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Good gear on eBay can be had for peanuts really. Especially boots. If you really want to do this two wheeled thi by, start hunting for gear on eBay before bike. You can find some utter bargains.
High quality stuff comes along quite often. Recently got a set of tcx full goretex off road boots for £70. Lid is only thing I buy spanking new.
Bike wise, patience pays off, and have someone go with you to check it out. Uncomfortable in any way, walk away, there’ll be other bikes. If you’re out in the sticks, you’re likely to find better maintained stuff than in the city. Don’t be scared of aiming far outside of your location to find wheels. It’ll pay off.
A good history book pays for itself.
If you get there and the bike is warm, I’d be wary. Always start the bike from
Cold, especially in winter. That’ll raise a lot of issues on the spot if it has any. If any pop up, that’s your position to negotiate.
The plan was to buy a helmet that I wouldn’t need to replace, and the free jacket is a proper bike jacket my mate just doesn’t fit any more. I was hoping that some semi decent second hand trousers would see me through. Boots and gloves too (can’t say I was massively enthusiastic about second hand, but needs must).
I do appreciate that buying good kit is a necessity. Part of me was just doing mental maths trying to figure out how to get on a bike quickly, but I’m starting to realise that I’ll probably need to invest/save a bit more cash than initially thought.
Eg, I was trying to get on the road for about £1500, buying a 125 bike for £7-800 etc.
And it’s mid winter. Tax bill is due at the end of January. I’m functionally unemployed with my field of work being completely dead due to corona. But wangling my way to getting a bike for cheap seemed really appealing, albeit probably a bit stupid.