Selling a Surly LHT in great condition. it is 54cm Frame and comes with 26″ wheels

Full LX Drive train.
9Speed Crank with Triple Chainring crank
On-One Midge bars
Shimano M536 Pedals. Platform on one side, SPD on the other.
Bar-end Shifters.
Avid SD-5 V-Brakes.
Saddle Not included – If needed, I can include a stock Bontrager saddle.

Contact me at nat AT pedscapades DOT Com if you are interested.

Trying to streamline my bikes at home. Great bike, excellent ride.

You can learn more about it online. Some images:

Note images are shown with a rear rack. But rear rack is NOT included in the sale. Sorry, I need it.

Issues:
1. Some paint scraped in the chain stay due to fitting a lousy kick stand. Kick stand has since been replaced.
2. Minor tear in the handlebar tape. Would recommend changing it anyway.

Asking for SGD 1400. Will not ship outside Singapore.

You might recall I have placed an ad for selling my bike here and elsewhere. Post placing the ad, I have been getting a few requests on the sale and some offers too. I had to reject some of the offers since they were too low.

It made think how I should be pricing my bike and maybe I should have a model with simplistic parameters to price the bike. Of course, the sale will depend on the demand, vintage and condition of the bike. But I suppose these should generally sway the price around some mean and I should have a model to compute the mean.

The model I use is fairly straightforward with simple assumptions:

1. The cost of a bike drops by a factor the moment you ride it out of the shop. I think a 20% drop is a sensible start. It may look steep but then If one can get a brand new bike with warranty from a shop with installment payments, there is very little reason to get a used bike at more than 80% of cost price. Well, it is debatable and I am comfortable with the figure.
2. A Bike, being a mechanical beast, does not completely lose all its value regardless of age. We can still see ‘vintage’ bikes from 60’s and 70’s on sale. Unless totaled, bikes are usually usable with minor repairs. Even if totaled, some bikes can still fetch scrap value or one may salvage components and make some money.
3. I figured a simple depreciation model with an annualized depreciation rate would work fine by not allowing the price to get to 0. The question would then be what rate should be applied. I plotted a few curves at different rates and I think I would settle between 8% to 10%. I suppose the seller would want as low a rate as possible and the buyer would prefer as high as possible. Well, there is no satisfying everyone and I suppose trade can happen only when both parties agree on a reasonable figure to work with.

Given a new bike costs about 2500 and It is about 3years old, I figure a sale price of 1400-1600 to be fair price. I am not even considering some of the upgrades. Well I have to be a reasonable seller too.

As regular readers (all 3 or 4 of you) may know, I have put a lot of thought, research and effort into choosing and buying my bikes. I started with a Trek XO-1 which is a very good bike and is a great compromise between speed, stability and utility. I think it has served me very well and is probably responsible for inspiring me to start commuting. The bike is very practical and with added racks and fenders is a near perfect commuter. It is zippy and light and I have had good times doing some long and regular short rides.

But over time, I was seduced by the idea of having a robust touring bike option and got my LHT. Now, LHT has its own set of problems, it is heavy as hell and very sluggish. But it is an extremely stable bike and very comfortable for very long days on the saddle. Though the XO-1 and LHT are vastly different bikes (Cross vs Touring geometry, thin vs fat tires, Alu vs steel, light vs heavy, aggressive vs relaxed, STI’s vs bar ends, Cantilever brakes vs V-Brakes, Road cranks vs mountain cranks etc…), I find that for my kind of utility (daily commutes and occasional weekend tours) they are very similar with the LHT winning by a narrow margin due to the relaxed geometry. It is of course possible to customize the XO-1 to behave more like a racer or a tourer as I need but I do not see much of a need for it in the time being.

So after a lot of thinking, I decided that I should say good bye for one of my bikes and I have figured I could replace the XO-1 with something more utilitarian like a folding bike. It is difficult for me to decide to sell the bike but if you took a look at my living room (with 4 bikes occupying most of the usable space) you would agree that it is wise to get the bike to another person who would make good use of it instead of me wasting the usable life of a fine bike.

I don’t mind shipping overseas as long as the buyer is willing to pay for shipping and I can ship after I receive the money. But I think it is too strict a policy and I believe people should be able to check the bike out and test ride before buying it. So I expect any enquiry to be local.

I put some ads in local forums and I repeat it here just in case…

For Sale: Cyclocross bike, 58cm Trek XO-1, 2006: Stock model with specs as seen here: http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/2006/archive/xo1 

The Bike is tall (58mm). it fits me very well (I am 185cm). 

http://nat.pedscapades.com/photos/2008/06/02/haulin/ 
http://nat.pedscapades.com/blog/2008/06/02/haulin/ 

Additions: 
 1. Added SPD-SL pedals (Ultegra or 105, I am not sure) 
2. Flipped the stem to a shorter one (original was 100+mm, I suppose the new one is 80mm). I can throw in the old stem if you might need. 
3. Changed the stock Break shoes to the XTR cartridges. 
4. Has a wired Speedo (Trek). I will leave it there. 
5. Added Fenders. 
6. Rear rack (Trek). The racks are not expedition quality but are probably the most solid ones made by trek. I have been using it to haul stuff from work and a couple of times to Ikea. I can definitely take load. 
7. I will provide the stock saddles. The picture shows Brooks B17. If you really need the B17, that will be additional cost. 
8. Couple of bottle cages. 
9. Rear lights. 
UPDATE:
10. Wheelset upgraded from Bontrager Select to Bontrager Race lite. Mildly used wheels but is really nice condition.

Positives 
 1. I use the bike primarily for commuting and did a couple of runs to Desaru. 
2. The bike is versatile and hits the sweet spot as a commuting rig. Built in braze-ons lets me add fenders and racks (I believe all bikes should have fenders). 
3. The bike is pretty light in weight and rides much faster than my Surly. 
4. I am still running the stock tires (never had a puncture yet) 
5. The stock gear ratio is perfect for commuting, however it would have been good if I had a Granny gear. Guess my legs are not strong to climb steep hills  
6. Minor paint scrapes here and there but the frame is Aluminum alloy and there is no bother of corrosion. 
7. I changed the brake-shoe to the XTR cartridge and it works pretty well. The brakes are cantilevers as you can see from the specs and though I personally prefer V-Brakes, the stopping power is adequate. 
8. I find the geometry comfortable – Not too aggressive as racers nor too relaxed as Tourers. That’s why I think it fits a sweet spot for a commuter. 
9. Acceleration is good and the bike climbs well (even with load). Actually, the bike balances nicely even with load on only one side (I usually carry work clothes on one rear pannier fit to the right side of the bike) 
UPDATE:
10. Wheelset changed to a slightly used Bontrager Race Lite. Very ice race wheels, I should say.

Negatives: 
 1. I prefer V-brakes, but have stuck with the Stock Avid Shorty-4’s. They are decent brakes. 
2. The bike is designed for CycloCross. It is a racer at heart but with a taller BB and slightly relaxed geometry. I ride a Long-haul Trucker and seem to prefer the more relaxed setup better (hence the sale). On the flip side, the LHT is like a tractor, stable but utterly sluggish  
3. The rear wheel is mildly out of true (couple of mm) – The story goes thus: 
- Was riding along sims Ave one late evening, the traffic pushed me to the left end of the road and I was forced to stop for a couple of moments. I did not realize I was on top of a drain-grille. The narrowish tires managed to sneak between the grilles and the bike almost fell over with the tires still stuck. I managed to restore the wheel but the wheel got a little out of true.  Rear wheel has since been Upgraded to Race lite’s. More bling for your buck.

I would prefer if anyone interested sends me a mail to “nat AT pedscapades DOT com”. I live in Hougang and we can arrange viewing and test rides. However, I would request that you be interested in purchase before we sync up (saves time for all).