Which models should I look out for - buying second hand commuter?

[jonnojonnyjonson]

Deciding to get a bicycle to commute to work. The route is completely flat, 12km, and I won't be on the road but on a dedicated pathway the whole duration. Google says the journey will take 40mins. I'm looking to spend as little as I need to TBH (< $300) since I'm not sure if I'll be disciplined enough to keep riding or enjoy it, so thought looking on Gumtree would be a good option.

Does anyone have any recommendations of brands or specific models that hold up nicely that I should look out for? Or any advice in general when inspecting a bike?

I already have a helmet, lock and pump.

Thanks

[blizzard]

I would look for a flat bar road / hybrid bike from a major brand e.g. Trek, Giant, Specialised, Merida. I would try to avoid anything with suspension if possible. Also make sure it's the correct size for you, most brands have a generic size guide E.g 170 - 178cm is a 54cm size

Things to look for is obvious damage to the frame / components. Rusty cables and chains as these will probably need replacing and eat into your budget.

[jonnojonnyjonson]

Thanks, yeah I've mainly been keeping out an eye for Giant as it seems to be the most common and well regarded. I've checked the giant's sizing on their website and looks like I'll be looking for a large.

Are there any general rules when it comes to pricing second hand bikes in terms of a percentage as new? For example I've found a Giant CRX4 for just under $200. Retail seems to be $600 judging from prices on bike shed - 33% of original sounds decent? Obviously there are a lot of variables but any rough rules a newbie can go off?

[m@]

It's a little difficult to give a definite percentage cost as that will depend on age and condition; not helped by changes to specs and price of the same model year by year (some brands change a bike so much that it's fundamentally a different bike but retain the model name, which can be really confusing) and the drifting price of new bikes over the years. If it's 33% of the RRP and isn't ancient though, that seems like a good buy on paper to me (take with a grain of salt as I haven't bought a new bike in years).

To add to blizzard's advice; I'd suggest taking any bike you're considering buying for a test ride, mainly to check that the chain doesn't slip under pedalling load. The safest way to test this is seated, on a slight incline - don't jump out of the saddle and charge at a steep hill as that's dangerous if the chain does slip.

A little bit of surface rust on chain and cables might be superficial, and they're cheap parts to replace in any case, but if the drivetrain has been neglected, you might end up having to replace the cassette and even chainrings, which are more expensive and can really ruin the economics of buying second-hand. The other thing that'll ruin your day is a bent or cracked frame - do a visual check, especially at the welds joining tubes and attachment points for disc brakes, and listen for any creaks or significant brake rub when test riding (a creak doesn't necessarily mean the frame is cracked - but it's probably better to be safe than sorry when you're not in a position to do a thorough investigation before putting down cash).

Lastly, you can also raise one wheel off the ground at a time and give it a spin - check that it doesn't have any huge 'wobble' that would indicate it's far out of true. A few mm is likely fine, but a wheel that's very wobbly might be compromised and continue to break spokes and go out of true no matter how many times it's repaired. Similarly, you can check that the brake rotors and calipers are reasonably well aligned - if there's significant 'drag' or squealing, this could indicate a serious problem (or just that the caliper needs to be adjusted - but again, if you're not in a position to check, it may be better to play it safe).

[P!N20]

Where are you located? For instance this Jamis would probably go alright: https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/waurn-p ... 1282478572

You may be able to pick up a good deal from people selling off their pandemic impulse purchases!

[jonnojonnyjonson]

Thanks heaps for this info, I'll make sure I'll do these tests when checking one out. Unfortunately the CRX4 was too small of size

[jonnojonnyjonson]

Where are you located? For instance this Jamis would probably go alright: https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/waurn-p ... 1282478572

You may be able to pick up a good deal from people selling off their pandemic impulse purchases!

Gold Coast. That's what I'm hoping haha

[redsonic]

I have a soft spot for the Jamis Coda Elite. One for sale on Facebook, in Brisbane atm.
Facebook
May be a bit over budget, and only a medium size so possibly too small?

[Thoglette]

Usual story - tyres wider than 30mm, mounts for fenders & racks and no suspension.

[10speedsemiracer]

Budget makes this hard, maybe this Apollo ?. Looks like it needs a light service, but it might do the job ..

As others have said, a light, rigid frame (no suspension fork), room for 32mm or so tyres, fenders and a rack.

$300 won't get much more than a mid-level 8sp with (probably) rim brakes.

[Duck!]

I'd be looking for an endurance-type drop-bar bike such as Giant OCR/Defy/Contend or similar. You have more hand positions, plus the "default" position on the brake hoods places your hands in a much more natural position than a flat bar, which is going to be more comfortable. "Endurance" bikes have a taller front end than race-oriented bikes, so you end up in pretty much the same position as on a flat-bar,

[baabaa]

I would look for a flat bar road / hybrid bike from a major brand e.g. Trek, Giant, Specialised, Merida.

Agree with this and bikes like a Giant Cross City in rim or even disc brakes are a good base line to sort of judge what makes a good all round commuter.

If you will commute often, try and do every thing you can to avoid brifters - (the combo shifter/ brakes levers for drop bars)
Fragile, temperamental, unnecessary for commuting and grossly expensive to fix or replace if you have a fall/ prang or even any thing that happens when you commute - A commuting bike needs simple parts that you can get home at night and your bike will be ready to ride the next morning without much more than a quick check for tyre pressure and brakes than work.
So go robust with something that can take a rack and mudguards is your aim and most flat bars do this well and are as zippy as you need for many years under most conditions

[m@]

I would look for a flat bar road / hybrid bike from a major brand e.g. Trek, Giant, Specialised, Merida.

Agree with this and bikes like a Giant Cross City in rim or even disc brakes are a good base line to sort of judge what makes a good all round commuter.

If you will commute often, try and do every thing you can to avoid brifters - (the combo shifter/ brakes levers for drop bars)
Fragile, temperamental, unnecessary for commuting and grossly expensive to fix or replace if you have a fall/ prang or even any thing that happens when you commute - A commuting bike needs simple parts that you can get home at night and your bike will be ready to ride the next morning without much more than a quick check for tyre pressure and brakes than work.
So go robust with something that can take a rack and mudguards is your aim and most flat bars do this well and are as zippy as you need for many years under most conditions

Agree - anything more modern than downtube friction shifters is prone to spontaneously breaking between rides

[DavidS]

I would look for a flat bar road / hybrid bike from a major brand e.g. Trek, Giant, Specialised, Merida.

Agree with this and bikes like a Giant Cross City in rim or even disc brakes are a good base line to sort of judge what makes a good all round commuter.

If you will commute often, try and do every thing you can to avoid brifters - (the combo shifter/ brakes levers for drop bars)
Fragile, temperamental, unnecessary for commuting and grossly expensive to fix or replace if you have a fall/ prang or even any thing that happens when you commute - A commuting bike needs simple parts that you can get home at night and your bike will be ready to ride the next morning without much more than a quick check for tyre pressure and brakes than work.
So go robust with something that can take a rack and mudguards is your aim and most flat bars do this well and are as zippy as you need for many years under most conditions

Agree - anything more modern than downtube friction shifters is prone to spontaneously breaking between rides

Oh, I don't know, my bar end friction shifters seem to go ok. Mind you, they replaced the indexed bar end shifters which did wear out after about 20,000KMs.

I agree with the above, if you are starting out and commuting, get a flat bar. I started with a flat bar and still have one (I'll add that the shifters are still working well after 47,000KMs!), great commuting bikes. Also, when you can afford it, get a rack and Ortleib pannier, why carry anything on your back when the bike can carry it for you? Mudguards are also essential, you will know why when it rains.

Good luck, good advice above on people selling impulse buys, could be a bargain somewhere.

DS

[baabaa]

Agree - anything more modern than downtube friction shifters is prone to spontaneously breaking between rides

Well, I was going to say overnight spontaneous combustion, but that is the one thing that has never happened during my time using brifters - for the people who do not understand that most biking can still be done with a single gear and, find the need to shift between gears, the humble bar end shifter is all and more than you will ever need.... the more part is they can also go click, click, click, fancy indexing stuff!!
(Hmm, don't use my down-tube shifing bike enough, maybe will do soon)

[Duck!]

If you will commute often, try and do every thing you can to avoid brifters - (the combo shifter/ brakes levers for drop bars)
Fragile, temperamental, unnecessary for commuting ....

My 16-year-old Sora brifters disagree with you.

[jonnojonnyjonson]

What is everyone's take on the brand pedal? Ive seen it mentioned elsewhere a few times. One just popped up on marketplace. Large pedal jet for 120. Seems good condition retails for 350 or so. Seems decent. It's been hard finding any large bikes in my price range atm

[blizzard]

What is everyone's take on the brand pedal? Ive seen it mentioned elsewhere a few times. One just popped up on marketplace. Large pedal jet for 120. Seems good condition retails for 350 or so. Seems decent. It's been hard finding any large bikes in my price range atm

They are 99 Bikes home brand so they are generally cheaper than similar style brand name bikes. Also they are assembled by a bike store so they should be assembled better than a Kmart bike. I have a Pedal Cruiser and its fine, definitely not a high end bike but also not going spontaneously combust.

For $120 I would pick it up. It should be enough bike for you to gauge either you enjoy commuting by bike and want upgrade to a better bike or you don't and you should be able to sell without taking a loss.

[Andy01]

What is everyone's take on the brand pedal? Ive seen it mentioned elsewhere a few times. One just popped up on marketplace. Large pedal jet for 120. Seems good condition retails for 350 or so. Seems decent. It's been hard finding any large bikes in my price range atm

I just looked at the Pedal Jet 2 flat bar - not sure what the difference with the "2" is ?

Looks OK (VERY low spec though - I thought revo-shifters went out 20 years ago ), although only 1 x 7 speed which may be an issue if you live in a hilly area - I can't even see where it mentions what size the front ring is ? The ring looks quite big from the photo (maybe 40-odd teeth ?) and with the big sprocket at the back only 28T steep hills could be a challenge. Also with a 14T small sprocket at the back getting decent road speeds might mean high pedalling cadence ?

I also don't see any mention of mounting points if you want to fit a rack at the back ?

But hey, for $120 it might be worth a try assuming the bike looks OK and shifts reasonably well.

[Thoglette]

Fragile, temperamental, unnecessary for commuting ....

My 16-year-old Sora brifters disagree with you.

I find it interesting: I have brifters which are reliable and others which fail regularly. Cable failure (and subsequent jamming of the brifter) does seem to be a common problem for some. The convoluted cable routing probably doesn't help.

As Duck reminded me, one of the main requirements for long brifter and cable life is ensuring your outers are in good nick.

[jonnojonnyjonson]

What is everyone's take on the brand pedal? Ive seen it mentioned elsewhere a few times. One just popped up on marketplace. Large pedal jet for 120. Seems good condition retails for 350 or so. Seems decent. It's been hard finding any large bikes in my price range atm

I just looked at the Pedal Jet 2 flat bar - not sure what the difference with the "2" is ?

Looks OK (VERY low spec though - I thought revo-shifters went out 20 years ago ), although only 1 x 7 speed which may be an issue if you live in a hilly area - I can't even see where it mentions what size the front ring is ? The ring looks quite big from the photo (maybe 40-odd teeth ?) and with the big sprocket at the back only 28T steep hills could be a challenge. Also with a 14T small sprocket at the back getting decent road speeds might mean high pedalling cadence ?

I also don't see any mention of mounting points if you want to fit a rack at the back ?

But hey, for $120 it might be worth a try assuming the bike looks OK and shifts reasonably well.

Hey thanks for checking that out. I ended up finding a hybrid Giant Cypress thats the perfect size for me for $80. Gears shift, brakes working but the guy said it hadnt been serviced for a couple years. I am fine with lower spec while I see if its something i stick with, lucky my journey is completely flat.

Also came with 2 locks, helmet and spare tyre tube so I feel it was a perfect find to get me into commuting.

Big thanks to the forum for all the help

[baabaa]

hybrid Giant Cypress

Well done that will be the ideal bike! My wife has one and has been a great all rounder
Lower spec? nah that is nonsense - work horse spec not racerboy spec with all you need and and is well above what most people ride around the world, think the original tyres are/can be tricky to get on and off so maybe do a dry run in changing a tube once you decide that commuting by bike is for you. Enjoy

[baabaa]

I find it interesting: I have brifters which are reliable and others which fail regularly. Cable failure (and subsequent jamming of the brifter) does seem to be a common problem for some. The convoluted cable routing probably doesn't help.

As Duck reminded me, one of the main requirements for long brifter and cable life is ensuring your outers are in good nick.

Yeah, bike shoes have gone back to shoe laces and while shimano know the issues they could go back to simple cable routing that works and less moving parts (made of nylon!!) that wear out but they wont as tricky to market stuff once you admit you are wrong - besides bike parts must be aero! Do people who get sucked into all that get the big un-aero nose and ears fixed at the plastic surgeon?

[warthog1]

If you will commute often, try and do every thing you can to avoid brifters - (the combo shifter/ brakes levers for drop bars)
Fragile, temperamental, unnecessary for commuting ....

My 16-year-old Sora brifters disagree with you.

Ditto.
Well over 100k km on Strava. Fiik how many ks before hand.
Been riding Shimano brifters for the last 20 years.
Never had one fail and I am on the gears all the time.
Sure the cable frays and breaks in the shifter.
Like chains, they are a service item that needs replacing.
It aint that hard at all.

[Thoglette]

Been riding Shimano brifters for the last 20 years.
Never had one fail and I am on the gears all the time.

What’s your secret? Which series?
(I’ve only had one Shimano set and they were stuffed before the bike got to me. )