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Ongoing bike shortage article.

Ken_R

Living the Dream
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Joined
Feb 10, 2016
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5,775
Location
Denver, CO
I just sold my Diamondback Mission Pro very quickly and for close to full asking price. Had people from all over the country offering to buy it site unseen and pay for shipping. There is a 2-3 week wait at most bike shops to pack a bike for shipping, something that I would have insisted on. First buyer who came to look at it was a teenager who had saved all year to buy a new mountain bike. The kid knew his stuff and asked all the right questions. I ended up cutting him a break and selling to him vs. full price to an out of state buyer. I think this bike means a heck of a lot more to this kid than any of the other buyers who reached out to me. Mountain biking is his life and he had been struggling to find a good bike in his price range. Glad the bike is going to a good home.

Based on the responses I had it was clear I could have easily sold this bike for significantly more $$ and this is entirely being driven by the fact that it is next to impossible to find bikes both new and used. Our bike shortage is in full swing and not letting up. I am sure someone is making a lot of $$ off this situation and there is no sign that it will let up anytime soon. If you want to sell an old bike now is a great time. On the other hand if you want to buy a bike you are in for a wild ride.

I bet a lot of the out of state buyers just wanted to buy it to then sell it for profit. Good things are ruined when they are used purely as financial instruments...

You definitely did the right thing. Good karma for you!
 

Ken_R

Living the Dream
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Denver, CO
I’ve been thinking of selling my mountain bike....maybe I should.

If you dont use it I would sell right now to a good home.
 

Philpug

Notorious P.U.G.
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42,624
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Reno, eNVy
I just sold my Diamondback Mission Pro very quickly and for close to full asking price. Had people from all over the country offering to buy it site unseen and pay for shipping. There is a 2-3 week wait at most bike shops to pack a bike for shipping, something that I would have insisted on. First buyer who came to look at it was a teenager who had saved all year to buy a new mountain bike. The kid knew his stuff and asked all the right questions. I ended up cutting him a break and selling to him vs. full price to an out of state buyer. I think this bike means a heck of a lot more to this kid than any of the other buyers who reached out to me. Mountain biking is his life and he had been struggling to find a good bike in his price range. Glad the bike is going to a good home.

Based on the responses I had it was clear I could have easily sold this bike for significantly more $$ and this is entirely being driven by the fact that it is next to impossible to find bikes both new and used. Our bike shortage is in full swing and not letting up. I am sure someone is making a lot of $$ off this situation and there is no sign that it will let up anytime soon. If you want to sell an old bike now is a great time. On the other hand if you want to buy a bike you are in for a wild ride.
Lets just hope this was not just an young entrepreneur that preys on nice folks like you and is going to flip the bike for a heafty profit ;). Seriously, my first sale last summer was like this, a younger guy who was all over trying to get his first real bike.
 

dovski

Waxing my skis and praying for snow
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Jan 7, 2018
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2,859
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Seattle
Lets just hope this was not just an young entrepreneur that preys on nice folks like you and is going to flip the bike for a hefty profit ;). Seriously, my first sale last summer was like this, a younger guy who was all over trying to get his first real bike.
Well his dad drove him to my house, and we chatted. This kid paid me in cash (a lot of small bills too). He asked a lot of good questions about the bike and called out the fact that I had never rebuilt of serviced the shocks or dropper post in the past three years. He didn't try to lo-ball me and made good arguments for getting some price concessions. Maybe he just watches a ton of Shark Tank, but I was impressed with how handled himself. Simply put I he made me want to sell him the bike even if it meant taking a little less $$. The real kicker was that he did not have exact change so he gave me an extra $10 as I could not break a $20 ... or anything for that matter since I have been all digital for the last year.

So long story short (or in my case short story long as I am not good with short stories ;) ) I think this kid was the real deal and think his going to ride his brains out on this bike :)
 

princo

Getting off the lift
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Oct 30, 2017
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263
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Denver
So long story short (or in my case short story long as I am not good with short stories ;) ) I think this kid was the real deal and think his going to ride his brains out on this bike :)

The Diamondback Mission Pro got some good feedback/promotion by some of the youtube MTB channels. It's an underrated bike. Maybe the kid watched one of those videos like this one (1.5M views) and knew what he as after:
MTB Trip to Pacific Northwest - RWS EP16
 

dovski

Waxing my skis and praying for snow
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Jan 7, 2018
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2,859
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Seattle
The Diamondback Mission Pro got some good feedback/promotion by some of the youtube MTB channels. It's an underrated bike. Maybe the kid watched one of those videos like this one (1.5M views) and knew what he as after:
MTB Trip to Pacific Northwest - RWS EP16
The Diamondback Mission Pro is actually a pretty amazing bike. Diamondback loaded it with top of the line components that you normally only see on bikes in the 7-10K range. As my first modern mountain bike in 20+ years it was awesome. Part of me was sad to see it go, but then I took a spin on the Yeti SB 150 I replaced it with and felt much better :) The SB 150 was a great craigslist find that I bought in Jan. Per @Philpug I could easily flip this bike, but then what would I ride :huh:
 

Wendy

Resurrecting the Oxford comma
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If you dont use it I would sell right now to a good home.
Yeah. I’ll need help with setting a price if I go this route. Such a sweet bike...I’m just not riding it much. We also have a Stumpjumper FSR here in great shape that needs a new home.
3DCA08B9-0454-4D8F-BD3A-AC93B569F4C6.jpeg
 

dovski

Waxing my skis and praying for snow
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Seattle
Yeah. I’ll need help with setting a price if I go this route. Such a sweet bike...I’m just not riding it much. We also have a Stumpjumper FSR here in great shape that needs a new home.
View attachment 131143
This bike would sell in a heartbeat and so would your Stumpjumper. I have had great luck selling bikes on PinkBike as you reach a very large community of bikers who will understand the value of a good quality bike, and everyone is actively looking for bikes.
 

Tom K.

Skier Ordinaire
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Dec 20, 2015
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This bike would sell in a heartbeat and so would your Stumpjumper. I have had great luck selling bikes on PinkBike as you reach a very large community of bikers who will understand the value of a good quality bike, and everyone is actively looking for bikes.

Agree on PinkBike, though I strongly prefer the local pickup only approach, to avoid having the buyer receive the bike, then trying to nickel and dime you over the famous "undisclosed cosmetic scratch" or "my mechanic said the drivetrain is a lot more worn than you said it was" ad nauseum.

On a whim, I'll mention that I'm considering selling my 2020 XL Top Fuel 9.9. I'll probably never actually get around to it, but if a fellow Pugskier SkiTalker was in need, that would probably tip me over the edge.
 

dovski

Waxing my skis and praying for snow
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Seattle
Agree on PinkBike, though I strongly prefer the local pickup only approach, to avoid having the buyer receive the bike, then trying to nickel and dime you over the famous "undisclosed cosmetic scratch" or "my mechanic said the drivetrain is a lot more worn than you said it was" ad nauseum.

On a whim, I'll mention that I'm considering selling my 2020 XL Top Fuel 9.9. I'll probably never actually get around to it, but if a fellow Pugskier SkiTalker was in need, that would probably tip me over the edge.
Completely agree, plus packing and shipping bikes is a hassel. That said the Trailcraft Maxwell full suspension kids bike I bought off Pinkbike was shipped to me from Colorado and while I did notice a few minor issues, I felt the price was fair so did not try to extract a pound of flesh from the seller ... call it good karma as I have not had anyone complain about the bikes I sold them, though all were local pickups and I take pretty good care of my bikes. I also try to price them at reasonable prices though I realize that is all relative when you are talking about high end mountain bikes. For example I sold a 2- year old Cannondale Super-v 700 on Craigslist that was in cherry condition, cannot tell you how many people tried to lowball me on that one. On the flipside through PinkBike I did get some lower offers, but none that I would consider low ball offers and everyone knew what the bikes were and how much they were worth. Simply put on PinkBike you have an informed cycling community which creates a better platform for buying and selling bikes. Similar to buying and selling skis through SkiTalk :)
 

Jersey Skier

aka RatherPlayThanWork or Gary
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Joined
Jan 16, 2016
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1,956
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Metuchen, NJ
Completely agree, plus packing and shipping bikes is a hassel. That said the Trailcraft Maxwell full suspension kids bike I bought off Pinkbike was shipped to me from Colorado and while I did notice a few minor issues, I felt the price was fair so did not try to extract a pound of flesh from the seller ... call it good karma as I have not had anyone complain about the bikes I sold them, though all were local pickups and I take pretty good care of my bikes. I also try to price them at reasonable prices though I realize that is all relative when you are talking about high end mountain bikes. For example I sold a 2- year old Cannondale Super-v 700 on Craigslist that was in cherry condition, cannot tell you how many people tried to lowball me on that one. On the flipside through PinkBike I did get some lower offers, but none that I would consider low ball offers and everyone knew what the bikes were and how much they were worth. Simply put on PinkBike you have an informed cycling community which creates a better platform for buying and selling bikes. Similar to buying and selling skis through SkiTalk :)

You should all the Pink Bike customers who buy DH bikes to ride our local mtb trail. It is a 16 mile loop of tight singletrack with about 400 ft. of elevation if you do the whole loop. No downhills longer than 10 seconds.
 

princo

Getting off the lift
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Joined
Oct 30, 2017
Posts
263
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Denver
You should all the Pink Bike customers who buy DH bikes to ride our local mtb trail. It is a 16 mile loop of tight singletrack with about 400 ft. of elevation if you do the whole loop. No downhills longer than 10 seconds.
Probably the same customers that buy Bent Chetler 120s to ski Hunter....
 

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