Expensive bikes - hard to sell 2nd hand
Discussion
okgo said:
Athena is how far down the pecking order of Campag? Its 105 equiv isn't it? Ultegra at best, so £500 groupset which is being generous. Those wheels are toilet, struggling to see where the money went with that one if they really were 3 grand.
He is in dreamland IMO.
Oh, I entirely agree he's in dreamland at 2 grand. He is in dreamland IMO.
okgo said:
That is an utter pile of s
t.
Worth £700-800 tops.
It does look overpriced for the spec. £500 of gruppo, £150 of wheels, struggling to see where the rest of the money is...t.Worth £700-800 tops.
I recently spent a lot of time looking at a £4k new Boardman Air 9.4. Full Dura Ace inc deep section wheels etc, current model under 12 months old.
It was being advertised at £2200 and eventually sold for £1800 after about 6 weeks for sale.
I'd spoken to the seller, seen the ads on facebook, Ebay etc etc and eventually bumped into the guy who bought it.
The only reason I didn't go for it in the end was just not that much of an upgrade over my current bike.
The higher the price, the harder the sale - and the depreciation is staggering...
Ironically if you bought a £1k bike in the sales at about £700 ish you'd likely get most of your money back a year later.
okgo said:
Of course the real issue is paying out for Bianchi in the first place, that would be a £1800 bike from Canyon I reckon.
If that.... I think this details the point I was (very badly) making, bloke drops £3k on average Bianchi because Bianchi, realises cycling is hard work, takes time and other people are better, tries to recoup intial outlay by asking stupid money for a bike worth half what he paid. pablo said:
okgo said:
Of course the real issue is paying out for Bianchi in the first place, that would be a £1800 bike from Canyon I reckon.
If that.... I think this details the point I was (very badly) making, bloke drops £3k on average Bianchi because Bianchi, realises cycling is hard work, takes time and other people are better, tries to recoup intial outlay by asking stupid money for a bike worth half what he paid. t...pablo said:
The others couldnt really afford the £8k in th first place and are desperate to recoup as much as possible
Thats the biggest problem there, I don't think emotional attachment plays a part at all. Its a transparant market, but the problem with any market where the bid / offer is too far apart is someone will crack first and market sentiment is then at this level. In this case when the cash short (for whatever reason - new shinys or skint); cracks and sells a C59 (for what some regards as peanuts) the market generally moves in that direction. Unless you have something special, rare, unique you really will struggle to drive up the bid (so I don't see why all the love for a mass produced Colnago, Passoni maybe; but then I don't get Italian bikes anyway). And thats before you add in any non-recourse / caveat emptor and the sheisty buyer / seller antics on bay of thieves.
There is also seems to be some sort of odd glass-price-ceiling myth; where at 2k the bike bestows upon thee 4.2w/per kilo. A 2k bike is often a branding exercise over substance. New, a 4k bike is often ladden with comprimise e.g. Aero Frame, non-aero super wide bars (you just negated all you're aero benefit there buddy), sub-par wheels...
And that in itself is a problem. Once you are in big money, the bikes and compenents are matched to the individual preference. Sure the frames are standard size, but wheels, cranks, handlebars etc are all pretty personal. Its pointless trying to sell a complete high end bike; you're better off breaking it up, so at the top end of the market the bikes are sold in bits and you have little yardstick to measure.
JEA1K said:
Ah well, its not such a bad thing ... the rest of us can feast on the spoils when these middle-aged overweight wannabees realise that an £8k bike isn't going to transform them into the next Chris Horner and sell up.
Yeah but they only buy Dogmas with pony wheels and obligatory 30mm of stack height (because "suits you sir"). Anyway, OP asked about boutique bikes, we're prattling on about mass produced bikes.I often look at Posh Bikes on eBay. He has a couple of dozen interesting bikes most of the time - http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/posh-bikes/m.html?_nkw=&... I'd prefer to give money to a trader than a private eBayer.
Only realistic way to move a second hand, high end bike is to split it up, sell frame/fork/headset as one lot, groupset another, wheels, finishing kit etc.
If I'm looking for a Look 685 second hand then odds on I have all the rest of the stuff to move onto the frame- why would I want to lay out the extra, only to sell it all again?
^as an e.g.
If I'm looking for a Look 685 second hand then odds on I have all the rest of the stuff to move onto the frame- why would I want to lay out the extra, only to sell it all again?
^as an e.g.
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