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Putting aside the fact that derailleurs are relatively cheap and buying a new bike to replace a seized derailleur is not economical (unless you get stuck on an

Putting aside the fact that derailleurs are relatively cheap and buying a new bike to replace a seized derailleur is not economical (unless you get stuck on an upgrade path that makes you also replace the shifters). And putting aside the fact that bicycles needs regular maintenance and regular riding to stay in top condition (seized derailleur only happens if you basically leave it sitting in the rain, or never change gears)... The lemon issue only really applies to bikes that you buy sight unseen. You want to check for cracks in the frame and a worn drive train. Both of these are relatively easy to learn how to do. Having said that, I wouldn't usually buy used either for a variety of reasons. If you are buying a quality bike, the damn component manufacturers keep improving the components in incompatible ways. So if you want to replace components with new parts (for example you wear out the drive train and you want to replace it), it can be difficult to find them. This puts you on an upgrade path, replacing everything so that it is all compatible again. However, bike manufacturers get steep discounts on components and it is almost always worth it to buy a brand new bike rather than upgrade all the parts of your old bike. Buying a fairly low-mileage used bike will only delay things for a while because eventually you will have to replace worn components. Of course you can buy used components to replace your worn ones, but it is harder to asses the quality of the components unless they are attached to a bike. Also, there is a huge market for stolen goods and as a person who doesn't want their bike stolen, I also don't want to buy stolen goods. Used components are practically impossible to verify that they aren't stolen. Either someone is replacing the components because they are worn out (in which case you don't want them), or the components are stolen (in which case you don't want them) or the person is upgrading to new components before their old components wear out (very small number of people). So basically, you are stuck with: - Maintain your bike properly - Ride it a lot - Replace cheap worn compnents with new parts - Buy a new bike when you get stuck in an upgrade path (of course you never throw away the old bike because then you would have one less bike and who wants that???... so you upgrade it with new parts too... sell the car to pay for it since you are riding so much you don't need it anyway)

G650 12y ago
I couldn't have said it better and I'm still a cycling newbie. Props!
jacquesm 12y ago
You can blame Compagnolo for the 'group' concept. That's why you can't just replace one element of the drive-train with a random other, you'll have to find a compatible piece and this can be quite hard after a bike gets older and that particular 'group' is no longer supported or serviced. The idea behind a group is that chain, front and back dérailleur and the two sets of gears form a unit which work well together. The main driving force behind this is that if you add or reduce the number of gears on the pinion you're going to want a wider or narrower chain which affects the dérailleurs. So there is some logic behind it but it can indeed be very frustrating to have to replace all of the drive train just because one small part is impossible to source.
- blacksmith_tb 12y ago
  While it's true that concept originated with Campy (which is why we're still calling it a "gruppo" after 40+ years), but Shimano owns an enormous chunk of the bike component market, more than 80%, so they have really made incompatible product lines into a way of life for the industry (with some sniping from SRAM, who make Shimano-compatible parts that often work better than the originals; I have a SRAM chain on my other wise Shimano drivetrain, for example).
ptaipale 12y ago
Stolen bikes and parts are indeed a major category of "lemons". I have, however, bought some second-hand parts which are clearly legitimate, i.e. credibly documented and not stolen: - parts that someone has bought new over the net (often from abroad), and then found out that they don't fit their bike, and cannot really return - parts that someone has bought, tried, and didn't like or need them, even if they did fit their bike. Generally, these are shipped in the original containers and come with paperwork, which means they were not from a stolen bike. The stolen bike market is big here (north Europe), though. Or at least the number of stolen bikes is huge, though I wonder who buys them. (My son-in-law had his bike stolen, then a few months later spotted a similar bike for sale on a net site resembling Craigslist, and went to "buy" it inviting the police with him. He got his bike back but I don't think the thief got anything but a stern telling off by the police, so he's back in business.)

G650 12y ago

I couldn't have said it better and I'm still a cycling newbie. Props!

jacquesm 12y ago

You can blame Compagnolo for the 'group' concept. That's why you can't just replace one element of the drive-train with a random other, you'll have to find a compatible piece and this can be quite hard after a bike gets older and that particular 'group' is no longer supported or serviced. The idea behind a group is that chain, front and back dérailleur and the two sets of gears form a unit which work well together. The main driving force behind this is that if you add or reduce the number of gears on the pinion you're going to want a wider or narrower chain which affects the dérailleurs. So there is some logic behind it but it can indeed be very frustrating to have to replace all of the drive train just because one small part is impossible to source.

blacksmith_tb 12y ago
While it's true that concept originated with Campy (which is why we're still calling it a "gruppo" after 40+ years), but Shimano owns an enormous chunk of the bike component market, more than 80%, so they have really made incompatible product lines into a way of life for the industry (with some sniping from SRAM, who make Shimano-compatible parts that often work better than the originals; I have a SRAM chain on my other wise Shimano drivetrain, for example).

ptaipale 12y ago

Stolen bikes and parts are indeed a major category of "lemons". I have, however, bought some second-hand parts which are clearly legitimate, i.e. credibly documented and not stolen: - parts that someone has bought new over the net (often from abroad), and then found out that they don't fit their bike, and cannot really return - parts that someone has bought, tried, and didn't like or need them, even if they did fit their bike. Generally, these are shipped in the original containers and come with paperwork, which means they were not from a stolen bike. The stolen bike market is big here (north Europe), though. Or at least the number of stolen bikes is huge, though I wonder who buys them. (My son-in-law had his bike stolen, then a few months later spotted a similar bike for sale on a net site resembling Craigslist, and went to "buy" it inviting the police with him. He got his bike back but I don't think the thief got anything but a stern telling off by the police, so he's back in business.)