to buy a schwinn fastback elite or not?

[trevor hough]

can anyone help out with some info on schwinn fastback elite, i am lookin for a secondhand bike for under 10k, have been ofered this bike for 8k, great condition - dont know schwinn, any help greatly appreciatedtrevor hough2007-03-19 11:02:12

[EdoardoBianchi]

Dunno much about current line-up, but I used to page through bike US bike mags in the late 90's drooling over their MTB's. "Recent" relaunch in SA seems to pitch the bikes in the lower & mid-range with an attempt through recent sponsorship to up its image

The Elite moniker seems to point to high-ish spec model: What gruppo does it come with?

 

[Craven]

Which one is that again and which year? I used to ride the Fastback Pro and then the Team (2002 and 2003models) and loved both of them.

Generally very nice bikes!

 

[Guest Big H]

Schwinn and Raleigh used to be both from the Probike stable, not sure who does Schwinn now, our Schwinn was definitely not the American Shwinn (road bikes).... same frame as Raleigh maybe??????

[rock]

Schwinn is now part of pacific - so thats your GT/mongoose/shwinn camp....not the high end stuff of the 90's

 

although a couple carbon road bikes and harmony team sponsorship to get PR is much the same route as Raleigh here in SA.

[WorcesterWheelers]

Schwinn is now distributed by Omnico, also agents for GT & Mongoose.

 

The 2007 Schwinn Fastback Elite, has 105 Groupset with Truvativ Compact crankset, carbon rearstays and carbon fork.

 

here's a link to the US site, and SA specs are identical.

http://www.schwinnbike.com/products/intbikes_detail.php?id=805

 

[rock]

nice bike that,

[EdoardoBianchi]

Yeah, looks like a nice bike, spec-wise. How's the price compare with current 2nd hand offerings?

[trevor hough]

seems like new they go for 9500, person selling wants 8000, seems a little steep for second hand bike, any thoughts on other bikes around this price

 

 

 

Many thanks

 

Trevor

[EdoardoBianchi]

I haven't been in the 2nd hand market for a while, but 7-8k used to buy midrange bikes with medium to high milage. With this comes components that require replacement (chains/cassettes, etc) which does push up the intial cost.

Depending on the use the bike has seen with the 1st owner, it might be a good deal:

1) 2nd hand bikes normally comes with all accessories you would buy aftermarket (pedals, speedo, etc), putting another 1-1.5k in your pocket

2) It's relatively easy to assess the condition of the bike, since a crash is easily evident on the saddle, pedals, hoods/bars, derailler

 

Check out the warranty. If its more than 3 years on the frame, a new bike might be better. If its one year, you might as well go for the 2nd hand option (given a very close inspection for crash damage)

 

Take a look at Junkmail for a quick assessment of what's in the market at the moment...

Cheers

EB

 

[Evan Andreou]

Schwinn seems to have treated the Harmony team well, obviously high end of the range.

For an extra 2-3 grand you can buy a brand new carbon Silverback/ high end allloy Raleigh. Might be worth waiting a month or two and buying new