If you follow me on , you know that recently, my bike broke its rear derailler. I was riding down the street with my son in tow to grandma’s house to spend the afternoon with. I got about 3 blocks away when all of a sudden, SNAP, my rear derailler broke. And when I say broke, I MEAN broke.
As you can see, it just straight up broke.
At first, I couldn’t think of why it broke, but then my wife later mentioned to me that a couple of months ago, which I had forgotten, I broke a link on my bike, and was forced to shorten the chain. That day, while riding home, I went into my big ring/big cog combination. This combination uses a ton of chain, and unfortunately, a shortened chain has too few links to do it. This caused my whole drivetrain to jam. I remember having to force it out of the biggest cog, and this must have undoubtedly bent and stressed the rear derailler.
This luckily was not that big of a deal, because I had ordered a used bike not 2 days before off of eBay. I actually encourage people to do so. It is a great way to get good reliable bikes for much cheaper than you would at your local bike shop, who charges a premium for used bikes in an attempt to dissuade you from purchasing used steel bike and persuade you into buying a brand new, overly expensive and uncomfortable bike. Older bikes were often made out of steel, which provides many advantages, including smoother ride, easier repair ability, and more reliability.
Carbon fiber is a fragile material, and even accidentally bumping it up against something in the wrong way can crack and ruin a 2 thousand dollar frame. They also are not good for pulling trailers or using racks as they aren’t built to carry loads. Aluminum is stiff and generally reliable, but it can’t be repaired like steel can, and it provides a much harsher ride.
This is where eBay really shines for bike purchasing, because the availability of good quality older steel bikes at a low price is abundant. You can find plenty of different bikes from a 100-300 which is where I believe most people would set as a maximum budget. Keep in mind that shipping a bike is expensive, and will usually add 50-100 dollars to the final sale cost. This doesn’t make them too expensive, but know that you will have to add in more shipping than just 10 bucks. Luckily, on eBay, they post their shipping costs upfront so that there will be no surprises upon checkout.
1. Make sure you understand and are comfortable with the shipping method involved
This seller had chosen to use a shipping method that I had never heard of called Greyhound Package Express. I looked it up, and what it is is Greyhound selling space in the belly of their buses to ship large items that would normally be very costly to ship via UPS or FedEx. I definitely know of Greyhound, and it is a reputable company, so why not? It was only after this that I found out that Greyhound Package Express can take a couple of weeks to reach the destination.
The other thing that you have to be aware of and look out for is that many people selling bikes off of eBay will only allow local pickup only. So before you even start looking at the details of a bike that looks interesting, make sure that you either live near by, or that they will ship. Also, make sure you are comfortable with the shipping method. Some ship by Greyhound Express to save money, and that is a viable alternative shipping method, but it does take a longer time to receive the item as it is shipped “space available” on the bus. This means that if it is a full bus load full of people and luggage, your package waits for the next bus. Not too many people on eBay ship this way, but it is out there.
2. Do your research to find out about the bike and what it is worth.
A few quick searches on eBay and on Google can net you a lot of information about a bike. First, to find out how much that bike should be worth, search for the bike’s name on eBay to see other listings. Then, when search results come back, scroll down on the left side until you see a check box that says “sold listings” under the heading of “Show Only” This will show you the past history of all of the bikes of that make and model that have been sold. This will give you a rough estimate of how much the bike is worth.
Also, do a quick search on the internet, people are always posting information about vintage bikes, and you can find out a lot about those bikes from doing a quick Google search.
3. Make sure you absolutely know the size of the bike and that it will work for you.
A lot of people who sell bikes on the internet don’t know much about bikes and know even less about bike sizing. A lot of them will post the frame size on their listing, but many do not. Don’t be afraid to ask the seller questions. I know some people don’t like to contact sellers, but if you are interested in a bike and not all of your questions have been answered, as them. They will usually get back to you very quickly as good service sells products on eBay. Older frames usually have a level top tube, which means it doesn’t slop downward from the handlebars, this makes the standover height on vintage bikes more for the same frame height than modern bikes. This isn’t a problem, but this means make sure you know the standover height. You don’t want to buy a bike with 36″ standover when you only have a 32″ inseam.
There are a lot of bike snobs out there who will tell you that riding a bike first and making sure you get a perfect fit is extremely important, and that this can only be done at your local bike shop. I say bull s#$%. If you are a racer, go ahead, if you are the average everyday person, you can get away with a lot of different bike sizes, provided that you can at least stand over the bike. I do agree that the fit of the bike is important for performance, but obviously this blog is about practical bikes, not racing bikes. Most of the time, you can change some inexpensive parts out to make the bike fit better if it really is uncomfortable.
4. Always make sure it has mounts for racks and fenders.
Most older bikes come with rack and fender mounts, but some don’t. If you are reading this blog, that means that obviously you care about the practicality of a bike, therefor, mounts are important. Usually, all you have to do is look at the pictures to verify their existence. The yellow arrows show what you are looking for. 
The Practical Cyclist 