Buying a used Stages SC3 spin bike - what should I be sure to inspect?

A commercial spin studio closed down and they are selling off their stages SC3s bikes with ~ 1.5 years of use.

I was wondering what I should be looking for in terms of wear & common points of failure.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Have a look at this

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thanks I checked out youtube last night. I’ll add my notes here in case anyone else has this question (but I’m still looking for more tips!):

  • commercial bikes face heavy use (2-4x per day) and get exposed to a lot of sweat, you should try and figure out how long the bike has been in service before it was put up for sale
  • commercial bike resellers typically focus on external refurbishing, but there might be damage to interior parts from the excessive sweat. Worth taking a look and finding out exactly what was done during the ‘refurbishing’ process
  • if you are buying from a store, it can be a red flag if they only offer a 60 day warranty (had they fully refurbished things, it would definitely last a long time in residential conditions)
  • inspect the bike as much as possible for corrosion
  • perform a test ride (longer than a few sprints)
  • inspect how easy it is to adjust the bike’s positioning. if it’s not smooth this could indicate damage from excessive use or sweat
  • It may be worth looking into how hard it will be to order replacement parts of any kind. If there is no source in your country and parts have to be ordered directly from overseas, I would see that as a potential red flag.
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When I was looking at buying a 2nd hand spin bike, I found a lot of gyms claimed to have refurbished, but in reality all they had done was cleaned and greased. On close inspection some were terrible.

In the end I bought a new bike

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cc @bbarrera in case you know anything about SC3 maintenance

saw your post here: Spin Bike Recommendations? - #7 by bbarrera

Hi @renschler - unfortunately I don’t know anything about SC3 maintenance. The bikes seem very durable, guessing that there are a couple of maintenance items:

  • the belt
  • batteries for power meter (its a Stages pod mounted on crank)

the specs on this page: Stages SC3 Indoor Bike | Leader in Premium Indoor Cycling | Stages Cycling have warranty info.

The Standard Operating Procedure page: https://support.stagesindoorcycling.com/support/solutions/folders/5000297461 has a link to a page with a PDF that has a lot of info on assembly, troubleshooting, and preventative maintenance. Here is the direct link: https://support.stagesindoorcycling.com/support/solutions/articles/5000799892-stages-indoor-cycling-sc3-18-sop

Download the SOP doc - it has a wealth of info.

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Stages SC3 is what I use to do my TR exercises in my gym. In don’t have my own trainer. I find the bikes are great. But…I find that the power readings are sometimes inconsistent between bikes and, worse, there is one bike that will have regular drops in power by approx 10% for about 3-5 minutes despite me maintaining same cadence and resistance. I don’t ride that bike. So I would suggest you pick a fairly consistent TR workout like petit and see what happens.

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@LarrytheStanimal I always did the zero offset on bikes in the gym, its pretty easy:

Download the SIC1 manual for more info on using the Settings menu.

There was a time I came into class late, jumped on a bike, and started seeing 50-120W even though I was putting down twice that :rofl: Did a zero reset and still power was wacky… the class was full and I had the last bike so just did my thing. After class I accessed the Settings menu and realized someone had paired the computer with another bike’s power meter! :crazy_face:

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I do zero offset every time. Did not resolve the issue. It’s only one bike in the gym that has this but losing 10% power on some TR workouts and trying to hold target power will not be pleasant.

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I finally picked one up, it was $320 without pedals which I thought was pretty good.

How loud are the stages SC3s you’ve tried? @bbarrera @LarrytheStanimal

When I get on mine there’s a definitely a decent amount of vibration & noise. Probably going to open it up and see if I can adjust the belt at all.

Not quiet, but not sure how loud as it’s usually loud in the spin room. Where do you pick up the bike?

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gotcha, no worries

I got it from a liquidator nearby in Milwaukee, a studio had leased them for 3 years and the lease just ended

The powermeter is reading about 10% higher than my vector 3 pedals, but I’m working with Stages support to diagnose the issue.

I was able to make it a little quieter by adjusting the belt, but also waiting to get more tips from Stages.

It might not go any quieter, I’m just used to my homemade trainer which doesn’t vibrate as much

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I didn’t think the bikes make noise outside of expected range…

Hi I am also in the market for a used stages sc3 bike I was thinking of buying a new one but when I saw your price I thought of talking to you I haven’t found any bikes at this price can you pls advice where to look also how was your experience with the used bike do you think getting a second hand bike worth the trouble

This was a good deal pre-covid, I don’t think you’ll find anything like this today. We’re very happy with the bike, I had to realign the belt but that was easy. If you are buying used, I’d check to see if there’s an odometer so you can have a better sense of wear & tear.

Hey thanks for the reply where do u think I can buy it from

price Part I understand

I am looking into both new and used I see too many website but I cannot find anything reliable I am in Illinois

Let me know if u see any good deals and once again thanks for all your help I really appreciate it