voyager1

So I just finished the book Draft Animals and was really kinda shocked how professionals are treated with bikes and gear. Honestly the whole pro career lifestyle was pretty eye opening frankly, but I digress.

One thing the author mentioned was selling a lot of his stuff at the end of a season or if he changed contracts etc.

Has anyone on here bought a former pro bike? Did you seek it out? Did you stumble on it?

Honestly just want to hear your stories/experiences.

WhyFi

Funny that you mention this in light of Draft Animals.

A few years ago, I went to a local place that sold a mix of new overstock and used pro gear (they have since been bought/consolidated). One piece in particular stuck out - a Diamondback Podium frame with cookies all over it. I asked about it and was told, "yeah, this was Phil Gaimon's bike." At the time, I knew his name, but that's about it - this was before he had much of a social media presence. Looking back now, I regret that I didn't pick it up, but I didn't know what I didn't know... ya know?

TimothyH

https://www.theproscloset.com/

WhyFi

I've seen a handful of pro-ridden bikes go through there, but the vast majority seem to be just pre-owned by Schmoes.

burnthesheep

I don't know if pros drop bikes more than joes, but consider how many times it's been disassembled and reassembled to fit into a travel carrier. That means messing with screws on the stem, possibly undoing one side of the crank, the RD, sliding the seat down. Most seats on nice bikes these days are funky pressure clamp things that likely should be set and forgotten instead of frequently messed with.

Personally, I wouldn't do it. They're usually pretty overpriced rigs for what they are and often pretty darn personalized (think 140mm stems).

If you want a cool pro-like paint job on your bike......have your bike painted the way you like.

Unless the history or nostalgia of the rig tickles your fancy, then by all means do it.

They'd probably strip it of the good stuff, but I'd most be interested in a TT bike that has some kind of cool cockpit mods that you don't get "off the rack" at a reasonable price since they're one-off until they sell a few the next year to meet the "rules".

TimothyH

Oh, I agree but they are pretty up front about whether any given bike was ridden by a pro and even give the riders team and name.

The OP asked, "Did you seek it out? Did you stumble on it?" and that was my answer. Former pro team bikes can be found there if one wants to seek them out.


-Tim-

bruce19

They are selling a 2018 CAAD12 w/105 for $2200. Just bought my 2018 CAAD 12 w/105 (New) for $1300.

woodcraft

But are there cookies on it?

caloso

I've had the opportunity to buy one. They're ridden hard, but they get a lot of attention from team mechanics. I really wanted to buy one of the TT bikes, but I couldn't justify it.

Nachoman

At some point, team jelly belly was based out of san diego and I used to get offered some deals on their old equipment. But I never took them up on it.

robbyville

I’m too lazy to go there now but I remember a while back goofing around in the team Sky website and finding a spot to buy personal used bikes and such. Maybe that still exists amongst the websites of other pro teams...

sdmc530

Its been a while but a lbs here had a connection and was selling garmin team bikes. They were crazy spendy I thought but if a legit team bike in good working order from bora or barhan or astania ever became available I would jump at the chance.

jamesdak 

I don't have any former pro bikes that I know of except for maybe the Martelly built Ribble bike. But I do have three bikes that were owned by Pro's, LOL!

The first is the custom GP&GS Lemond that Greg Lemond had done himself and presented to Tim Swift formerly of Team Saturn. I don't know if Tim ever raced the bike or not.

It looks like the one in this picture, just bigger.



Then there's the custom Evans bike that belonged to three times RAAM champion Bob Fourney. This was built for a mid 90's Paris-Brest-Paris event.



Finally, the real "stretch" on the OP's theme is my Giordana Polaris. This was the personal bike of Justin England of Team Toyota 1994-1995 and now working at the above mention The Pro's Closet. Bought this from him personally, not the business and he gave me a great deal.



So...there you have it, my answer. Now in all seriousness to answer directly. I certainly would if I could afford it just because it would be very cool to me. The above bikes I just sorta stumbled onto.

caloso

Wow. Those are gorgeous.

voyager1

I am pretty sure there is a picture of that bike in the book. I remember thinking, oh wow a DiamondBack, don’t see many of those around here.

colnago62

If I were buying a used pro bike, it would be a TT bike.
I just remembered, my first carbon framed bike was a Saturn team bike. It was a Kestrel with 8 speed on it. I bought it off a disgruntled rider (He wasn’t supposed to have sold it)

WhyFi

You're trying to make me feel worse about not buying it, aren't you?