[Closed] Selling 26" wheeled bikes.- advice

and they are too valuable

Unless you have a time machine then they are not very valuable at all.

What have you got... somoeone on here might be interested. I run a rigid 26" and a newer 27.5" - ideal for XC I'd say.

Unless you have a time machine then they are not very valuable at all.

I'm (hopefully!) being realistic in thinking a few hundred quid each for them, maybe 10-20% of what they cost. Enough that I'm not prepared to donate them to recycling place.

What have you got… somoeone on here might be interested. I run a rigid 26″ and a newer 27.5″ – ideal for XC I’d say.

Sorry, this isn't meant to be a pseudo-ad so keeping it general.

Do a search of sold items on eBay or Retrobike, expect to get less if you aren't prepared to post.

Unless you have a time machine then they are not very valuable at all.

Better tell that to everyone selling old kit on ebay.

Time machine to last year maybe, when there was nothing much new available.
People still buy 26" kit. Splitting will take longer and you may not get rid of everything, but you'll probably see more £.

It's not selling for as much but its definitely still selling.

Splitting will take longer and you may not get rid of everything, but you’ll probably see more £.

So. I had an old 26" bike and as it wouldn't sell I ended up splitting it. What a PITA. I'm obviously doing something wrong as I keep reading about folks selling bikes or splitting and selling ans and making loads but that's not been my experience. I'm currently, stuck with a frame that won't sell, and is now bubble wrapped and living in the loft!

Selling complete bikes is always a bit of a lottery unless it's something that's in demand. Might be worth putting on a starting price of a little below the min you're prepared to accept rather than a £1 start

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I had a big clear out over lockdown. Parts and a few 26" frames. It all sold pretty quickly. I suspect things have slowed quite a bit. Slowest thing to sell was the complete bike. Quite a bit of interest but it took a while to actually go. Realistically parts is the way to sell. It's a faff, but in some ways easier as you can post the parts and there is less come back. Do it on an eBay low fees weekend to maximise market and profit.

Interesting thread as I've decided to sell loads of older 26" kit accumulated over the years.

Related question so hopefully ok - Who are people using to despatch full bikes?
I've seen adverts for companies that send you a box then collect and deliver for about £50.

Sounds a lot but it's nearly as much to send it via Parcel2Go once the insurance and dimensions are entered correctly.

26" is still good for kids.

Wonder if its worth building bits onto a small frame??

Think it depends on condition and how 'high end' the bikes / components are.

If you've some good quality / good condition wheels and forks, you may well get almost as much selling those separately as you'll get for the full bike, as there are still people out there running 26er bikes, and some parts, forks especially, are becoming hard to come by.

If you go down the full bike route, then maybe its worth trying Facebook marketplace ... it can be a nightmare and you get some time-wasters, but if you're only looking to make a few hundred quid, might be worth doing.

Stick em on here for what you think is reasonable. If they are small sizes, someone may have them as kids bikes, if they're decent someone may have had a hankering for one "back in the day", but not have been able to afford one then.

If the don't sell, you can always split. Old duffers like me are still exclusively running 26er, one from '97, and one from '07!

What bikes are they and what size frame?

A friend sold his 2005 s works stumpjumper last year for £500+. Seemed like a reasonable amount to me. Had modern hope brakes though they're probably worth half the price of the bike

I have a look around online and then just stick them on PB or FB market place for what I think they’re worth. If they don’t sell for what I think is sensible I just drop the price.

What’s the point in keeping it in the garage unused to depreciate further when someone else could be riding it?

What’s the point in keeping it in the garage unused to depreciate further when someone else could be riding it?

Yes, this - exactly.

Thanks for ideas, just need to find time to act on them.

@Stu_N put them in the classifieds on here, a lot less hassle - you may not make huge amounts but you deal with the nicest people!
Oh yes, I’m still 26”.

You need advice as to what you have and the approximate worth. I understand that you havent followed the retro course of old bikes and while some things are worth so much,some are worth a  great deal.

Join and post on retrobike if not already a member. There are what is my X,Y,Z worth threads where people will give you advice/offers on what you have. Hope,Ringle,XTR,XT are worth more, and condition is everything.

I pretty much paid for a £5k ebike on selling about 2/3 of my retro collection(mostly Hope) a couple of years ago, and that was on ebay, so if you include those fees, thats really quite a lot of money.

So go to retrobike and at least find out thee worth of what you have, rather than just taking whatever to be rid of it.

I would also say to split it all down, i know lots more effort, but many like the thrill of the chase finding parts to build their own retro rides.

Advertise locally as a whole bike. If it doesn't sell then split and stick on eBay.

Decent 26er forks still sell for £100+ as do wheels.

So. I had an old 26″ bike and as it wouldn’t sell I ended up splitting it. What a PITA. I’m obviously doing something wrong

Needs to be the right bike.
No point splitting a well used mid/low range bike which has been punted out by the million and not significantly upgraded. Last one i split (26" wheels, carbon frame) only had the original frame and fork. Everything else was upgraded/unusual/sought after. Kept the bits i wanted, sold the rest, all i was left with was consumables (chain, cassette) and some finishing kit (stem, seatpin).
This was 2 years ago.

I had a huge pile of 26 (and older 29) kit plus assorted 1/2 worn tyres etc - I've not got a space problem 🙂

I've kept two bikes (original 456Ti and an Identiti jump bike), all built up with quality gear and the rest I gave to the local recycling place.

And then last week, Son #3 decided he wanted to go for a ride, and the 456Ti was pulled out. I'm just keeping it, hung up.

I recently sold a 2010 Anthem and got a good price. It was well maintained and had great kit (Hope, XTR, SID XX etc). I sold through the classifieds and had a couple of people interested so I would say give a go on the classifieds and see what comes of it. If it's realistically priced, well looked after and has some good/interesting kit then I'm sure you'll get a sale

@dyna-ti is 2010-2012 stuff retro these days? (serious question!)

I might try splitting my original Cotic Rocket and take it from there, it's not a full working bike anyway.

I recently sold a Cotic BFe (January 2022) with 26" wheels, 3x9 drivetrain and made just over £450 via eBay.

The buyer drove from Leeds to Birmingham to collect :o)

Semi modernise it. Makes it asthetically more appealing and actually better to use

#1. Short stem wide bars, just cheap ones.
#2. 1x, you can just go 1x9 0r 1x10 whatever it is currently with old cassette and a cheap narrow wide if it's more winch and plummet bike or get a wide range 9/10 speed cassette from eBay and a cheap narrow wide.

Photo with saddle dropped.

What size? Small / Med 26" have demand for smaller riders, XL not so much. But put on eBay auction let it find it's price. Not everyone is looking to drop £5K on latest enduromatic bike and are happier spending a few hundred on something adequate.

is 2010-2012 stuff retro these days? (serious question!)

Retro is really pre 1997, but thats obviously only to a certain generation, with future generations having their 'retro' period well beyond that. My post kind of reflected on the 97 and i hadn't taken into account post generations.

But what sells is the high end bits. So if you had a few quid and could afford higher end kit that should sell or be more sought after.

I suppose in this instance, facebook would be a better place to research what you have than retrobike.

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With all that, generations etc in mind the only advice i can offer is to research what you have as deeply as you can, Join other forums or at least scan through their sale sections, ebay. You can turn it into a sort of a hobby, but its quite immersive.

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BUT.

Selling a bike whole can only achieve so much. Selling it in parts can achieve much more, but it might be a better idea to sell whole, in places like gumtree when you take into account al the trouble you have have to go to to package up each part, take it to the post office or wherever to send off, the cost of packaging, the cost of postage, the headache of some whiny prick looking for a 30% discount because the postman was 5 minutes late.

26" bikes don't sell for anything like the value of their secondhand parts.

Splitting them can bring double what selling as bikes will; if you can't be arsed with this accept that someone else will. The effort they put in is worthy of their reward for cleaning, photographing, packing, posting and sorting out the little issues that may occur.

People buy old triple chainsets, 8/9/10 speed components, brakes, forks etc.

You can sell non working forks and brakes, cracked frames etc as people find value in them.

Despite the hype, some people still enjoy their 26" bikes and need / want bits to keep them going.