complete bike or frame only

[dr.mudd]

i wanted to hear it from the powers to be in the forum
if it is better to sell a complete bike, or frame only ?
Im selling my 2009 Pinarello Prince thats done up to the best
of components
Dr Mudd

[-dustin]

it'll be hard to get what you are asking out of the complete bike.

[Ray]

When I've had a complete bike I've wanted to sell, but would be willing to part it out, I've usually offered it as a complete bike, but also included a price for the frameset, making it clear I'd rather sell the whole thing. If I got an offer really quickly for the frame, I'd usually ask for a few days to see if I got an offer on the full bike, but sometimes I'd just take it if it was a good offer.

Do you WANT to keep the parts? If so, its an easy call. If not, the approach above might be worth a shot.

-Ray

[rockdude]

For higher prices bikes or top of the line parts it is better to part it out. The part are almost always worth more than the sum of them.

[happycampyer]

Originally Posted by rockdude

For higher prices bikes or top of the line parts it is better to part it out. The part are almost always worth more than the sum of them.

Agree 100%. It's harder to find someone who wants the exact same build. If someone wants the frame but would prefer to put Super Record on it, then they won't want to pay up for SRAM Red because they would just turn around and sell it. Super premium wheels are even trickier to prepackage than components, imo.

You might also want to consider keeping the Red gruppo and any other parts you like for the new build. The spread between buying new, selling used (even barely used) and buying the same thing new again is pretty wide, especially at retail prices. Depending on the item, that spread can be 30-50%, not unlike driving a car off the lot.

[ridefixed]

Originally Posted by dr.mudd

i wanted to hear it from the powers to be in the forum
if it is better to sell a complete bike, or frame only ?
Im selling my 2009 Pinarello Prince thats done up to the best
of components
Dr Mudd

Doc,

You are asking too much for your bike. You will be fortunate to get about 60% of what you are asking. Once you roll that thing off the lot, the hit has been taken. So I don't think it will make much difference if you part it out or not.

rf

[Pete Serotta]

better to take parts and put on another bike of yours or future bike and sell the frame.... and then even that sale price will require a bottle of red (maybe more). It is a bad market out there. I am not questioning value - just that the market is worse than bad and it is almost a "give away" environment.

Sorry

Originally Posted by ridefixed

Doc,

You are asking too much for your bike. You will be fortunate to get about 60% of what you are asking. Once you roll that thing off the lot, the hit has been taken. So I don't think it will make much difference if you part it out or not.

rf

[Lifelover]

Your parts are top shelf for sure.

Have you considered just selling th eframe and moving the parts to the new frame?

[JeffS]

Generally, a bike is worth more parted out. The thing is though, frame values are all over the map right now. You'll see someone pay $2K for a frame one day, and the next one will only brink $1K.

Your auction would benefit tremendously from higher quality pictures. Half of them are either fuzzy or rotated 90 deg.

Maybe you'll get lucky and it will be exactly what someone wants. More likely though, you're going to take a $5K hit to get that bike sold.

[sbornia]

+1 on selling the frame/fork/hs separately from the rest of the components.

+1 on adjusting your expectations for the street value of the frame and parts.

If you haven't already done so, consider listing the frame on Craigslist. While most people there won't have a clue what it is, there are experienced cyclists browsing the "for sale" listings. You may get some lowball offers, which you just ignore, but with patience you may also get some serious inquiries and a committed buyer.

(I suggest this from recent experience. I listed my used titanium IF on four dedicated bike forums, but the only firm offers I received were from two people on CL from entirely different cities than mine. Both wanted the bike for my asking price. One paid cash and picked it up locally.)

[pdmtong]

IF I was in the market for a $12k+ bike I would certainly want my own parts pick, and although yours are top choices, i doubt they would overlay exactly on top of what someone with that budget would want. when buying used, i expect a price break, since I may not have 100% assurance of frame history, warranty xfer, getting EXACTLY what I want, and the fact that it is used (not brand spanking rolled off the dealer floor new).

good news for you is it is stock frame size. so no custom geo or tubing issues.

bad news is there are other deals out there...I saw a new prince BOB 55cm for $4900 last week (f/f/hs/most post). with that I may end up spendig $7k on the build but I'd get EXACTLY what i want - no compromises

dont get me wrng. the $12k isnt the issue to me. its the getting exactly what i want for $12k that is the issue for me

[TAW]

Originally Posted by pdmtong

IF I was in the market for a $12k+ bike I would certainly want my own parts pick, and although yours are top choices, i doubt they would overlay exactly on top of what someone with that budget would want.

All the advice above is good. Not to mention that even if the parts were exactly what someone wanted, it's likely that the stem length, seatpost or saddle wouldn't fit someone exactly.

Usually guys are in the market for parts or wheels anyway, and as mentioned above, you get more for the individual parts than for the group as a whole.

[avalonracing]

The jury has come to a decision... Part it out.

Without a doubt you'd be better off parting it out.

In fact sometimes it makes more sense to buy a complete bike when you only need a group because complete bikes are often sold so under value it allows you to sell off wheels, frame and parts to pay for the group.

[Climb01742]

moving parts from bike to bike is a great way to retain the value of the parts.

[Lifelover]

It's a super sweet rig! Purely assumption, but I suspect that if you can afford that bike and have a AE on order at the same time, money aint an issue.

Keep um both! I would if I could!