Hello all,
My roommate has convinced me to start road cycling with him. I can’t afford to spend much on a bike and found a local bike shop selling a 2000 model (new) Trek 1200 Triple for $625. My concern is that it’s four years old and still hasn’t been sold. Was there something wrong with that year’s bike? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Nothing wrong with that bike, it’s just that bike shops usually have a hard time selling last year’s model. They’ll probably just want to get it off the shop floor, so this is one of the few situations where it is appropriate to haggle a bit with the shop, either for a deeper discount on the bike or a discount on some accessories.
Make sure its the right size for you. There is no point in getting a great deal on a bike that doesn’t fit properly.
My first bike was a 2001 Trek 1000. The components were Sora, and that was the only thing I didn’t like about the bike. It was solid and worked well. I rode that bike hard and it did pretty well, including a 1/2 IM. It is quite possible that it did not sell because it is not the cheapest (my 1000 cost $450) yet the 1200 is not much better than the 1000. There is probably a gap in customers - plenty looking for the cheapest and plenty looking for mid-range, but not many customers looking in between.