veganbikes

Have you test ridden either? Did you like the ride of the aluminum Cannondale? Did you like the ride of the steel (or most likely steel) Novara? Have you test ridden other bikes? Did you like those more or less? Are you comfortable knowing you have zero warranty with either bike and are stuck if something happens that might be covered under an original owners warranty? These are just some questions I would ask. You also want to look at component quality and usage.

Obviously chain, cassette, rubber (tires and pads) and cables are general replacement items anyway so those are an easy write off but if you need to replace a derailleur or shifter or brakes that could be bad unless the frame is super desirable and neither of these frames are super desirable (not bad bikes but nothing special). Any bike I bought used I would want to do a full overhaul on it, unless you know and trust who built it and maintained it.

Unfortunately a lot of bikes from the factory aren't done up right and sometimes when bikes are built at the shop it can be less skilled mechanics who might miss certain things or have time constraints and may not take things apart to properly grease everything and certainly a lot of folks don't maintain them well if at all. What that means is you really should get it fully overhauled and pull everything, clean it and regrease it especially things like bottom brackets, pedals and seat posts but really any place you have threads or metal on metal contact.

I purchased a used bike once and didn't go to overhaul it till I had it for a while and ended up having to cut out a Dura Ace 7400 French Bottom Bracket completely ruining it, lucky the threads weren't buggered but it was not a good feeling. I have also seen enough seized stuff that I wouldn't want to go through it again or see it again.