Buying bikes off of Craigslist

When customers ask us about sourcing bikes on Craigslist, we always recommend they have those bikes checked out by a bike shop (or a competent mechanic) before they make a purchase. While there are often some good deals on Craigslist, there are also plenty of not so good deals:

• Sometimes bikes are in decent working order, but need enough repair parts and labor costs to make them cost more than a brand new bike.

• Sometimes bikes are put together by people who don't know enough about bicycles in order to properly assemble them. Non-compatible components are often 'slapped together' into a bicycle that will end up costing the buyer a lot of money to get into working order.

• Other times, critically damaged and/or unprofessionally repaired frames and components are hacked together by someone who is fully aware that what they're doing is wrong, and couldn't care less about the safety of the person they're selling it to. Case in point:

A 1" threaded fork whose steerer was too short to fit this frame. Solution? Chop off another fork's 1" threadless steer, weld it together, and grind down the weld. The joint is sleeved with a tiny piece of some other bike's steer. The steerer is crooked regardless.

Random star nut, also welded into the steerer tube. 

 

A headset made out of: two different cups, no bearings on the top assembly, a 1" to 1-1/8" stem shim made out of a small chunk of steerer tube, and a cassette lockring ground out to act as some sort of spacer.

Not pictured:

-Indexed downtube shifter boss drilled out perpendiculary to act as a cable stop.

-Rear brake cable housing made out of a bunch of pieces of SIS housing.

-Brake pads installed upside down.

-8 speed trigger shifter on a seven speed cassette.

-A front brake caliper that had insufficient reach to grab the rim properly.

The price for this bicycle-shaped-object? $300. Upon contacting the original seller, the buyer was told, "I don't know what you're talking about; that bike rides great".

caveat emptor!