By Rick Schultz and Sue Rowland
Stan Purdum wrote a great introduction on this topic but there is still more to be said about this topic as we dive deeper.
I would like to share some inside information on this topic that I gained from serving as a bicycle tester for Cervelo, a component tester for Shimano, and a certified bicycle racing coach. My insights, together with those provided by Stan Purdum should place those of you looking to purchase a road bike in a great position to end up with the right road bike.
Advice for Beginning Racers
As a cycling coach, I often teach beginner racers about surviving their first USAC Cat 5 crit races, and my recommendation is always do not buy an expensive carbon bike until you get to Cat 3. Why? Because beginner racers inevitably make riding mistakes, leading to crashes that often damage carbon bike frames which then require costly repairs or even cause a total loss of the frame.
I recommend that beginning racers invest in a good quality aluminum bike. They are very affordable, often costing $150-$250 for a used model. If you crash an aluminum bike, it will usually survive to race another day. Remember, it is always possible to upgrade some bike components.
Three examples of used aluminum bikes are shown below. These bikes will work perfectly for someone just getting into racing. Remember, you just need to complete 10 races to be moved to Cat 4. Once you reach Cat 4 you can upgrade these bikes with a better set of wheels. When you reach Cat 3, you can then look to invest in an “inexpensive” carbon bike. Just be sure to remove the fork and inspect it thoroughly, because I have seen more than my share of cracked steerer tubes.
Note: A carbon fiber road bike within the same level of components as these shown below will cost 2 1/2 to 3 times more than those shown below.
Advice for Club/Recreational Riders
The best places to search for a bike are these 3 sources (my recommendations):
1. Bicycle Blue Book (BBB)
I have no affiliation with BBB, but have purchased two bikes from them with great value. How do you get the best bang for your buck at BBB? There are two different sources of road bikes on their website; (a) private party; and (b) owned by BBB and stored in their warehouse. For both of my bike purchases, I chose to purchase the bikes that were owned by BBB.
There are two advantages with working directly with BBB. First, they carefully examine “their” bicycles with a fine-tooth comb, fixing issues, tuning the derailleurs and brakes, new cables, etc. before selling them. Second, they don’t like to sit on their inventory for too long. If BBB sells a bicycle, they can purchase one or two more bikes. I offered them several hundred bucks less than their asking price and BBB accepted my offer both times.
2. The Pros Closet (TPC)
TPC uses a business model like that used by BBB, but TPC seems to carry higher-end bicycles than BBB. I recommend using both of those websites to find your dream bike.
3. Craigslist
Buyer beware. If you can get a seller to respond to you, you might get a chance to see the bicycle. To test this theory, when I was looking for my latest bicycle, (which I eventually bought through BBB), I sent an email request to 6 local private party sellers and one dealer – so 7 bike requests in total. Out of these 7, only one (1) person replied that their bicycle was still for sale. When I emailed back that I would like to see the bike, I never got a reply. As for the bicycle shop/dealer, they never replied at all. If you get to see the bicycle, many times, you need to find out the real reason that the seller is selling it. The reasons for selling a bicycle usually range from (a) it’s been in one too many crashes, (b) the components are worn out, (c) the wheels are worn out, or (d) any combination of the above. I would use Craigslist as a last resort, but on second thought, I would not use Craigslist at all.
That’s all for now, hope this helps you find your next road bike at a great price.
Coach Rick Schultz is an avid cyclist who has trained, raced, and coached in Southern California and now resides in Bend, Oregon where he works as a bike fitter and bike fit educator. Rick is an engineer by trade and a prolific cycling product reviewer. He’s the author of Stretching & Core Strengthening for the Cyclist in the RBR eBookstore. Check his coaching site, www.bikefitnesscoaching.com. Click to read Rick’s full bio.
Rick:
You did not mention Ebay. The issues with Ebay are that one cannot inspect a bike before purchase and selling fees and shipping costs make transactions costly.
I fully agree that the buyers and sellers on craigslist are often difficult to communicate with.
However I totally disagree with the comment that bikes on cl are essentially trash and that one should not use it at all.
If one is going to purchase a bike on cl, one needs to do a thorough inspection.
I build and recondition bikes and sell them on cl and these bikes are as good as one can find anywhere (including BBB and TPC). After I build or recondition a bike, I usually take it to my LBS for a final inspection. I also guarantee my bikes and offer to take them back if the buyer finds that they do not meet their needs.
Sorry that you apparently have had bad experiences….
I was comparing the quality of bikes on CL vs BBB and TPC. BBB and TPC have a minimum level/quality of bike they will accept, on CL its buyer beware.
I have bought and sold bicycles on craigslist. I’ve bought bicycles on Ebay. I’ve bought a bicycle from TPC. I recently helped a friend by a bicycle on Facebook Marketplace. I concur with Walt that Ebay and craigslist have their issues (even more so with Facebook Marketplace). But, that’s where the bicycles are! And if you are efficient at scanning the ads, and perceptive in “interpreting” the ads, you can find some promising bikes and some stand-up sellers. Is it going to take some time? Very likely. But that’s how people find deals, investing the time. Of course, a pre-purchase inspection is highly recommended. And that’s not possible with Ebay. But the two bicycles that I bought on Ebay were both better-than-described. I realize that I got lucky in that regard.
I’ve had success buying & selling bikes on Craigslist. People doesn’t ride anymore and the bike is cluttering up their garage, they want to get rid of it, I can talk them down on price.. I bought 2 Cannondales., older models, since they were not ridden much the bikes were in good shape. I put new tires on them, ride them for a while and sell them. I don’t do it to make money, just happy someone else gets to ride them. Be cautious with Craigslist, there are scammers, on a couple of occasions I was told to pay a shipping company that did not exist. If a deal is too good to be true, it is.
Once again, not all of us are in need of racing bikes. If you’re looking for a good bike for recreational/fitness riding, don’t overlook finding a good used bike. Many cyclists upgrade for lots of reasons and have perfectly acceptable used bikes for sale. Pick up a solid used cycle. and maybe even HAVE A CYCLE SHOP NEAR THE SELLER EVALUATE IT PRIOR TO PURCHASING IF YOU CAN’T CHECK IT OUT YOURSELF IN PERSON.
One thing to avoid is not buying the correct size bike frame and not knowing if the gearing is compatible with the terrain you will be riding. Ride it for a while and then when you find you are really into cycling and NEED a lighter frame, more responsive groupset, that is the time to consider buying a new upgrade.
This is the wisest bit of advice I’ve seen on Road Biker Rider!
Having once raced many thousands of years ago, and was involved with others later who raced, I always recommend what Rick Schultz and Sue Rowland mentioned in this article. I’ve seen a lot of crashes and bikes suffering from damage from such an event, and getting low mid-end components like Sora helped a lot when it came to replacing damaged parts as well. I also knew a lot of good potential racers who dropped out from racing after suffering their first major bike damage that they simply could not afford to continue racing, because the bike they chose was a higher-end bike which was a mistake.
Buying a used bike for under $450 is a great idea, I’m not sure in today’s market how much of a bike you’re going to find for under $250, but it doesn’t hurt to check, the cheaper the better.
Now the only thing I question is getting an expensive bike for Cat 3 racing, just not sure if I agree with that, you’re still on the hook to pay for damages, some bike shops if you race for them when you get to that level give you sale prices on stuff that the team needs, but the money is still coming out of your pocket. Plus there are still a ton of crashes at the Cat 3 level. So I would be looking at used bikes again, maybe something like the Specialized Allez, or the Triban Decathlon, something along those lines. CF bikes don’t handle crashes well, so I would avoid that material till you graduate from Cat 3 and go into Cat 2, at that level you will get sponsors from bike manufacturers that will offer your team their bikes to ride, and you will get a new bike every season, at least that’s the way it use to be, not sure about now. You can either keep the old bike as a backup bike, which is a good idea, or sell it for expense money, but a lot of the guys couldn’t sell the second bike due to crashes, so they would have to resort to the backup. Some guys were just plain unlucky and would crash out 2 bikes in a season, those guys had to fork over the money to buy another bike because the bike manufacturers only gave them one a year. I’ve been out of racing for about 25 years so I’m not sure how much of what I’ve said has changed, hopefully, someone can fill in more modern details.
Another great way to find a good used bike is old-fashioned word-of-mouth. Ask your riding buddies, at local club rides, or even local bike shops. Riders often know of fellow riders willing to sell a bike, including those upgrading to a new bike & looking to sell off their old ride. More bike shops are selling used bikes these days, and those who are not usually will help out the ‘riding community’. With today’s high bike prices they know many cannot afford a new bike until they sell their old one 😉