Advice on buying a used MTB?

Question

It's been about ten years since I bought a bike, so I'm not up on new developments and technology. I'd like to drop about $150 on a used mountain bike, for light trail riding and tooling around the city and parks in Vancouver. Any advice on which makes or components to look for or avoid in this price range? My last bike was a Bianchi, and I quite liked it, but had to sell it when I moved out of the country. And how to check for commonly damaged or worn areas? Also, if anyone happens to know a trustworthy place that sells used bikes here, that would be stellar.

Answer 1

A buck fifty will be a drop alright..as in dropping your money into a money pit.   Any used bike for that little money would be frought with problems and cause you to spend more money fixing this and that.     Try to save up to about twice that money and you may find something.

Answer 2

$150 puts you in a tough range.  You could get a real hunk of junk, or you might get a jewel someone just wants to unload.  You are most likely to be able to find an old hardtail in pretty good shape at this price.  I wouldn't consider any full suspension bike at this price, though.  (Of course, someone may just have a gem to unload, but I doubt it.)

The likely sources for used bikes are: local bike shops, craigslist, and local mountain bike forums.

There are lots of things to look for and look out for.  A knowledgable friend is perhaps your most useful resource.  If I were you, I'd try to get a buddy to look over any bike you might want to buy.

In any case, some of the obvious things to beware of are:

- dry rotted or worn out tires.  Of course, you can replace tires, if all else is cool.

- rust

- clunking, clicking, banging or other untoward noises in moving parts

- dysfunctional or non-functioning suspension forks, brakes, shifters and derailleurs

- frayed and/or rusting cables

- oil seeping from suspension forks.  (A slight film on the sliders is OK.  Lots of oil is bad.)

- cracks in the frame, handlebars, seat post, handlebar stem, etc.

- big dents.  (little dents are to be expected.)

Lots of gunk is OK as long as it isn't masking issues above.  It simply means you need to clean the bike.

Brands of bike like Trek, Gary Fisher, Giant, Specialized and Cannondale all have good bones.  Companies like: Diamondback, Schwinn, Raleigh, Pacific, GT, Iron Horse, etc. make bikes that are sold by discounters as well as some sold in bike stores.  Unless you know what you are looking at, these may be trash or they could be cool, so be careful with these brands.

Hope this helps.