What bike to buy on ebay <£300? - guidance appreciated...

[Jumpy Guy]

After some suggestions on my other post for a bike for Mission Control, I now have a (small) pile of cash to buy something for myself.

I have a total budget of about £400, so my thoughts were to spend £300 on ebay, and have £100 for any needed mods/upgrades/kit

This bike will be for general use; riding to work, but also some cross country stuff through the local countryside, and basic trails while on visits to famiy in Scotland.

I'm 6'1", weigh 85 kilos..... not sure what else I need to say.

So, over to the forum, if you have a spare five minutes to help spend my cash on the 'bay....

[GHW]

My first 'grown-up' bike was one of these, two years ago (from eBay for about £350, I think). It lasted a couple of years of abuse, and two weeks in Morzine before I cracked the frame - a nice, well-built bike that's pretty easy for a complete mountain-biking idiot like me to use

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Marin-Rock-Springs-with-upgr...

[Mekon]

Looking down the completed sales lists, it seems you could get a nicely specced Specialized Rockhopper with v-brakes for £190-210. The frame is disk compatible (hubs too, I think), so could be upgraded later if you felt the need. It's a hell of a lot of bike for that sort of money.

Examples that have sold
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Specialized-Rockhopper-Mount...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Specialized-Rockhopper-2006-...

I would bid on these

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Specialized-Rockhopper-Mount...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SPECIALIZED-ROCKHOPPER-07-MO...

[RobDickinson]

Make sure you know what size to get & what condition its in.

If the chain, catridge, chainrings, brakes etc all need replacing it'll cost plenty to fix up & you may as well have bought a new one.

[phillvr6]

I suggest you check every bike for sale, I did this a while ago and came up trumps:

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0...

[okgo]

Bought a rockhopper off ebay that was in great condition for around 350

Great bike

[oh feck]

Got a hard rock off ebay last year, 12 month old bike for £312 had a few scratches from bike racks. Best bit was he didnt list all the bits he had changed in the listing, when i got the bike and have a look through the manuals and tot up the receipts came to £930. Has to be my best buy off ebay.

[Jumpy Guy]

Thanks for the suggestions thus far, although the Specialised on ebay went for £410 at the end

Have some other Rockhoppers on my ebay watch list, but what other bikes/models should I have a look at?

On another note, which bike specific forums are worth looking at?

[Gazzab]

I have a Trek 6700SLR hardtail.
Excellent bike.
Guess they would go for £350 on ebay? About 800 ish or more new.
Had it for a couple of yrs now.
Dont ride it much as I use my full suss these days.
Been a great bike, bit rarer than a Specialised.
Look them up - a great spec, great bike etc..... Great charcoal / black colour.
Mine is a large and I could be talked into selling it.
Got some XT stuff on it plus avid juicy 5s.
Have only ridden it once since last serviced (although it did slip in gear so I suspect it needs a fine tune).

Edited by Gazzab on Sunday 1st June 22:01

[Jumpy Guy]

Seen a 2007 Rockhopper for sale in my local rag.

only thing, its V braked, rather than discs.

Its £250, is this worth a look? Worth converting to disc? possible? expensive?

[okgo]

Do it, good V's are still better than ste discs imo.

And you can upgrade for cheap if you buy 2nd hand discs

[jonnylayze]

I have a 2004 Gary Fisher Wahoo which I bought new in early 2005 with a good discount for just over £300. I do the type of riding you are talking about with the occasional attack on things like Cwm Carn. I'd thoroughly reccommend the Wahoo - although the rear hub needed replacing after a couple of years. IIRC Gary Fisher is part of Trek but you get better components pound for pound. I rode both before I bought and much preferred the Gary Fisher.

I agree with the post about discs and v brakes. discs are a definite advantage over v brakes, provided they're good ones. Otherwise, stick with V brakes.

[mk1fan]

It's hard to say what secondhand bike for £300 as you never know what is or isn't available.

I bought a complete Cove Handjob for £330 a couple of years ago - selling off the components I didn't need. That was an exceptional buy. But it doesn't mean that you'll be able to get the same.

As long as you're happy the bike isn't stolen, in good condition and will do what you want it to do then you'll be fine.

Perhaps posting up the bikes you're looking at might be a better way of ensuring you get a good deal?

[Jumpy Guy]

posting up the possibilities is a good idea, except for the sneaky charlatons on here who snipe it from under my nose !

;-)

But you're right, will spend sopme time tonight and post tomorrow....

[Jumpy Guy]

update- my boss has been persuaded to take part in the cycle to work scheme

so, I'm looking at a Kona Kula.... opinions?