Moots Holding Their Value ?

[dbthompson]

I am trying to gauge the current value of a Moots Psychlo X. (Note I am not advertising it for sale here) . Its a 56cm w Ultegra 6800, Moots fork, Thompson seat post, fizik saddle, and canti breaks. The frame is a 2014, I believe. Seems the market for Moots bikes has softened some in the past few years probably due to increased competition. Interested in your thoughts and points of view. Thanks.

[tuscanyswe]

id be suprised if frame fork combo went for more than 1500 net in the US.
Bit more here in europe obviously but not a lot imo. Disc are also really lowering the value on cross frames with cantis, much much more so than on road frames with calipers for obvious reasons .)

This is my guesstimate. Take it as such and ad it to others and your own and voila you know when to strike!

They are very very nice bikes. Ive had one with the same fork as well.

[Matthew]

Should hold it's value fairly well depending on condition, etc. There are lots of folks here who love them, myself included. Problem is more the overall used bike market. Unless you are selling something rare or just ridiculously nice it is certainly a buyers market.

[AngryScientist]

note that i dont agree with the market personally, i'm a rim brakes lifer; but the widespread popularity of disc brakes has torpedoed the market for used canti brake bikes.

a good caliper road bike is still a good road bike, but the majority expectation is that if you're spending premium dollars for a cross/gravel bike these days it better have disc brakes and thru axles or the price better be low. that's the reality of it.

[chiasticon]

what Angry said. cantis just don't draw mucho dollars these days. if you bought the Moots brand new, you're gonna take a big hit on resale. if you bought it used recently, you can likely re-sell for what you paid.

fwiw, I paid about $1800 for a used PsychloX back in 2015. I don't think I could get more than $1500 now. there's just a lot less buyers for canti bikes; drives the price down. in fact I sold a PsychloX at that same time in 2015 (was moving down a size) for $1600.

[MattTuck]

Have you ever seen those Wiley Coyote cartoons where he runs off a cliff holding an anvil? Like that, except he's holding a frame made for canti brakes.

[earlfoss]

are they ?

[dbthompson]

Thanks for the feedback. I did buy this used, frame and fork for $1500 a few years ago. I didn't think about canti being an issue but it makes sense given the popularity of disc brakes for cross. Guess I'll reset my expectations and price point.

[joosttx]

Originally Posted by dbthompson

Thanks for the feedback. I did buy this used, frame and fork for $1500 a few years ago. I didn't think about canti being an issue but it makes sense given the popularity of disc brakes for cross. Guess I'll reset my expectations and price point.

I would argue that cantis lessen the value considerably vs disc brakes. Road calipers vs disc is another story.

A little off topic but even disc brakes have made an evolutionary step to flat mounts.

[FlashUNC]

The market for used custom work is generally going to be softer than than a middle aged guy out of Viagra.

Just lots of choices and great bikes and not that many buyers. The canti thing even moreso.

[happycampyer]

Originally Posted by joosttx

<snip>
A little off topic but even disc brakes have made an evolutionary step to flat mounts.

It's funny, but pdmtong and I were just discussing this yesterday. I would not consider it OT at all.

The reality is, for better, worse or indifferent, the market for bikes is undergoing a number of pretty seismic shifts, at a time when the used market is (and has been for a while) relatively soft. On the whole, Moots' frames hold their value among their best in their category, but not every category has fared so well.

I have a mid-2000's 26" YBB. If I ever decide to sell it, I'm sure that it will sell for a premium to other 26" mtbs, but that just isn't saying much. At least it has hydro discs—according to the market, anything less isn't safe to be used for anything more than as a grocery-getter.

Cyclocross bikes are going through a similar transition. Of course people have always bought 'cross bikes to race 'cross, but a lot of the market for 'cross bikes was buoyed by non-racers (I owned a Psychlo-X years ago, and never raced). With the advent of the all-road/gravel bike—and especially the disc versions—the market for 'cross bikes with cantis has shrunk considerably. Witness the fact that Moots doesn't even sell a 'canti-equipped Psychlo-X/Routt. A lot of the support of the used market is the fact that it's a bargain relative to the new market for that same bike. If the bike is a discontinued model/version, that isn't going to help.

One could make the observation more broadly—bikes with 1-18" straight steerers are starting to take a hit vs. bikes with tapered steerers. Not as bad as bikes with 1" steerers, but give it time. And as noted above, the change to flat-mount disc has put pressure on the desirability of bikes with ISO and post-mount disc brakes, at least to some people.

[DRZRM]

It was always easy enough to send a canti brake MTB back to Moots for a refinish and you could add disc mounts and remove the cantilever posts for a few hundred dollars. I did it with a YBB 26" rim and extended its riding life and resale value. Are they still doing this, and can they do it for cross frames? Seems like a few hundred bucks and a new fork would be a good investment making a Moots disc ready, though you have limited options for a non-tapered fork, so that might be your next issue.

[mistermo]

Originally Posted by DRZRM

It was always easy enough to send a canti brake MTB back to Moots for a refinish and you could add disc mounts and remove the cantilever posts for a few hundred dollars.

I called about this once. They told me they could add disc brake tabs, but would not remove canti posts.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by dbthompson

I am trying to gauge the current value of a Moots Psychlo X. (Note I am not advertising it for sale here) . Its a 56cm w Ultegra 6800, Moots fork, Thompson seat post, fizik saddle, and canti breaks. The frame is a 2014, I believe. Seems the market for Moots bikes has softened some in the past few years probably due to increased competition. Interested in your thoughts and points of view. Thanks.

What's softened is the market for dirt bikes with canti brakes. I'd say that bike is in the $2000 range tho.

[ERK55]

About a year ago I sold a new Canti 55 Psychlo-x w/ uncut fork. I think it went for about $1100, about a third of what I paid for it.
It was a no no-reserve auction. Frankly if I knew it would go that low I probably would have just kept the thing.