What Retrobike "feature" do you avoid when looking for bikes?

[bikeworkshop]

Obviously some stuff in these peoples' hands needs saving -

Used bikes are part of our shop business, we've probably bought over 3000 second hand bikes in my time -
Often you just have to turn away because the owner (or the bike's probable history) is just too awful.
"festooned with cr4p" is never a good sign.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Crap like bells, kickstands, hooters, ever ready light holders, wonky mudguards, tied on gel saddles, side mirrors, half worn grips and flat tyres?

 

[bikeworkshop]

...bells, kickstands, hooters, ever ready light holders, wonky mudguards, tied on gel saddles, side mirrors...

These ones can all be the symptom of
"man-of-a-certain-age"
though.

Worse is the plastic pedals, steel hirise bar, apollo saddle (or anything else apollo now I come to think of it)
Wrong size steel seatpost,
Plastic tourney 6speed thumbshifter on an 8 speed cassette,
plastic v-levers on cantis...

All those signs that parts have been swapped from another (incompatible and cheap) bike, and nothing paid for

 

[pwebb]

I must confess to an irrational loathing of billy bonkers tyres, usually used to dress up a neglected and cheaply manufactured MTB. An ugly clash of modern mass produced tat, with ancient mass produced tat.

 

[BerthaPog]

Hey, I've got loads of bar ends!*






*none of them are currently on a bike though, as I don't seem to use them any more...

Snap…

 

[Markybeau]

So a lot of these are easily changed, do they really put you off getting the bike.

Estays, Alu frames, paint colours obviously you can't change easily, but bar ends, thumbies, or odd wheels is easy to fix along with changing black wall tyres to proper skin ones.
So would it really put you off getting it?

Quite often it can be the wording of the advert that can put me off. I've been put off several purchases because of the way an ad was worded, or how a seller has responded to questions.

Apart from 'rare' which is often used ignorantly and inappropriately, 'upgraded' is, for me, another trigger. Usually meaning quality parts have been replaced with shite.

I have found that the further the seller's perception of what they actually have is away from reality the harder it will be to deal with them and get a sale, at a realistic price, over the line. Therefore the less I'm willing to deal with them, unless they have something I genuinely cannot find elsewhere.

 

[Vesatoro]

^Just that.

We call it ”acerating”, and ”de-acerating” when the correct parts are fitted again.

 

[widowmaker]

Lazy adverts, one grainy photo taken from inside the house etc.

 

[Tootyred]

Or photos taken of the item, whilst the photographer is on another planet....you know where its a bit like "spot the bike" in a sea of rubbish.

Ffs...if you can't even be arsed to get close to the item to sell it, why bother!

 

[Ren Rawbor]

don't we just mail it to Imlach these days? unless it's french tat, that goes to Woz.

oh and english smut, that's for Bob.

everything else is given to Benji..... oh, wait, I see your problem.

Ahem, have I not already volunteered to rehome all the snowflake wheels (for the sake of the community of course)?