Reds Resto Rides - Mike Red Sells dangerous bicycles! Falls Church Virginia

BEWARE!  Super sketchy character selling dangerous bikes.

I bought a Specialized Rock Hopper from this guy last week via craigslist, and by the time I got there to pick it up, it was dark outside so not too much test-riding could be done.  Everything felt OK at the time aside from the rear brake feeling a bit slack, but things went downhill from the first real ride.

Day 1:  The rear derailer was so out of tune that gear 5 kept jumping down to 4, which really sucks, because it would happen in such a violent manner that it really threw me off when trying to stay balanced on a hill-climb.  Also, no matter how I adjusted the rear brake, it just wouldn't bite strong at all.

Day 2:  Take the bike back to have the rear derailer adjusted, that fixes the problem of 5th gear falling down into 4th, but now the chain jumps off!  Upon closer inspection of the pedal housing is all scraped up from the chain falling off repeatedly before I even got the bike.

Day 7:  During my first real ride longer than a mile round trip, the front quick-release skewer fails completely and the front wheel comes off!  I almost broke my neck!  Upon close inspection of the quick-release, all the threads are totally stripped out, it looks like it's happened before, since the threads looked like there was damage from being cross-threaded multiple times.

How cheap do you have to be to be willing to risk a customer's life over a $12 bike part!?

So anyways, this was my saga and my learning experience.  Take my lesson and save your money!  

I call the guy, he cusses me out and tells me I don't know what I'm talking about and no refunds!

Avoid Mike Red's bikes at all costs!