Buy used bike USA

[aboutfivebucks]

Hi all,

Does anyone know a good site where used bikes are traded in the USA? Something similar to the listings we see in Gumtree.
Im flying to Colorado and may as well get myself a bike there.

Thankyou.

 

[ctguru]

pinkbike has a for sale forum

 

[dirt lover]

If you're wanting to reduce any chance of being stung with import taxes I've known people who've taken a bike over with them (usually just a crappy $50 kmart bike they had sitting in the shed) so they can claim they always had the bike rather than just bringing one back with them.

I don't know anyone who's been pulled up on it but it's an option depending on how cautious you want to be.

 

[JTmofo]

If you're wanting to reduce any chance of being stung with import taxes I've known people who've taken a bike over with them (usually just a crappy $50 kmart bike they had sitting in the shed) so they can claim they always had the bike rather than just bringing one back with them.

I don't know anyone who's been pulled up on it but it's an option depending on how cautious you want to be.

I cant imagine that any customs agency have the time to check if the outgoing passengers have a bike in their luggage or not. Once the bike on return is in a used condition, it would be hard for them to prove you didnt bring it out with you.
Different story if you returned with a spotless rig, never seen a trail and trying to explain that you had it leaving Aus!

 

[Beej1]

Colorado is a bit of a MTB mecca - you wont struggle to find places to hire a bike. Often it will be the latest and greatest.

Otherwise, craigslist is the gumtree of the USA. Here is just some mountain bikes in the capital (that Huffy on page one looks mint!): http://denver.craigslist.org/search/sss?query=mountain bike&sort=rel

 

[aboutfivebucks]

Thanks for your responses

thanks for the quick responses, between Pinkbike and Craigslist I'm sure ill find something.
Particularly as Pinkbike sellers look familiar with shipping bikes from other states (unlike Gumtree sellers)

 

[frogbone]

buying bike in USA or CANADA

I reccoment to buy bike from pinkbike or craigslist . Buying bikes in north America is way cheper then here in Australia . In pinkbike you can be sure that you will find a good decent bike with ok price then craigslist is way more fun place to look to search bikes it s like pandora box you never know what you can find , lots of people dont have the idea of thevalue of thei bikes and you can find some really cheep good bikes .

 

[kwikee]

Wow, frog boner. So few posts yet such poor grammar/spelling/punctuation! Don't want to sound like a grammar Nazi, but you will be crucified around here if this keeps up.
Word of advice- let spell check do it's thing and read through before you post.

 

[steve jobs' pancreas]

I cant imagine that any customs agency have the time to check if the outgoing passengers have a bike in their luggage or not. Once the bike on return is in a used condition, it would be hard for them to prove you didnt bring it out with you.
Different story if you returned with a spotless rig, never seen a trail and trying to explain that you had it leaving Aus!

what sort of checks does the man do when you bring a bike back from o/s ?

 

[aboutfivebucks]

Quarantine are looking for dirt and other bio-security threats.
They generally check tyres and shoes. Have your bike shoes handy. Sometimes they will take shoes away for a couple of minutes (I think they spray/fog them for bugs).

I don't think anyone else is interested in the bike.

 

[steve jobs' pancreas]

The contamination checks I would expect but what about checks to determine if a bike was purchased new o/s when one was on hols and brought back into the country thus avoiding applicable Australian taxes ?

Just asking for a friend of a friend.

 

[kooga]

Thought I might restart this thread, heading to the US soon, is it significantly cheaper to buy second hand while over there espically with the exchange rate? Or not really worth it any more?

 

[Freediver]

Wow, frog boner. So few posts yet such poor grammar/spelling/punctuation! Don't want to sound like a grammar Nazi, but you will be crucified around here if this keeps up.
Word of advice- let spell check do it's thing and read through before you post.

That's great for somebody with English as a second language which is probably the case with Frogbone. Knowing when to be a cunt and when to back off wins more friends.

 

[Mr Crudley]

Thought I might restart this thread, heading to the US soon, is it significantly cheaper to buy second hand while over there espically with the exchange rate? Or not really worth it any more?

I've had a friend of mine pick up a new SC while in the US. It did work out cheaper at the time but he lined a deal before hand. The exchange rate is a factor. If the seller/distributor in AU bought something you lust for at a bad exchange rate and then the rates moved more favourably by the time you went to the land of big Cadillacs and 110VAC sockets. A bit of luck is involved to make the hole idea fly I think.

Although would be more straightforward to plan your purchase via a bike shop than the lucky dip of Craigslist / Ebay etc IMHO. I've also heard that it can be cheaper for customs if you import parts opposed to a complete bike, so swinging the tools in a hotel living room pulling off a swing arm and other bits and turning them into parts protectively wrapped by your unwashed underwear and socks and anything you can find spread across more than one bag is totally acceptable by my greasy and usually low standards.

I don't know how much of this is relevant since I had the same ideas but didn't find anything inspiring on my US trips which were sadly work related and didn't involve buggering off for a few days at Moab or Durango on a tasty new steed as I really should have. I saw a few bike shops but nothing jaw dropping.

I'm thinking of doing a law degree and then lobbying to make any of my non-MTB riding a criminal offense so I have to ride by law, or maybe just join the Church of the Singletrack and call it a religion and claim that my religious freedom is getting f^&ked up if I don't fit a ride in. That'll fix it.

I almost made it to Red Rock Canyon in Vegas where I was planning to hire a bike, almost .....until compulsory work drinky-poo's festivities got in the way of said fat tyre faffery :censored: I've missed out on rides for less fun tasks ... hic ....... :suspicious: but still regret missing that chance.