Pricing question

[flydhest]

A young feller that works with me is becoming serious about cycling and is thinking of upgrading his ride. A good friend of mine here who is turning over stock in his stable is putting a bike up for sale. I'd like not to be in the middle, but find myself there anyway. What are people's best guesses for a circa 2000 Merlin ultralight, AlphaQ fork, DA 9 with Speed Dream wheels, all of it in immaculate condition. The bike owner is a bit obsessive and rides much less than he'd like to, so the bike is truly in very well taken care of condition.

Thoughts welcome.

[coylifut]

A young feller that works with me is becoming serious about cycling and is thinking of upgrading his ride. A good friend of mine here who is turning over stock in his stable is putting a bike up for sale. I'd like not to be in the middle, but find myself there anyway. What are people's best guesses for a circa 2000 Merlin ultralight, AlphaQ fork, DA 9 with Speed Dream wheels, all of it in immaculate condition. The bike owner is a bit obsessive and rides much less than he'd like to, so the bike is truly in very well taken care of condition.

Thoughts welcome.

about 1/3rd of a similar new bike @ retail.

[LegendRider]

I'd price it at $1,500. The DA 9sp is a liability despite the fact it may be in fine condition and function well.

[djg]

12-1500. I think it could easily be worth 15 or more to somebody who wants that particular bike, gets to check it out, etc. But the used bike market can be fickle, especially for things that start to get around 5 or 6 years old or more.

[TimD]

I'd price it at $1,500. The DA 9sp is a liability despite the fact it may be in fine condition and function well.

Pricing sounds reasonable to me. That said, how can D-A 9 be considered a liability? Up until 18 months ago, it was Shimano's top-of-the line gruppo. It is deployed en masse.

As compared to D-A 10, which requires specific components, it will interoperate
with various other 9-speed systems, available from various manufacturers (including Shimano), at varying price points.

I may be clueless but I'm not getting it.

[Johny]

That said, how can D-A 9 be considered a liability?

DA9 sells very well on ebay. Some items like new rear derailleurs (RD-7700) can be sold for $120 as they are getting rare. Anyway, I don't think it's a liability.

[flydhest]

. . . so if he can swing $1400 on his salary (fresh out of college) he should take it as fairly valued and perhaps a deal.

That's my reading of these views. Comments?

[Marcusaurelius]

DA9 sells very well on ebay. Some items like new rear derailleurs (RD-7700) can be sold for $120 as they are getting rare. Anyway, I don't think it's a liability.

Hmm, well not that I have seen. New DA 9 speed cranks sell for less than half of what they were new. Used DA 9 speed crank hover in the $40-50 and often lower. Front derailleurs go very cheap and most people avoid dura ace 9 speed bottom brackets. (I sold my DA 9 speed stuff on ebay a year ago and it didn't fetch a lot and it had less than 100 miles on it).

[alancw3]

i'd say he is getting a good value at that price, but like you i hate to be caught in middle in situations like this!

[stevep]

bike fit?
sounds like a reasonable price.
that bike is basicly the same as my travel bike. shoul;d provide the kid w/ good service.

[dirtdigger88]

DA9 is a great group-

Ive been playing around with a brand new group on my CSi-

I am amazed everytime Im on it- just how nice the group really is-

Jason

[CJH]

Frame and fork alone would go for $800-$1200 on eBay. So $1500 seems like a pretty sweet deal.

[Johny]

Hmm, well not that I have seen. New DA 9 speed cranks sell for less than half of what they were new. Used DA 9 speed crank hover in the $40-50 and often lower. Front derailleurs go very cheap and most people avoid dura ace 9 speed bottom brackets. (I sold my DA 9 speed stuff on ebay a year ago and it didn't fetch a lot and it had less than 100 miles on it).

I agree that DA9 cranks, FD and BB are not particularly hot items. The BB has been bad from the day one. eBay prices depend on the season, particular time window, and marketing imho.

[Johny]

$1400 is very reasonable.

[djg]

. . . so if he can swing $1400 on his salary (fresh out of college) he should take it as fairly valued and perhaps a deal.

That's my reading of these views. Comments?

He could do a little market research, nu? How about if you give him a couple of models of bikes you reckon are comparable and let him see what they tend to go for on e-bay. You can then suggest that he might pay something of a premium for a local bike he can actually inspect and a known previous owner/seller.

Or you could tell him that the deal is fine.

[flydhest]

dan,
He has done what you propose. I was supplementing that research with the views of folk here.

Plural of anecdote is data.

[Smiley]

A young feller that works with me is becoming serious about cycling and is thinking of upgrading his ride. A good friend of mine here who is turning over stock in his stable is putting a bike up for sale. I'd like not to be in the middle, but find myself there anyway. What are people's best guesses for a circa 2000 Merlin ultralight, AlphaQ fork, DA 9 with Speed Dream wheels, all of it in immaculate condition. The bike owner is a bit obsessive and rides much less than he'd like to, so the bike is truly in very well taken care of condition.

Thoughts welcome.
$ 2000 for the whole rig and tell Mark he gets a deal in the process :)

[johnny1221]

I sold a very nice Litespeed Classic with 9 speed Ultegra on ebay a few months ago for $1500. The ultralight with dura ace should probably be worth $500 more depending on what wheels it comes with.

[djg]

dan,

Plural of anecdote is data.

Fly, dude, you went to law school too?

[shinomaster]

. . . so if he can swing $1400 on his salary (fresh out of college) he should take it as fairly valued and perhaps a deal.

That's my reading of these views. Comments?

That frame was about $3000 new wasn't it? Plus parts..

[keno]

you call him a good friend, but are you? Come on, fade the fellow $7,500 so he can buy an Ottrott like ours.

keno

[Climb01742]

the other question i'd ask is: how big/powerful is your friend? extralights are swell, indeed, but i'd wonder how appropriate they'd be for a bigger rider? years ago, i test rode one a few times, loved loved it but couldn't afford it at the time. to this day, i wish i'd been able to grab it, but they seem best suited to smaller, lighter riders. if he is on the lighter side, it's a great choice.

[manet]

recently, i sold my 1997 merlin road, with original (still working) 8 spd ultegra, original threaded time fork for $1200.00. no shipping involved.

[MarleyMon]

I found a new Fierte Steel 2004 w/ Ultegra at a LBS. They want to move it and it fits me well. One of the reps told me they might even take a loss on it. I've bought a couple bikes from them and would be upgrading from a Cannondale Road Warrior (aluminum CAAD 5 sport road frame w/ straight handlebars). My question - whats the markup on these bikes? I think I'll offer them $1100 (50% off retail) and see if they kick me out. I really like the feel of the steel.

[flydhest]

He's test riding this week/weekend. We'll see.

Climb, he's a twig of a fellow at 145. No fear of flex for him

Thanks for the feed back, folk.

[zap]

If your friends Extralite is truly immaculate, something north of US$2K, FRN's only.

[crf]

What did the Merlin cost new, or what does a Merlin cost these days?