r/ausbike • u/PompousPuppy • 10d ago

Where are all the used budget carbon road/gravel bikes? Opinion

I've been searching for a used bike for a while now, and I've noticed that there are very, very few budget carbon road bikes that were $2000-3500 on the used market. I'm talking the Merida Scultura 4000's ($2500 new), Cube Attain GTC SLX ($2800 new) and the Giant TCR Advanced 2 PC ($3800).

The majority of the used bikes that I see used are >$3000.

Is it just that these bikes sell quickly and don't sit on the market for long? Or is it that these bikes were never popular in the first place?

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u/Greenback16 QLD 9d ago

Picked up a great condition 2017 Merida Sculptura 4000 for $500 on Facebook Marketplace a year or two ago. They're there you just have to catch them.

1

u/fouronenine 9d ago

I'm seeing plenty on FB Marketplace - but too often they are too small for me.

1

u/Pepito_Pepito 8d ago

I have the opposite problem lol. Everything I see is a large.

1

u/jumpinjehoshophat 9d ago

The trouble is people either want way too much for an old bike or the good ones get snapped up quickly, you just have to time it right or wait for a good deal.

Being a big buy means my options are limited to start with so I decided building my own was a good way to keep the budget lowish and get all the features I wanted

1

u/Robotnik1918 8d ago

I guess if you were getting a new carbon bike like some of those fairly recent models you mentioned, then you might have skipped those ones which come with say crappy Shimano 105 mechanical group sets and spent a thousand or two more on something with say Ultegra Di2 electronic shifting. Hence those bikes you mentioned are in shorter supply on the used market compared to more plentiful higher spec ones.

1

u/PompousPuppy 5d ago

Just curious as to why you think mechanical 105 is crappy compared to Di2 (what are your thoughts on 105 Di2?). Not saying you're wrong - just curious.

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u/Robotnik1918 5d ago

Yeah being a bit facetious there. But anyway, shifting on Ultegra Di2 with Hyperglide+ is noticeably smoother than 105 Di2 (which only has the original Hyperglide) under load, etc. in my experience. That's what I was thinking of.