Each year as the season draws to a close and sponsors change we often see ex-team bikes go up for sale on various official auction sites. Given that running a cycling team is pretty expensive, it’s a good way for teams to recoup some revenue, and make way in the service course for the swift intake of new bikes for the next season.
This year we’ve spotted star rider team bikes from Visma-Lease A Bike, Ineos Grenadiers, DSM-Firmenich PostNL, Lotto Dstny, Soudal Quick-Step, and EF Education-Easypost on the auction site matchwornshirt.com. It’s a site, given the name, that tends to specialize in pre-worn football shirts off the back of famous players, but has subsections for everything from speed skating to handball memorabilia.
If you’re lucky (and nobody else outbids you), at the time of writing you could pick up Jonas Vingegaard’s Cervélo S5 for just over £5,000. Given this would usually set you back over £12k in this spec without the pro connection it’s currently a mad bargain.
Other prime bargains are Geraint Thomas’ Pinarello Dogma F for £3,977, Egan Bernal’s equivalent but smaller bike for only £3,059, and Richard Carapaz’ Cannondale SuperSix Evo for £2,989.
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Vingegaard’s Cervélo S5, used at the Tour de France this year.(Image credit: matchwornshirt.com)
Thomas’ Pinarello Dogma F, used at the Giro d’Italia. (Image credit: matchwornshirt.com)
Asgreen’s S-Works Tarmac SL8 used at both the Vuelta a España and in the breakaway at Paris-Roubaix. (Image credit: matchwornshirt.com)
Carapaz’ Cannondale SuperSix Evo, though we haven’t been told at which race it was used. (Image credit: matchwornshirt.com)
Degenkolb’s Scott Foil RC Pro, as used at the Tour de France. (Image credit: matchwornshirt.com)
Perhaps the biggest bargain of them all is double monument winner John Degenkolb’s Scott Foil RC Pro for only £2,985. Sure there are four days left on all of these auctions, and the prices will undoubtedly shoot up, but a person can dream, right?
Are these bikes a good buy? Well mechanically speaking it’s a bit of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they have been meticulously looked after by an army of professional mechanics all season, not some have-a-go-Henry in his garage with a half-baked toolkit and a YouTube video. On the other hand, they have been raced by the pros. That means they have been ridden hard in all conditions all season.
Perhaps the disclaimer beneath Degenkolb’s bike sums it up best:
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“It has been professionally maintained with the utmost care by the mechanics of Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL and certain parts of the bike may have been replaced to guarantee user safety if the bike were to be used again.”
