Help Needed: Advice for Buying a Used Mountain Bike?

[SallyCat]

I've got my eye on a used freeride bike (Transition TR250) that's nearby and in my price range, and am arranging to meet the owner. Those of you who've bought used bikes, is there anything you recommend that I look closely for? Anything not to do or say?

I would also like to knock a couple hundred off the price, but I'm not a super-confident haggler. In fact, I have the interpersonal skills of someone raised in the woods by misanthropic bears. And being an older woman, I'm afraid of being seen as a pushover. I'm trying to go into this with a solid strategy that makes it look like I know what I'm doing.

Grateful for any tips.

(I'm looking for something short of a DH rig but with significantly more travel than my trail bike for moderate DH riding in PA, which is hella rocky. I'm tired of rattling the teeth out of my head and beating up on my poor, beautiful Kona. I could rent, but I figured buying used would be more cost-effective in the long run.)

 

[bounceswoosh]

Great idea!

I would be leery of buying a bike like that used, just because you don't know how it's been ridden. Okay, I did buy a DH bike used, but it was from @altagirl ... I felt pretty okay with that.

... You wouldn't happen to be interested in buying my DH bike, would you? 9" travel.

 

[SallyCat]

... You wouldn't happen to be interested in buying my DH bike, would you? 9" travel.

Holy cow, that must be plush!
Yeah, I figure that there's a risk, but a new bike is just beyond my means, and this wouldn't be my main bike, just a rock-basher for our local DH park. I have some time to research and think it over. If I had my 'druthers, I'd finance a Specialized Enduro.

 

[bounceswoosh]

Holy cow, that must be plush!

Basically it's a motorcycle without the motor. Theoretically you can pedal it uphill. If you have a lot of momentum going from the last descent, anyway ;-)

 

[SallyCat]

Well, heck, it looks like I don't need advice on haggling after all: I stumbled on a screaming deal on a brand new Knolly combined with a 12-month no-interest financing deal. Sweet! Guess who's going to be bombing down the trails this summer in 170mm luxury? This old cat lady!

 

[geargrrl]

Every mountain bike I've purchased in the last 25 year has been used except for my current one. You just need to check for abuse and whether it's been stolen or not.

170mm??!!! Can you climb with that? edit: You aren't planning on it,I see.

 

[bounceswoosh]

You just need to check for abuse and whether it's been stolen or not.

Here's why I worry about that. Years ago, someone backed over my bike with a car, then rolled forward over the bike again. The bike *appeared* structurally sound except for some very subtle rippling in the paint around the joints. A mechanic I trust told me that in order to verify structural integrity, I would need to have the bike x-rayed.

I would never have noticed this when looking at a used bike, and I am not sure I could tell today.

170mm??!!! Can you climb with that? edit: You aren't planning on it,I see.

My 9" (229mm) travel bike climbs better than you'd think. The issue is more the incredibly slack geometry - it increases the effective slope angle so that you feel like you're climbing a wall. Also that the seat is always low. If I had a dropper - which I would use to raise the seat - it wouldn't be nearly so bad.

I have been pondering a 150-160mm bike to encompass xc/trail/lift-serviced riding. But I'll probably end up with something closer to 130.

 

[SallyCat]

170mm??!!! Can you climb with that?

Ha, ha NOPE!

I have a most excellent Kona Process 134 with a 140 mm fork that serves me well for everything except Pennsylvania downhill. The Kona is actually awesome for flowy, berm-y downhill, but it's so rocky here I sometimes can't even see the trail for the rattling.

 

[bounceswoosh]

I have a most excellent Kona Process 134 with a 140 mm fork that serves me well for everything except Pennsylvania downhill. The Kona is actually awesome for flowy, berm-y downhill, but it's so rocky here I sometimes can't even see the trail for the rattling.

This is good for me to know - I'm looking at a bike that's 127 w/150 fork, and I've been thinking both that it might not climb well enough, and that it might not handle downhill well enough (I want to ditch the downhill bike). It sounds like it might climb fine. We'll see about downhill.

HOWEVER 99% of the time, friends who might be willing to DH with me want to stick to greens and blues, which are generally pretty mellow and actually are worse on a very long-travel bike. And I've done some crazy stuff on my current XC bike, which is 100mm with maybe 120 in front. And Winter Park, where friends usually want to ride, has mostly really buff, flowy trails. Keystone has rocks up the wazoo, but no one ever wants to ride with me there because it's so technical. So ... I could always rent a downhill rig if I felt I needed it, I suppose.

 

[geargrrl]

I am right in the middle of upgrading my current suspension. I have a 120-140 Talas on the front, going to a 140-160 Pike, and in the back a Fox Float CTD; not sure of the travel, to a Monarch. I went throught a whole "new bike or not" thing and since more travel is the only issue, easy to fix. Giant/Liv was selling this exact frame with a 160 as the SX; not sure why they quit and brought out the Hail instead.

 

[SallyCat]

@bounceswoosh Kona makes the Process in a 153 with a 160 fork as well. I really like how light and nimble mine is, and I love the low standover height. If I didn't live in PA I wouldn't have even looked for another bike. The rocks just make it no fun on the 134 and I was getting a lot of damage to the frame.

 

[bounceswoosh]

@bounceswoosh Kona makes the Process in a 153 with a 160 fork as well. I really like how light and nimble mine is, and I love the low standover height. If I didn't live in PA I wouldn't have even looked for another bike. The rocks just make it no fun on the 134 and I was getting a lot of damage to the frame.

To be clear - the rocks are still going to be damaging the frame on the new bike, right?

I was very much interested in the Yeti SB5 two years ago, but it had zero standover height. I was still tempted, but @geargrrl said yes, standover height absolutely matters - and I listened to her. And apparently Yeti figured it out, too, because this year the frame has 3" more standover height than it did before. After a quick neighborhood test ride, I definitely want to get it out for a demo - once I'm back into regular MTB mode and can actually evaluate it.

 

[SallyCat]

To be clear - the rocks are still going to be damaging the frame on the new bike, right?

You're absolutely right; I plan to put some frame protection on the Knolly, but I expect it will take a beating. I'm really in this for more comfort with the longer travel, but I guess a side benefit will be less abuse to the Kona.

 

[SallyCat]

Just ordered some blue alloy pedals for it, because STYLE.