[Patrick L]

tried doing a search but kept getting a server error message.

how do you genrally know when it is time to sell your bike? I am well aware that when selling a bike make, model, use, year, etc. all make a difference as far as how much you can expect to get for it. but is there any general rule of thumb that say's after ''x'' number of years a bike will loose enough value that it would behoove you to sell before that time comes up? I ask because I am in a bit of a dilemma. I have been riding a 05' Stinky since, well, 05' and I'm trying to start racing the colligate DH race series next fall semester and I wan't to build up a bike better suited for DH racing, perhaps rebuild a used Sunday/M6/Socom/whatever. But being a full time student double majoring and working ****ty minimum wage jobs I don't have money to just build up a bike right now or the time to work extra. I know when I sell my bike I'm not going to get much for it. But do I sell it now and build a new bike and (most likely) chance not being able to have a rideable bike until this time next year at the earliest or do I keep it one more season, race it and sell at the end of the season, then build a new bike and take the extra hit of loosing even more money because it will be another season older and used that much more?

 

[IH8Rice]

id say the sooner the better since it is going on 6 years old already

edit: but being out of a bike for a year also sucks

 

[Hesh To Steel]

I would say keep it, keep racing on it and keep saving money. Honestly, you're not going to get more than like 7 or 800 bucks for it at this point, which, even working minimum wage jobs won't be that hard to scratch up (especially if you can work full time during the summer). You're better off keeping it, racing it, continuing to save and then selling it next year when it'll be worth maybe 100 bucks less than it is now.

One of my buddies bought a brand new 05 stinky dee-lux in late 07/early 08 from a bike shop that had it sitting around and he only paid 1400 for it. Unless yours has a ton of new parts on it, I wouldn't expect to get more than 800 for a 6 year old bike that's been ridden for 6 years.

 

[climbingbubba]

I doubt you would even get 600 for it. Honestly waiting one year would not make too much of a difference at this point. If you are serious about racing then taking an entire year off isn't going to be the best move. Just race your stinky for a year and take the $100 hit when you try to sale it later.

Or if you have any kind of money saved up you could sell it now and buy a good used DH bike. You can find good deals for around $2000 for complete DH race rigs that would be a ton better for you.

 

[Deano]

I doubt you would even get 600 for it. Honestly waiting one year would not make too much of a difference at this point. If you are serious about racing then taking an entire year off isn't going to be the best move. Just race your stinky for a year and take the $100 hit when you try to sale it later.

Or if you have any kind of money saved up you could sell it now and buy a good used DH bike. You can find good deals for around $2000 for complete DH race rigs that would be a ton better for you.

agreed..

keep it and sell when you got your next ride lined up, the extra season wont knock much off your sales price at this point.

 

[Huck Banzai]

My 2006 VPFree is solid and scrootched, but works like new -- Im shipping to to family out west so when I visit I can ride (Seattle area)..

Its worth SO much more than I could get if I sold it, even if I use it 3 days a year.

 

[Hesh To Steel]

My 2006 VPFree is solid and scrootched, but works like new -- Im shipping to to family out west so when I visit I can ride (Seattle area)..

Its worth SO much more than I could get if I sold it, even if I use it 3 days a year.

When I first read this I thought you were just shipping it to some random family for them to hold onto, like some sort of weird foreign exchange program (yes, I know, seattle isn't "foreign" but you get the idea).

 

[demo 9]

In 2008 i bought a STOCK kona stinky that needed minor work for 400. year model 06

 

[Patrick L]

well its definitely not a stock Stinky so I hope I'll get more than $400 for it, but i think I will ride it and take that extra hit, I think it will be worth it so I can still ride. But for future knowledge whats a good time to sell a bike and still be able to get some usable money out of it for the next bike, 2-3 years?

 

[norbar]

Its not measured in years for value. Usually whenever a new model comes out your bike looses a big % in value. Ie. If you have an intense m3 and m6 comes out your bike gets cheaper, when the m9 comes out your bike gets cheaper again. 2-3 years is a good rule because thats an avg. life cycle of one frame model in most companies.


As for minimum wage jobs - do you know any languages? Do some translating. This way you can earn cash quick with shorter bursts of hard work. If not try to get a job at a more expensive club. Ive known a girl who made double the national average in a yuppie club just because of tips.

 

[demo 9]

IMO, Condition matters more than years. (with this logic) The sunday in its time was (is) an awesome bike. They are not so popular anymore since iron horse kicked the bucket, however. If somebody had a brand new in box sunday (from 05 for example) That will ride just as good today as the day it came out. It is true it wont sell for the 3k it used to, but age is not the same as ride time. Alot of bikes sit. Its also important how much you ride it, fall on it, wear the parts. I ride my bike 3 times as much as the rental bikes at the local mountain, however, mine has to be in better shape by a factor of 10, because despite them being 1 year old, its the type of riding and abuse they took in 1 year.

 

[cecil]

a spare bike in good gondition is priceless, keep the bike

 

[norbar]

IMO, Condition matters more than years. (with this logic) The sunday in its time was (is) an awesome bike. They are not so popular anymore since iron horse kicked the bucket, however. If somebody had a brand new in box sunday (from 05 for example) That will ride just as good today as the day it came out. It is true it wont sell for the 3k it used to, but age is not the same as ride time. Alot of bikes sit. Its also important how much you ride it, fall on it, wear the parts. I ride my bike 3 times as much as the rental bikes at the local mountain, however, mine has to be in better shape by a factor of 10, because despite them being 1 year old, its the type of riding and abuse they took in 1 year.

You told him when to buy a used bike, not when to sell it Buying a good condition old sunday is reasonable but the company is dead, the frame 5 years old. The market prices are determined by kids. It would not sell for a lot.

Thats the same reason whenever a new model comes out the old ones are sold on ebay/rm/chainlove for crap. Ie. GT furys for 1700-1800$ or that Intense SS1 drama.

 

[zdubyadubya]

But for future knowledge whats a good time to sell a bike and still be able to get some usable money out of it for the next bike, 2-3 years?

I will be blunt. One year/season. And before the haters start, here's why.

If you look in the classifieds regularly, you see floods of year-old bikes start to pop up when the new model years start to come out or at the end of a race season. What is happening is that guys who have shop connections and/or sponsorship connections are ditching their old rides for the new ones. If you are going to compete with this market segment, your bike needs to be at least as good if not better than those rides, otherwise it will be a hard sell. Additionally, those riders also got a significant discount on the front end for those bikes/frames and so their prices in turn-around are going to be REALLY low.

If you get it down to a science, you can actually make money "flipping" bikes. But it requires EP pricing on the front-end and a thirsty buyer looking for the year-old leftovers. You price the bike right and spec components that people drool over and you can fund your new ride year after year off of your ride from last year.

The problem for guys like you is that in the classifieds you have two choices... try to compete with these guys or drop your bike in the bargain bin (sub 1500 completes). Sometimes you get lucky (there is always an exception to the rule), but for the most part if your bike is >2 seasons old your best bet is to hang onto it until something breaks.

 

[joelsman]

spring/summer time is a great time to sell, people want to get outside and ride. I agree on the keep it until you have enough money to actually upgrade. riding is better than not riding.....

 

[Hesh To Steel]

Zdub makes some excellent points. I surf the classifieds all the time even though I'm not in the market, just to check out the porn, because hey, I like bikes. One thing I've noticed is that there are some brands/models that retain value like you wouldn't believe, and there are some that just...well, don't. Every time I see a BMW Racelink pop up on the classifieds, it's never less than 5 or 6 k. On the other hand, Sinister R9's tend to go for super cheap for some reason. I know the racelink was a more expensive frame to begin with, and in a lot of ways quite a bit more innovative, but still, the price difference on the used market is huge.

 

[norbar]

Zdub makes some excellent points. I surf the classifieds all the time even though I'm not in the market, just to check out the porn, because hey, I like bikes. One thing I've noticed is that there are some brands/models that retain value like you wouldn't believe, and there are some that just...well, don't. Every time I see a BMW Racelink pop up on the classifieds, it's never less than 5 or 6 k. On the other hand, Sinister R9's tend to go for super cheap for some reason. I know the racelink was a more expensive frame to begin with, and in a lot of ways quite a bit more innovative, but still, the price difference on the used market is huge.

It's not really being innovative that matters in the cage of BMW. It's considered a Luxury bike and it's known for being burly. Usually the less common yet well reviewed bikes go for more than the popular rigs. The Jedis up until very recently were also very expensive to get used compared to an intense or a santa.