Trek Alpha 1.5 In / Btwin Triban 300 Out

Purchase of Trek Alpha 1.5

Date: 5 July 2017

The process started about 8 months ago, and I was on a constant look out for a new road bike. I wanted to buy a higher end bike, however did not want to spend over 40k for it which restricted my market to the seconds market. The longer it took, I was beginning to get to the stage where I had resigned myself to buying a new road bike which would set me back substantially on the finance front. I did come close to buying a  couple of cycles, however the deal fizzled out. Over the course of the search  was beginning to lean towards buying either a trek or a cannondale bike and had ruled out all the other brands. There were a lot of cycles on sale, however I was rejecting them as they did not fit the budget. On my last brevet Rajkumar had asked me about selling my road bike as one of his colleagues was interested to buy. I had told him that I would not be selling until I bought another one. Incidentally, Rajkumar sold his road bike within a week of this and was on the lookout for a road bike as well. Dennis had been forwarding messages posted on Cyclop group on facebook everytime he sees something interesting. Rajkumar had also started to send in messages from Cyclop. I had rejected a Btwin Triban 5 a week earlier and had told Dennis that I was working on accumulating funds to buy a Trek or a Cannondale. Purchasing a new bike looked to be a long way off at this point.

Rajkumar forwarded an ad posted on Cyclop of a person selling his Trek 1.5. The size was given as 56 cms. I assumed that it was for Rajkumar and told him that the frame size was not ideal for him. Rajkumar said that he forwarded the ad for me to look at the bike. Although I was tight on the fund position, I did not want to miss the opportunity and asked for the contact number of the person. Rajkumar contacted Githin John the owner of the cycle on facebook and forwarded his contact number to me. I was chatting with Githin when Dennis forwarded the same ad. I told Dennis that I was already in contact with the owner. I got to know from Githin that he was the second owner of the cycle and that he had the cycle for only 5 months, the previous owner had used it only indoors on a trainer and he had taken it for a few long rides and had done a maximum of 1,000 kilometers on it. The only thing which held me back a little was that it was a 2014 model and the cycle was effectively 3 years old. I checked with Rajkumar as it was a 2014 model and he said that it was still worth it and that I should take a look at the cycle. I set up the meeting with Githin between 6:30 - 7:00 pm in the evening; Rajkumar said that he would come along as well.

I was held up at office and by the time I made it back it was 6:15 pm. I did not want to go straight from office since I was in formals and wanted to change into riding shoes at least before checking out the cycle. I informed Rajkumar that I was leaving from home and asked him to meet me at Central Mall on the Sarjapur Outer Ring Road in 20 minutes. I informed Githin that I was on the way. It was 6:45 pm when I reached Central Mall. Rajkumar was held up at office, then in traffic and came by 7:45 pm. When we reached Githin's place it was almost 8:00 pm.

Githin brought out the Trek Alpha 1.5 and we got down to inspecting it. Rajkumar was looking into the frame and the tires whereas I went straight to the crank and the drive train. I was happy with what I saw, so was Rajkumar. The cycle although 3 years old had been hardly used and there were no sign of wear on the frame other than a few scratches. It looked as good as new. Rajkumar took a test ride, then I rode it and I was happy. We tried to negotiate on the price, but we could get only a Rs. 1,000 discount and the final price was Rs. 39,000. I agreed to the amount and transferred Rs 10,100 to Githin as this was the limit for the day. Githin was kind enough to allow me to take the cycle and remit the remaining payment the next day. I rode back home on the Trek Alpha 1.5.

I finally have managed to purchase a trek cycle. A Trek Alpha 1.5, 2014 model. It has a carbon fork and carbon seat post, bontranger rims and tires, Shimano shifters and Shimano 9 speed tiagra groupset.

Cost of the Cycle and Accessories

Sl No	Particulars	Store	Amount	Required
1	Trek 1.5	Githin John	39,000	Yes
	Total		39,000
	Free Accessories on the Cycle
1	Bottle guard	Githin John	500	Yes
2	Cycle Stand	Githin John	1,000	Optional
3	Tire Liners	Githin John	2,000	Yes

Sale of Btwin Triban 3:

The new cycle had come in and I had one cycle which was excess to my needs. Although I was emotionally attached to the Btwin Triban 3 since it was my first road bike I was sure that I would not be able to do justice to the cycle after the Trek had arrived and was apprehensive that if I did not sell it I would be parking the cycle at home and might use it as a cloth stand. It was better to let it go rather than to retain it and not use it.

Rajkumar had already lined up a buyer for it. One of his colleagues was looking to buy his first road bike. I had ridden the Btwin for over 10,000 kilometers and there was visible wear and tear on the frame. Although the major repairs had been taken care off with new tires and new drive train, there were still a few minor repairs like the saddle and handle bar tape had to be replaced and the shifting of gears had to be reset. Considering the above and my usage I was not too finicky on the price.

On 9 July, Karthick came to my place along with Rajkumar and after seeing the cycle was ready to buy it. We had a small discussion and the price was fixed as Rs 18,000. I gave two bottle holders and stand with the cycle. I was happy that the cycle was bought by a person who was buying his first road bike and will hopefully have a good ride.