Just bought my very first (second hand) bike and… I was sacammed. Need some advice!

[hozn]

I don’t understand how this was a scam. Did he claim it was Apex in the ad? And did you not look at the components when you met for the sale? People swap parts on bikes all the time.

[ThatGuy]

When we met he said it was all stock parts. I really didn’t know how to check for parts or tell if it was the original parts. I made the mistake of telling him I was a novice trying to get into biking and I suppose he took advantage of that. And just looking up the prices for the alternative parts it seems pretty much all of the changes were downgrades.

[DismalScientist]

Sounds like he got a new frame and swapped components to it. You do realize that the Shimano 600 groupset was top of the line many years ago?

[ThatGuy]

@DismalScientist 84895 wrote:

Sounds like he got a new frame and swapped components to it. You do realize that the Shimano 600 groupset was top of the line many years ago?

Actually I didn’t know that, thanks for letting me know. It’s just that it was advertised as all stock I just feel lied to but I guess I mainly want to know if the parts he did put in are reliable or did my $400 go towards weak components that I will need to replace pretty soon.

[APKhaos]

There’s not much recourse after you’ve looked the bike over and paid for it. Think of it this way; you bought a decent frame with a bunch of custom components. Ride it. If it rides well you’ve done well on a $400 bike.

[PotomacCyclist]

Actually, if you aren’t an avid and competitive racer, it may not be best to have the absolute top-of-the-line components. Those high-end parts are usually designed to be lighter, to reduce overall weight, the idea being that a lighter total weight can provide a slight boost to speed. For an average cyclist who just wants to get around, get healthy and have fun cycling, these tiny differences in weight are completely unimportant. (However, bike frame weight can make a difference, even for a casual cyclist. For example, you will ride much more slowly on a Capital Bikeshare bike than on a much lighter road or hybrid bike.)

Another important point is that lighter components tend to be more fragile. There is a trade-off in shaving grams of weight for high-end parts. That downside can be shorter product life.

You don’t want to have a terrible low-quality component set, but a mid-level set is perfectly fine for a casual cyclist. It might even be a better option for you, as long as the parts are in good shape. I don’t know the specifics of these parts (since I don’t track bike components that closely). I’m just bringing up general points about bike components.

[peterw_diy]

@DismalScientist 84895 wrote:

You do realize that the Shimano 600 groupset was top of the line many years ago?

Dura Ace was always above 600 (which was later renamed Ultegra). Depending on the year, also poor old Sante. But it was higher in Shimano’s offerings than Apex is in SRAM’s. IMO 7 and 8 speed 600 gear is quite nice, though I would not want UG rear hubs now because the cogs are too rare.

[peterw_diy]

I should add that it seems rather fishy that the seller said the parts were all stock. I fear the bike might be a stolen Frankenfence special.

[hozn]

I would say $400 is not a huge investment (in cycling world, anyway) and what you have is probably still a fair deal and plenty good to get you out on the trails. It is unfortunate the seller lied about the build, but if it was something that was going to matter, you would have known to look for it at purchase. So I would recommend just enjoying the bike, replacing the components once you figure out that you would want something different/better — or just springing for something twice as expensive (or more, if new) down the road.

[n18]

The seller may not be the bad guy, he could have bought it from someone else. If I buy any bike from someone, I would ask for the yellow piece of paper that is given with each bike that shows the serial number. This is separate from the receipt. Otherwise, if it’s stolen, the police would take it from me and give it to the original owner. I may get my money back or not.

You could call the police and provide them with the serial number to check if it’s stolen. There is also the National Bike Registry, but you can’t just search their database, they only let the police search their database. People who get their bikes stolen can register with them for $0.99, and it’s searchable by the police.

http://www.nationalbikeregistry.com/

There is also a search box for stolen bikes near the top at BikePedia:

http://www.bikepedia.com/

I am not sure though where they get their list from, but it seems to be from here:

http://www.stolenbicycleregistry.com/

Good luck!

[mstone]

I have never gotten a yellow piece of paper with a bike.

[Subby]

If I knew I was going to get scammed just once in my life, I would pray that this was the scam.

[DismalScientist]

Well, here’s a 2005 or 2006 for $200: http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/bik/4466171015.html:rolleyes:

[cyclingfool]

@DismalScientist 84979 wrote:

Well, here’s a 2005 or 2006 for $200: http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/bik/4466171015.html:rolleyes:

That’s a ridiculously low price, especially given its “specks” [sic]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]5575[/ATTACH]

[n18]

@mstone 84961 wrote:

I have never gotten a yellow piece of paper with a bike.

It’s probably optional for bike shops. I have gotten 3 yellow pieces of paper from 3 different stores within the last year, and all of them seem identical, except for the store name; which is stamped on it. I have gotten these from Target, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and one other store. Seems to be the same generic bike registration form. I know that Performance Bike also provide the same yellow paper. If a seller doesn’t have it, a receipt would suffice, but they generally don’t show the serial number, so buy at your own risk…

[Author]

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