Cheap Bikes!

TinyExplosions

£70 (stg) for an 18 speed mtb.... sounds great!

snubbleste

Sterlinghouse.co.uk have been selling bikes like this for a decade for £59 (+£15 delivery to ireland)

kona

TinyExplosions wrote: »

£70 (stg) for an 18 speed mtb.... sounds great!

Does sound great doesnt it?!:pac:
How the fuk do they expect that a cheap crap MTB is going to encourage people to cycle, I mean
They are sold boxed, so this means you will get people with no experience being driven to suicide, trying to set these bikes up to a cyclable standard(or not, with the usual forks on back to front)

If they manage to get them ssembled, they will have the joy of cycling these things, can imagine a better time, hearing the clicking as the gears try in vain to shift, then the lottery or weather or not your brakes will work if you pull them, plenty of punctures from under inflated tyres.

Cheap bikes will reinforce peoples idea that bikes are heavy, slow, break, and are the worst form of transport.

kona

snubbleste wrote: »

Sterlinghouse.co.uk have been selling bikes like this for a decade for £59 (+£15 delivery to ireland)

you can buy a fully assembled bike in a shop in ireland for about the same, which will have the advantages of being able to return it when it breaks, rather than get pissed off with e-mail and postage.

Bikes this cheap have been available for ages(unfortunatley):o

blorg

The bikes are made by Falcon (Claud Butler.) They seem pretty simple, steel forks, no suspension, etc. They are really 26" wheel town/leisure bikes rather than MTBs. I'd give it 50/50, they might actually work.

petethedrummer

€59 is enough to pay for what essentially is a toy.

Andy-Pandy

For that sort of money i'd expect full suspension.

FrankGrimes

I'd say there's some weight in that thing.....if I was a kid again I'd be all about picking one of these up to give added power to my surprise ghosty attacks on the postman.

sy

Dont forget that for most of us our first bikes weren't worth much more than this! Mine was a blue Triumph Twenty 3 speed sturmy archer with back pedal brakes:eek:. So anything to get kids riding

kona

sy wrote: »

Dont forget that for most of us our first bikes weren't worth much more than this! Mine was a blue Triumph Twenty 3 speed sturmy archer with back pedal brakes:eek:. So anything to get kids riding

But its a aduts bike.

My first 26" wheel bike was a lot better than that, a raleigh outback, I still see the shifters being used on some bikes. Lovely bike, one of the last made in nottingham.

petethedrummer

Andy-Pandy wrote: »

For that sort of money i'd expect full suspension.

I think its more for trail-riding than downhill.

AstraMonti

For people wanting to get from home to super market and from temple bar to st. stephens or for the dad to get his kids to the park that is one km away they are perfect. Even if they break in 6months (which they won't with such usage) they would still have made the given money a success.

kona

AstraMonti wrote: »

. Even if they break in 6months (which they won't with such usage) they would still have made the given money a success.

Ive seen cheap bikes break 5 mins after they leave the shop:D:pac:

Lumen

AstraMonti wrote: »

For people wanting to get from home to super market and from temple bar to st. stephens or for the dad to get his kids to the park that is one km away they are perfect. Even if they break in 6months (which they won't with such usage) they would still have made the given money a success.

This why cheap bikes sell. People are used to consumer products lasting only as long as the 1 year warranty, so the idea of considering the cost of a proper bike (say €700) spread over its serviceable lifetime (e.g. 20 years) is completely alien, even though it only works out at €35 a year.

t-ha

If you can avoid having your bike stolen for 20 years in Dublin then fair play.

Lumen

t-ha wrote: »

If you can avoid having your bike stolen for 20 years in Dublin then fair play.

I haven't heard of anyone having a bike stolen if they've been using a decent lock.

I know in theory that thieves can use power tools and get through anything, but I don't know that the risk is significant in practice if you're reasonably careful.

t-ha

OK, well you can count me as your first so! Bought one for 450 pounds in college and had it for a day - good lock on it but snipped and stolen from UCD campus while I was in the gym. First and only "expensive" bike I ever got.

Edit: actually I tell a lie, I had it for two days. The first day the saddle was stolen, and the second day it was stolen after I had just got a new saddle put on.

Yes, I'm still bitter.

eoferrall

Can I be second? I had two locks on mine and the annoying thing was I had only put new wheels and tyres on! :mad:

But excuse to get a new one!:D

Lumen

t-ha wrote: »

OK, well you can count me as your first so! Bought one for 450 pounds in college and had it for a day - good lock on it but snipped and stolen from UCD campus while I was in the gym. First and only "expensive" bike I ever got.

Which lock?

Vélo

TinyExplosions wrote: »

£70 (stg) for an 18 speed mtb.... sounds great!

Are you going to get one?
If you do I want to be at Ballinastoe when you bring it there, that would be fun!:eek:

BostonB

kona wrote: »

you can buy a fully assembled bike in a shop in ireland for about the same, which will have the advantages of being able to return it when it breaks, rather than get pissed off with e-mail and postage.

Bikes this cheap have been available for ages(unfortunatley):o

Out of curiosity where in Ireland?

DirkVoodoo

I locked a Giant SCR 2.0 for a year, then a Felt Dispatch for the following year in UCD. Each bock used the same lock: Kryptonite New York and were parked in same location: outside engineering building.

Yes, stealing of bikes is rampant in UCD, but like Lumen says if you have a good lock and don't park it anywhere where a thief will have time and privacy to take it, then you should have a bike for quite a while.

Doesn't help you now obviously, but most people buy a nice bike and then think that ANY lock will do. Doesn't work that way.

petethedrummer

t-ha wrote: »

good lock......snipped

Does not compute.

have a gander at this

Wez

Mentioned to a friend how I'm looking for a nice racer for going away on a trip with.. Turns to me, dead serious "just grab a snips and take your pick"..

Cue awkward silence..

In fairness, some of the heaps kicking around on the 2nd hand sites these days are way overpriced for what they are! Hate to say it, but I could nearly see where he's coming from (obviously not actually) but half the people owning those bikes, will be robbing you blind, willingly, when they go to sell them on!

kona

BostonB wrote: »

Out of curiosity where in Ireland?

Halfords
Super Value
Tesco
Little Sport
Smiths Toy store
Byrnes world of wonder

All have old bikes at e99.99 in the past 5 years.

kona

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

I locked a Giant SCR 2.0 for a year, then a Felt Dispatch for the following year in UCD. Each bock used the same lock: Kryptonite New York and were parked in same location: outside engineering building.

Yes, stealing of bikes is rampant in UCD, but like Lumen says if you have a good lock and don't park it anywhere where a thief will have time and privacy to take it, then you should have a bike for quite a while.

Doesn't help you now obviously, but most people buy a nice bike and then think that ANY lock will do. Doesn't work that way.

following on from the last statement. A decent lock starts around e60. Kryptonite new york(beast of a lock) costs around the e100 mark.

Now nobody is going to spend e60 on a lock to lock a e100 bike:pac: IMO this is where the ohh my bike gets nicked if i use it in dublin.
This is backed up by the amount of **** in the garda auction, so IMO most bikes robbed in dublin are cheap bikes bought by cheapskates who lock their bikes with the flimseyest cheapest lock they can find.....then act suprised its nicked.:rolleyes:

Lumen

Wez wrote: »

In fairness, some of the heaps kicking around on the 2nd hand sites these days are way overpriced for what they are! Hate to say it, but I could nearly see where he's coming from (obviously not actually) but half the people owning those bikes, will be robbing you blind, willingly, when they go to sell them on!

At the risk of stating the obvious...

There is absolutely no moral equivalence between stealing a bike and selling a bike you own, regardless of price. Nor does your dissatisfaction with one person's asking price justify stealing another person's bike.

kona

Lumen wrote: »

At the risk of stating the obvious...

There is absolutely no moral equivalence between stealing a bike and selling a bike you own, regardless of price. Nor does your dissatisfaction with one person's asking price justify stealing another person's bike.

I think he was just joking(i hope:P):D

t-ha

Lumen wrote: »

Which lock?

This isn't gonna sound good, but I don't know! It was a cable one, pretty thick & the guy in the bike shop said it was good? Apparently it was not? The snipped lock was still on the ground when I got back so I know it was cut.

Interesting vid pete, what happens the next time you want to adjust your handlebars though?!

Lumen

t-ha wrote: »

It was a cable one, pretty thick & the guy in the bike shop said it was good? Apparently it was not? The snipped lock was still on the ground when I got back so I know it was cut.

Cable locks are almost all useless, in that they can be clipped with bolt croppers in seconds. Same with almost all chains. The "sold secure" system in the UK (which is used to brand many locks sold here) is a load of crap.

I would take the snipped cable lock back to the salesman who sold it to you and insert it somewhere painful.

The only lock worth having is a decent u-lock, which will cost upwards of €50. However, many u-locks are also crap and price is not necessarily a guide (Kryptonites of a few years ago could be opened with a bic pen barrel, though they're much better now).

Lots of previous threads on "which lock" cover the options in more detail.

Whilst "if they want your bike they'll have your bike" applies to a degree, you only really a need a lock better than the other bikes in the rack - they'll get nicked first.

BostonB

kona wrote: »

Halfords
Super Value
Tesco
Little Sport
Smiths Toy store
Byrnes world of wonder

All have old bikes at e99.99 in the past 5 years.

5 yrs ago is irrelevant as is old bikes.
We're talking new adults bikes for €77 now!
Cheapest I can find is €149 for a mans bike.
www.halfords.ie
So twice the price.

kona

BostonB wrote: »

5 yrs ago is irrelevant as is old bikes.
We're talking new adults bikes for €77 now!
Cheapest I can find is €149 for a mans bike.
www.halfords.ie
So twice the price.

Okay, its irrelavent and is old bikes.

Yup rigid steel frame, shimano SiS, grip shift and ****ty V-brakes are all groundbreaking inventions, only discovered this year:p

cheap bikes are cheap bikes, they are the same type, and have been for years.


halfords were doing a bike for e119.99 in blanch last week.

So e119.99 fully built, and the guarantee(which you will need) is in a bricks and mortar store, where you can bring it back, get it fixed/refund. No postage, no fannying about and getting stressed with emails etc.

Or

Build it yourself, to a amature standard, and so have half the guarantee about labour void.

Or pay a bike shop e30 to build it......which brings it to e107.

the small saving IMO isnt worth it.

BostonB

What relevance is an old bike and prices from 5yrs ago then? Yeah a cheap bike is cheap, but it might be fine for someone that only goes 5 mins to the shops every now and then, and that all.

You might be better building it yourself than getting Halfords to do. They have a very poor reputation. Putting a bike together isn't very difficult, unless your dangerous with a crayon. Overheard someone in Halfords say they've something like a 4/5 week wait for repairs at the moment. You'd probably end up fixing it yourself anyway.

That said I noticed a kids bike the other day with the forks on backwards.

blorg

Lumen wrote: »

Whilst "if they want your bike they'll have your bike" applies to a degree, you only really a need a lock better than the other bikes in the rack - they'll get nicked first.

...and/or a bike worse than the others. This really is a good idea, get a hack bike for leaving around anywhere dodgy, don't leave your good bike in UCD.

kona

BostonB wrote: »

What relevance is an old bike and prices from 5yrs ago then?

well a 5 year old bike would have been bough at prices 5 years ago. If bikes were 99.99 5 years ago.
Presently with inflation falling id imagine a bike 5 years ago at 99.99 will be cheaper today.

Also the said 5 year old bike will have the EXACT same components as todays. Id lay money on it.

Some hhalfords are good. we can argue till the next millenium but ar deireadh an la, from a warranty point of view(IMO is critical on a cheap Piece of ****), to buy from a bricks and mortar store, and have them assemble it. Than way there is no bull**** when somthing breaks.

Just my opinion.

Also bikes are not as easy as you would think to put together, look at the amount of threads here looing for basic advice for example.

What happens when you take this cheap bike out of the box and there is A)parts missing. buckled wheels C) damaged frame....all pretty common out of the box problems with sub e300 bikes.

Also is the cheap bike hunter going to have the torque wrenches, headset spanners, BB lockring tools, pedal spanners, cone spanners, spoke keys? most of which are used when assembling a Cheap bike.

The BB lockring tool and torque wrench being the ones that will have to be used.

So if you dont have these tools there is no way that you can assemble the bike to the standard of the guarantee...so your guarantee is void.

Speedy2009

so have been looking around online and on this forum - instead of a cheap new bike (which i already have and is a piece of crap driving me crazy)
where can i get a decent 2nd hand bike? is there a website specific for bikes - have looked on ebay etc but no joy.
Ideally looking for about 23" frame i think -not necessarily a top end racer bike but something quick around town and cud be used for the odd sprint triathlon....

thanx!

biomed32

Dublin-bicycle.info

just found this, you may find some good first second hand racers etc for beginners etc

hope i made some kind of sense

snubbleste

TinyExplosions wrote: »

£70 (stg) for an 18 speed mtb.... sounds great!

Just a small update.

Asda no doubt felt it had scored a PR coup when trumpeting the arrival of "Britain's cheapest bike" in its stores. For £70, customers could walk away with a brand new adult's mountain bike.
But this morning the offer turned into a PR disaster, when the supermarket was forced to pull a TV advert for the bicycles after viewers noticed they had been built so badly that they were dangerous. Mark Brown, director of the Association of Cycle Traders, noticed that the front forks of the men's bike in the advert faced the wrong way. This would mean the bicycle would not steer correctly and the brakes would not work properly, according to the Cycling Experts website...>>

blorg

Haha that is classic. Kona was right on the money with this one! Gets a very bad review from the Guardian too.

kona wrote: »

They are sold boxed, so this means you will get people with no experience being driven to suicide, trying to set these bikes up to a cyclable standard(or not, with the usual forks on back to front)

kona

A+ for me.


Yay!:D:pac:


****ing cheap bikes, They are never worth the hassle, I cannot see why they are still sold, surely shops dont make money on them when you consider the PR crap, The **** name you shop will get and the time and money spent paying a mechanic to fit parts paid for by the shop onto the bike, all the time taking up space and time that could be filled by a paying customer.

Cheap bikes...**** OFF!:eek: