7 Best Tips to Increase Your Mountain Bike’s Value When Reselling It

Your precious mountain bike won’t last forever. We’re not talking about your MTB getting destroyed, but there might be times when you’re in need of hard cash. Thus, you may want to hand over your bike to someone in exchange for a good price.

Typically, it’s not possible to get the expected amount of money when reselling a bike. However, things are different when it comes to mountain bikes. MTBs stand out in high contrast against other types of bikes.

In fact, a mountain bike’s value doesn’t decline much if you maintain it properly. If you’re planning on reselling, read about the seven best maintenance tips to increase your mountain bike’s resale value.

Purchase the Right Brand

Obviously, you’re not buying a mountain bike with a view to reselling it any time soon. You’ll be hitting the trails, getting your bike scratched, having some wear and tear, etc., while these will automatically reduce your bike’s performance and value gradually.

But purchasing a mountain bike from a renowned brand will keep up the value as long as you’re cleaning, maintaining, and servicing your MTB regularly through all those travels.

That’s why purchasing a mountain bike of the right brand will be the best thing to do in the first place. The brand comes out to be a vital aspect when you’re putting your bike up for sale.

Any interested buyer will ask for the brand, which upon responding, will either increase or decrease the value of your bike.

Top mountain bike brands hold authenticity and trust in the customers’ minds in terms of extended quality and performance. So, keeping that notion in mind, look for the appropriate brand as per your budget.

Don’t Ride Your MTB in the Rain

It’s a clear indication that many bike riders know about it, but unfortunately, most of them fail to abide by it— riding in the rain is bad for bikes. And when it comes to your mountain bike, avoid this bad habit at all costs unless there’s an emergency.

Rain and mud can only turn into a slowed mechanism, rusty exterior & interior, and reduced performance of your mountain bike. Many MTB owners overlook this while decreasing their bikes’ value.

You may not be able to ride in the rain with an oilcloth over your body and bike to protect it from water and dirt.

However, rinsing it immediately after reaching home with clean water should do. You must dry it with a dry fabric while oiling the chain to avoid a rusty chain system while riding.

Safeguard the Paint Job

Apart from a prestigious brand, the first impression of your mountain bike holds great value when you’re about to resale it. The importance of a sleek and shiny bike is undeniable when you’re trying to show it off to online and offline buyers.

Hence, safeguarding your bike’s paint job is highly important. You can ensure the protection of your bike’s paint job by:

• Avoiding scratches while riding through the dense bush or by rocks or walls
• Rinsing it with clean water when in contact with mud, dirt, or grit
• Not wiping it with a dirty or wet cloth
• Not leaving it outside

In a time when e-bike sales are skyrocketing due to its various utilities, you must be smart enough to display your mountain bike’s exterior with a striking paint job to its prospective buyers.

Carry It in a Spacious Vehicle

Carrying your mountain bike in a compact car or covered van isn’t a good idea. Mountain bikes have wider handlebars and larger wheels, which make it difficult for them to fit nicely.

Trying to force your mountain bike into a small vehicle will only ruin its exterior, including paint, chain, tires, brakes, etc. This, in turn, will reduce the value of your MTB, even if you carry out a servicing job on it.

The best solution is to carry it to a distant place in a large truck if you can manage and afford a standing bike rack, better.

Keep Your Chain Clean and Oiled

As we’ve mentioned before, cleaning and oiling your chain is essential to maintaining your mountain bike to avoid any rusty pedaling or low performance on the road.

A worn-out drivetrain is easy to notice due to its copper rust stain all over it. Neglecting this can lead to other wears and tears of your expensive mountain bike even before you realize it.

A malfunctioning chain will catch an experienced biker’s eyes in no time, hence, reducing your MTB’s reselling value. That’s why lubricating the chain is mandatory while regularly maintaining your bike to increase your mountain bike’s value.

Oiling or lubricating is a simple task that you can learn in a few days. Just make sure you don’t apply oil on a dirty or dusty chain, or else dirt will stick to the drivetrain, making the pedaling process hard.

Don’t Use Stickers

Don’t spoil the attraction to your mountain bike by gluing all your fancy stickers to it. It might sound harsh, we know, but it’s not necessary that an interested buyer will equally like your fashion and style.

This may lead to a bad bargain while reducing your bike’s resale value even after having the required features.

You know how difficult it is to remove stickers from the bike surface. And forcing them off the bike’s body will surely have some scratches, compromising the lovely paint job in it.

Park Indoor or Inside the Garage

Indoor parking of your mountain bike will spare you the tension of bad weather, corrosion, theft, and degraded exterior. If you truly want to resell your mountain bike, keeping it outside your house is something you don’t want to do in the first place.

Expert buyers will instantly recognize your bike’s condition and refuse to pay what you deserve. Parking it outside the garage will reduce not only its beauty but its value as well.

Regular riding and indoor parking will also encourage you to clean and maintain it properly. Hence, you can bring a nice and fit mountain bike to your prospective buyers’ attention and ask for a reasonable price.

Conclusion

Increasing an object’s value to resell it needs care and regular maintenance. The same applies to your mountain bike.

Moreover, since a bike is made of several tiny to large parts and gears made of different materials, maintaining it requires expert guidelines and knowledge.

Always make sure to keep your mountain bike optimized with the appropriate paint job, chain oiling, dusting and cleaning, balancing tire pressure, and everything that’s required to maintain its reselling value.

Rupali Gupta

Rupali Gupta is a blogger and professional writer who loves to write about technology and entertainment. Techzimo is one of her successful websites filled with great tech news, Know more about her on Youtube Facebook Twitter Linkedin Instagram