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Child Item

Halford and rusty bikes

Youngblood.III

Got a 2 bikes from them in the last 3 years, have to say they rust pretty quickly, they're kept in a wooden shed but it's not exactly moisture free.
All the handlebars, seat pillar, spokes, brake calipers have a good bit of rust...you'd think these days they'd be able to stand up to rust a bit better,
I had a bike as a kid I don't think it ever rusted (cheap enough type)
Any how no more bikes from Halfords for us...

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siochain

what brand?
are they Halfords own brand (if there is such a thing)?

Cycling Dubliner

Youngblood.III wrote: »

Got a 2 bikes from them in the last 3 years, have to say they rust pretty quickly, they're kept in a wooden shed but it's not exactly moisture free.
All the handlebars, seat pillar, spokes, brake calipers have a good bit of rust...you'd think these days they'd be able to stand up to rust a bit better,
I had a bike as a kid I don't think it ever rusted (cheap enough type)
Any how no more bikes from Halfords for us...

As someone who has worked in halfords, the cheap bikes are just that, cheap. So they are not expected to last long. It's wasn't too long ago that there were cheap bikes that would last, but they seem to have dropped the quality of the lower end bikes. If its an Apollo brand then you are on the cheap end. That said, halfords do sell good bikes, but like any other store, you've to pay for quality.

beauf

The cheap bikes are heavy steel which rusts. The more expensive bikes are aluminum which is lighter and doesn't rust. Ditto the parts.

The Apollo range is all the cheap bikes. The Carrera is a better brand.

Of course it depends where they are kept.

Youngblood.III

One is an Apollo and the other is Carrera..both ****è quality..... my opinion: avoid these brands.

irlgw

buy a new shed?

Youngblood.III

Only if you punch yourself in the face :-)

beauf

If its a kids bike the carerra is probably steel or a cheaper adult bike. With bikes you really need to do your homework.

Youngblood.III

It's not the frame, it's all the other bits, handlebars, headstock, bearing covers, brake calipers etc

loyatemu

I've bought a good few kids bikes in Halfords, it generally the chrome components that go rusty, bit it's just cosmetic. Never had a frame or wheel go rusty.

Youngblood.III

loyatemu wrote: »

I've bought a good few kids bikes in Halfords, it generally the chrome components that go rusty, bit it's just cosmetic. Never had a frame or wheel go rusty.

Wheels spokes gone rusty too.... :-/

beauf

All the other bits are probably cheap steel also. It's why the cheaper bikes weight a ton.

magicbastarder

beauf wrote: »

The cheap bikes are heavy steel which rusts. The more expensive bikes are aluminum which is lighter and doesn't rust.

this seems to suggest a link between weight and corrosion?

TonyStark

Youngblood.III wrote: »

One is an Apollo and the other is Carrera..both ****è quality..... my opinion: avoid these brands.

Have an Apollo for the last 6 years. It was the cx.10 aluminium. Switched the wheels a while ago and upgraded the shifters, handlebars, stem, rear derailleur. Seatpost and saddle are original and are rust free.

tigerboon

Got one of the kids an Apollo BMX about 5 years ago. He's out grown it but one of the other kids now use it. It has had it's share of been left outside in all weather. It's heavy as hell but it doesn't have chrome parts. There is almost no rust on it. My sister gave us a girls bike which had the chrome bits on it which were all rusted and it would have got very little use and was kept inside.

Wanderer78

i have been informed by the owner of my lbs, central europeans think nothing of spending a couple of grand on a bike. i do think this is some what right. i think we re kinna a cheap society. we kinna think cheap will be fine, but cheap is cheap for a reason. the owner of another lbs has told me, he no longer fixes cheap bikes. too much hassle and a waste of his time. moral of the story, spend a few quid on your own bike. its worth it. probably no point spending money on kids bikes unless theyre into cycling. halfords do sell good quality bikes but of course you gotta spend it

Freddiestar

TonyStark wrote: »

Have an Apollo for the last 6 years. It was the cx.10 aluminium. Switched the wheels a while ago and upgraded the shifters, handlebars, stem, rear derailleur. Seatpost and saddle are original and are rust free.

Like Triggers brush

caff

Wanderer78 wrote: »

i have been informed by the owner of my lbs, central europeans think nothing of spending a couple of grand on a bike. i do think this is some what right. i think we re kinna a cheap society. we kinna think cheap will be fine, but cheap is cheap for a reason. the owner of another lbs has told me, he no longer fixes cheap bikes. too much hassle and a waste of his time. moral of the story, spend a few quid on your own bike. its worth it. probably no point spending money on kids bikes unless theyre into cycling. halfords do sell good quality bikes but of course you gotta spend it

Then again for a city bike that will get nicked why spend the money

Wanderer78

caff wrote: »

Then again for a city bike that will get nicked why spend the money

fair point. id probably look in the second hand market for that one. some gems out there and would be a lot more enjoyable to ride than a newer/heavier bike.

caff

Wanderer78 wrote: »

fair point. id probably look in the second hand market for that one. some gems out there and would be a lot more enjoyable to ride than a newer/heavier bike.

Would the gems be other peoples stolen bikes though?

Wanderer78

caff wrote: »

Would the gems be other peoples stolen bikes though?

good question but i know a couple of lads that have done very well in the second hand markets lately. you could always check in with the gardai to see or just throw it up here or anywhere else to check. there are plenty of genuine lads out there selling. sites like pinkbike etc are always good places to start.

beauf

magicbastarder wrote: »

this seems to suggest a link between weight and corrosion?

Cost, quality of materials. Maybe.

It's not rocket science.

magicbastarder

aluminium is more expensive probably partly because it's lighter and doesn't corrode; i suspect correlation and causation are in the mix here.

blackbox

The quality of finish affects corrosion, but so does how they are treated. Lubrication also helps.

I rode an old good quality bike on he beach when I was a kid and it was never the same again. The salt corroded all of the chrome from the rims.

TonyStark

Freddiestar wrote: »

Like Triggers brush

Exactly. :-)

loyatemu

Not in Holland, they all ride beat up high nellies. My day to day bike is a wrecked looking old British mountain bike. Seatpost, bars, spokes are all rusty but it still works fine, I replace components as they wear out. Virtually theft proof too as it's always the worst bike in the rack

tigerboon

Wanderer78 wrote: »

probably no point spending money on kids bikes unless theyre into cycling. halfords do sell good quality bikes but of course you gotta spend it

No point when they are very young as they out grow them quickly. I think as soon as they can manage a 24 inch, spend on a good bike as they'll get a good few years on it.

8valve

I see this all the time, as I'm recycling bikes for charity.

Low-end bikes (for kids and adults) that get no love, no lubrication, no maintenance and no care get handed into us all the time, often only a couple of years old...as kids outgrow them, they get forgotten and eventually people give them to us when they do a shed clearout.

For every ten bikes that get donated to us, 2 complete bikes will be salvageable/serviceable, 4 will be good for parts as the rest of the parts are seized/corroded and the other four are just scrap metal with nothing salvageable from them.

Low end bikes are made from cheaper materials; that's what makes them cheap to buy.

I recently received a budget 26'' mtb given to a teenager for a birthday, used for a day then left outdoors beside a garden shed for 6 months.

The paintwork was flawless but every single moving part was seized solid! What a complete waste!