Cycle exchange - any used these?

[272BHP]

Seems expensive for the relative peace of mind it provides. From what I can gather you save about 35%-45% on mid range bikes but these are used bikes with the odd scratch and scrape here and there.

Given that the second hand market is pretty scary especially buying carbon framed bikes is this guarantee worth the premium?

Anyone used them?

https://www.cycleexchange.co.uk/

[jamm13dodger]

Not used them yet but always looking. They also do cyclescheme on 2nd hand bikes so it could be the used price saving but also a saving if using cyclescheme could mean a real steal.
They also have a guaranteed buy back price later if you trade in and have kept the bike nice, so thats a bonus.

[bigdom]

It depends on time of year, what they might have in stock, sometimes they get a job lot of bikes.

I have a mate who has bought and sold a few bikes through them. He has always been positive about them.

[BunkMoreland]

272BHP said:

Seems expensive for the relative peace of mind it provides. From what I can gather you save about 35%-45% on mid range bikes but these are used bikes with the odd scratch and scrape here and there.

Given that the second hand market is pretty scary especially buying carbon framed bikes is this guarantee worth the premium?

Anyone used them?

https://www.cycleexchange.co.uk/

They are a physical store in Kingston, so go to them would be the first step.

Re: CF frames. There is a shop somewhere (near/in Leatherhead iirc) that do non invasive frame checks (ultrasound essentially) so perhaps talking to them and seeing if the shop will entertain letting them have a look before purchase (at your cost for the checks)


EDIT

Found them

https://www.carbonbikerepair.co.uk/carbon-bike-hea...

For clarity. I have not used the carbon fibre place. And I have only bought a Macchiato from Cycle Exchange YMMV as ever

[272BHP]

I did take a look 2 weeks ago at cycle exchange.

Some of the bikes were 3-4 years old. It seems though I can find most of these bikes for a few hundred pounds more new from the manufacturer. Most well known manufacturers seem to discount last years 4-5k bikes at the 25%-35% off so I am not sure cycle exchange is worth it from the stock they had last week. I will keep an eye open on the site though.

I have also found a few local gumtree/ebay sellers who seem to routinely sell secondhand mid-high end bikes - would this worry you? I have checked out one of these at the weekend and with my admittedly limited knowledge and a check list, things did seem legit to my eyes, they were just bike flippers. Serial nos check out on databases, bikes seem to be professionally setup and cleaned. No creaks or squeaks under load. The 2 bikes I looked at were 6-7 years old but seemed in better nick than some of the cycle exchange ones.

Given that I do not think they are stolen. What is the worst case scenario here? if the carbon frames or wheel sets are cracked it can be fixed yes?

[272BHP]

BunkMoreland said:

Re: CF frames. There is a shop somewhere (near/in Leatherhead iirc) that do non invasive frame checks (ultrasound essentially) so perhaps talking to them and seeing if the shop will entertain letting them have a look before purchase (at your cost for the checks)


https://www.carbonbikerepair.co.uk/carbon-bike-hea...

For clarity. I have not used the carbon fibre place. And I have only bought a Macchiato from Cycle Exchange YMMV as ever

That place is not far from me at all so good to know about certainly.

I do wonder how much a fix would cost though! I notice they give no indication of prices, maybe this is just for the real high-end pro stuff.

[okgo]

There used to be a place in Norwich that did carbon repairs for not a lot. Think I had them repair a zipp wheel at one point and it didn’t cost much.

I suspect looking at the place above that it would not be cheap and likely not worth it on anything but a very high end bike.

I’ve always found buying from forums/club members to be a better way of buying used bike stuff vs eBay and the like as you can at least meet them and get a feel for it.

[E-numbers]

I used the carbon repair place in leatherhead for an old Rock Racing team de Rosa King 3 frame- they did an excellent job, invisible to most people, and it came in at about £900. This is a few years ago though. They have the skill to spot tiny defects in carbon, repair them invisibly and even match custom paintwork pretty well.

[E-numbers]

Don’t want to throw it off topic but…

[Chrispee]

Yep very recently used them to purchase a frame that I built up through C2W. Saved a chunk of money on the as new frameset (Cervelo Caledonia-5) that allowed me to sneak under my employers C2W voucher limit - I then could build exactly the bike I wanted spec wise, significantly undercutting what a similar off the shelf bike would be, with the added C2W tax saving.

See it as a 1 year warranty for the frame and you can't go far wrong. The staff were very helpful including when i went to the shop on a separate occasion

[TheHeadhunter]

272BHP said:

Seems expensive for the relative peace of mind it provides. From what I can gather you save about 35%-45% on mid range bikes but these are used bikes with the odd scratch and scrape here and there.

Given that the second hand market is pretty scary especially buying carbon framed bikes is this guarantee worth the premium?

Anyone used them?

https://www.cycleexchange.co.uk/

A friend of a friend has set up this https://yelo.club/sell-your-bike/ as a competitor to bike exchange etc. Another friend who runs an LBS says they are superb and offer good prices with a very quick turnaround, they use them for PX deals and get prices within minutes.

Edited by TheHeadhunter on Wednesday 22 October 12:59

[FazerBoy]

I just bought a bike from Cycle Exchange.

It was a very smooth transaction. Saw the bike on their site, popped in and had a test ride, liked the bike and made them an offer which was accepted.

The price when new was about £6,500 and I bought it for £3,650. It was virtually as new with a few very minor marks.

Their stock is all in very good condition (I presume they don’t buy anything in a poor state), serviced and comes with a year’s warranty.

It’s going to be more expensive than buying a used bike on ebay - but if you’re spending more than a couple of grand and don’t want to splurge for the cost of a brand-new bike - it’s definitely worth it for the peace of mind.