Wondering if this Specialized frame and fork set a good deal.?

Question

The frame is very clean and the Fox rear shock holds air well. The Manitou axel front forks are also included. Its a Red 2003 Specialized Rockhopper FSR Frame w/ Manitou Axle Fork and Fox rear shock. The asking price is $200. I want to build a bike while learning more about this sport. I am looking through ebay on a daily basis for parts to build a bike i can enjoy for at least one season before selling and moving up. Is this a good deal or not? $200 for Frame, rear shock, and fork.?

Answer 1

$200 isn't too bad a price, but I'd offer less.  The Axel front fork is exceedingly heavy and very OK.  I suspect the bike had a much better fork once upon a time.  

So, here's the deal, the owner probably bought another frame.  He then stripped this bike (including the better fork) to build up the new one.  I suspect the owner will take less to get the frame out of his garage.

Something you should consider is if you had a bike on hand to strip, it would be pretty inexpensive to build up this frame.  Without a garageful of parts, though, it is real expensive to build a bare frame into a useful bike.  

Unless you really want to build up your own machine and don't care too much about the cost, I'd recommend buying a used, but fully intact, bike.

Hope this helps.