Old and Slow

Gluten free for good measure

I have thoroughly enjoyed this thread, but some of you have stalker skills that leave me with more questions than answers.

Then I have absolutely no idea how the connection was made! Was Ace the "Bike shop" that the bikes were to be delivered to?

Wade's message, while written as though he was being ravaged by a mob of angry honey badgers, doesn't seem too difficult to interpret in my mind. In it, he names "Nicholas Captain Hans Moolman" as the user "Just Simba". It appears that Ace Cycles contacted him with another low-ball offer, after Just Simba realised that their deal was in jeopardy, and Wade felt that the two were working in cohorts, perhaps because they are based in the same area. Who knows. Ace has denied this claim. Wade also alludes to this tactic of tag-team lowballing being a "modus operandi" of Just Simba and Ace Cycles, with evidence of this apparently available on Facebook. Again, none of this has in any way been substantiated, but that is the gist of his message, as best I can make sense of it.

I disagree with your disclaimer. It may not work 100% but in my experience the rotten apples are usually easy to spot. They are forceful, in a hurry to conclude the deal and manipulative in trying to get what they want, either with threatening "another buyer" or with insisting they "need the item asap". I'm sure I have missed a deal here or there by trying to take time, but I have also never been scammed on any platform and have concluded 100's of deals across a wide variety of hobbies and interests.

@DonatelloOnPinarello, your Longest Post KOM has been taken by this abomination of a WhatsApp conversation. Please give us another essay to remedy the situation.

Thanks @Matt and @Nick. Bikehub Pay is one of the best innovations for peace of mind and I have appreciated using it on a number of deals already. I think the price cap is incredibly reasonable, and there now really is no reason for bike purchases to take a risk without it. If people stop being so tight-fisted and pay the fee, we can have fewer threads like this. (Although I have appreciated this great opportunity to up my post count...)

R3750 is a lot cheaper than getting scammed. TheHub was also a far smaller community than Bikehub is, and it was built around a small community of members. Mountain biking in particular has grown exponentially since it began as has the number of chancers, scammers and dodgey dealers. There are still great people on here, but it requires discernment to discover them.

Simba, I definitely think you could have done more to assure the seller of your legitimacy, but ultimately, it was Wade's responsibility to make sure he was happy that he was dealing with a trustworthy person. He was the person with more to lose and he should have done whatever he needed to before casually handing out his bank details. He also shouldn't have agreed to sell for an amount that he wasn't happy with, if that was the issue in the end. He could also have done as you did, and called his bank to verify. He clearly had the money in his account, his ability to refund you shows that to be the case. Overall, I have learnt much, laughed more and gratefully enjoyed this show from the sidelines.

Admittedly this was years ago, but I sold a motorbike and told the buyer I wasn't letting it go until the funds cleared in my account. Buyer paid and I received a notification but the money didn't reflect in my account for 3 days. When I phoned my bank, they advised me not to let go of my possession until the money actually reflected in my account. Not sure if that can still happen but that was my experience.

Some really exciting racing last night. Daprela sticking to script and keeping things exciting, although you really have to feel for the guy. Glad he wasn't injured. Vergier consistently fast, and probably the most fun loving guy on the circuit. His enthusiasm is infectious and you can't help but wishing him success. Bruni, just an amazing competitor and love his interviews. Finn Iles still fighting for his place at the top. I feel that next year we'll see some great things from him if he can learn from his experience this year. Bruni should be feeling the pressure. So stoked for Reece. Great run, so precise and glad he's got his confidence back after Les Gets. I just love DH, absolutely fierce competition yet the riders all seem to have such a great sense of comraderie and respect for one another. Saturday is going to be fantastic!

I mean, ESPECIALLY if you're in different provinces! If it's face to face and the seller has a good reputation then I'm far less concerned. And why not have a phone call to feel the buyer/seller out? The number of times a phone call has helped me discover someone I wasn't willing to deal with has likely saved me headaches like this. And... Both parties agree to a deal, without first establishing exactly who the other person is? Mind-blowing.

Definitely saving this. Bad communication 101: How to overcomplicate a simple process and introduce fear and anger into a straightforward business deal. Revised edition.

I refuse to do deals without Bikehub Pay for any seller that doesn't have an impeccable and long history on Bikehub. Can't fathom dealing with this kind of money without that surety. Both parties appear fools from the conversation supplied IMHO.

Oh how the turntables...

I know that's there's technically nothing wrong with what they did, but there is a better way to deal with something like this. A simple pm saying, "Hey MB, we really appreciated your feedback and are stoked you enjoyed the race. We'll be quoting you on our next newsletter and look forward to seeing you at the next race". Way better than this underhand nonsense.

Bruni's frame for the double-header. Looks like a bike you'd find on our classifieds labelled "mint"....

I like this but the geometry looks really outdated.

If they all copied this idea, I think there would be very few world cup DH racers with an unmarked patch of skin left.

I'm actually very happy using Squirt after watching this...

And don't even get him started about water bottles...

I love the idea of grip shift, but I find it much more difficult to shift while braking than with a traditional shifter. For that reason alone, I'm out. That dropper hack is a great idea though.

His description of Sako sounded like it came straight out of a Mills and Boon novel....

He wrote that piece himself right? Right?!

Looking at the comments I'd bet a fair number of those are followers were bought. Also, dude takes himself WAY too seriously. Wow.