Help Me Sell My Bicycle Ethically

November 9, 2015 7:52 AM

I have a bicycle that I want to sell, but it breaks spokes constantly on the rear wheel. What are my options to maximize my price, but not be a jerk?

I purchased this bicycle new about five years ago. It has broken spokes on the rear wheel since the beginning. At one point the shop I bought it from told me that this was a known issue with the internally geared hub, and that they would rebuild the rear wheel with stronger spokes at no charge. They did this and it still didn't resolve the problem. I have since been dealing with the issue by replacing spokes as they break and trying to keep the wheel as true as possible on my own.

The cost of replacing the rear wheel/hub outright is nearly the cost of buying a new bike.

Do I need to tell people about this when I sell the bike? If I re-spoke the wheel first, do I still need to tell them? Should I just chalk it up to a loss and donate the bike? Should I scrap it for parts?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

posted by soy_renfield to Human Relations (8 answers total)

Seems unclear, is this a bike type worth $$ and if so would the potential buyer be hip to the spoke failure issue and either not care or see it as a fact of life for that model?
posted by Freedomboy at 7:59 AM on November 9, 2015

Post it on Craigslist and explain that in the ad. You'll probably get less for it than if you omit it, but it's the right thing to do, and you don't want someone coming after you for selling them a lemon.
posted by Slinga at 8:02 AM on November 9, 2015 [6 favorites]

Just disclose the problem and see if anyone's willing to buy it. Maybe there's someone out there who's got a good rear wheel but his frame is a mess. Maybe there's someone who wants it for an art project. Maybe some really skinny person who only rides on smooth bike paths and thinks they won't have spoke problems wants it.

The rear wheel I done of the most expensive parts of the bike,so I wouldn't expect to get much for a bike with a bad rear wheel, and yes, pretending there's nothing wrong with the rear wheel is unethical.
posted by mskyle at 8:03 AM on November 9, 2015

Response by poster: Freedomboy: This is a mid-price bike. $500 new.

Thanks for the answers so far.
posted by soy_renfield at 8:08 AM on November 9, 2015

I would see that the wheel is indeed truly impeccably true, check whether any spokes look like they need replacement now and fix those.
Then I'd write in my ad that there has been a recurrent problem with the spokes, but that it has been monitored on an ongoing basis and always fixed to good standards. That way people can make up their own mind without you making your bike worse than it is.
posted by Namlit at 8:18 AM on November 9, 2015

Ethically, yes, you should disclose the situation to buyers. Put it in the ad otherwise you are just wasting your time and others' time.

If this is a recurrent issue and rebuilding the wheel the first time didn't solve the issue, rebuilding it again definitely doesn't absolve you of the need to disclose.

There is probably still someone out there that wants the bike if your price is low enough. The situation stinks, but at least if you do the right thing you aren't making things unpleasant for someone else.
posted by ssg at 9:20 AM on November 9, 2015

This sounds like a poorly built (and poorly rebuilt) wheel. I have a hard time believing the problem lies in the hub.

I have noticed that when a wheel starts breaking spokes and you replace them ad-hoc, it's likely that you'll keep breaking them. In fact, it's likely that you'll break them in a specific pattern (probably the same spoke or spokes at 90° intervals from it).

Rebuilding the wheel with high-quality butted spokes won't be cheap for a bike you plan to get rid of, but would probably fix the problem. If you say in your ad that the rear wheel probably needs a rebuild, you are making a fair disclosure and will appeal to the right audience.
posted by adamrice at 9:21 AM on November 9, 2015 [2 favorites]

Bike industry employee here.

I hate to break it to you but a fair, saleable price for your old bike would at most be $200 even if it was in good shape. Unfortunately it is not -- it's a fixer upper. The kind of person who will buy this is someone mechanically savvy and not afraid to rebuild the wheel themself. Paying someone to fix it is, as you know, cost prohibitive.

List it at $100, fully disclosing its condition, and just be happy if it finds a good home.
posted by wutangclan at 12:20 PM on November 9, 2015 [6 favorites]