Used Bike Advice

Johnners1878

Hello All,

I've spotted a really nice bike at a decent price that I'm tempted by. I've spoken to the seller and he seems sound and very upfront about the bike, reason for selling etc. He sent me on some pics of the blemishes/marks it has. The bike was raced and well-used but also well looked after. There are a couple of scuff marks that don't worry me at all, but these ones on the top tube do. I've read on here a few times about how carbon frames can fail catastrophically. I'm pretty useless at the mechanical side of cycling - for those of you who know your onions, what do you make of these? Deal breaker or insignificant?

Thanks!

magicbastarder

based on that photo, i wouldn't touch that with a bargepole without having it x-rayed. to my eyes, that looks like a crack in the middle of the photo. and what's that roughly circular mark to the right? and what i've circled in blue here - they don't look like scratches, they look like punch damage.

you're probably aware - you simply don't ride a carbon frame which is cracked without having it repaired. and it could be beyond economic repair.

Johnners1878

Thanks Bastarder - yes, you're confirming what I suspected.... back to the drawing board. It'll save me getting into trouble with Mrs Johnners anyway - she seems to think one bike should be enough for anyone so a 4th might not go down too well!

monkeyslayer

How did he explain those marks and scratches, like what was the cause?

fat bloke

Jeepers lads. Between that and the TT bike in the other thread....

There are so many other nice bikes out there for sale second hand, I don't know why a fella would buy something in that condition!

magicbastarder

he didn't buy it though.

Citizen Six

If you are looking at a carbon bike, and even considered that bike, then don't bother looking at any more carbons.

Johnners1878

No, I didn't buy it. The marks/damage weren't visible on the ad. It's a Cervelo S5 and it was advertised at stg£1,000 which was tempting. When I spoke to the vendor he said it had a few bumps and scrapes but he didn't think there was anything significantly wrong with it. He's had it since 2018 and raced it so not surprising that there'd be some damage. When I saw the pic I posted it put me off but I wanted to run it past people who had a bit more expertise.

As it happens, I sent the pic to Steven in Cycleplus and the possible repair cost wasn't too scary, but I've decided against anyway....