Sheepclone

Thanks everyone! I appreciate your input and will move on from this bike. It was just a spur of the moment find. I consider this thread closed. I'll post again soon once I find my bike.

Good day, I am a new aspiring rider that is looking to get into the sport. After countless hours watching youtube and surfing the interwebs I have a better understanding, but I am still a bit overwhelmed. I am awaiting the sale of some items to fund my XC bike( which at this point will be a 2023 TR Cypher RS Ltd Ed, second hand). Whilst I await the funds for that purchase i was at a local second hand shop and saw the bike that i will mention below and was wondering if it would be a decent enough purchase to be used as a gravel/tar/multipurpose "training" bike. This bike will not be used for XC, Single track etc, mainly road and gravel to get my fitness up and legs accustomed. The bike specs are as follows: Frame: Merida Matts HFS 3000. Year and size unknown, but i suspect its a large frame as it sits similar to other bikes I have sat on. Large is my frame size. Crank: Shimano SLX hollowtech II Pedals: Flat Style run of the mill. Fork: Cannondale Lefty Speed carbon with Fox TerraLogic (fork does not want to compress, might be my own stupidity). Brakes/Shifters: Shimano Claris Dual Control Lever(brakes work no shifting). Hydraulic brakes Handlebars: a Anatomical drop handlebar, not sure on brand. From what i could make out it says Droplett Anatomic 235gr. Rear & Front Derailleur: Shimano XTR Rims: Biks has 2 different rims on, will most likely have to be replaced. Tyres: Schwalbe X-One, older and will probably be replaced. Groupset: i am not sure, it is a 3x9 which i assume is the original goupset that came with the bike, from what i can tell from research. Seat: Old Schwinn seat. That is as much info as I could gather. Please see pics and let me know your thoughts on this strange creation. The bike is quite light which is nice, though i do not know the overall weight. the asking price was R7,500 and i talked the shop owner down to R6,000. I think there might be too much money to spend on this bike to get it into shape but i don't know. I might be able to get the owner to allow me to take the bike to my LBS, CycleLab, to have an inspection done. I thought i might ask the great community here before tackling that obstacle. I buy quite a lot by that specific shop and speaking to the staff, that bike has been there stationary for around 4-5 years. they recon R4k is a fair price and i thought the same. If i offered him R5k would it be a good price for an older bike with the above mentioned specs? TIA everyone and i look forward to both your responses and to finally getting in the saddle.