need advice on eBay bikes

I've noticed that one particular eBay seller, with multiple listings, is
selling new "Mercier Corvus" and "Motobecane Legacy Elite" bikes, among
others, for around 1/2 of retail. Can anybody tell me (1) if these are
*the* Mercier and Motobecane lines traditionally associated with quality
bikes and (2) if there are any reasons to be suspicious of the legitimacy of
these offers?

If you were considering an entry-level road racing bike, would you consider
/ not consider these?

I'm not suggesting that there *is* anything to be suspicious about here, I'm
just asking for advice before I commit money.

Thanks.

Andrew Short

"Andrew Short" wrote in
news:RYCZa.81330$cF.26650@rwcrnsc53:

I've noticed that one particular eBay seller, with multiple listings, is
selling new "Mercier Corvus" and "Motobecane Legacy Elite" bikes, among
others, for around 1/2 of retail. Can anybody tell me (1) if these are
*the* Mercier and Motobecane lines traditionally associated with quality
bikes and (2) if there are any reasons to be suspicious of the
legitimacy of these offers?

If you were considering an entry-level road racing bike, would you
consider / not consider these?

I'm not suggesting that there *is* anything to be suspicious about here,
I'm just asking for advice before I commit money.

Thanks.

Andrew Short

Andrew,

I'm not trying to sound condescending here, but look at the sellers rating.
This will usually tell you wheather or not his customers are satisfied.
If he is selling knock-offs, he will most likely have a bad rating.

- Boyd S.

They are probably real bikes. Made in Taiwan or China, though.
The real company is called Mercian and is still in business in England.
I don't think Motobecane makes bikes in France anymore, though they may
have
sold the naming rights to someone who imports bikes from Taiwan.

Mercian and Mercier were two different companies, with Mercier being a
French bike along the lines of Gitane, Motobecane, Peugeot etc.

A number of names of past bike lines have been purchased (or acquired at no
cost due to trademarks not be renewed) and applied to el-cheapo bikes made
in factories that have no lineage whatsoever with the original brand, and
certainly no assumptions regarding quality are to be made based on the name.
That may not be totally accurate; it may be safe to assume that the quality
is going to be very low, with the selling point being entirely price + the
old name, and the seller having the advantage that the bikes aren't
available anywhere for test rides or inspection.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

andrew- Can anybody tell me (1) if these are
*the* Mercier and Motobecane lines traditionally associated with quality
bikes and (2) if there are any reasons to be suspicious of the legitimacy of
these offers? BRBR

Look up 'caveat emptor'...and be wary...

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

They are probably real bikes. Made in Taiwan or China, though.
The real company is called Mercian and is still in business in England.
I don't think Motobecane makes bikes in France anymore, though they may
have
sold the naming rights to someone who imports bikes from Taiw

Mercier is correct. This guy buys the rights to defunct makers like Mercier (a
French maker for many years) and puts the name on Chinese bikes
Mercian is an Engilsh builder still very much in business, see
http://www.btinternet.com/~merciancy...ited/index.htm
Phil Brown

Andrew Short wrote:
I've noticed that one particular eBay seller, with multiple listings, is
selling new "Mercier Corvus" and "Motobecane Legacy Elite" bikes, among
others, for around 1/2 of retail. Can anybody tell me (1) if these are
*the* Mercier and Motobecane lines traditionally associated with quality
bikes and (2) if there are any reasons to be suspicious of the legitimacy of
these offers?

As others have pointed out, these bikes have no connection with the
Motobecanes and Merciers of old.

What really bothers me is the misleading commentary in the ads:
"Motobecane is one of the top names in the bike business - 75 years
old, winner of the Tour d' France, winner of several world
championships..."

Art Harris

What really bothers me is the misleading commentary in the ads:
"Motobecane is one of the top names in the bike business - 75 years
old, winner of the Tour d' France, winner of several world
championships..."

Art: They did say it was one of the top "names"... didn't say anything
about the quality of the bike! :)

--Mike--
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com

"Art Harris" wrote in message
om...
Andrew Short wrote:
I've noticed that one particular eBay seller, with multiple listings, is
selling new "Mercier Corvus" and "Motobecane Legacy Elite" bikes, among
others, for around 1/2 of retail. Can anybody tell me (1) if these are
*the* Mercier and Motobecane lines traditionally associated with quality
bikes and (2) if there are any reasons to be suspicious of the
legitimacy of
these offers?

As others have pointed out, these bikes have no connection with the
Motobecanes and Merciers of old.

What really bothers me is the misleading commentary in the ads:
"Motobecane is one of the top names in the bike business - 75 years
old, winner of the Tour d' France, winner of several world
championships..."

Art Harris

On Mon, 11 Aug 2003 02:13:05 GMT, "Andrew Short"
may have said:

I've noticed that one particular eBay seller, with multiple listings, is
selling new "Mercier Corvus" and "Motobecane Legacy Elite" bikes, among
others, for around 1/2 of retail. Can anybody tell me (1) if these are
*the* Mercier and Motobecane lines traditionally associated with quality
bikes and (2) if there are any reasons to be suspicious of the legitimacy of
these offers?

If you were considering an entry-level road racing bike, would you consider
/ not consider these?

I'm not suggesting that there *is* anything to be suspicious about here, I'm
just asking for advice before I commit money.

Be aware that when buying a bike on eBay, many of the sellers tack on
hidden handling charges or inflate the shipping to make up for the
apparent low price. That doesn't appear to be the case in this
instance, but there are other things that make me think this might not
be the outstanding deal that it's represented to be. First, the
seller is in Florida, a region widely recognized as a source of
counterfeit and trademark-infringing goods. Second, although the
seller tries to make it appear that this is a competition-level unit,
the description of the item shows that it is equipped with a Shimano
Altus rear der, which is hardly top of the line. (Other details fall
in line as fitting in the same category as the Altus der or below.)

Perhaps the most interesting part of the information I found, however,
is this one: The ebay seller is shown as being in Ponte Vedra Beach,
FL, and the domain registration for motobecane.com shows *this*
address:

C A Johnston (MOTOBECANE3-DOM)
176 Summerfield
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082
US

If that seems just a trifle too coincidental, perhaps it's best to
look elsewhere.

--
My email address is antispammed;
pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Yes, I have a killfile. If I don't respond to something,
it's also possible that I'm busy.

Another interesting note: the seller also sells bikes from 'Mercier',
and mentions that this is a famous company that started in 1921, and
that Lance Armstrong's first race bike was a Mercier. But guess what?
cyclesmercier.com is also registered to that town in FL!
cycles-mercier.com looks like the real Mercier.

I contacted the seller in question and asked her what's up with the fact
that motobecane.com and cyclesmercier.com are BOTH registered to someone
in her town in FL. Here's what she wrote back. Also note that she admits
that Lance Armstrong rode a French Mercier, not the ones she sells:

"first - Joe the guy with the domain name is a web designer he does work
for 6 bike companies I know of (I know him - but everyone in bikes knows
everyone else)

Mercier is a USA corp just like Raleigh America is a USA corp Fuji
America is a USA corp so on and on interesting note - when GT bicycles
went Bankrupt - did not effect GT EURO or GT JAPAN - as they ard all
different corps (maybe this is why they do it) Bianchi is owned by
Cycles Europe inc (biggest bike company in europe) BUT Bianchi USA is a
different company go figure

but all these guys have Ideal, Meridan, Giant, Overlord, etc make their
bikes in Taiwan

I think the real question is: Can you get a better bike for $700 if you
think so and want to back out of the deal just tell me and will get my
fees back from EBAY plus no hard feelings as I will sell out of these
long before I can get more (especially the Steel version - as there is a
big demand for High grade steel)

Lance was on a french Mercier -- so different and not nearly as well
made as the current bikes - but thats another story -- but no matter
what brand you buy today the quality is way above 20 years ago

courtney"



--
--------------------------
Posted via cyclingforums.com
http://www.cyclingforums.com

FYI, here's one of the bikes in question: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayIS-
API.dll?ViewItem&item=3627354666&category=7298&rd= 1



--
--------------------------
Posted via cyclingforums.com
http://www.cyclingforums.com