hey everyone, i just arrived in melbourne a couple weeks ago and im looking to buy a fixed gear bike, and dont want to spend much more than $500 on it. I have looked in the buy/sell forum on this site but theres not much activity there. any one have some suggestions on a used bike shop near the city, or know anyone selling a bike for around that price?
I know it may be hard to find a used complete bike so if there is a store that has old road bikes that i would be able to convert i would be interested in doing that as well.
If you want cheap, convert an old roadie. You should be able to find a fixed wheel for about $70 on ebay, and then you just have to get your chainline right. It works for me
Why does everyone recomend Bicycle Recycle?
I went out there the other day and they had no more decent second hand bikes out the front then your average bike shop with a few decent second hand bikes out the front.
And its all the way out in the middle of no where.
If your budget is 500 then you should be able to pick up a second hand Fuji or Alergo or Kona paddy or something. Other wise you could pick up an old clubracer on ebay. A lot seem to pass through there.
I usually recommend them because they almost always have stuff I need and they are always happy to help and to give advice.
The bikes they have out the front is a mere fraction of what they have stored away. It’s a family run business and they’re busy for the most part and not in the largest of shop fronts; so I dare say a lot of the 2nd hand bikes (road and otherwise) that come in don’t get a look at for a while or until some of the ones already checked and priced get sold.
If you asked they would probably find something for you - I was in there not too long ago and was told there were a couple of 2 star Malvern star track frames up for grabs.
As far as buying bikes from them:
I understand they have a heap of reasonably priced beaters (or what I’d consider a beater). As far as anything more serious goes, I took a couple of friends there one day to look for decent second hand bikes for them. All the stuff they had inside seemed to be quite high-end bikes that were 4-5 years old and what I would consider to be vastly overpriced. Sure, they were nice in their day but for $3500 you can get a very nice new bike for that price. I can’t say I was at all impressed in that regard.
For spare parts they seem to be reasonably priced but didn’t have most of what I was looking for that day. I ended up walking away with a $15 seat post (which now has a fair bit of lateral play) and a bolt for the seat tube clamp.
It’s hit and miss but the one and only time I’ve trekked out to Bicycle Recycle I rolled out on a 90’s Cecil Walker roadie for $550 which I fixed and have been riding ever since. Definitely worth a shot if you can get out there.
The inside-bikes are nuts. Second hand Stab Supreme’s and carbon Giant Team mountain bikes… but outside, decent roadies, couple of hundred gets you Tange and working gears, and plenty of potential for conversions.
And they have excellent second hand parts inside too.
spuds spot on, and like any store dealing in 2nd hand bikes there will be new ones popping up all the time. So try your luck.
Went with a mate who is new to the game to have a look for a potential conversion and walked out with an unknown track frame, forks, h/set, bb and stem for about $200 it just happened to be spot on in size for him.(mind you the frame was less than 100% and needs some TLC)
BUT WELL WORTH THE ADVENTURE! i reckon the best bit behind building a bike is the adventure!
I have made a few trips out there, and have purchased and sold stuff there.
I have got some absolute bargains, but sometimes they can be a little light on or stuff doesnt get turned over HOWEVER the fact that they exist is bloody fantastic,
So many bike shops these days wont touch a trade in or sell 2nd hand stuff.
Def worth a look I think if you really wanted a bike you could jump on a Dandenong /Cranbourne Pakenham Train… get off at Oakleigh and then jump on what once was a 700 Mordialloc Bus, but aomething that will go straight down Warragul Road and then just ride your new rig home or back to oh so user freindly PT
This may be very useless to you, but if you are ever in the Newport area you should check out:
Albys. He is an old 80+ year old guy who has about 100-150 bikes in his front yard all up for sale. He is very much deaf and you will have to knock on his door for about 10 minutes before he comes out.
Most of the bikes are utter crap, but he will sell you them for $15. He will always say $40, but it quickly becomes $15 once you point out all the problems.
Its really only useful for getting the frame and fork, and maybe a couple of other parts, Ive bought an old road frame which is now my next project :lol:
I was out there today to drop off an old friend, a donation of a once much-loved 12 speed. Saw a beautiful Olmo conversion, but with a big price tag. Though there were a lot of bikes there, pretty sure you’d be able to find a decent candidate for a conversion, and probably get a lot of help putting it together in their workshop if you needed it.
