How To Buy A Cheap Bike | Buyers Guide To Used Mountain Bikes

How To Buy A Cheap Bike | Buyers Guide To Used Mountain Bikes

Here are our top tips for buying a cheap bike! Neil shows you the different places you can find used mountain bikes, from eBay to Facebook Marketplace, and what to look out for. As well as picking up a new ride for himself! πŸ’°

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51 Comments

  1. Cezary on June 15, 2020 at 11:38 pm

    Ayup guys. Please help decide: Manitou Markhor or RockShox Recon Gold TK or else (in this price range). 100mm travel, 27.5, tapper 15×100? SR Suntour maybe?

    This is a upgrade I’m making on similar bike presented 😌



  2. Tommy Mann on June 15, 2020 at 11:39 pm

    Hi. I’m new to mountain biking and mainly go on canal routes and a few easy trails. Although not 2nd hand I’ve been looking to ‘upgrade’ my shit box barracuda which I’ve managed to break after only a month. I’ve around Β£500 to spend and am very interested in a Romet Mustang m7. Does anyone know anything about these? The bikes look great with clean welded frames and at my lbs which I have the choice of a cube aim race or this the manager pointed out this is a better all round hardtail and better built. Anyone any experience of the Romet Mustang?



  3. Ed Gardner-Howard on June 15, 2020 at 11:40 pm

    Is it me or was that seat tube proper curved?



  4. Arash Jafarpour on June 15, 2020 at 11:42 pm

    Hi everyone. I need a bit of help. I got into mountain biking recently and decided that I need a better bike, so I sold my crappy giant talon 3 and was about to buy an old giant reign 2012, which turned out to be bretty beaten and was not worth the money. After that I searched for bikes like that a lot, but most of them were used to the point that the bike was not worth buying or the ones that were a bit in shape were too expensive. See, unfortunately I live in Middle East and do not have many options and due to the spread of covid19 the import of bikes has been halted for now. My budget is AT BEST around 1100 usd. Recently I found an old but seemingly in shape Giant Reign 2016 which is sold for around 1150$. Now with all the bad luck I had in finding second hand full suspension bikes I was going to buy a brand new Scott Scale 2020 29er for 1000$ which I’m sure is a safe choice BUT it’s not a full suspension bike like I wanted to buy. Honestly I don’t know what to do right now and would appreciate a bit of help and advice.



  5. Chris Farnsworth on June 15, 2020 at 11:42 pm

    I brought a GT avalanche 27.5 inch 2017 from gumtree for Β£180 just before lockdown. I rang my local police station and they ran a check on the serial number. Wasn’t stolen. So I registered it for free with bikeregister. Kenda tyres and continental tubes, a good clean and some new hydraulic fluid for the brakes and its served me brilliantly



  6. John KÜHL on June 15, 2020 at 11:43 pm

    Hi team & followers! I have had a hardtail befor, do own a very fine daily driver for work / shoping & an e-hardtail atm. But my eyes do always stop on fullys like the rockrider xc100s, which costs 1300eur here. Do you have any tips on it or alternativs? TYVM! πŸ™‚



  7. Steven Andria's tutorials on June 15, 2020 at 11:44 pm

    I bought the Giant Talon 3 (29) because the TREK marlin 5 was out of stock, here’s my honest review as a beginner who had a lot of questions (you probably are too):
    -The bike looks beautiful, aesthetic wise, bike was larger than in the pictures when I got one that fit me.
    -The bike rides beautifully, front shifters can be smoother but rear shifters are very nice.
    -I ride it for long hours on mountains, grass, gravel etc for my YouTube bike blogs, it does fine.
    -I brought the bike on a MTB trail and abused the hell out of it, I crashed and crashed as I practiced my MTB skills.

    After all the abuse, here’s two apparent things:
    1) The chain drops when I crashed two times, so it’s not that big of a deal because it only dropped when I was stopped and my crash shaked the whole chain around.
    2) The pedal is made of plastic and doesn’t have the metallic nubs that more expensive bikes have, so every time I leaned too low and hit the floor with my pedals, it kind of shaves off the grips.

    What can be done to improve it?
    1) Get metallic pedals
    2) Install a dropper post if you intend to do some serious mountain biking.
    3) Maybe convert to a 1x

    Overall satisfaction: Very satisfied. I bought the bike for $560 and it’s worth every penny, considering the abuse I made it go through, it only had those two minor issues.
    A lot of beginners tend to give up the sport after their first time out on a trail and crashing left and right, so I would recommend getting an affordable hard-tail and outgrowing it with practice before moving onto $1000+ bikes.

    I have a few first person videos of me riding the bike on my channel, including my first ever MTB trail ride where I crash every five minutes.



  8. Jakalwarrior on June 15, 2020 at 11:44 pm

    With quarantine here in the states, most of the listings are very overpriced. A lot of the bikes listed are low end bikes the sellers are trying to get more than they cost new from. Especially on the platforms with no listing fees like facebook and craigslist.



  9. Vinz Lopez on June 15, 2020 at 11:47 pm

    Please make bmx channel



  10. Dean Henry on June 15, 2020 at 11:48 pm

    The video I have needed most don’t want go mad expensive brand new ow search for good quality second hand to get into the sport can begin



  11. AP1 Reviews & Adventures on June 15, 2020 at 11:49 pm

    I’m far too affluent and have worked waaayyyy to hard to succumb myself to cheap β€œgarbage” bikes.



  12. fud 1 on June 15, 2020 at 11:50 pm

    …alway’s having a knowledgeable friend who know’s about bike’s help’s



  13. fud 1 on June 15, 2020 at 11:54 pm

    I’ve advised a few friend’s these last few week’s,all with a cheap budget around the 350 mark.And I said the same to all of them..You can’t go wrong with a Calibre,Boardman or Voodoo as all come with warranty and good value for the money..Going 2nd hand it’s best to try and get a good frame with the mindset of spending money on part’s to make it a long lived bike



  14. Fear4Forrest on June 15, 2020 at 11:54 pm

    ended up buying a commencal Meta HT 2018 for 900CAN already upgraded with dropper post, brakes, grips, protective stickers, chain guard, flat pedals, and a longer handle bar. i thought it was a good deal, is that good or?



  15. TWD Media on June 15, 2020 at 11:54 pm

    After being low on funds, I picked up a 2nd hand Voodoo Bizango 29er last year. Put a slackerizer headset on, knocking the head angle from 67 to 65 degrees (best upgrade by far) dropper post, larger discs and a tubeless conversion kit. Been super impressed with the bike. It’s damn fast for a hardtail, both up and down, and I actually enjoy riding it more than some ‘big name’ branded bikes I’ve had in the past, all for less than Β£500. Never thought I’d say that about a Halfords bike.



    • Iain on June 19, 2020 at 8:08 pm

      Hi, which year/model bizango do you have and which slackerizer did you get? I want to do the same to mine and any info would be great.
      Thanks
      Iain



  16. Ivan King ツ on June 15, 2020 at 11:55 pm

    Luckly you made this video…Because Im going to sell my 1 year old shit of bike…



  17. SoaRharvey on June 15, 2020 at 11:57 pm

    Same bike as me u can send huge drops jumps geometry is great ive spent so much on it no need to go out and spend thousands on one IT ABSALUTALY SHREDS



  18. Lilian on June 15, 2020 at 11:57 pm

    10:17 If a guy wants me to come to his house, that would be weird… Usually people don’t invite random people from internet to their house.



  19. Dan Swallow on June 15, 2020 at 11:59 pm

    Any chance of doing a "Guide to Selling your Bike" video please? I have a Focus I want to sell but am worried about it getting stolen (tracing it to my address, taken on a test ride and not returned etc) cheers



  20. Ben Walsh on June 15, 2020 at 11:59 pm

    Get a bill of Sale for bikes

    Proves you legally own it and no theif will sign it



  21. Morgan Davies on June 16, 2020 at 12:01 am

    Bike soup is good as well



  22. Dr Jon on June 16, 2020 at 12:01 am

    Big love for Voodoo. I’ve got 3 of them, latest one is the carbon bizango 29er which is absolutely fantastic for Β£1000. Amazing spec for the money. I’ve also got the Marasa hybrid which has been great, I’ve done 1000s of km on that one over the last few years. I recommend taking the fork out and greasing the steering bearings first thing. They don’t last long otherwise.



  23. Intraspective on June 16, 2020 at 12:02 am

    Even here in Toronto Canada, a Rocky Mountain is a bit exotic. Just shows how big Canada is that BC is so far away from Toronto and sounds like an exotic far away place.



  24. Ares B on June 16, 2020 at 12:02 am

    I bought a dirt jump bike last yearfor 50€ and its working good



  25. kippamip on June 16, 2020 at 12:05 am

    How about doing some reviews on the rockrider bike’s made by b’twin, sold by decathlon.
    I have just returned to MTB after a 20 year absence, and after doing a bit of shopping around i ended up buying a rockrider ST530. Now this bike is cheap for the features which it has and it’s a hard tail. My bike brand new was cheaper than your second hand bike. Why are the semi pros/pros avoiding doing reviews on these bike’s? They’re not as nasty as people would think. πŸ‘πŸ»



  26. BaZ -_- on June 16, 2020 at 12:08 am

    I got my giant trance x4 with full upgrades from pink bike for Β£500 best site for good bikes and people who know what they are doing πŸ‘



  27. goatio007 on June 16, 2020 at 12:09 am

    Great video



  28. Faraaz Yousaf on June 16, 2020 at 12:09 am

    bruh I have been waiting years for GMBN to talk about a voodoo bike



  29. Londue on June 16, 2020 at 12:11 am

    Should I get the carrera kraken mountain bike in red on Halfords for 450 pound or the voodoo in this video for 600 pounds, both are good for the cheap price of them but don’t know what to buy



  30. jonas on June 16, 2020 at 12:11 am

    Is the axess torrent 29 2020 a good bike ?

    many greetings from germany



  31. fud 1 on June 16, 2020 at 12:11 am

    Good info on which question’s to ask when buying a bike….for those Not in know..



  32. capitan futuro on June 16, 2020 at 12:12 am

    Go to the bike shop, ask for a cheap bike, pay.



  33. JT Manuel on June 16, 2020 at 12:13 am

    I got the same bike (voodoo), I bought it last December ’18 (it was on sale for Β£400 down from Β£550) and have upgraded some of the components like brakes, crankset and tires. It’s a pretty awesome bike and I’m planning on upgrading the forks and seatpost (going with a dropper) soon.



  34. Tomi Saaranen on June 16, 2020 at 12:18 am

    Great video Neil



  35. c0wsg0m00 on June 16, 2020 at 12:20 am

    Just bought that exact bike ex display. just getting back into riding after 20 years being lazy. subbed because will be interested in what you do with it. and how to add/route the dropper.
    I noticed the sticker on the forks pretty much say dont ride this on anything heavy is this a generic warning to cover themselves or are these forks pretty poor?
    I wanted to spend more on a bike however bit older bit fatter wanted to make sure i still enjoyed it before dropping too much cash.



  36. Dean Henry on June 16, 2020 at 12:21 am

    Also good thing with Halfords for us peasants is being able to pay the bike off if i wanted to go brand new . Will b watching this progress as the hoodoo is in my budget and size range as I’m 6ft 4



  37. flurx _ on June 16, 2020 at 12:24 am

    Got mine 4 days ago lol



  38. Ken Counihan on June 16, 2020 at 12:26 am

    I have the voodoo bizango. It’s a great bike, i change the handle bars, Pedals and I’m on the hunt for a cheap dropper post



  39. Lance Riggott on June 16, 2020 at 12:26 am

    Great vid, I got a 2015 specialized status 1 from eBay with upgraded rock shock monarch rear shock and a few upgrades for only Β£500 which was a bargain it only needed a new derailer hanger, shifter and break pads that was only like Β£20 if that, it is a great bike now with a lot of travel, I’ve fitted a new dropper post on it and I love the bike now.



  40. Timetowakeup on June 16, 2020 at 12:26 am

    I have one of these for sale. Great condition. Get at me if you’re interested πŸ‘πŸ» (North east)



  41. Steve on June 16, 2020 at 12:28 am

    Look forward to the follow up to this vid explaining how to assess each component and then what to upgrade!



  42. Global Mountain Bike Network on June 16, 2020 at 12:28 am

    Do you have any tips for buying second hand bikes?



  43. marcosjdm on June 16, 2020 at 12:30 am

    I just did orbea occam 2016 27.5 tubeless, fox fit 4 140 Travel front and rear, 2 by, carbon, raceface cockpit, reverb dropper, 1900 DT Swiss carbon wheels. All I’ve bough is bontrager flat pedals as it came with clips a new saddle, full face Helmet, and tune up at the local shop for USD $1850 so far



  44. Areeb Rides MTB on June 16, 2020 at 12:30 am

    I’ve got a fairly budget build which is custom for my 2016 voodoo zobop with nukeproof pedals bars and grips alongside a deore 1×10 drivetrain and dt Swiss forks



  45. Craig Davies on June 16, 2020 at 12:31 am

    I just sold my 96 Cannondale m900 hardtail on Facebook for Β£320. It did have an awesome revelation fork though along with other upgrades (that fitted) which I still find better than the recon air on my cube acid 2020.



  46. Lewis cooper on June 16, 2020 at 12:31 am

    I have that bike



  47. K3NnY_G on June 16, 2020 at 12:32 am

    6:05 – Lol, in one of the snobbiest, overpriced hobbies out there?

    No, god no; I’ve been screwed on so much BS on PinkBike, lied to; had things sold out under me after driving hours. Only cyclist of any type I remotely trust are people in my age group I know personally.

    It’s not a joke; the whole "We are the virus" thing.. xD



  48. fud 1 on June 16, 2020 at 12:33 am

    Ha..see Voodoo bike’s man…can’t go wrong for the dough…!



  49. Hardy Yudha on June 16, 2020 at 12:34 am

    hei, send that bike for me, im from Indonesia..



  50. Thomas Bailie on June 16, 2020 at 12:35 am

    I just bought a voodoo hoodoo for Β£250 the other dayπŸ˜‚