Looking for advice in selling a bike/frame

[tkbike]

I know this has been discussed before, but I am wondering if frame size and time of year play a part in selling as a complete bike or as a F/F/HS?
I am riding trails more than road now and am looking to go to one geared road bike, I will be keeping the Serotta and selling the Look 595.

The Look is a size XXL and I will be swapping some parts between the Serotta and Look. Would It be worth the effort of reassembling(not really an effort, I enjoy wrenching) or selling the F/F/HS, SRAM FORCE group, ZIPP Team wheels and the rest of the build separately?

I really want a 29'er and am looking for the quickest route to get there!

[John M]

My two cents.

Yes, frame size, bike vs frameset, and time of year all matter.

My observations are that mid size (55-58 cm) frames get more money compared to very small or very large. You will generally make more by parting out the bike and selling the frameset separately, but it is more work. Late spring is the best time to sell, late fall/early winter is probably the worst. No used high end bike gets anything near what was paid new. Hard for some people to stomach when then have a bike or frame that cost $5-6K+ that gets less than half that on the used market, even if it is good as new. With very, very few exceptions, bikes are not assets.

Quickest route to your 29er is to keep the sale of the old bike and the purchase of the new one independent. If you need to sell one to afford the other and time is important, then you may need to cut your price.

[eltonbalch]

I know this has been discussed before, but I am wondering if frame size and time of year play a part in selling as a complete bike or as a F/F/HS?
I am riding trails more than road now and am looking to go to one geared road bike, I will be keeping the Serotta and selling the Look 595.

The Look is a size XXL and I will be swapping some parts between the Serotta and Look. Would It be worth the effort of reassembling(not really an effort, I enjoy wrenching) or selling the F/F/HS, SRAM FORCE group, ZIPP Team wheels and the rest of the build separately?

I really want a 29'er and am looking for the quickest route to get there!

If you are riding trails now, I'll assume you already have a suitable trail bike. If so, you don't need to be in a hurry.

I agree with John M's post; selling separately is likely better in terms of total return. If you are contemplating purchasing your 29'er from a local shop you may want to try the trade route. I'd consider assembling a complete bike and see what they'll do. Don't forget, they are being hurt by a slow market just as much as you are. There are two bike shops in Saratoga and several other large shops within a 30 mile radius. Otherwise Craigs list and Ebay are your friends here.

Good luck--got my eye on a 29'er as well :) .

[CaptStash]

I'm going to add my two cents here. You can make more selling a high end bike by parting it out on E-Bay than you would trying to sell the whole bike. I buy bikes off of E-Bay pretty regularly and then take the goodies I am looking for off the bikes, put other (admittedly lesser) components on, then typically sell the bike for what I paid, if not more by listing it locally on Craigslist.

It is very difficult to get a good price for a high end complete bike on EBay. One good possibility for you would be to sell the Zipps on Ebay (they usually fetch good money and go quickly). You could put some lesser "training" type wheels on the bike and sell as a complete bike on CL, or just part the whole thing out and be patient with a high reserve when you sell the frame. A big frame like that will likely be slow to sell, but they are rare too which means that some tall dude will eventually really NEED your bike and buy it from you.

Your timing is good if you jump on it now. EBay is pretty hot right now but typically starts to slow down come September.

Good luck.

CaptStash....