I recently had my bike stolen and am very hesitant to spend the kind of money I did before on a new bike... I've been looking at getting a second hand bike (as they seem to lose 50% of value once ridden), and I'm hoping i will get a much better piece of kit for the cash. I'm very close to buying a bike listed locally, but would like some advice as i don't really know that much about them.... The bike i intend on buying is a 2008 Trek 6300, specs and pic shamelessly lifted from interweb below: Frame: Alpha Black Aluminium Fork: RockShox Dart 3 with 100mm travel Gears: Shimano Deore front and rear derailleurs Shifters: Shimano Deore 9 speed Crankset: Shimano M442 Octalink with 44/32/22 Tooth Chainrings Brakes: Avid Juicy 3 hydraulic discs with 185mm front and 160mm rear rotor Wheels: Bontrager Ranger rims built on Shimano M475 disc hubs Tyres: Bontrager Jones XR 26 × 2.2/2.25 Inch Handlebar: Bontrager Select with 25mm rise Stem: Bontrager Select Saddle: Bontrager Race Basic Seatpost: Bontrager Sport Pedals/Extras: Alloy platform pedals What should i be expecting to spend on one of these second hand? Should i even be looking at getting this?
First and foremost I would recommend asking questions like this in the thread dedicated to it. Secondly, that is a very cheap bike. Not super cheap, but cheap enough to where you would have to be getting an amazing deal to take the risk on a second hand bike of this level. Why? Because the parts are so cheap, so brittle, so easily maladjusted that it is very likely that half of it is broken or worn out. Without knowing local second hand bike prices in your area I'd estimate that if you paid anything more than one hundred fifty sterling you were getting ripped off. Plan on spending about that again on repairs as well - this is a cheap, used, entry-level bike after all. If you like take a look at the bike, snap plenty of pictures, and post them up. I'd be more than happy to give you a professional opinion as to if the bike is worth it and roughly how much you're going to spend getting it safe and properly operational.
Had to go through this myself 6 months ago, bike stolen - insurance paid out in full £500 for a bike bought secondhand, in 2007. I picked up a GT Aggressor for £180 off ebay and so far clocked 650 miles on it, with only a chain snapping (yesterday!). I'd go with Mal's word £150 should be the limit for that bike.
