Seller BEWARE...
 

Seller BEWARE:
If you are selling a bike in Toronto please read this. A little while ago a guy replied to an ad I had for a decent Italian road bike I had for sale. He took it around the block for a test ride and brought it back with the chain jumping erratically off the rear sprockets and the rear derailleur banging. He insisted that he still wanted to buy the bike.... but at a drastically reduced price. I was suspicious because I had ridden the bike before he arrived and it was OK then.

I checked the chain and found that two or three of the pins had been pushed partially through the chain with a chain tool, enough to foul on the next bigger sprocket in the cassette. He told me I was pretty smart to catch that and that he can usually knock about 1/3 of the asked price off a bike with that trick !!. I also got the impression that he buys a lot of used bikes to resell in Toronto but I do not know the name of his shop or business (and even if I did I would not post it here because it would be his word against mine).

Binky

Wow, what a tool....

Purposely screwing over other bikers, to make a better profit...
Karma...

did he ultimately buy it at your price?

One of the reasons I always demo a used bike on a stand before a test ride, to confirm everything works well to the buyer.

Any miscues during the test ride are suspect if the bike was fine 5 min. earlier on the stand.

Wow I’m not sure I’d have been able to carry on a reasonable conversation with the guy after he admitted to that.

WOW - that's just low. Impressed you caught it, and surprised he owned up to it.

Hoping this doesn't give any unsavory readers (and we have a couple) ideas...

I would have a tough time not dealing harshly with such a nasty person! Thanks for the warning. That said...

Binky, you might have got lucky. If he, I assume the nasty potential buyer was a he, had time to punch three pins part way out, he also had time to simply bail, taking the bike with him. Which reminds me of just such a situation that happened a few years ago, at our annual Lakehead University/Bicycles for Humanity vintage bicycle sale.

We (B4H) offer between sixty and eighty bikes, each autumn at LU. The bikes sell really fast. The day in question saw two young fellas who wanted to test ride a bike each. No problem, this was not an unusual request. Sadly, the pair set out on their test rides and kept on going. This is an actual picture of some of the bikes we were selling that day...
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...21c8d98932.jpg

It sounds to me like fraud.

But, the police likely wouldn't care.

Of course, if a person was buying and selling used cars, and did something like pop the hood and swap two spark plug wires... Then cheated sellers out of thousands of dollars... the police might be all over that.

Exactly. There are plenty of potential buyers that have no idea how STI shifters works or that the FD will move the chain from the small ring to the big one, and back.

This is just a strange thing to happen. I think my jaw would drop when the potential buyer told me and not really be sure how to handle except to say, "you had better go now".

I would have said "You break it, you buy it!"

-Sean

Now I've heard everything.

OP: Amazing that the guy gave up his game instead of playing dumb when you realized what he'd done. I'm assuming you didn't sell to this evolutionary detour.

DD

wow

I have had this done too me a couple of times when selling used bike. Surprised it hasn't really come before here on the forums.

For the few times I've bought a bike in rideable condition, the rules of a test-ride were never clearly specified, but I always felt that it was best to keep more or less within eyesight of the seller.

I live in the country and if it's a low end bike I say "off you go for a test ride" and wait at home. Anything remotely nice and I ride with the buyer.

Also, I think this should be a polite reminder to dig out tools needed to adjust seatpost and bar stem before buyers show and keep garage doors/shed doors closed. No use letting someone see what else you have that might be nicer than what you are selling.

A thief who would alter your bike might well return later.....

Each person is different. I've had some sellers wishing to meet in store parking lots.

On the other hand, there are other sellers that wish to show off their wares in case they can make a half dozen sales.

Well he couldn't just bail with the bike because he left his van parked in front of my house.

Bink

He was pretty cute about how smart he is... and then offered full price after I fixed the chain... but no.... I did not sell him the bike.
It was a nice Bianchi and I had initially underpriced it so it worked out.

Bink

Not sure??? NOT A CHANCE. -ERIC

Seriously? Boy, am I naive... Though if someone came off a test ride and showed me that, I'd know something was fishy.

Ha,ha.

Scammers are all over...sad really. I buy and sell and too often, when buying, the bikes are not rideable. When selling a bike I generally will ride along as there are always multiple bikes with me. The low end bikes I will ride along as well as I want to make sure they know how to operate the bike. Seasoned riders I just shut up and ride along...I have used my bike rack to show a prospective buyer the gear and chain movements. I rarely invite folks to my house-I load up a few bikes and meet in the Parking Lot of Walmart or the Grocery Store...

hmmm. some cat presents in good faith, then damages my bike, then tries to rip me off. yeah. "Ah, perhaps you need a U-lock. Here, test it out on the side of your head while I swing it."

Tangential observation on such folks: Last Friday I noticed that there where a whole bunch of garage sale signs with addresses on them. The next morning most where gone , and at least one taped to a road sign post had obviously been cut off with a box cutter. Lots of "Pro's" out there looking for an advantage.

Not sure what I would have done.

Maybe let him off the hook if he forked over the full asking price. And told him never to contact me ever again about anything.

If not, I hope I woulda snapped a photo of his mug and listed his info in the same craigs section as the bike was listed. Chances are good I'd have his ID during his test ride.

No one has ever ****** with me during or after a sale. I make it pretty clear in my ads I know my bikes inside and out.