Real Bike Bargains on Gumtree...

[MercuryKev]

... I'm always one for a bargain so you you can imagine my delight when I stumbled across this on Gumtree:

http://glasgow.gumtree.com/glasgow/44/48329144.html

Ok, so £550 is quite expensive for a second hand bike but the spec is not bad:

a blingy S-works frame
full Super Record groupset
three sets of pedals
three saddles, all carbon and Ti
carbon bars and stem
2 sets of wheels (Mavic Ksyrium ES and zipp carbon tubs)
Sidi shoes
wheel bags

Unfortunately they have forgotten to mention the size of the bike, so I don't know if it will fit.  Oh well, it'll just have to pass.....


... seriously was is the point of these adds on Gumtree?  Is it some form of email gathering scam or something?  No cyclist who knows their kit would think that this was a genuine sale?

[Rhys W]

Hmm....

http://cardiff.gumtree.com/cardiff/06/48328106.html

 

[MercuryKev]

Maybe those 2008, full Super Record, s-works aren't as hot as they seem.  Either that or the type of person who buys that type of bike likes to trade up every 12 months.

[Tewdric]

That'll be a scam then...  It doesn't exist or it's nicked.

[De Sisti]

If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is!

[rogerzilla]

I saw a Brompton for £100 on Friday Ads.  The seller never responded to phone calls or e-mails.

[MercuryKev]

It's obviously a scam but what's its purpose?  Do they try to get people to part with cash before seeing the bike?  Is is about farming email addresses/personal details?  A look on the net shows that this current bike is being advertised internationally: USA Craiglist etc, so it's no a local phenomenon.

[Rhys W]

Puzzling, isn't it? I'm almost tempted to reply with a throwaway email address just to see what turns up.

Strange aspects :

 1) Clearly written with some knowledge (extremely detailed description of all components), yet fails to state frame size and has a selling price of 1/3 to 1/4 of what the bike is worth.

 2) Three sets of pedals and three different saddles. Who does that with their bike?

 3) Gives a fake google maps location for each instance.

[Greenbank]

Sounds like Bait and Switch to me.

[eck]

I agree that it's seriously fishy. as lots of these seem to be, but not always.
We got this rather nice wee Trek off Gumtree last year for a very good, but not silly, price.

Ok, it did involve a preliminary exchange of emails, but I was able to phone the seller and ask enough questions to be happy that it was genuine before we went to see it. It turned out that she was primarily a runner who'd had a knee injury and had been advised to take up cycling to keep her fitness up while the injury healed. She had recovered, but had found cycling a bit too scary, so wanted to sell the bike on. Win - win. 

[MercuryKev]

got this rather nice wee Trek off Gumtree last year

Was that from the personal ads  - I'm going to tell your wife that you're calling her a wee Trek