Passat Mountain Bikes - Worth a punt?

Mango Joe

Hey - Just a kinda quick question, I know someone in College selling one for €60 and was wondering if its worth a punt or should I hang on until I see something better.

- Its dual suspension, 18 gears and from what I can see after a few web searches, they have a Shimano gear set? Not sure re weight etc. hopefully they don't weigh a tonne.

I'd use it a few times a month, the odd hour or so on country roads and maybe once a month on bike trails in Ballyhoura Co. Limerick.

- Reason for asking is can't find anything online about these bike whatsoever - except for sale adverts, maybe people are just trying to get shot of them!!!!

I am no cycling purist, if it is a reasonable purchase and won't fall apart within a couple of years then I'm happy

Thanks!!!

thebouldwhacker

No.
This type of bike would be ok for cycling into the city centre once or twice a month to go boozing and letting it there for a few days before collecting it because you know it wont get nicked and if you cycled it any more than that it would need replacing before the end of the year.

Def not for BallyH or any off road trails. Save your money and rent one for a day and enjoy your time on the mountains.

Tonyandthewhale

No, waste of time. Cheapo dual suspension bikes area joke, they're designed to look sort of like proper full suspension bikes (which cost at least a grand for entry level models, often a lot more). That suspension unit in the middle is just a spring which is either going to rust and seize shut or else swing wildly anytime you try and ride it making the bike practically un-usable. And don't expect any actual functionality from the suspension forks either.
It might have a shimano groupset (or a chinese knock-off) but it'll be old tourney crap, imprecise and not built to stand up to any punishment.

Expect something heavy, wobble, awkward, ugly and imprecise with crappy brakes and parts so poorly manufactured that it's actually very difficult and expensive to fix the damn thing (picture nuts and bolts of soft metal that rounds off when you try and tighten or loosen it, threads that strip under pressure and a lot of rust).

If you bring a bike like that around Ballyhoura you're a braver man than me.

If you've only got 60e to spend you're going to have to do a lot of very careful searching and you're going to want the simplest bike you can find, suspension costs money that could be better spent elsewhere.

Icyseanfitz

+1 on what the guys have said, i wouldnt touch a full suspension bike under a grand (second hand or new) tbh, if all you have is a budget of 60 get something second hand with no suspension, a decent suspension fork alone costs around 400 euro