All about bicycles, electric-assisted bikes, technology and safety in the press

The most common safety risks that we come across in our daily work around bicycle safety, technology and operating instructions are also published by us in articles in the leading German special-interest magazines TOUR (Europe's road bike magazine no. 1), BIKE (Europe's mountain bike magazine no. 1), MYBIKE and EMTB in order to make this information, which is important for the industry, available to a wider public.

For many years now, the Eurobike Show Daily, trade fair magazine of the annual Eurobike Show, has also given us the opportunity to publish our view of major developments in the cycle industry in full-page articles.

We also speak regularly in independent expert presentations about all areas of bicycle technology and the bicycle market. In addition, we are quoted by further special-interest magazines of the industry and the trade as well as increasingly by radio and television in their media reports, which shows us that we are spot on with our advice. The section "News" informs you about the latest news from our specialist areas. The reports and publications of this section are listed chronologically or according to areas of interest.

TOUR 09/2014
Reading time 1:10 minutes

From a reliable source only

Graduate engineer Dirk Zedler, expert for bicycles and electric bicycles, about buying second-hand road racing bicycles

TOUR What are the risks of buying a second-hand bicycle?
ZEDLER
Buying second hand is business based on trust. If a defect occurs after the purchase, it is not seldom that the parties dispute in court. Those who have no profound knowledge in technology, may even buy a road racing bike which doesn’t fit or has a completely wrong gear transmission ratio. 

TOUR But should you not have confidence in the bicycle dealer or the vendor on the Internet?
ZEDLER
Of course you should, but the framework conditions, in particular the legal conditions, differ. The bicycle dealer has a greater choice of new models and adjusts the bicycle to the customers needs. In the case of a new purchase, the dealer is liable to the customer within two years for defects in the goods. Furthermore, most dealers provide extended warranties for frames and forks, occasionally even for further components. Some manufacturers offer a crash replacement regulation for the replacement purchase of a damaged part at reduced prices. In case of purchases by Internet the buyer has the additional right to return unused products within 14 days. When buying second hand from a private individual all these rights are missing. As a buyer you must be aware of that. Warranty for material defects and the right to return are usually excluded by a private vendor. 

TOUR That means you advise against buying second hand?
ZEDLER
Yes and no. Buying second hand bears many risks. I would buy second hand from reliable sources and if I knew the history of the bicycle. In a laboratory, such as ours, a bicycle could undergo thorough tests, but the expenses for a reliable result would be enormous.

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