What is the point?

[redsturgeon]

I am often looking for bikes to buy on sites like eBay and Gumtree. What I need to see to understand if a bike is worth the asking price are a picture of the bike overall from each side then close ups of various components and pictures of any damage. Thus an ad with 8 to 10 pictures can give a good idea of the overall worth of the bike.

So why oh why did the person advertising the bike I was looking at today decide to take and upload about 8 pictures of the bike all taken from the same side at the same distance just a slightly different angle?

Bonkers!

John

[UncleEbenezer]

I am often looking for bikes to buy on sites like eBay and Gumtree.

You trade in [some proportion of what must be] stolen goods?

So why oh why did the person advertising the bike I was looking at today decide to take and upload about 8 pictures of the bike all taken from the same side at the same distance just a slightly different angle?

Bonkers!

John

Perhaps rather come across as bonkers than reveal the other side of the bike?

[redsturgeon]

I am often looking for bikes to buy on sites like eBay and Gumtree.

You trade in [some proportion of what must be] stolen goods?

So why oh why did the person advertising the bike I was looking at today decide to take and upload about 8 pictures of the bike all taken from the same side at the same distance just a slightly different angle?

Bonkers!

John

Perhaps rather come across as bonkers than reveal the other side of the bike?

Your comment is a bit like saying "you deal in cash? You must be aware that a proportion of that is stolen". Or perhaps, "you have bought a second hand car? You realise that a proportion of those are stolen."

So I thank you for you insinuation.

It is reasonably easy to filter out stolen bikes. I have turned down several when I turned up at the owner did not know enough about the bike they were selling. Today I turned up at a detached house in a nice part of town with a new Range Rover outside on the drive to buy a bike that the 50 + year owner was selling. No problem.

I have turned up at some dodgy addresses a couple of times to be met by some teenager outside waiting for me with a bike they know nothing about. I have declined those.

I regularly watch the secondhand sites for a particular model of bike that was stolen from my wife a few months ago, if I see that for sale I will go along to see it mob handed!

John

[scotia]

I am often looking for bikes to buy on sites like eBay and Gumtree.

Its the plural that interests me. I have one bike - I'm not sure what I would do with another.

[redsturgeon]

I am often looking for bikes to buy on sites like eBay and Gumtree.

Its the plural that interests me. I have one bike - I'm not sure what I would do with another.

You clearly have not heard the cyclists saying that the ideal number of bikes that one can own is derived from the formula n+1, where "n" is the current number of bikes already owned.

I also have a wife who cycles to work daily and does about 50 miles at the weekend on her road bike.

I also have a daughter who cycles to work daily, a son who cycled to college daily.

I have cycled since a boy, cycling 6 miles to school every day, I then got into mountain biking and road biking. My hobby is restoration of 1990s classic mountain bikes, especially Specialized and Kona.

I have a 1989 Specialized Rockhopper that I have owed for 30 years, I will never sell it but I don't ride it much these days.

I have three Kona 1990s mountain bikes.

I have a Kona cyclocross bike

I have a Felt road bike

I have a Marin hybrid commuter bike that I use for trips into town and shopping.

I have a Cube mountain bike, my wife has a Whyte commuter bike, my daughter has a Spoecialized dutch style bike with a large basket.

My son has a Cannondale CAAD9 that I completely disassembled last week down to the bare frame. Every part was then inspected, cleaned and lubricated before reassembly. My son is presently away at college in the US, his bike will be waiting for him in perfect riding condition on his return.

The last bike a bought, last week, was an "Orange" mountain bike made by a small Halifax manufacturer in the 1990s. The 60 year old guy I bought it from has owned it from new but had not ridden it for ten years. It is my next project.

Before that it was a Thorn Audax, a steel framed bike made from the legendary Reynolds 531 tubing, bought from a fellow enthusiast who showed me several classic old bikes he had rescued from the council recycling centre where he worked. I rode this 25 year old bike on my wife's long rides at the weekends over lockdown and it has been great but I will now fix it up and sell it on to another enthusiast.

I have provided bikes for at least a dozen of my friends and family. Instead of going to Halfords and being sold something brand new for a couple of hundred pounds that has been built to last for a year or two, they have come to me for advice and I have found 10 to 20 year old quality bikes that sold for perhaps £500 or more when they were new that have laid in someone's shed unused for years until they have a clear out. With a few hours work, they are ready to ride, these bikes usually just need cleaning, lubing and adjusting with perhaps new tyres and saddles and handgrips and will last for another 20 years of use if well maintained.

If more people cycled the world would be a better place. If more people looked after their bikes properly they would get more use and enjoyment from them. I am more than happy to rescue old classic bike from lying around in a shed forgotten or taken to the dump because they have a puncture that someone didn't know how or couldn't be bothered to fix.

A decent second hand well made classic bike can cost less than a tankful of petrol and last a lifetime of use with a little regular care and maintenance.

I am proud to take my part in this.

I hope that gives a little more detail and food for thought for the unenlightened.

John

[Mike4]

I am often looking for bikes to buy on sites like eBay and Gumtree.

Its the plural that interests me. I have one bike - I'm not sure what I would do with another.

You clearly have not heard the cyclists saying that the ideal number of bikes that one can own is derived from the formula n+1, where "n" is the current number of bikes already owned.

It's the same with boats. DAMHIK.

[scotia]

I am often looking for bikes to buy on sites like eBay and Gumtree.

Its the plural that interests me. I have one bike - I'm not sure what I would do with another.

You clearly have not heard the cyclists saying that the ideal number of bikes that one can own is derived from the formula n+1, where "n" is the current number of bikes already owned.

Your zeal is impressive - but where do you store them all? I'll admit that there might, just might, be some of my collection of rods and reels that are superfluous, but an extra one or two or three... don't take up too much room.

[UncleEbenezer]

Your zeal is impressive - but where do you store them all?

Your post was bound to bring that response from someone.

Storage? Some people have plenty of it. If not in the house then a shed or garage.

If I had that space, I'd be tempted to keep more bikes, instead of using the same one both on- and off-road and in all conditions. In my madder moments I even contemplate variants such as a 'bent.

[redsturgeon]

I am rather ingenious with storage. It is amazing how many bikes one can get in a single garage with a little imagination. I have have eight bikes hung from the rafters, it is a high ceiling so they are above head height. then I have one floor level rack of five bikes and one of three. Then one or two bikes just drift around as necessary. I usually have about 20 bikes and try to operate a one in one out system, ie if a am buying a bike then I will seriously consider selling one.

Oldest son and girlfriend are moving back in with us next month, bring three bikes with them! I am looking at a new system.

John

[AF62]

I am often looking for bikes to buy on sites like eBay and Gumtree.

You trade in [some proportion of what must be] stolen goods?

Your comment is a bit like saying "you deal in cash? You must be aware that a proportion of that is stolen". Or perhaps, "you have bought a second hand car? You realise that a proportion of those are stolen."

So I thank you for you insinuation.

It is reasonably easy to filter out stolen bikes. I have turned down several when I turned up at the owner did not know enough about the bike they were selling. Today I turned up at a detached house in a nice part of town with a new Range Rover outside on the drive to buy a bike that the 50 + year owner was selling. No problem.

I have turned up at some dodgy addresses a couple of times to be met by some teenager outside waiting for me with a bike they know nothing about. I have declined those.

I regularly watch the secondhand sites for a particular model of bike that was stolen from my wife a few months ago, if I see that for sale I will go along to see it mob handed!

John

A few years ago I decided to buy a Brompton, but decided the new price was a little too eye watering.

Looking on eBay the prices were far too high for something secondhand but at least the sellers seemed genuine.

However Gumtree! Good grief!

It was blinding obvious that 90% or more of the Bromptons were stolen - vague or incorrect descriptions, generic pictures, etc. Or alternatively it was some thug with nothing to sell but looking to set up a meeting with a buyer carrying a wedge of cash.

However after some time I did manage to locate a non-stolen one on Gumtree, from someone who was returning home to another country and didn’t want to take it back.

When I went to see the bike I was surprised to see it in almost pristine condition as if it had never been ridden, although from the specification I knew it was a few years old.

I asked the seller “used it much?”, to which they replied “oh yes, quite a lot”, but then there was a shout from the wife from the next room “no you haven’t, you’re only used it a couple of times “.

[redsturgeon]

I asked the seller “used it much?”, to which they replied “oh yes, quite a lot”, but then there was a shout from the wife from the next room “no you haven’t, you’re only used it a couple of times “.

That has been my experience a couple of times. A genuine seller who bought something on a whim and used it once or twice...often bought through the bike to work scheme.

John

[bungeejumper]

That has been my experience a couple of times. A genuine seller who bought something on a whim and used it once or twice

A couple of years ago, I bought a rowing machine on Gumtree from some keen young gym-bunny type who said he was graduating to an even more punishing rewarding machine. The machine certainly looked almost unused; on a brief inspection, however, it turned out that the eejit had fitted the sliding seat back to front, so that the moulded pointy bit that was supposed to lift and separate your buttocks had been doing it instead to his wedding tackle.

It rather confirmed everything I've ever thought about sporty types. You can have brains or brawn, but so rarely do you get both. The rowing machine, by the way, was a bargain once I'd reversed its camber!

BJ

[didds]

It rather confirmed everything I've ever thought about SOME sporty types. You can have brains or brawn, but so rarely do you get both. The rowing machine, by the way, was a bargain once I'd reversed its camber!

BJ

FTFY

[bungeejumper]

It rather confirmed everything I've ever thought about SOME sporty types. You can have brains or brawn, but so rarely do you get both.

FTFY

Illogical, captain. My original sentence (without the SOME ), already made it clear that there were three variants of the sporty type: those with brains, those with brawn, and those with both. (In fact there's a fourth group, which would be those with neither.) Between them, those options cover all the bases. So the addition of "SOME" to the sporting cohort would seem to be a superfluity, no?

BJ

[AleisterCrowley]

You should have included a Venn diagram

[bungeejumper]

You should have included a Venn diagram

Interesting thought. A bit like the Olympic logo, really.

So let's see, you've got five circles, representing brawn, brains, sportsmanship, personality and drugs, and some of them intersect but others are mutually exclusive? Hmmm, I think we might be onto something.

BJ

[AleisterCrowley]

Intersectionality is very fashionable these days...

[UncleEbenezer]

Intersectionality is very fashionable these days...

You've found the point(s)!

Unless it's an intersection of objects having more than one dimension.

[Mike4]

Intersectionality is very fashionable these days...

You've found the point(s)!

Unless it's an intersection of objects having more than one dimension.

Point of Order....

Any fewer than three dimensions and it's shape (or a point) rather than an object, Shirley.

[didds]

It rather confirmed everything I've ever thought about SOME sporty types. You can have brains or brawn, but so rarely do you get both.

FTFY

Illogical, captain. My original sentence (without the SOME ), already made it clear that there were three variants of the sporty type: those with brains, those with brawn, and those with both. (In fact there's a fourth group, which would be those with neither.) Between them, those options cover all the bases. So the addition of "SOME" to the sporting cohort would seem to be a superfluity, no?

BJ

Strewth - you8 exp[ect em to read it ALL ?



didds