economics of used bikes

also there's maybe this weird sliding scale at work?

feel like it's CW among bike ppl i know that "this year's RED/RECORD/DA is next year's FORCE/CHORUS(i actually don't know)/ULTEGRA" and on down the line. however, along with this there is maintained a clear bifurcation between prosumer and "w/e" groups

which maybe keeps prices up for last year's XXXX but then radically devalues anything older? consider if that truism were true: a two-year old DA gruppo would be "functionally equivalent" to a brand-new 105. so where do you get off trying to sell old shit at a luxe price when there's cheap new shit? etc. at some point the question of "how used" something is will trump how fancy it was when you got it (busted campy record from the 80s is still busted), and components just become commodified. brakes are just brakes, who cares who made 'em, and so on.

most bike nerds i know seemed to have settled into a consumer pattern like this:

make a complete bike purchase--->upgrade stuff on it, and hoard whatever you replaced--->part out the tailings of the old bike as needed (quick cash, beer money, trades, favors, gifts)--->acquire a frame, hang old stuff on it, now have second bike OR acquire a fancy frame and hang upgraded parts on it and rebuild old frame with old parts OR w/e

cf computer nerds ("thought i'd build a server out of an old HP"), musicians ("i have all these ~pedals~"), car/truck/motorcycle heads ("BLOWERS"), ~photographers~, generic outdoorsy dorks (i personally own seven 'technical' backpacks and each one is a snowflake that has v specific indications for usage), etc.

basically if you go to a forum and there's a FOR SALE/TRADE/BUY thread and it's not uncommon for someone to post up about "lol well $LIFE_SITUATION and it's time to get rid of some stuff, take a look" and then list like 20+ items, then there is at work the kind of secondhand economy that you're looking for, baja

I think I'm getting an S-Works Tarmac SL next year lol.

gbx consumer pattern pretty damn otm.

veloswap in 3 weeks- where its prosumers vs. $LIFE_SITUATIONs in the world series of bike love

Hmm this doesn't bode well for me trying to sell a bike equipped with 2005-spec Tiagra and 105.

i don't understand anything on this thread

then again my used bike cost 80 pounds o_O

Any hipsters with shallow pockets want a cheap Charge Plug? Down to £299 at Wiggle:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Bike_Sale/31/Charge_Plug_2010/5360039090/