I attended a police auction today, trying to pick up a really good used (stolen, recovered and unclaimed) bike for cheap. Unfortunately, I got there late and didn’t get a good look at any of the merchandice, so it was just my best guess whether the bike was any good. I bid on a silver Giant Rincon, exactly the same as the one I had last summer, but when it hit $275 I decided to back off (considering I sold mine for $350 and it had only a few scratches).

The next bike I bid on, I won! My final bid was $300 for a Rocky Mountain Stratos. From the back row, the bike looked in pretty good shape and I knew (because I had researched it) that it was worth about $1300 new. Although, if anyone had bid higher than $300, I would not have challenged because I didn’t know if it needed any work.

Luckily the bike is in perfect shape and $300 is an incredible deal. It has all original stock parts from the fork to the tires. Since the tires are hardly worn at all, I would guess this bike was lightly riden for about 6 months. Here’s a few specs:

• Easton Elite Taperwall Aluminum Frame
• Marzocchi MX Comp Air “Bomber” Fork
• Shimano Deore Cranks, Cogs, and Hubs

The only problem I forsee is that I may find the frame a bit small (17.5″), but I can always trade it in at a bike shop for a bike with a bigger frame. Anyways, I’ve added a couple of photos of my new bike and also a few of our (Crystal and I) new apartment to the photo album.