Best place to buy used bikes and parts?

[coopers]

Now, I now the PH classifieds and Ebay are going to come up into answering “Where best to buy second hand” but where else?? Does anybody know of a warehouse in the South preferably round either Portsmouth or Bristol that sell discontinued bikes?

I’ll explain what I’m after

I’ve wanted for a while a Specialized StumpJumper or FSR to do a bit of XC work, but the problem is I don’t have the budget to stretch past the £1000 to obtain anything in either of these ranges and was more looking at spending 500 – 650 pounds (can stretch a bit) on a second hand one. Obviously I’ve taking into consideration servicing and small bits and pieces (i.e. pedals) once in my hands.

So does anybody know of a good warehouse which stock old 03 – 06 bikes? I’m not bothered about the age or the colour etc but I do care what spec I can obtain and hence why I would rather buy a 03 FSR pro as opposed to the basic 06 FSR XC model….

If by the chance anybody is selling something like this please send me a message and I’ll get back to you straight away.

Many thanks

Tom

[snotrag]

www.singletrackworld.co.uk
www.bikemagic.com
www.forum.southerndownhill.com
www.descent-world.co.uk/forum/inde

All have good classifieds. 2nd hand bikes arent worth jackshit, so you can get a bargain if your savvy and know what your doing.

[rico]

Worth a butchers on ebay too. Always some nice bargains to get on there.

[thepickle]

I was at Leisure Lakes in Bury the other day and they always seem to have quite an interesting selection of s/h bikes. A bit strong on the pricing imo but I guess that’s the drawback of not buying privately. Still, loads cheaper than new. I’ve just had a quick look on the website and they’ve even got an FSR. Not much use to you down south of course, here’s a link anyway clicky (scroll down) Maybe worth checking the southern branches to see if they have anything in but looking at the website they don't appear to have anywhere near the s/h stock of the Bury shop. When I was there they must have had over 25 s/h bikes between £350ish and £2000ish

[coopers]

cheers guys

I'm going to take a look now, again if anybody on here is looking to sell a similar bike to the FSR etc send me a message would be interested to look at a few options before i buy

[coopers]

Ok guys found this searching through one of the forums its a Specialized S Works FSR 01 frame and parts up for £330, it will have a few bits chucked in but i think he's looking to get rid of it so will have brakes missing etc (saying that i found using same classifieds bits and bobs which would do the trick).

Is there anything i should be worried about when buying such a bike which is 5 years old already.. and more importantly is it worth it, will it be best part of £300 wasted

Below is the link to the advert

www.bikemagic.com/classifieds/advert.asp?c=14799&t=Specialized+Specialized+S+Works+FSR+01

Any advice would be great as im going to be calling him tommorrow afternoon

Cheers

Tom

[pombstard]

Also just ask in the bike shops if they know of any ex-demo bikes. That's how I got my Yeti - sure its second-hand, but it was unmarked, still has a warranty on the frame, and it was AU$1200 cheaper than list price.

[snotrag]

Few things to look out for when buying bike frames

Frames - check for bubbled/fading paint around all welds, particularly under headtube and at BB junction. On various specialized FSR models the chainstays were known to go where they are welded to the cast yoke which houses the bearings.

Pivots - check the bushings/pivots for slop, there shouldnt be ANY. replacing bearings bushings can cost a few quid.

Shocks - again - air shocks should hold air. Damping adjustments should have a significant effect - winding compression and rebound full on will pretty much lock most shocks solid if the seals havent blown. also look for oil leaks roudn the dials and the shaft.

The one in that ad - its quite old, but there good bikes. you will be able to tell by looking what mileage/care its had. If its chipped/dented to shit then avoid.

As I said you can try to drive a hard bargain on 2nd hand bikes as they dont hold value at all.

Things I would avoid buying second hand - Shifters, derrailleurs, cassettes, saddles, and little things like grips.

New contact points, ( grips, pedals, saddle ) fresh cables and tight transmission make a bike feel new.

[coopers]

Hi guys

Need a very quick answer to this....what do you think of this bike on ebay (link below), i'm looking at it and thinking its a good spec, the owner lives fairly close to me (20 min dirve) so i can inspect the bike and its a good price?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Kona-Stinky-200

Things i'm worried about is that the spec (Xt/XTR) doesnt match with that of a average Kona Stinky 03 and that the frame has been recently sprayed...

Also its going to be a XC/Free ride bike for sundays, so will i be fustrated with the basic rear suspension technology and wish i had waited to get a Specialized FSR?

Cheers

Tom


Edit to say: i think there is something a bit off with this.. and the fact that the stinky is more freeride/Dh than XC has put me off some what but still intrested to see what you guys think?

Edited by coopers on Saturday 30th December 01:29

[beyond rational]

Its still a horst linkage like the FSR so the suspension action isn't much different, though I avoid resprays - and that has invalidated his frame warrenty