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Video: Why you shouldn't shop online for cycling gear when you've had a few

Friend of road.cc reader Matthew Abbott rocked up on group ride with £800 electric assist wheel ... and had to get the train home

Have you ever bought cycling gear online after a few sherbets when, had you been sober, you wouldn’t even have considered purchasing it?

Well, that’s the explanation road.cc reader Matthew Abbott gives for a piece of kit one of his mates bought and brought on a group ride in Brighton earlier this week.

The item in question? An electric assist front wheel called a GeoOrbital, brought to market via Kickstarter.

“I think my mate was drunk when he bought it,” says Matthew.

“Solid wheel lasts for 20 miles goes 20 mph, worst £800 ever spent, he took it out last night in our club ride Brighton NoVelo cc, he ended up getting the train home as it run out of juice.”

Kickstarter wasn’t around in the days of Ancient Rome, but the term caveat emptor clearly applies just as much as it did then.

There was one upside, however, as Matthew explained, referring to a local 1-mile climb with an average gradient of 8 per cent: “He flew up Steyning Bostal.”

Matthew didn’t reveal his friend’s name, which is probably a good thing … because as we pointed out when we featured GeoOrbital last year on our sister site eBikeTips.co.uk, it isn’t actually street legal in the UK.

> Power assist front wheel smashes Kickstarter target – but best read the small print

We’re sure his mate can’t be the only person who has made an ill-judged online purchase while under the influence (we certainly have) so let’s hear your stories in the comments below.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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9 comments

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Beecho | 6 years ago
1 like

"But it weighs 59 grams!" as the gilet collection hits double figures.

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antonio | 6 years ago
0 likes

Comfort up 'the hill', comfort on the way home, apparently!

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Hypoxic | 6 years ago
1 like

Jet Black powermeter turbo trainer. Very cheap for a power monitoring trainer... for very good reason. Used twice then the power monitoring stopped working, never to be resurrected. Would've cost more in shipping to send it back for a refund (heavy of course), so just use it as a NON-power moniter turbo trainer now. Lesson learnt... internet not good for big ticket items.

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spen | 6 years ago
3 likes

ManilMan it could Ecentrica Galumbits, the triple breast whore of Eroticon 6, whose erogenous zones extend four miles from her actual body

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SapperCyclist | 6 years ago
0 likes

Bought a Limits power meter.....

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Leviathan | 6 years ago
1 like

"This is going on GCN" - Road.cc you got burned, youtube is where its at, Colbert, HPC, GCN.

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The_Vermonter | 6 years ago
0 likes

Shop at the LBS drunk!

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MamilMan | 6 years ago
4 likes

I've bought loads of cycling stuff from Mr Woo's dangerous toyshop and blow up doll emporium on eBay.

As a rule you get what you pay for - buyer beware. I've had some real bargains and some gems but I would say 15% of the time the kit goes from jiffy bag to bin. Thankfully at only a few pounds it doesn't hurt the bank and I actually have a lot of fun searching for things.

 

Here is a great jersey for £12. I bought it for the arms. You see when you wear it with a gillet those Edward Munch 'Scream' motifs look ace.

However... when you wear it by itself you soon find that 'thing' that our oriental cousins miss - taste.

Quite what the significance a 'three breasted lady' has in Chinese culture I know not. But as they say in Beijing... 'get your ass to mars'.

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flathunt | 6 years ago
4 likes

Honda Africa Twin from eBay @ £2800, drove from London to Scarborough to pick it up in a hire van (hadn't passed bike test at that point), dented the van and forfeited a £500 deposit on the way back. The AT was ridden twice, around the block, and sold 8 years later for £1800.

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