Buying second hand - higher spec older bike or lower spec newer

T

The Angry Chook

Squid
Hey Chook,

If you're not mechanically minded, go for the new bike, unless you know a mechanic that can give the second hand bike a good look over before purchasing. You might need to do a bit of maintenance on it to get it back into good working order. At least with a new bike, you have all the warranty options available if things go wrong.

I'd also recommend you keep well clear of the Anthem Advanced too, they have notorious seat tube failure issues - there's a big long thread about multiple owner's woes here.
 
Thanks, I'm reasonably confident in my mechanical skills. What about spec levels of older bikes?
Is the component spec level of a bike like the trek better than one like the Anthem?
There's a couple of bikes similar to the trek, high level when new, and anthem, lower spec but newer component.
 
Do the anthems still crack or was that just the 29er? If not I'd go that anthem also.

Specs on MTb don't mean much since everything is a consumable and wears out much faster than road.
 
I wouldn't buy the anthem unless its off someone you know and can claim a warranty thru them

mine broke
 
I thought the seat tube cracking issues were only with the 29er model ? Could be wrong.

Trek doesn't exactly have a crack free reputation ....
 
It does depend on what you've in mind for the bike in terms of where and how you plan to ride it.

Personally,
I'd take the more recent bike, especially since around seven years is a long time in bike standards and geometry as well as specs.

As for Giant vs Trek? I've heard of Giants failing, especially Anthems, and I've cracked more Treks than they and I would like..
 
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Buy an old bike, pre 2010 for style points, pre 2005 if your a real man. Cheap, bulky with plenty of rear squat, in just 7 days I can make you a man
Obviously an old dh bike, goes without saying
 
Here's one of the threads on cracking Anthems: https://www.rotorburn.com/forums/index.php?threads/cracked-frame-or-scratch.304479/

Don't bother reading it all, but there are some poor souls that have been through several warranty replacement frames which have also cracked the same way. The lifetime guarantee is good, but not much help when you don't have a bike to ride...

That original Trek link was a 26" bike; no one rides them anymore, except moorey. Creaky's question is a good one - what sort of riding are you looking at doing and where would you normally ride? That seems to be the main approach in deciding on which bike to buy for most people - get a bike that suits the type of riding you'll be doing the most.

If you're unsure, then you probably can't go wrong with a modern geometry (long, low, slack) trail bike in the 130-150mm travel range - they seem pretty versatile on ups and downs.
 
creaky said:
They're different styles of bikes to the Trek and the Anthem. Are you after more an XC or an all mountain type rig ?
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XC mainly. Trails here are rocky and gravelly. Some nice single but not too much. Then the odd trip to moderate downhill style trails.
I've been riding all these trails for the last 7 years with a hardtail GT avalanche with crappy Suntour forks so any step up is gonna be good no matter what style of bike it is.
 
The Angry Chook said:
XC mainly. Trails here are rocky and gravelly. Some nice single but not too much. Then the odd trip to moderate downhill style trails.
I've been riding all these trails for the last 7 years with a hardtail GT avalanche with crappy Suntour forks so any step up is gonna be good no matter what style of bike it is.
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Hmm. If thats the case I would be looking for a few things.
-140-160mm travel front and rear. Preferably RS Pikes and Monarch. The lower end Fox stuff is really ordinary, especially the evolution series.
-Avoid carbon unless buying new.
-Avoid proprietry suspension. So that pretty much eliminates Specialized and Scott.
-Avoid low spoke count wheels. Or budget ~$500 for Hope wheels if the bike is good apart from the wheels.
-Avoid Avid brakes. Get Shimano; Formula or Magura if you have a higher risk threshold.
-Dropper posts are nice to have but not a must have. Brand X droppers are $140 off CRC, less off ebay but less warranty support. There are bloody good for the price.
-Secondhand 2015 bikes will be about 50% of their price when they were new, less if they have been thrashed. In fact avoid thrashed bikes, they will probably have irreparable problems like ovalised bearing seats.
-There are plenty of good bikes in the trading section here, and heaps and heaps of bikes of all sorts on Facebook.

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk
 
Thanks oddjob!
So if I read it correctly the fireeye is probably more suitable than the older Trek.
I've found it quite hard to find a bike within my price range but will keep looking!
 
In general older higher spec but not that old! Stay in the current generation and only a year or two old to get the latesdt geometry.
 
Dales Cannon said:
In general older higher spec but not that old! Stay in the current generation and only a year or two old to get the latesdt geometry.
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This. The constantly changing standards will fuck you if anything goes wrong with that older bike. Spares may be available but they will be hard to find.

2 years back I found a crack in my 2009 Niner frame 4 weeks out from a 24hour I had spent months training for. Despite collecting a significant amount of spares for the older standards either the bike or the race was going to be write off. I ended up getting a new bike. Given the OP is considering a 2011 bike my situation then is a reasonable approximation of the OPs potential situation now.
 
Get a second hand Banshee Spitfire. You can set it up any way you like, from old skool 26 to Kool-aide 27.5 boost. It will do everything you want!
 
Little older with good better spec any day. Or buy a late model s/h frame build it up with a mix of online specials or near new parts. People sell off new “take offs” or barely used high end parts and sell for nix.

Also what @Boom King said. Got 2 spitfires here. Will handle anything from recreational xc to DH trails, particularly if you have a second set of wheels/tyres to swap out.
 
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PS, I’d run a mile from the fire eye. Pretty shit build, and assuming the frame was replaced for a reason.
My sons Spitty cost $1500. x1 drivetrain, pikes, reverb, monarch plus shock. I upgraded wheels to hope hoops soon after...not because there was anything wrong with current ones....just because hope.
 
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