So I need some cash and to clear some space as the “landlady” is complaining about why I need 3 bicycles when I only ride one at a time.
Fair, I suppose. One hasnt been ridden in years. It was the result of another bike’s frame snapping after some pillock rear-ended me at slow speed, pinning the frame down and popping the guy’s bumper right off. Kona refused to honour their lifetime warranty over it, so I bought a rival firms frame and had the other parts transferred over.
The other bike was a gazelle-like superfast racing bike. Arse in the air, head down affair. Used to ride the 5 miles from work in about 20 minutes on that. The constant battering from the roads like moon craters and bastards who’d throw glass in the cycle lanes took their toll on the “shred proof” tyres and splitting the wheels at the rims. I had that repaired with cheaper rims but rarely rode it like before.
Then the past 2 years I’ve had health issues and cant get out as much. I went from 3-4000 miles a year down to a couple of hundred at most. I may be a little depressed at that, but that is life.
So. I put listings on Gumtree (a UK freeads site) and Facebook marketplace. Both bikes were about £1000 to have made up, probably a lot more now I think. I listed each for a fair £200 given their age.
“Can’t I give you £50?”
“I dont have cash right now, can I pay you later?”
Or the worst “Do you still have the bike?” I reply yes within minutes, and then I’m ghosted.
20 messages of each. Infuriating. Tempted to send the bikes to a local charity instead. They’ll be the most blinged out charity bikes you’ve seen. Charity would probably get their money’s worth. I now love the thought of someone who couldn’t afford a racer with open pros and hope hubs riding it about.
When I use Gumtree, I’m always on best behavior, as I know what absolute shits people can be on it.
I check it’s still available, if I want to knock anything off (within reason) I do it nice and early, then I schedule a time to collect (or even offer a deposit if it’s a good deal).
I picked up some garden furniture recently, and it was a very good price. By the time I got there, the lady told me she’d had 10 people trying to haggle an already giving-it-away price down.
Too many people like the “hustle” and reselling, when really Gumtree is for transferring items from someone who doesn’t want it, to someone who does.
Depending on where you are, there are a lot of charity bike places.
Mine came from there, I got a very solid ridgeback meteor for just over £100.
There are 2 main charities near me, both train people to fix bikes, one trains local school kids how to ride. I’ve just filled a shoe box with lights and spare parts, and sorted out a bin bags worth of clothes I no longer need. I’ve yet to find time but will look over the 2 bikes and make a decision soon. I’ll be a bit sad to see them go, one of them I did up to 10,000 miles on over the years I used it.