Confessions of a Cheapskate

I’ve been asked many times, where did you get that bike for your kid?  So, I’ll tell you, and I’ll tell you how to find one too.

If you just want a review of the bike, go here:

A review of a Specialized Fuse 2021 27.5″ hard tail mountain bike.

So, last year about this time, my kid was outgrowing his 24″ Cannondale Cujo.   The Cujo was a decent little bike, and my daughter now loves it.  So I had to find him a new for him bike.

I began by researching the market a bit to see what the different levels of bikes are for a hard tail, and what they cost.  I had a budget in mind of between $600-1000.  $1000 was the max.  I would much rather have kept it down closer to $7-800.  I then zeroed in on a few models by different manufacturers.  Sizing was also very important and I decided to go after XS size bikes with 27.5″ wheelset.  My son at the time was about 4’10”.

Models that I was focused on included Specialized Fuse, (some a few years old in xs came with 27.5 wheels)

Rocky mountain growler 20, lots of rental companies selling their rental bikes,

Trek Roscoe 7

And a few others.  But it is tough to understand all the models available due to time constraints and lack of available memory in my brain.  So, I picked these to really start watching to understand what a deal looked like.  I was willing to look at anything priced below $1200.  I’m not afraid to offer people a lower price than advertised.  Worst they can do is say no.

Facebook marketplace ended up having the right item.  When I first messaged about the beautiful sky blue specialized fuse, the lady did not know answers to most of my questions as it was her son’s bike.  She also rebuffed my initial offer of $800, (I think it was advertised for $950).   I knew $950 was too much, because it didn’t sell in the first week the ad was up. 

I went to look at it, and it was perfect.  Essentially hung on the wall and never ridden by her son who was more into football, the bike had not a scratch on it.  Tires were set up tubeless, a friend of theirs had given them some matching red deity bits, grips, headset spacers, pedals, all in a red that contrasted beautifully with the blue frame. 

I offered her $800 again after test riding the bike, and to my surprise, they took it. 

My kid was over the moon.  He’s ridden that bike a ton, and some of the lower end spec’d parts have not held up, but, the bones of the bike are solid, and he loves it.  We’ve made a couple improvements along the way to get the bike where it is today.  Read more in my review of the bike itself.