I'm so convinced, that I'm pretty much willing to straight-up trade one of my cars for a good road bike, or sell the car to buy a road bike.
Now, my dream bike at this point in my life would be a nice, gently used Redline Conquest but in reality I'll probably have to settle for something more along the lines of a used Trek Pilot 1.2 or maybe a 1500.
I'm sick of surfing craigslist all day long, finding nothing but bikes that people expect to get $800-$1000 out of. I don't care if it was a $1200 bike and you rode it for one season - you won't get me to cough up a grand for your bike.
Not only that, but there are other circumstances in my life right now. We have two cars and an SUV. One of my cars barely sees any use. It still runs, but it needs a little bit of love. I'd get a lot more use out of a solid road bike than I'll ever get out of that car. I'm kind of hoping that someone in KC is getting sick of looking at the bike that they bought in '05 which sat in their garage all summer last year, but needs a car for a teenager or something.
If I decide to sell, I may only get $500-600 out of my car -- Not exactly the kind of money I'd need for a brand new bike. I guess I start watching the bike shops and pawn shops a bit closer for used bikes.
Saturday, April 07, 2007
I think it's time for a road bike...
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8 comments:
I have to concur with you. Everybody and his dog wants $1,200 for last year's hardly used ride and no one want to 'fess up that these bikes are subject to "Depreciation" the only thing that depreciates more than a road bike is a Laptop.
The way I see it last years $1,200 bike should be on the used market for half that or even LESS!
P.S.
If you ride a 57cm to 58cm here is a killer deal on e-bay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Early-to-Mid-90s-Specialized-Sirrus-Shimano-Components_W0QQitemZ290102354072QQihZ019QQcategoryZ98084QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Okay I'm a little biased, but for $60 you can't go wrong.
Be sure it's a "road" bike you really want. They are very fragile and are made to be riden, cleaned and maintained almost daily.
Do your research. If I was your bike salesman in KC, I would be showing you Cross and touring bikes first.
If I had $500-600 I'd buy your car for you... ;) I could use a gas-efficient vehicle over my truck.
Consider a trade offer on CL. If you want to sell the car for 5-600, then offer it as trade for a Road Bike on CL! Just a thought.......
Open the ad with need a car for the kid and your wife wants your unused quality road bike out of the garage? Have I got a deal for you!.......
Tom, I'm already ahead of you, I actually posted THIS POST to CL before I made my blog post. :)
Thanks for the comments, guys
Oh and for AMR, my hybrid's drivetrain gets cleaned or at least re-lubed (it's wax, so it flakes off and doesn't let much into the links) almost daily. Unless I put 10-15 miles on it just on dry, clean pavement, it gets cleaned.
I don't think that proper care and feeding will mess me up on a road bike. I would prefer a cyclocross bike (or a touring bike) over a road bike, but I don't think my car's even worth that much!
I've never owned anything but a road bike and the two that I've owned were both bought new and each was well under $1000. The first one was a Motobecane that I rode for several years and then finally gave away in still very good condition. The bike I own now and have ridden over 1700km on is a Specialized Allez.
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