rsbob 

A friend of my wife contacted her saying that her husband wanted to sell his road bike since he could no longer ride due to surgery on the boys and skin grafts to his nether parts. My wife said they were going to post on Facebook and said the bike had less than 200 total miles on it. It was a garage queen since new and barely was taken out. As a result everything about it was basically new and flawless - except for some scratched bar tape. I told her to show me a pic, which they sent and it was an ORBEA Orca with Ultegra gruppo, Mavic wheels and in COFIDIS team colors. Then she told me the price - eight bills for a carbon bike that retailed new over $2700. The color scheme was not to my taste but how could you beat the package for the price AND it was only .5 cm shorter than my current bike?

They agreed to lend me the bike for an extended test ride. After adjusting seat post, seat, installing KEOs and some minor tweaks, I took it out. The first thing which stood out was how badly the chain needed lubrication since it made grinding and squeaking noises. The bike felt weird and cramped with its too short stem. After a couple of miles, raised the seat post and moved the seat back and it felt better but still cramped. What impressed me though, was how well the bike climbed and responded to power and even better, was a stable fast descender. Have never experienced wheels with such great bearings that seemed to want to coast forever. Maybe the old school 23C tires contributed to it.

Did about 30 miles on it and without much effort got 3 PRs. When I got home, swapped stems, oiled the chain and cogs, readjusted the seat height and took it out again and it was perfect. It fit like a glove and responded to my inputs even better. SOLD. Texted the man’s wife and said it was a done deal. Ordered some Cinelli black bar tape and will be upgrading it to tubed Conti 5000s 25Cs when I can find them. Removed and returned their funky seat and bike computer set. I am a very happy camper. And who knew that not buying the latest and greatest in bike tech could result in such a fantastic ride. Bought it to be my trainer bike but it may just have to wait until winter.

tempocyclist

That's a beautiful machine, too good to be just a trainer bike!

shelbyfv

Very nice, congrats!

SoSmellyAir

Too nice for trainer duty for sure! Isn't now the non-rainy season up in the PNW?

Nice touch going with bottle cages which match the frame's accent color scheme. May I suggest matching QR skewers?

What is the black object strapped to the left chain stay?

canklecat

Looks like a CatEye speed sensor, although I don't see a magnet on the rear wheel -- might be hidden behind the chain stay.

I think the lever doodad enabled quickly detaching/attaching the sensor unit to the mount. Or maybe it's to adjust the angle/proximity to the magnet, I dunno. The mount is zip tied to the chain stay.

I have similar older Wahoo speed/cadence sensors on a couple of road bikes, although the entire sensor is zip tied and there's no lever to detach/attach the upper part of the unit. The older Wahoo speed/cadence sensors were ANT+ only, with separate speed and cadence sensors connected by a short cable, zip tied to the chain stay. A magnet went on the wheel and crank. When I first got them we needed an ANT+ adapter for the iPhone, which was a protective case with ANT+ receiver. Bulky and awkward but that was 2012 technology. Now I use a cheap XOSS G+, which handles both my ANT+ and Bluetooth sensors.

AndyK 

Very cool! There are deals out there if you are OK riding a retro frame. I got my '08 Roubaix S-Works frame for $400, and it's awesome!

rsbob 

great idea! Will do it. Thanks.

and yes that is a Cateye sensor which was returned with the other peripherals to the owner who then gave me matching red Look Keo pedals which came on it originally. I thought all new bikes came with flat pedals. Who knew?

And thanks for the congrats. We will be very happy together. Time to go for a ride.

AdamITR

Congratulations! Looks sharp, bet it rides amazing too!

jaxgtr

It amazes me that people buy expensive bikes and then let them become hanger queens. I found a Cannondale SuperSix Hi Mod\Ultegra that way. It was only 2 years old and the guy rode it one time. Said he got it after being prodded by his ex girlfriend that was a cyclist and he was not. He was a runner. Said he tried to sell it but did not want to sell it for anything less than what he paid for it since he had only ridden it once. I told him it was like a car, once you take it off the lot, you immediately loose 25% of the value. He paid almost 3K, I paid $750, I put some better wheels I had on it and and rode it like I stole it, which looking back, I pretty much did. I ended up selling it 3 years later to a car salesman here in town who was just getting into cycling. I was asking for 2K, and every time he countered with a different price, I would tell him I had to go talk to my manager, and walk into the house for a couple of seconds. My wife was like, WTF are you doing? We finally agreed at 1500.

veganbikes

Why no drive side shot? Why is non-drive side shots a thing these days? Come on people if you gotta nice bike show it off!!!!!

SoSmellyAir

Not too many $$$ hanger queens or wall art installations in my area judging by the number of serious cyclists zooming around on $$$ bikes. In southern California one can ride in decent weather almost year round (except during heat waves or if there is a wild fire closeby), so maybe that's the reason.

That is an amazing price; you should have kept it! A Cannondale hi-mod frame (in good condition) alone is worth more than that. I am looking at other brands (for a potential second bike) but I keep coming back to Cannondale. Too bad nowadays Cannondale hi-mod bikes only come with electronic shifting, which I don't really need or want.

jaxgtr

Possible, but I live in Florida, year rounds outside here as well, although in the summer, it can be a bit of challenge with the heat, Humidity, and when the lightning decides to show up. I loved the bike, but wanted something different. I used to change bike frequently, not so much anymore. I found bikes that fit me well and that are comfortable for long rides, so they are keepers.


Yea I thought the same thing about the electronic shifting, but when I decided to get a new bike last year, I went Project One on my Domane and choose di2........ I am now a fan. I still like the mechanical on my Emonda, but the di2 is just sweet and do not regret the choice one bit. I had 5 bikes up until recently, I've cleaned out the herd selling things I did not use that often.

Inusuit

I bought a used 2013 Specialized Tarmac Elite last September and have put over 1000 miles on it. Local guy bought it for his grandson who didn't get into biking. It still had the protective film on some of the components. Probably paid too much for it, but there were no new bikes and very few decent used bikes available at the time. I desperately wanted a road bike because trying to ride with friends on my 1987 Diamondback Ascent MTB was not working out.

I understand it's an entry level bike without great components. I like it regardless and it has been great fun to ride.

Nothing wrong with a used bike in my opinion.