I am looking to buy a second hand road bike from a while now. I have stumbled upon the following offer. I will be happy if I could get your opinion.

The specs are following ( in german):
Koga Miyata mit Mavic CPX 21 Felgen
Grösse 58
Schaltung Shimano RSX 3x8
Koga Pedalen (wie SPD) oder Look die auf dem Bild drauf sind.
Cyclomaster CM 208 Velocomputer
Satteltasche Scott (leer)

I am attaching the picture. It will be cost me atleast 500 francs.

*which pedals should I take the Look ones or the original SPD.

there is probably a reason the Look pedals are on the bike in the first place,wether this is to your advantage or not remains to be seen-but if you do decide,see which are in better condition and if they are the same the I would go with the Look pedals.good riding

Just to clarify..First I should decide whether I am buying this bike or not..pedals are a secondary issue..

How old is the bike? I dunno, 500 seems like a lot for a bike that looks bit dated to me.
Setting the price aside, have you ridden it? The fit will be the most important part of the decision. Doesn't matter if you get a deal if the bike doesn't fit you.

I quote: which pedals should I buy.If you like the bike which which does't look like much,the Look pedals become more than a secondary issue sinc they are usally first rate in the pedal dept.but your welcome anyway,

Is 58cm (I assume it's centimetres) the right size for you?

My touring bike is 58, and I'm a bit over 180cm tall - of course it's more your leg length than height. Don't buy it if it doesn't fit you. Ideally you should be able to stand over the top-tube (the horizontal one) and have at least a few centimetres gap between it and your nethers.

How old is the bike? The fact that it's got "Shimano RSX" components dates it quite a bit.

Koga Miyata are supposedly a good brand.

I use SPD pedals on my bikes, but it's horses for courses.

Take the bike for a ride, and see if it fits you.

cheers,
(Mr)Wibble

You get what you pay for. 500CHF is not that much for a bike, but it is quite dated. I would think that the components could have quite a degree of wear on them which could make buying a 500CHF bike a false economy. The developments in components have happened for a reason. I would look for a bike with Ultegra or 105 components (or similar) you might have to spend a little more money but it will be worth it in the long run.

I think you could spend 500CHF better then on that bike, but that's just my opinion.

Keep any eye on the veloplus börse page and you might find something a little better.

Looks expensive for an aluminium bike

I have seen full carbon bikes on that size, full ultegra at ricardo sold between 600-900 CHF

Check out there first

	Quote:
	Should I buy this bike, Koga Miyata?

I'm still waiting for Koga Miyata to share his wisdom with us, as requested in the opening post.

Second hand carbon... ...DODGY!!!

well the guy says that he also bought the bike second hand so he doesn't know how old is it..but claims that all parts are in okay condition.

What I also like is that fact that its has triple rings in the crank, which are very uncommon to find in older/second hand bikes.

He lives somewhere near St.Gallen so just to have a quick spin on the bike wouldn't be that easy. But since my touring bike is also 58, I guess sizing should not be a problem.

This will be the first road bike I will buy, so am really apprehensive since I am not at all used to the dropped handle bar and these far-away brakes. So I guess I wouldn't even easily know if the size suits me well or not.

I echo other people's concerns about the age of the equipment on this bike. It may still be in OK condition, but even relatively low price new equipment may be able to outperform it on many relevant criteria (weight, ease of use and maintenance, stiffness, efficiency, etc.). However, some people prefer more classic styles and equipment, and it certainly looks like a decent bike from a well-known manufacturer.

If you're worried about the drop-bar brake levers, then you may want to add a pair of bar-top (or in-line) brake levers to whichever road bike you end up buying (see the example in the link). They're pretty cheap (about 40 CHF), and they will allow you to ride in a more familiar position to start with while still being able to control the brakes. I use a pair like this on my touring/commuting drop-bar bike, and they are especially good in traffic so that you can brake and sit upright to see what's going at the same time.

You could be right, a crashed carbon bike could desintegrate when you are climbing a hill or sprinting at 60kmh ... scary

But I have a 2nd hand full carbon road bike bought from the authorised dealer that has been on service since 2003 with no problems at all. And it hasn't been crashed or misstreated during all that time so If I sell it the next owner would not have any problem as well.

I dont think that it would be a good buy. Even though Koga is a decent brand, the bike is ancient and the parts are really outdated.

It also depends on what you want to do with the bike. If you want to cruise to the shops and back go out and get something plain and simple.
If you want to cycle around and get addicted to the sport (here's me holding thumbs!) then I would advise shopping around a bit more and getting something newer than that.
It will make a HUGE difference to your cycling pleasure.

As for buying second hand carbon bikes, I really dont think that it is that scary. If you dont know anything about bicycles then just take it into a local bike shop and ask for their opinion.