should be sufficient to land a 3 or 4 year old Cube Crossrace or similar with an alu frame and carbon forks, maybe 105 or Ultegra kitted. Possibly rim brakes rather than disc but hardly an issue for the uses you mention. Versatile and fun to ride on or off road

[Dan_1981]

Pupp said:

How about a gravel or cyclocross bike... your budget should be sufficient to land a 3 or 4 year old Cube Crossrace or similar with an alu frame and carbon forks, maybe 105 or Ultegra kitted. Possibly rim brakes rather than disc but hardly an issue for the uses you mention. Versatile and fun to ride on or off road

Yup more than happy to consider one. But again it's knowing what to look for.


If I was buying new i'd be looking at the Triban RC120 for a road bike which gets absolutely glowing reviews at about £350 but i'm not convinced that a road bike is the answer thinking about it....

[Dan_1981]

Hmm a bit more thought and thinking and reading it seems a gravel bike would be ideal....

Some googling however reveals not many are made towards the bargain end of things....

One that does seem to reasonable reviews at decent entry level price is the Voodoo Limba?

[technodup]

Dan_1981 said:

Hmm a bit more thought and thinking and reading it seems a gravel bike would be ideal....

Some googling however reveals not many are made towards the bargain end of things....

One that does seem to reasonable reviews at decent entry level price is the Voodoo Limba?

Gravel bikes are basically the industry's way of getting you to part with new money for something we all had about 20 years ago.

I'd be on Ebay looking at retro stuff tbh. 90s hardtail or rigid, steel frame, light compared to today's monster MTBs, less to go wrong/set up, good componentry for the time, Kona, Marin, Specialized, Orange etc

[PushedDover]

In line with J4CKO, and especially as a a ride to accompany your kid, a Hybrid would be a practical cover of bases IMHO

[Jockinthebox]

I’ve got an almost new canyon endurace AL in medium, that I’m going to put on eBay shortly, would take £600 for it.

Surrey based

[Dan_1981]

Thanks for the further advice gents.

I've seen one of these pop up local to me on FB.. it seems the old spec was pretty tidy, the newer one halfords have is not quite the same bike.

Any opinions on it?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Voodoo-Limba-Cyclocross...

[Barchettaman]

Looks practically new, but the arse has fallen out of the market for non-disc cyclocross bikes.

Good spec otherwise.

I’d be offering £250.

[Dan_1981]

Barchettaman said:

Looks practically new, but the arse has fallen out of the market for non-disc cyclocross bikes.

Good spec otherwise.

I’d be offering £250.

Yeah it's not that actual one - i couldn't link to the actual one.

The one i've seen is up at £300 but I was planing a £250 bid

[Barchettaman]

Perfect.

Rag it for a couple of years and sell it for £150.

[J4CKO]

Make sure on the condition of any SH purchase.

Looking shiny isnt a guarantee, anything thats had some serious use can be cleaned up and still need brake blocks, cables, tyres, chainrings, cassette, chain and jockey wheels, basically anything consumable.

Look out for stuff thats either been properly maintained, or hardly used, loads of worn out stuff that needs £100 plus spending.

Worth investing in a chain measure,

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Silverline-241092-Chain-W...

Something like that, look for "Shark Toothing" on the chain rings, basically read up on checking a drivetrain.

I spent £100 on my last road bike, it had a fairly hard life commuting but was mint with a new drivetrain, bar tape etc, still only got £175 for it, could have sold it for the same and not fixed it up, basically dont just fixate on the headline price.

[bearman68]

PH5121 said:

For a road bike I'd recommend a Giant Defy.

I've just started using my Defy 3 which I bought 10 years ago but only did 50 miles on before deciding I preferred my mountain bike and leaving it in the garage.
I've started using it again in the last couple of weeks and it has a comfy geometry and has a good range of gears making it an easy bike to cover miles on (well easy as it gets for a lard arsed middle aged bloke)

Just bought a second hand Defy Advanced 2 or something. Carbon frame, disc brakes, nice geometry, and a decent drive train for £600. I was quite pleased with that. Anyway, goes along nicely, has a good selection of gears, and is pretty comfortable. I'm happy with it.

[Gareth79]

Have a look at Cube and Merida stuff too - you could get a carbon framed one for around that, or a little more.

[Mave]

I know it doesn't directly answer your question, but are you eligible for cycle to work scheme? I was in the same situation as you last year; ended up haggling a new but end of line previous year bike, original retail £700 got it for £250 on C2W

[Dan_1981]

Well i took a punt...

Voodoo limba from Facebook market place.

It's a good few years old as it predates the current Halfords Voodoo bikes. So the spec is maybe a little dated but seems decent quality.

Carbon front forks
Scandium frame
105 shifters & mech
Brand new schwalbe tyres on alexrims
FSA stem and bars.
TRP brakes
Weighs in at juts under 10kg

Needs new bar tape but other than that is in very good condition.

£250 paid.

[Gompo]

Glad you got sorted, looks good for the money.

Just hoping I can hijack your thread here with hopefully a not too dissimilar outcome; are there any bike forums that have 'Ebay/barge/found for sale' threads, similar to the threads we have on PH with links to bikes for sale with discussion etc? Mountain bikes ideally.

I'm planning on getting back into MTB after 20+ years out, a fair bit of catching up to do. I fancy 2nd hand, after this period out of the scene I don't need a 2020 model, but warey of more complicated technology.