HOW TO PRICE A USED BICYCLE?

June 25, 2006

    I currently live in a hilly mountain town and am considering buying a used '05 Kona Stuff for trail biking and dirt jumping. I know the original retail price of the bike is about $900-1000. It is only 6 months old and is in excellent condition.
    I'm not sure how much is reasonable to pay for this bike. I'm pretty new to the entire thing. I don't want to insult the seller, but I don't want to pay hand over fist, either. Please help! Thanks!

Ish K.

Ish:
    I could coach you on successful negotiations, but that would make for another Web site.
    Instead, consider this: If in six months the bike’s owner rode the heck outta the bike then cleaned it up real nice, it’d look like new but might have the crap beat out of it. You can’t tell for sure without taking the bike apart, but you could find obvious signs of wear by doing an ABC Quick Check. (Find more detailed checks, with pictures, in my book.)
    Second, just as (in the U.S.) you can check a used car’s “blue book” value, you can do likewise for bikes on Centric’s Bicycle Blue Book Web site. (Note that you gotta pay to use it, and I never have.) You can also get a book by the same name (shown at right)—but unless that Kona traveled thru time, the book won't list it.

Mr Bike

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