A little while ago Sara and I had our bicycles stolen. Very, very sad. I have to blame myself a little since I shared this link on both the Brewcyclers' Facebook and Twitter. It shows you how to lock up a bike properly. Let's just say I didn't follow it and both Sara and I were sans bike. Being without a bike when you are planning bike rides presents a problem.
We now have bikes and serious locks (Protip: never lock up your bike with a cable. Use a u-lock.) To get these bikes we spent an unhealthy amount of time on Craigslist. Here are a few things in Craigslist ads that drove me crazy:
We now have bikes and serious locks (Protip: never lock up your bike with a cable. Use a u-lock.) To get these bikes we spent an unhealthy amount of time on Craigslist. Here are a few things in Craigslist ads that drove me crazy:
Lupe is NOT good
- No mention of bike size. Seriously, the size is one of the most important things. It's basically like selling a pair of pants and saying, "Yo, these are nice pants." and that's it.
- Wrong or made up bike types. A "speed bike" isn't a real thing. Also, don't call a hybrid or commuter bike a road bike. It's not a road bike. I know fixies are super cool right now, but don't say your bike is a fixie when it's not.
- Don't Include the make and model. If I was a bike expert I'd know what kind of bike this bike to the right is, but I am not. I see an old green bike. Maybe a Raleigh, maybe bottom to mid tier. Maybe, maybe, maybe. Let people know what your selling so they can do research. This is common sense. If you don't know what you're selling, I'm going to assume you stole it.
Tag Whores
- Tag EVERYTHING! This mass of words to the right is from an actual ad. The goal is to put any word you'd ever search for so their ad pops up. There is a special place in hell for this person. It's the biggest waste of time. You're searching for something specific and you pull up and ad for a Huffy because of this douche.
- Reply once a day or never. Yeah whatever, man. Selling my bike isn't that important. I'll get back to your next Wednesday. This drives me crazy. Don't post something if you don't have time to sell it.
- Don't sell a bike. Motorcycles, personal water craft, your old Honda Accord and iPads are all cool, but they are not bicycles. I will flag these in a heartbeat.
When you sell a bike be considerate. Don't spam everyone with your bike that you have no description for. There are thousands of bikes a day put on Craigslist and you're just making it much worse than it has to be for people trying to buy your bike. There is that special person out there who is fated to have your bike. They're looking for just the crappy rust bucket you have. Be clear and descriptive so they can find it, but mostly don't be a lazy douche.
After all is said and done Sara and I are very happy with are semi-matching Cannondales. Yup, even with Craigslist annoyances. Most people were actually very pleasant to deal with. Thanks Craigslist.
-Frank
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