Re:
Welcome aboard!
There are a lot of collectors here on RB, so there are a lot of collectible bikes to choose from, and these guys know their stuff, so you'd be buying from a knowledgeable seller if you bought here.
Occasionally users here will also simply give stuff away in exchange for Good Karma, so that's also a possibility for you.
Another possibility (and not to discourage you from buying here), but if it's "cheap and cheerful" you're lookng for, I'd heartily recommend eBay, Craigslist, Gumtree, etc. because there are occasionally "diamonds-in-the-rough" to be found all over the world.
Naturally, you'll want to be careful and use Paypal "Goods and Services" when buying so you're well-protected in case some charlatan tries to rip you off.
Sellers here on RB tend to give you the option of paying with Paypal "Friends & Family", which offers no protection, but is fine if it's a seller in good standing in this community (i.e., if they've posted more than just a few dozen times and if they have a good feedback rating) and it saves you a bit of money, or you can add the 2.9% fee that Paypal charges to ship as "Goods & Services" which protects you as a buyer.
It would help if you let folks know what size bike you're looking for, or how tall you are; no sense in getting a bike if you can't reach the pedals
A few more things:
1-Formum rules require that you post your request in the "MTB Wanted" section, here:
viewforum.php?f=3
2-That said, there's been a recent spate of charlatans responding to MTB Wanted requests and telling unsuspecting sellers that they "have a friend who has that type of bike you're looking for", so they dangle the carrot and the situation just devolves from there. Again, check out the number of posts (See "Posts" listed to the left of their post, underneath their avatar, along with "Joined" and "Location") and avoid those with unusually low numbers, and also checkout their feedback page linked from the "feedback" button at the bottom of user's posts (only visible if you're a member and you've logged in).
3-...and this is the big one...this hobby can consume your time and money if you let it. Take me as an example: I wandered in here, wide-eyed and relatively inexperienced, looking for a particular bike,....
..... and then I saw something shiney that I just HAD to have...
.....and then I saw another...
....and then another.......
.....ten years later I have more bikes than I think I'll ever be able to ride, but I'll have fun wrenching on them, if not just looking at them.
Wow! Tomorrow is ten years exactly for me.
(Hey Mods, do I get a gold star, or a pat on the back, perhaps a certificate....something? Ah, no matter! I've had a great time here! Here's hoping I can stick around another 10 years! Retrobike rules!
