While those bikes carry the cachet of a race or the pros who rode them, at their most basic, those same machines are also tools – well-used and abused ones at that. So find out a bit about the bike’s pedigree if you can. Is it your favorite rider’s everyday training bike, or was it used only at a Grand Tour? Was it a spare that mainly rode on the top of a car? These details matter, and can mean the difference between a bike that’s almost new and one that’s done hard time.

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