No comment particular to the RB-T, but of old, used bikes in general. IME, you can spend a load of $$$ on a used bike chasing an unattainable dream. At a minimum: unless the bike is a garage-queen formerly owned by an OCD type, or you happen to be a decent wrench yourself and have a garage full of good parts, you're probably going to have to spend a small fortune at the LBS replacing things that are worn out. Chain, cassette, crank/chainring(s), brake pads, bar-tape, cables, tires, and who knows what else, along with a tune-up/overhaul...could easily run to $300 or even $500 (even with mediocre replacement parts) at a LBS. As a "best-case" scenario, I'm not including stuff like cracked/bent rims or screwed up hubs or a stuck seatpost or a handlebar/stem that Nitto says you should replace every 5 years (or when your GF needs a different bar/stem for comfort)...things that can run into big money. So, let's say that, with this basic maintenance, the bike actually costs you $800 total. Even for that $800, most of the "good" parts that were not replaced (including the frame) are still 20 years old, and have an unknown history. And besides that, unless your GF really has her heart set on a RB-T, you've just spent $800 on a bike that you settled for because it was one of very few suitable options available on the local used market. If she doesn't like it after going through all that trouble, you'll be lucky to recoup even a fraction of the extra $$$ you put into fixing it up.
For that $800 or a bit more, you could buy a NEW bike with all new parts and a warranty and a LBS that wants you and your GF to be happy customers. Most importantly, the new bike world allows a person to shop around a bit to find a bike he/she really likes, rather than settling for whatever happens to make it to Craigslist. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en-US. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
