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As was fairly predictable by the empty bike shops at the start of lockdown, there is now a glut of unused or hardly used bikes going dirt cheap.
A neighbour asked me to have a lookout for a bike for her son for Christmas. I went on Facebook Marketplace and it is absolutely awash with half-decent hardtails. It looks like that when lockdown started that a hardtail at the 500-700 price point was apparently the sweet spot, then upwards from there.
They're now all on there at half that price with 'only ridden twice', 'hardly been used' and 'never been ridden'. One advert had the relationship-stretching 'he bought it in March and he's never ridden it. It's just sat here in the dining room. Must go this week!' There was a decent Voodoo on there last week for half the list price that was still in the box and hadn't even been built.
I've resisted as I can't afford to be buying new bikes at the moment (without invoking divorce proceedings) and I haven't got the room anyway. It's been tough though. N + 1 and all that.
There are some absolute bargains out there at the moment.
Have a look. I dare you* 😀
Oh... a word of warning... when it comes to grammar and spelling in descriptions (if they actually bother), Facebook marketplace makes the average ebayer look like Charles Dickens
* No responsibility can be accepted for you being told off for buying more bikes 😀
I must be missing out by avoiding Facebook. The ones on ebay seem to be going for close to rrp.
Facebook marketplace is a whole different sub-eBay world.
Nearly got my hands on a barely used, bought in March Calibre Lost Lad today.
Just missed out to someone localerer than me 😭
I’m the market for a carbon road bike/frame and the are deffo some decent savings on new- however I’m worried about the warranty side of things...I never owned a carbon bike before so I’m convinced it’s going to immediately crack and fail!
must be missing out by avoiding Facebook. The ones on ebay seem to be going for close to rrp.
I don't fb either. They can gtfo with their demand for my data. Like you, just about all the places I look people are still trying to profit take (p!$$ take?) With bikes at or above what they actually bought them for. Plenty of bikes were on sale, (cough, cough, on one scandal cough cough) for a lot less than they are now, so I'm pretty sure the used price of 10% off current rrp is twice what you actually paid for it.
Oh… a word of warning… when it comes to grammar and spelling in descriptions (if they actually bother), Facebook marketplace makes the average ebayer look like Charles Dickens
Seen some super deals with hidrolik breaks
I’ve just had a quick look and the first listing was a Voodoo 29er, used once, basically brand new, for 350 quid, with all mudguards, lights and the stuff Halfords package up thrown in.
Halfords must have made an absolute killing this year
2nd listing is a Haibike e-bike for 500 quid off the 2 grand list price, that is still boxed, never even been built
Some people really have got more money than sense
I never owned a carbon bike before so I’m convinced it’s going to immediately crack and fail!
It invariably won't unless you crash it into something hard.
I never owned a carbon bike before so I’m convinced it’s going to immediately crack and fail!
I’ve been riding my first carbon bike all year and I’m what’s diplomatically referred to as ‘a big unit’ (fat bastard)
You’ll be reet
Maybe I'm not using the right search terms, but near me, it's all rusty kids bikes and Carrara
Can't beat facebook marketplace for picking stuff up, unlike ebay you get someone asking a price, you agree and pick it up, so actually getting it for a price that's not horrific.
I’m the market for a carbon road bike/frame and the are deffo some decent savings on new-
I bought an Orro Gold carbon road bike off a chap who bought it new as lockdown hit as the gym was shut. He didn’t like cycling (went to the gym for weights) so sold it for less than 1/2 price 4m later on FB marketplace. There are defo bargains out there 👍👍, esp for less mainstream brands. I was happy with sizing and build quality etc as I already have one of their gravel bikes.
"Oil brakes" is the best I've seen on an ad. Took me a couple of minutes to make sure I understood.
Just had a look on Marketplace. Near me is a 26er Trek Fuel EX 9 for £1500, a nearly new Orange Crush R 2020 for £2k and a Cannondale Moterra 3 for £4K. The rest is just BSO landfill.
A mate sent me a link the other day to a Yamerha Moterbike which looked like it had been painted completely white with emulsion and was standing in someone's living room.
There's some very posh, barely ridden, carbon DH bikes for sale on marketplace. I'd love one but it would probably remain unridden sadly.
There are bargains ? Don't do facebook, but ebay still mad.
Only bargain was a bike I picked up from a mate last year. BMC Fourstroke XT and SLX, with a new reverb. £300. All that was wrong is the brakes needed bleeding, new pads, a bloody good wash, and the reverb fitting. It was mint underneath.
Down side, it's an XS so fits the Mrs fine, but not me, shame..
Bought a second hand pair of decent SPD shoes less than half price new, they look brand new. So there is other cycling related bargains out there to be had.
Seen some super deals with hidrolik breaks
Lol. My wife works with a GP who doesn’t know the difference between there and their!!.
Where are they all? I'm looking for a winter road bike, finding nothing that isn't advertised at >75% RRP even when it's 4-5 years old.
Tinas, local to the user, so if you’re not seeing much there’s not much local to you? At least I think that’s how it works.
when i looked at bikes on FB marketplace. my old lefty popped up i had sold to a guy 60 miles away in June for £750, it had different tyres and the dropper taken off and replaced, being sold by some unscrupulous looking seller for a £1000 6 miles from me..
no idea how it got there. i got a screenshot of the seller, but it was deleted the next time i looked
FB marketplace local to me has nothing decent unless you fancy a "mounting bike".
Prices are still crazy high on the stuff available near me?
I've never really looked on Facebook Marketplace, but the first items at the top of the page are:
2014 Lamborghini Huaracan for £145,000
Road Bike with Turbo Trainer for £95
Claud Butler road bike for £80
1943 Rolls Royce Merlin Engine for £90,000
Quite an eclectic mix!
Shall we all chip in for the Merlin engine?
And mount it on the Claud Butler road bike?
2020 Nukeproof Scout 290 listed as 'like new, only used a handful of times' for £1100 (50% off!)
I'm not seeing any good fb deals or even half decent where I am in Scotland. Looking for a small frame emtb and new from lbs seems to be the best option.
All I have seen is some very aspirational pricing ya know 5 year old road bikes , going for daft money or people trying to get their shop money back to pay off the finance ,
Some of the comments on the buying selling groups have been epic though.
I’m not seeing any good fb deals or even half decent where I am in Scotland. Looking for a small frame emtb and new from lbs seems to be the best option.
Where are you? There is a 'used once' 2020 Specialized Turbo Kinevo comp in Dundee for £4,300. Size is the only detail not mentioned. The 2021 model is listed as £5,800 online.
Edit. I think I can see S5 on the frame in the pictures which appears to be the largest size.
Just had a look - almost exclusively BSO’s. Couple of his and hers folding bikes though for cheap.
Must be a north manchester thing then. There's been stacks of decent bikes going for really reasonable prices for weeks now. I've been looking for my neighbour as he needs a small frame. Absolutely loads of medium, larges and extra larges. He's ended up with a Trek Marlin.
I was properly tempted by few 29er hardtails
Right... I've just had another look and the first listing that's come up is an immaculate (literally like brand new) Trek X-Caliber 7 29er - 'used a handful of times' - for £425, half the £800 list price. My size too. Hmmmmmm....
I
DO
NOT
NEED
ANOTHER
BIKE...
I'll just keep repeating that
Must be a north manchester thing then. .... Absolutely loads of medium, larges and extra larges.
Nope that's just how it is.. if you need a new 29er wheel loads of 27.5... need a L loads of XS... you need to look away and catch em unawares
Very true. I've seen loads of really decent, cheap bikes in my size, very few in his. If it was me looking for a new bike, you can bet your house on it being the other way around
Oh, I thought this was going to be a thread about Renton 🙂
Nothing for me.i could have been tempted by a small 27.5 hardcire hardtail.
No decent deals in Surrey/Hants Borders that I can see - all "aspirational" pricing and 20yr-old tat at >£100.
I was expecting to see bargains by now but everything is crazy expensive. I sold a 2014 canyon nerve 29er in September, put in on half of what I'd paid (it had upgraded forks and wheels too) which I thought was overpriced but had 10 overs within half an hour. One guy even said it was underpriced and he'd pay £150 more!
With demand still high and shortages of new bikes I think prices will stay high apart from a few bargains were sellers have no idea.
Same this week with me on Pinkbike.
Since the second lockdown announcement its been mad with people messaging and wanting a bike before we lockdown.
Guy drove up this afternoon, met him in a carpark near work, no haggling and paid cash for the Enduro.
I'm about where I want to be now with bikes, got a few parts, brakes, hubs, droppers, cranks, that I could move on when I get round to it.
I can’t get a decent stem, Renthal/Raceface stem with a 35mm clamp and a sub 40mm reach for much under new prices.
Bikes will always sell for less going into winter/during winter and then go up again in Spring. I tend to get my good deals in December and January. Does seem different now though as prices are not dropping and anything I watch is going for more than I think it is worth and more than it would have sold for last winter.
Guessing Binders lives in a very affluent area where people have no care about money.
Guessing Binners lives in a very affluent area where people have no care about money.
Have you ever been to North Manchester/East Lancashire? 'Very affluent area' aren't the first words that spring to mind when you look at places like Burnley, Oldham or Rochdale
My personal thinking is the opposite of that. Its an area with an extremely high population density and after only being out of lockdown for a total of 3 weeks since March, I'm guessing a lot of people are now in such serious financial strife that, as Christmas looms, they're flogging bikes and anything else they can for as much as they can get for them.
If you think about it, I bet there was a lot of people happy to spank 800 quid on a new bike in March, who are now in a very different position, financially.
Just in case anyone is interested, the Specialized Turbo Kenovo mentioned up thread is actually located in Biggar not Dundee. Was interested in it myself and was messaging seller but too far away from me to travel.