Where to buy cheap old hybrid bike
Discussion
I am suddenly in need of a cheap old hybrid bike to use as the base for a homebrew e-bike to replace my old one that has just been nicked. Where do I look - Ebay and Gumtree for starters but where else? Do i have to brave the horrors of FB Marketplace?
Realistically limited to collect in person sales rather than delivery. Actively want one that is cheap as chips and looks clapped out and utterly undesirable - this will be my shopping and gym bike and essentially sacrificial. (My view is that theft is basically an occupational hazard if you have to lock up on the street - the old Ridgeback that I converted ca 3 yrs ago was taken from outside the gym last week despite looking ready for the skip).
Upside of the theft is that I had removed the battery, ironically to deter thieves, so that will save me a couple of hundred quid;)
Any suggestions of where to start shopping gratefully received.
Realistically limited to collect in person sales rather than delivery. Actively want one that is cheap as chips and looks clapped out and utterly undesirable - this will be my shopping and gym bike and essentially sacrificial. (My view is that theft is basically an occupational hazard if you have to lock up on the street - the old Ridgeback that I converted ca 3 yrs ago was taken from outside the gym last week despite looking ready for the skip).
Upside of the theft is that I had removed the battery, ironically to deter thieves, so that will save me a couple of hundred quid;)
Any suggestions of where to start shopping gratefully received.
Hard to see past Ebay and Gumtree, but it might be worth checking with local bike shops to see if they have any scrappers.
As far as Ebay goes, I tend to find it's better to stick with buy it now sales, as people often get carried away and overbid on auctions. Alternatively look for auctions that end at awkward times. I picked up a very good condition used Giant hybrid for £70, largely because the auction was ending at 9am on a monday morning and so no one else bid.
Theft is always a concern, and I managed to avoid it by switching to Brompton, which I could just take inside wherever I was going. That plan worked fine for a few years, until someone broke into my garage and stole it.
As far as Ebay goes, I tend to find it's better to stick with buy it now sales, as people often get carried away and overbid on auctions. Alternatively look for auctions that end at awkward times. I picked up a very good condition used Giant hybrid for £70, largely because the auction was ending at 9am on a monday morning and so no one else bid.
Theft is always a concern, and I managed to avoid it by switching to Brompton, which I could just take inside wherever I was going. That plan worked fine for a few years, until someone broke into my garage and stole it.
I got this for £150 from FB Marketplace a couple of years ago.
It's a bitsa, but works perfectly around my local forest and on the canals. I'd commute on it happily if I lived closer to work.
Just make sure the bike is the right size for you and the rest you can probably upgrade. Nothing worse than trying to get a bike to feel right when it's way too small or large.
It's a bitsa, but works perfectly around my local forest and on the canals. I'd commute on it happily if I lived closer to work.
Just make sure the bike is the right size for you and the rest you can probably upgrade. Nothing worse than trying to get a bike to feel right when it's way too small or large.
Facebook and Gumtree here.
We also have a local cycle recycling place, although they tend to be right at the 'Bicycle shaped object' end of the spectrum. That said, good ones can be £300 but with a full service - I have a Kona Dew in the shed that was £200 from a chap who bought it off them, used for a few months and realised he really was not an XL in frame size....
We also have a local cycle recycling place, although they tend to be right at the 'Bicycle shaped object' end of the spectrum. That said, good ones can be £300 but with a full service - I have a Kona Dew in the shed that was £200 from a chap who bought it off them, used for a few months and realised he really was not an XL in frame size....
Discendo Discimus said:
I got this for £150 from FB Marketplace a couple of years ago.
It's a bitsa, but works perfectly around my local forest and on the canals. I'd commute on it happily if I lived closer to work.
Just make sure the bike is the right size for you and the rest you can probably upgrade. Nothing worse than trying to get a bike to feel right when it's way too small or large.
That looks pretty good - far too good for what I am planning for it;)It's a bitsa, but works perfectly around my local forest and on the canals. I'd commute on it happily if I lived closer to work.
Just make sure the bike is the right size for you and the rest you can probably upgrade. Nothing worse than trying to get a bike to feel right when it's way too small or large.
Yes size is the main thing, and yet no more than 20% of the ads for cheap old bikes on eBay/Gumtree mention the frame size, or even the height of the person who is riding it currently. Hey ho.
QJumper said:
Hard to see past Ebay and Gumtree, but it might be worth checking with local bike shops to see if they have any scrappers.
As far as Ebay goes, I tend to find it's better to stick with buy it now sales, as people often get carried away and overbid on auctions. Alternatively look for auctions that end at awkward times. I picked up a very good condition used Giant hybrid for £70, largely because the auction was ending at 9am on a monday morning and so no one else bid.
Theft is always a concern, and I managed to avoid it by switching to Brompton, which I could just take inside wherever I was going. That plan worked fine for a few years, until someone broke into my garage and stole it.
Good tip about odd end times for auctions, will watch out for those. As far as Ebay goes, I tend to find it's better to stick with buy it now sales, as people often get carried away and overbid on auctions. Alternatively look for auctions that end at awkward times. I picked up a very good condition used Giant hybrid for £70, largely because the auction was ending at 9am on a monday morning and so no one else bid.
Theft is always a concern, and I managed to avoid it by switching to Brompton, which I could just take inside wherever I was going. That plan worked fine for a few years, until someone broke into my garage and stole it.
Sorry about your Brommy, sometimes you just can't win. My nice bikes are also kept in the garage which is pretty well secured, but like you say there are no guarantees. When I ride them they never leave my sight, if a shop or cafe won't let me bring it in, they don't get my business. Hence the need for a sacrificial bike for shops and gym.
Shame it has to be this difficult, but bikes have always been easy to steal. Lost my first one from outside a Tesco when I was a student in Manchester 35yrs ago, have always been careful since but have had two more nicked over the years.
FB marketplace is fine as long as you have your wits about and avoid anything that looks dodgy, I always look at the sellers profile and the other items that have for sale/sold and you can normally start to gauge who your dealing with.
I always keep a look out in charity shops and car boot sales, every so often you might find a retro gem but its pretty rare, most things that are worth anything will get offered on ebay.
I always keep a look out in charity shops and car boot sales, every so often you might find a retro gem but its pretty rare, most things that are worth anything will get offered on ebay.
My local FB pages are awash with suitable candidates.
Do you have a local bike shop that does second hand stuff? In York we have a place called Recycle which (the name is a give away!) does second hand bikes - think its a charity or something but they'll scoop up bikes from the tip/donations etc, service them and then sell them on. Always bargains to be had, moreso if you get them to sort something for you pre-service and just take stuff as-is...
Do you have a local bike shop that does second hand stuff? In York we have a place called Recycle which (the name is a give away!) does second hand bikes - think its a charity or something but they'll scoop up bikes from the tip/donations etc, service them and then sell them on. Always bargains to be had, moreso if you get them to sort something for you pre-service and just take stuff as-is...
Just for the sake of completion, I picked up an old Raleigh hybrid on FB marketplace over the weekend.
It's prob 15 yrs old but dry stored - seller said it was his wife's bike and she hardly ever used it. It certainly looks to have had v little use indeed. Barring some dust and surface rust on chain and bars it is in practically as new condition. Complete with rack and mudguards so I don't even have to sort them out.
It won't win any style points, but that's exactly what I want. All for only £65. A good day's work..
It's prob 15 yrs old but dry stored - seller said it was his wife's bike and she hardly ever used it. It certainly looks to have had v little use indeed. Barring some dust and surface rust on chain and bars it is in practically as new condition. Complete with rack and mudguards so I don't even have to sort them out.
It won't win any style points, but that's exactly what I want. All for only £65. A good day's work..
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