aka Tom Reingold
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: New York, NY, and High Falls, NY, USA
Posts: 40,502
Bikes: 1962 Rudge Sports, 1971 Raleigh Super Course, 1971 Raleigh Pro Track, 1974 Raleigh International, 1975 Viscount Fixie, 1982 McLean, 1996 Lemond (Ti), 2002 Burley Zydeco tandem
Mentioned: 511 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7348 Post(s)
I don't like those bikes, and I can't recommend them for anyone. Most of the time, they work so poorly and resist proper repair and setup. However, I do specialize in bikes slightly higher than those. I like the bottom of the line bike-shop bikes. Bike-shop bikes are made to last a lifetime. I'm talking about things like Peugeot UO-8's and the like. Actually, I prefer bikes with aluminum rims, but I'm not above selling a bike with steel rims.
You can make a lot more money selling my type of bike.
And as miamijim says, he prefers much higher end bikes than that. I will probably end up moving to that type of bike, but I'm not knowledgeable enough yet. I was out of the marketplace for several years and need to learn more before I go there.
I sell my bikes for between $125 and $260. That range represents a range in quality. My profit margin ranges from $50 to about $240. I try to keep it above $100 per bike. And I honestly feel that these are good, utilitarian bikes that give the maximum number of miles per dollar. Walmart bikes cost much less but provide fewer trouble free miles.