Blather on Bicycling

I was disheartened to learn one of my students got scammed on Ebay trying to buy a bike this summer. He lost quite a bit of money, especially for a student, and Ebay said they couldn’t help him resolve the issue.

As someone who has occasionally used Ebay to purchase and sell biking equipment, including one purchase of a high-priced bike, I would like to provide some advice. I have not had any bad experiences on Ebay, but I can see how it would be easy to get scammed. I will preface my recommendations by saying that I don’t recommend buying a bike over $500 on Ebay. My main reason for this is that bikes that cost more then this are premium items and they usually fetch top dollar on Ebay. In fact, I’ve found that the selling prices are usually only one or two hundred dollars less then what you can buy the same item for new. Since the Ebay purchase is risky and doesn’t include a warranty, you should buy the item from your local BS, who you know is an honest dealer with a warranty and service to back the product.

Here’s my advice: 

1. Never use a money transfer like Western Union. Ebay even discourages this.
2. Always do a thorough check of the seller’s feedback. Feedback is one of the main features that makes Ebay work. Rather than just look at the feedback score, also look at the items they have sold. If there are no links to the items, they may have let the account age to get rid of the item information, since Ebay removes these after 6 months. Also, examine the feedback of the people who have left feedback for the seller. I’ve discovered some scammers by doing this. For example, I have seen feedback buy a person who has a negative comment like, “paid for item, never received it.” I figure it is probably the seller leaving feedback for himself from a previous account he has tarnished. At the very least, I figure it is guilt by association.
3. Ask all kinds of questions. Often scammers don’t know a lot about bikes and by asking specific questions you figure out that they don’t know what they are selling. Ask about specific aspects of the item, like a serial number, part number, etc. Also ask technical questions that only someone who owns the product or bicycles a lot would know. Broken English in the response is usually a good clue too.
4. Shop Ebay for awhile before any high dollar purchases. In other words, don’t just take the first good deal you see. I’ve seen the same bike pictures come up week after week. It’s quite obvious when you see the same high dollar bike in front of the same garage door being sold by a different seller. If you see this, report it to Ebay right away.
5. Ask for obscure pictures. I always ask for a picture from a weird angle. The scammers answer sounds something like, “I borrowed a camera from a friend and I can’t get it now so I can’t provide pictures.” No picture, no sale.
6. If the seller lives close to someone you know, ask if your friend can go see it in person. Even if you don’t know someone near them, bluff on it just to see if they come up with a lame excuse for not being able to see it.
7. If a deal is too good to be true, it probably is. Experienced Ebayers know how to sniff out a scam and don’t bid on these items, so they sell for less. This rule doesn’t always apply to low dollar items, because I’ve purchased shoes, handlebars, and other items for some unbelievably low prices (e.g. 80% off retail).

Some of these measures are a bit overboard for the purchase of inexpensive items, but be very careful with purchases over $100

On my ride home from work yesterday I blew a front tire. This was the first tire I’ve ever blown while riding, but I half expected it to happen. A week ago when I was putting on some new Vredestein cyclocross tires, my front tube blew out of the side like an airbag. It was still intact so I shoved it back in since I was anxious to get riding. I had installed the tire the night before, being careful to check that it was seated correctly before inflating it complete. I commonly do this to make sure the tire doesn’t pop over the rim when pressure is added. It wasn’t until right before the ride, when I inflated the tires a second time, that it popped off the rim. Interestingly this happened while the bike was sitting still in a stand about 20 minutes after I had inflated the tires. I heard a strange pop and couldn’t figure out what it was. I looked at my bike and it took a while to register what had happened. The front wheel looked grossly disfigured. It was a similar reaction to seeing someone (or your own) broken leg. It took a minute to decipher what I was seeing.

When I put the tire back in and pumped it up, I could tell there was a slight bulge where the tube had over-expanded. I rode anyway. Surprisingly it rolled smooth and I put a couple hundred miles on it before yesterday’s experience on Mt Glen Road. I heard a telltale thumping and hit the brakes to slow down gradually until it exploded like a gunshot just before I stopped. It sure spooked the horse near the road.

The shot reminded me of an incident last spring. In one of my classes we spent a day covering cycling. I was helping an aspiring-triathlete student pump up an old tire. We knew it was a risky endeavor because it was very old and the sidewalls were cracking. We put about 80 psi in it and it seemed to be holding fine. After a few minutes, while he was holding the wheel, it blew. The explosion sounded like a cannon shot because we were in a gym. Fortunately he wasn’t hurt, but he said the blast really stung his hand.

Lesson learned: Don’t inflate a suspect tire/tube.