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Shopping for a Used Bike? Here’s How to Get One on the Internet

There’s a science to buying a used bike on the Internet — here’s your Ph.D.

a screenshot of used bike listings on ebayCourtesy

By Tanner Bowden

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Remember the bike boom, and subsequent bike shortage, produced by the COVID-19 pandemic? While empty shelves and low inventory may be a distant memory now, for a while there, finding a bike to ride felt damn near impossible.

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The force behind the shortage was positive — more people are riding bikes! According to a national survey by major bike brand Trek, 21 percent of American bike owners ride more often, and 50 percent said they planned to ride more after the pandemic ended. Cities like Paris and New York even took advantage of the situation to add miles of new bike lanes to help all these new riders get around.

Bike shops don’t have empty racks like they once did, but through the bike shortage we learned a powerful lesson: there are plenty of used bikes on the internet that need a good home. Why buy brand-new, when you could possibly score a sweet deal on a used ride?

There are a few places on the Internet where you can find used bikes: Craigslist and eBay are big ones, but there are also enthusiast communities like Pinkbike’s BuySell forum, Bicycle Blue Book, GearTrade and more. Then there’s The Pro’s Closet, which is less an intermediary between sellers and buyers than a dedicated used bike shop.

Shopping for a bike is a bit like shopping for a car (hell, some bikes are even as expensive as cars). If you’re a novice rider, you typically want to rely on the expertise and recommendations of a shop employee, and even if you’re more experienced, you’ll want to take the thing for a test ride. The quality concern becomes greater when shopping for a used bike, and yet those steps are not always possible when looking online.

With that in mind, here are some essential tips and tricks to buying a used bike on the Internet that can help you get a quality ride at a fair price.

Craigslist

a screen shot of craigslist
Do your due diligence when shopping on Craigslist — a little extra effort on the front-end will save you potential headaches down the line.
Gear Patrol

The upside to using Craigslist is that you can coordinate with sellers in your local area to inspect your prospective new bike and give it a test ride before money actually changes hands. The downside: extra time spent coordinating said meetup.

Do Thorough Online Research

Begin your assessment before the meetup. Garner as much information from that ad as possible. For some perspective on price, Google the bike’s make, model and year to find out how much it cost new. Check photos for any troubling issues on key components (more on that below). Make sure it’s the right size for you. If any of this information is missing, ask the seller for more details.

Avoid Stolen Bikes

Remember, thieves often sell stolen bikes on Craigslist, and you are liable for possession of stolen goods once one is in your hands. A price that’s too good to be true and an obvious lack of information are both red flags. So is an urgency to offload the bike. You can ask the seller for a photo of the bike’s serial number, which is typically found engraved on the bottom bracket, and search for it in a bike registry such as Bike Index and Project 529.

How to Check the Bike in Person

If these steps lead you to believe the bike’s legit, you can set up a time to meet, check it out and give it a test ride. If you have a friend who knows bikes (or better yet, works at a bike shop), buy him or her a six-pack in exchange for coming with. If you don’t, you’ll need to study up on how to QC the frame, fork, headset, wheels, wheel bearings, tires, drivetrain, derailleurs and more. Global Cycling Network has a detailed video that shows precisely what defects to look for on each of these components — watch it, make a checklist and bring it with you to the meetup.

Finally, give the bike a short ride to see how it feels — make sure to run through all the gears and squeeze both the front and rear brakes — and even after buying, bring it to a shop afterward to have it assessed by a professional.

eBay

a screenshot of used bike listings on ebayGear Patrol

If you’re looking for a specific model or brand, eBay can be a great way to score a deal. But since you can’t see the bike in person, research — use the same process outlined for Craigslist — and communication with the seller are even more critical. You can apply most of these steps to other online marketplaces like Pinkbike and Facebook.

Size Up the Seller

Even before you start researching the bike, check the seller’s rating and feedback — a score lower than 99 percent should be avoided, and negative feedback speaks for itself. If a seller doesn’t have a history at all, don’t purchase from them. Read the listing description in detail, looking for information about how long this person owned the bike, how often they rode it, how they stored it and why they’re selling. If this information isn’t there, ask for it.

It’s All About the Photos

Without seeing the bike in person, the photos are the only view of the bike’s condition. Scrutinize them, zoom in on them, look for any sign of mistreatment or disrepair. If the seller didn’t post a thorough set, contact them and ask for a full list of specific shots (like a closeup of the rear derailleur, for example) so you can perform a virtual assessment. Pay attention to the background, too, as it might offer clues to how it was stored.

How to Find a Bargain on a Used Bike on eBay

Listings on eBay are rife with spelling errors, and many bike brands have hard-to-spell foreign names. FatFingers is a tool that searches eBay for misspelled listings, so if you’re looking for a Pinarello, you can find bikes listed under Pinerello and Pinnarelo. This tool can help you find a really good, albeit misspelled, deal others may have missed.

The Pro’s Closet

a screen shot of the pros closet site
Bikes on TPC may be more expensive than other sites, but each one has gone through a rigorous inspection process. For you, that assurance of quality may be worth the cost.
Gear Patrol

If you’re looking for a high-end bike, The Pro’s Closet is your best bet for finding a good deal without the risk. The company started a decade and a half ago when Nick Martin, an ex-professional mountain biker who sold his old bikes on eBay every time a sponsor upgraded him, began helping other pros do the same. Martin and his team continued to flip bikes and other gear on eBay, the company grew, and in recent years it developed its own platform to address the needs of bike customers better.

Quality Guarantee

Much of what The Pro’s Closet does is derived from the auto industry. The company has a program called Certified Pre-Owned, which is a system of inspecting, verifying and refurbishing each bike to a high standard that’s backed up by a 30-day guarantee (the company also recently created a carbon frame warranty). The process involves an assembly line of mechanics who specialize in particular parts of a bike, says Travis Erwin, chief revenue officer at The Pro’s Closet. “Instead of one person going from the beginning to the end,” he explains. “A bike touches close to 15 people by the time it gets out the door.”

The different steps include verifying the bike’s make, model and year to washing the bike to adjusting the drivetrain and shining the wheels. An exhaustive photography process documents each bike from every angle and puts every scratch and scuff in plain view, so you know exactly what you’re getting.

There’s also a full spec list that details all the parts and a handy graphic that rates the condition of the bike’s various aspects on a scale of one to 10. For example, a bike’s frame might score a nine, but its tires a five. (That’s preferable to the opposite situation, as tires can be replaced.) The Pro’s Closet provides all this information upfront so you don’t have to do any sleuthing.

About Pricing

Bikes sold by The Pro’s Closet might be more expensive than those you’ll find on other online platforms. Again, the company functions like a car dealership in this regard — it has amassed data on the secondhand bike market and uses algorithmic tools to calculate prices.

Erwin also notes that used bikes are snowflakes; one Specialized Allez isn’t the same as another because it has different dings, a different history and even different parts if the previous owner made any upgrades. The company takes each one of these factors into account in pricing (and everything is documented on the listing, too). Plus, part of the value is in the convenience of the service, and the security of knowing you’re buying from a reputable dealer rather than some total stranger’s front yard.

Trade-In

The Pro’s Closet uses the same data and algorithms to buy bikes into its stock. You can use it to trade in a used bike for another one (all you have to do is take a few photos and give it a condition rating to receive an offer). Then you have a few options. You can take cash, or opt for a voucher worth five percent more to use at your local bike shop. Or you can get 10 percent on top of that if you opt for credit at The Pro’s Closet. Note: The company deals in premium bikes exclusively — the original MSRP on any trade-in bike has to be $1,500 or more.

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