2006 Trek 1500, Discovery Team Edition

Hi:

Welcome to BT. You'll get lots of opinions and ideas here; all are guidelines and none are perfectly appropriate for everyone. We all have different ideas and perspective. Except for The Bear: He's always right about everything

I use a guideline of half-lives (like radioactive decay). 3 years is about the point where the bike is worth 1/2 of what it once was. So, that bike is about 3 years old, hence, should be priced 1/2 of what is was when new.

Get the retail price (current $$$) for a 1500 or 1.5 as it's now called. Offer 1/2 of that or a little more if it's really in great shape.

Check carefully on the condition. A clean bike isn't necessarily a good condition bike. Look for grime on the cables at the housing inlets. Check the chain to see if 2 pins are exacly 12" apart for chain stretch. Look closely at the chain rings to see if they're shark-toothed or still triangular.

A new TREK 1.5 has a MSRP of $1099. The local bike shop around here has them for $950. That includes lifetime warranty on the frame through Trek, a free bike fitting ($100+ value). Free adjustments and tune-up if needed for a year. He also gives a 20% discount on anything in the shop. So buying a 4 almost 5 year old bike, even if is in good condition, isn't all that much of a bargin unless you can get it for under $500. I would offer $400 for it and only if it fits you real well.

Edited by browncd 2010-06-15 2:48 PM

Thanks for the help! I went ahead and offered $400 and see what the response is. Will keep you updated

You can't compare the 2006 1500 to the 2010 1.5... apples and oranges. The 1500 is/was a better bike, with better components.

I've got a 2007 Trek 1500.  I paid $900 for it brand new. 
The 1500 is more comparable to the 2.1 of today's line up.  105 components all the way around, etc...

That's a good offer.  I hope you get it.

Edited by outdoorWI 2010-06-17 3:40 PM