[kingming]

I am going to make a final decision today or tomorrow between Hardrock disc 2013 (green) and giant revel 0 2012 (black). Both of them will cost around $560 (including tax).

Could anybody compare them from the technical point of view? The hardrock disc 2013 is from a LBS with life-time tune-up. The giant revel 0 2012 is a used one (but 99% new) since it has been used for only 3-4 times. It was purchased two months ago and the warranty is still there but the free tune-up is gone.

I am totally a newbie on mountain bikes. I am not sure how important tune-up is for a new bike. My concern is that Giant Revel 0 is a better bike than Hardrock disc in totality. Could you please give me some overall suggestions? Thank you.

 

[ou2mame]

the giant's avid brakes are slightly better, as is the rear derailleur.. .x5 vs... ok i'm confused. specialized's website doesn't show a hardrock with disc for 2013 unless its a 29er? the 2013 has x3 components.. so you'd be 2 steps up the giant. and the dart fork is arguably better than the suntour whatever on the hardrock.

 

[kingming]

Based on the information from LBS, hardrock disc 2013 has no major difference from 2012 except some very minor ones. So we can take them the same. hardrock disc 2012 is 26'' wheels.

the giant's avid brakes are slightly better, as is the rear derailleur.. .x5 vs... ok i'm confused. specialized's website doesn't show a hardrock with disc for 2013 unless its a 29er? the 2013 has x3 components.. so you'd be 2 steps up the giant. and the dart fork is arguably better than the suntour whatever on the hardrock.

 

[getagrip]

I'd go with the Specialized lifetime tuneups. With the Giant, you are on your own when it comes to maintenance, and that can be a BEOTCH!

 

[eb1888]

The Airborne goblin is 600 shipped no tax. The fork is better by alot.Airborne Bicycles. Guardian

 

[Luclin999]

I am going to make a final decision today or tomorrow between Hardrock disc 2013 (green) and giant revel 0 2012 (black). Both of them will cost around $560 (including tax).

Could anybody compare them from the technical point of view? The hardrock disc 2013 is from a LBS with life-time tune-up. The giant revel 0 2012 is a used one (but 99% new) since it has been used for only 3-4 times. It was purchased two months ago and the warranty is still there but the free tune-up is gone.

Seriously, unless you have spoken to the store that the bike came from directly and confirmed this in writing do not expect a warranty to carry over to a second owner with a used bike.

From Giant's own Warranty information:

Giant Bicycle, Inc. ("Giant") warrants the frame and rigid fork of each new Giant brand bicycle and Giant brand frameset to be free from defects in material and workmanship for as long as the original purchaser owns the bicycle.

And I repeat again that $600 for a used bike with an MSRP of $690 is a fairly ridiculous price for the seller to be asking.

If you are going to pay that much then just go to the Giant dealer and ask for a deal on the Revel 0 instead. My local store had it on sale a couple weeks ago for $629.

 

[kingming]

I talked to the store. I told me the manufacturer's warranty is still there. They did not deny the one-year tune-up explicitly, either. They told me only if I can bring the purchase receipt. But the tune-up is only one year. But the hardrock disc is life-time only if i am the owner.

Seriously, unless you have spoken to the store that the bike came from directly and confirmed this in writing do not expect a warranty to carry over to a second owner with a used bike.

From Giant's own Warranty information:

Giant Bicycle, Inc. ("Giant") warrants the frame and rigid fork of each new Giant brand bicycle and Giant brand frameset to be free from defects in material and workmanship for as long as the original purchaser owns the bicycle.

 

[Luclin999]

The Airborne goblin is 600 shipped no tax. The fork is better by alot.Airborne Bicycles. Guardian

The Giant has that same fork as well.

 

[Luclin999]

I talked to the store. I told me the manufacturer's warranty is still there. They did not deny the one-year tune-up explicitly, either. They told me only if I can bring the purchase receipt. But the tune-up is only one year. But the hardrock disc is life-time only if i am the owner.

Then get it in writing before you buy the used bike because Giant's policy completely contradicts this and otherwise you may end up SOL if you have issues six months from now when the people at the store "don't remember" saying anything of the sort.

Personally though I'd just walk into the store, tell them about the potential used purchase, offer them $600-630 for a new Talon 0 and see if they bite instead.

 

[ou2mame]

i've never had an issue with a bicycle that i couldn't fix. if you break something on the trail, you're gonna have to fix that yourself. if the frame breaks, i'm sure they'd replace it no questions asked, esp if you can produce a receipt, they're not gonna bother about original purchaser. but there's a 99.9% chance that won't happen. if the bike needs tuneups, learn to do it yourself, don't rely on the bike shop. i never go to bike shops for anything, even if it was free i wouldn't waste my time i'd rather be out riding than leave my bike for a few days to twist a screw a quarter turn or whatever. the giant is the better bike. ask him to come down on price, if you could get it for 500 or so, that would be a steal. much better than anything in an lbs in that price range. all these people talk about these obscure sales that they got on their bikes, which i believe, but that really depends on the demand in your area, and your specific lbs. if he can't find a deal like you guys can, the next best step is a used bike. you will get a much better bike even a few months old.

 

[Luclin999]

all these people talk about these obscure sales that they got on their bikes, which i believe, but that really depends on the demand in your area, and your specific lbs. if he can't find a deal like you guys can, the next best step is a used bike. you will get a much better bike even a few months old.

Here are some of the prices in the SF area (where the OP is) for the Revel 0 new:

Giant Revel 0 - pacbikes.com $650

Giant Revel 0 - Bay Area Bikes East Bay's premier bike shop and bike rentals. Connecting Cyclist to Community. $670

Giant Revel 0 - Eden Bicycles - Castro Valley, California $670

And that's just from taking 5 minutes to use the store locator from the Giant site and seeing what a prices a few stores have posted.

If the OP put some effort into it he could get the Zero new for $630 or less.

 

[kingming]

Yes, I have talked to some of them. The lowest listed price so far is $630. If I make a bargain, maybe I can get a little less.

Here are some of the prices in the SF area (where the OP is) for the Revel 0 new:

Giant Revel 0 - pacbikes.com $650

Giant Revel 0 - Bay Area Bikes East Bay's premier bike shop and bike rentals. Connecting Cyclist to Community. $670

Giant Revel 0 - Eden Bicycles - Castro Valley, California $670

And that's just from taking 5 minutes to use the store locator from the Giant site and seeing what a prices a few stores have posted.

If the OP put some effort into it he could get the Zero new for $630 or less.

 

[Luclin999]

Yes, I have talked to some of them. The lowest listed price so far is $630. If I make a bargain, maybe I can get a little less.

It's your money but personally if you can get the bike new for $630 (or maybe even a little less) then spending $600 for it used doesn't make sense to me.

That being said, if you really want to work out a deal with the used bike seller then take the $630 quote to them and point out that for $30 more you could buy it new yourself to see if they will move on the price.

Mind you, I've looked up the Craigslist ad myself and it looks like the person has been trying to sell this same bike since the 15th with no takers which shows that the price being asked isn't really a "deal" and should give you some more bargaining power.

Make a hard offer of $525 cash and see what happens.

 

[ou2mame]

yeah definitely if its going to be the same price new/used, go new obviously. but if you were to get him down to the low 500 range, that would be a good deal.

 

[kingming]

Thank you so much for your checking and suggestions.
I got a LBS whose listing price is $630. But I need pay additional 8-9% tax, which will be ~$50. If I get the hardrock disc 2013, it is my favorite color (green) and the LBS is just 5 min's drive from my home. The total cost will be ~$560.

I am still hesitating to take that revel 0 for $550 since it may give me a lot of trouble for the tuneup and warranty.

Actually it is less likely that I will use this bike to challenge strenuous trails. Mostly likely, I will just use it for some simple off-road trail in state parks. Therefore, I would rather choose a good color since both bikes meet my demand.

However, anyway, Revel 0 is a better one. Someday I need sell it, I may get a better bargain, isn't it?

It's your money but personally if you can get the bike new for $630 (or maybe even a little less) then spending $600 for it used doesn't make sense to me.

That being said, if you really want to work out a deal with the used bike seller then take the $630 quote to them and point out that for $30 more you could buy it new yourself to see if they will move on the price.

Mind you, I've looked up the Craigslist ad myself and it looks like the person has been trying to sell this same bike since the 15th with no takers which shows that the price being asked isn't really a "deal" and should give you some more bargaining power.

Make a hard offer of $525 cash and see what happens.

 

[Luclin999]

The revel is the better bike.

However if the price, color, and lifetime maintenance plan from the Specialized shop is what you are interested in then go that route instead.

But keep in mind that you ~will~ need to learn some basic bike maintenance and field repair skills for yourself or else at some point you are going to end up with a long walk back to the trailhead pushing whatever bike you end up with back to your car.