Thanks for the info Thegoblinchief. When looking for a hybrid on CL, is there a particular brand that I should stay away from? What about frame, should I be looking for anything specific? Same with tires?
A really good primer, especially if you're unfamiliar with bikes in general is this article:
http://biodieselhauling.blogspot.com/2012/01/buying-bikes-from-craigslist.htmlBut I'll add a few notes
1. Very few ads mention hybrid in the title. So don't bother searching for hybrid as a keyword. With my bike, I knew I specifically wanted an FX, but my wife needed such a small frame size that I had to broaden it. On that note, know what size frame you want (google hybrid frame sizing or test ride a few at your local bike shop) With hybrids, usually it is given in inches from the center of the crank to the top of the seat tube. (small 13", medium 15", medium/large 17", XL 19"+). Sometimes you will have to ask the seller what size frame it is, as they won't have it in the ad. Once you look at enough bikes, you can usually guess based on how it looks but nothing is worse than trying to ride a bike that doesn't fit you, so it pays to check before you go out to look at it.
2. What I found helpful in my market was to set a minimum price filter of $50-75 to weed out the junkiest bikes, a maximum of $1,000 to avoid the fancy carbon bikes, and then add (without quotes) '-kids' and '-26"' to try and weed out kid and MTB listings.
3. On frames, steel and aluminum both have pros and cons. I prefer aluminum. Some people complain it is too stiff but I haven't found that to be the case when comparing my current aluminum ride to the steel bikes I've owned previously. If you end up with steel (bring a magnet) you specifically want chromoly or 531 Reynolds (older 70s and 80s bikes will be made from this). Check it over very carefully for rust and plan to buy a can of framesaver to spray in all the tubes if you buy it.
But everyone has their preferences. Many folks prefer non-suspension MTBs with road slicks. I prefer 700C tires between 28 and 35mm.
I then put the CL search in a tabbed window and refreshed it at least once a day to catch the newest listings. You can also get an RSS feed, but the volume of ads in my area make that annoying to me.
Feel free to throw links up and people will gladly dissect the ads for you. Plenty of folks have done this in the past.
... disc brakes will also operate better in bad weather.
Meh, not really. KoolStop salmon pads are awesome for rim brakes in wet/snowy weather, and disc brakes are far more annoying (to me) to service. But I certainly wouldn't avoid disk brakes either. Quality disc brakes usually put the bike in too high of a price range for me and they're still not too common on the used market here.