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Thanks, that’s a great tip.
Thanks, that’s a great tip. With Shimano levers in particular I find you do actually need the bar taped and the hoods rolled down to get clean shifts, that little grey cover for the exposed cable channel is vital and needs holding flat.
Ignore, double post
Ignore, double post
Ah, excellent, thanks. That’s
Ah, excellent, thanks. That’s exactly what I’m looking for, that vernier style scale is much more accurate and easy to read than a line across a plastic window. I’ll get that and a split beam one for lockrings/cassettes/BBs/crank bolts
Also a good tip if taking
Also a good tip if taking cash is to have them count it for you whilst you hold the bike. And if you’re like me ask them to be quiet whilst you count, it’s easy to get distracted. Definitely count twice and don’t trust. I don’t consider myself to be a particularly good judge of character or body language but I guess I’m experienced enough to spot a scammer, it’s a question of listening to your gut sometimes.
What I have found recently with eBay sales is a lot of people waiting a couple of days before paying, much like my earlier post I think this is cashflow-related.
My next door neighbour had his Golf R32 stolen in exactly the scam you mention, it was later used in an armed robbery and burnt out. Fortunately insurace paid out
Good point on the test ride,
Good point on the test ride, personally I don’t offer them when selling.
I once sold a car for around £2k, the future owner turned up in his Porsche GT3 (c. £90k back then) and gave me the keys to that whilst he test drove mine. And was gone over an hour so I thought I’d best see if the keys actually worked with the Porsche – which they did. Soo tempting to take it for a blat.
One of my recent bike sales I did allow a test ride, future owner left his 8yo daughter as collateral! It kind of reminded me of the infamous Sean Kelly bike/car/wife conversation. Admittedly only went once round the block but even so…
One other thing – depending
One other thing – depending on the groupset and condition you might get more for it by parting it out. It’s winter bike build season and used groupsets get decent prices. Likewise the Synapse is a good frame. Disc or rim brake?
If you decide to part it out sell the bars and shifters as a unit – some people stress over installing bar tape, aligning shifters, etc and a complete bar unit is easy to transplant to a new bike. I’m sure I’m not the only one – I remember my first self-build and I bought bars and shifters together because I wanted to save money on my LBS taping the bars. Now it’s gone full circle and people pay me to do their bar tape 🙂
eBay works for me, I’ve sold
eBay works for me, I’ve sold 7 bikes in the last three years with no issues, and two in the last month. Top tips.
1. Take good photos, showing any defects. It’s a 7yo bike so people will expect wear and tear, minor marks. Give it a gear cable service if you can – I spent £20 servicing both bikes myself. Clean it if you can before taking photos.
2. Check prices for a similar model and price using Buy it Now with Best Offer enabled. This has always worked well for me. There are two types of buyers of bikes on eBay. Type one is “bid on lots, hope to get a bargain, don’t mind waiting”. Type two knows what they want, and want a bike quickly, and don’t worry too much about price. Try to deal with Type 2. I’ve had more hassle selling cheap bikes to the bottom of the market (£200 and under) than I have with selling bikes for over £1k.
3. Time listings to coincide with monthly pay days – both of my recent sales completed on October 31st, despite being listed for most of October. Cashflow is tight out there, and the price your Synapse is going to command means that it will be a purchase out of monthly earnings rather than savings.
4. Make your listing stand out – there are loads of Synapses for sale, what makes it worthwhile for the buyer to buy yours? Being in London is helpful – offering to meet someone at a tube station etc is a good idea. I actually prefer this to selling from my home because you don’t want people casing the joint. Avoid the temptation to say “I’m selling my bike because my new Trek Madone Project One eTap has just arrived” because if you do it won’t be in your shed for long.
5. Cash is king, and there’s really no reason why they shouldn’t pay cash given the likely price you’ll get. If using eBay Payments and offering collection they’ll be given a barcode for you to scan. It’s absolutely vital you scan this code on collection as its your proof of delivery. Without it they can take the bike, claim they’ve never received it, and eBay will refund them. Lots of sellers aren’t aware of this and as a buyer I’ve had to tell them how to use it to protect themselves. If they’re paying by cash only accept polymer notes (I think paper 20s are still legal tender? And definitely don’t take paper 50s)
6. Buyers likely won’t care if its stolen, or even if its yours. I’ve never been asked this, and no-one has asked for documentation.
7. Be communicative. This is a great way to build your spidey sense as to whether the buyer is a fraudster. Use bike language in your listing, see if the questions they ask are sensible/knowledgeable. You’ll get a feel for whether the transaction is likely to go sideways. I’ve had a few non payer bidders on things (not bikes usually) – if you sell it auction format then tick the “immediate payment required’ option. People buying a 7yo Synapse are likely to know what they’re looking for and their seatstay from their chainstay.
8. Wait for an eBay reduced fees listing offer – I get these every couple of weeks and it makes a big difference (70% of 13% vs 13% of the sale)
For an example of what I consider to be a good listing here’s one I sold earlier.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125575769893
As I’m not commuting I just
As I’m not commuting I just try to avoid it, either by riding at a different time or in a different direction. Rear DRL for a modicum of safety.
In my younger days of renting places to live I always factored it in by trying to live east of where I was working. That comes from an incident early in my driving career when I almost hit someone due to being dazzled.There is a tiny amount of
There is a tiny amount of rotation possible with those auto-align seatposts, are you sure the wedge is aligned properly in the frame? Assume the LBS has taken the post and wedge out and given everything a good clean?
Find it very odd they’ve not been able to supply a post as I’ve bought one recently due to a stripped seat clamp bolt on mine. Arrived next day from Giant Bike Spares which I think is the semi-official supplier for the UK. They also come up used on eBay a lot so I think for the sake of £30 or so I’d get one and get riding the bike before it goes in the shed for winter.
It’s not an issue – Giant
It’s not an issue – Giant posts are cheap and good quality. Replacement aluminium posts are around £30, carbon an absolute bargain at £60 (Google Giant Bike Spares)
Just be careful with the seat clamp bolt if it’s the single bolt design, it’s made of cheese and needs a good hex key – definitely don’t use a ball head.
Also, the D-Fuse stuff really does work, I’ve switched from my Defy Advanced to my winter bike (ally Domane) and getting a lot more beaten up on rides, even with wider tyres on the Domane.
A good JIS screwdriver is
A good JIS screwdriver is essential for working on the free stroke adjustment for Shimano MTB brake levers. Tiny soft screw used and a standard Philips will just round it out. Quite why they insist on using this rather than a hex bolt is beyond me. Same driver is also great for limit screws of course.
I bought my latest bike from
I bought my latest bike from a guy who trades in used bikes (small scale). Lots of basically unridden lockdown bikes around but sellers wanting top £££ for them, buyers very sluggish. Aims to clear £50-£100 on each sale.
Trek Domane SLR is in your
Trek Domane SLR is in your budget. Rack and mudguard mounts, 4 bottle mounts, endurance geo. 35mm tyres with guards I believe.
(As long as you’ve got somewhere secure to lock it up)
The aluminium version is similarly practical and discounted heavily at the moment. So you can spend anywhere from about £800-£4k on what’s essentially the same bikeIt’s because it’s something
It’s because it’s something that all taxpayers can unite behind. I live in a very quiet rural town and there are a couple of drivers with race exhausts and flamer kits (dump unburnt fuel into the hot exhaust and ignite it) fitted. Loads of complaints on the local Facenazi groups citing disturbance to sleep, pets, and livestock. Personally doesn’t bother me but then I previously ran an exhaust so loud I had to switch the engine off at the drive through to order. 105db when measured at track days, sounded awesome at 8000rpm.Yeah, me too on saddle height
Yeah, me too on saddle height, and fit in general. I’ve got a very small window, not helped by short legs (165mm cranks) and long reach (slammed 120mm stem on a nominal 56cm frame). My back complains very quickly if my saddle is much more than a cm off optimal
