oldwinger14

I was in a similar situation over the past month looking for a bike that I could permanently mount on my smart trainer. Monitoring eBay, Craigslist and FB Marketplace, I had 10 or so bikes that sounded promising, from a price, size and configuration standpoint. Over time, I deleted bikes from my list for various reasons including the cost added to have the bike shipped to me. Focusing only on bikes being sold locally (1 hr or so ride in any direction), the process became much more manageable as I had already set a price level. By the way, if a seller did not respond to me in a reasonable time, I deleted them immediately as I was not going to chase someone who was not interested/courteous enough to respond.

I eventually narrowed my list down to 2 bikes and made plans early this past week to see both bikes in person on this weekend when both sellers (and I) were available.

One of the bikes, by coincidence, was a Cannondale CAAD5. It was listed on FB Marketplace for $475 and the seller agreed to my offer of $400, a price more realistic for a bike of that model and age than the $875 your seller is asking. Like almost all bikes listed online, this bike also was ”like new” and “hadn’t been ridden much in the past few years”. It sounded like eactly what I wanted and the seller suggested we meet in his town’s police department’s parking lot to “protect the both of us”. I thought that was a great idea and since he was on vacation, we planned to meet this Saturday (today) to complete the transaction if the bike met my needs. The seller’s town is only a 30-40 minute drive from my house, so I looked forward to seeing the bike. My plan was to replace the F/R derailleurs and cassette on that bike with the better 11-speed Shimano 105 groupset I have laying around after upgrading my primary bike to Ultegra Di2 electronic shifting a couple of months ago.

The other bike was a 2012 Trek and was in the town next to where I live. It was priced at $700 but the seller agreed to $650. Since the CAAD5 sounded so promising, cost less and would most likely always be mounted on my trainer, I scheduled to meet the Trek owner on Sunday. I was honest with him saying that I was looking at the CAAD5 on Sat and may cancel if I bought the CAAD. He was okay with that arrangement.While waiting for the weekend, on Wed an ad popped up on FB Marketplace for a 2016 Orbea Avant. It has the frame size I was looking for and, importantly, was equipped with a Shimano 11-speed Ultegra groupset, which is better than my 105 groupset and eliminated the need for me to swap the groupset like I would have to do to the CAAD5. As an eerie coincidence, the owner of this bike lives in the same town as the CAAD5 owner! Taking the cue from the CAAD5 owner, I suggested we meet in the town’s PD parking lot “to protect him and me”, and the guy readily agreed. The owner was asking $625 but agreed to my $575 offer. I was happy to pay more for this bike than the CAAD5 due to it being much newer and having the Ultegra groupset already installed meant I did not have to swap out equipment. Since my smart trainer is already set up with an 11-speed cassette, mounting the Orbea on it requires no changes to bike or trainer.

The bike looked great and my short test ride in the parking lot confirmed the gears shifted well and the rim brakes worked flawlessly and silently. We completed the cash transaction. Yesterday, I cleaned up the bike and next week I will take it to the shop that does my work. There, it will get tuned up and the specs that they have on file when I was fitted there for my primary bike this past Spring will be applied to the Avant.

Shortly after getting home after buying the bike, I contacted the CAAD5 and Trek owners and cancelled our scheduled meetings. Both thanked me for getting back to them.

As a final note, your bike list has frame sizes 53cm to 56cm. A cm or two can make a difference in riding comfort. Be sure the bike you choose is comfortable. Insist on being able to sit on it and take a short ride. Like I did, arranging to meet at a safe location is not a bad idea.

So, good luck in your search, be patient and try to keep the parameters of your search, i.e. price range, location, bike size, and other criteria simple and as clearly defined as possible. You will find what you are looking for….good luck!