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Cheap bikes

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  • April 22, 2014 at 8:37 pm #21225
    gawl07

    I have a straight forward commute. With additional rides, I’m probably doing between 70 and 80 miles a week.
    After using different mountain bikes for years, eight months ago, I was told it would cost £150 to repair my bike, so I decided to buy a single speed/fixed gear. The idea being that there’s less to go wrong. Low maintenance – less expense.
    I bought an SE Lager for £435. It’s a lovely bike, and a very smooth ride.
    However, after six months, the Thick Slick tyres lost all puncture resistance. I was getting a puncture a week!
    I replaced the tyres with Marathon Plus for £60.
    I’ve just taken the bike back to the shop I bought it from, to have some repairs carried out, and have been quoted £130!
    I realise that I’d save a fortune if I learned how to carry out these repairs myself but that’s just not going to happen.
    I’m starting to think that I’d be better off buying a cheap bike, riding it into the ground, until it gives up the ghost, and then buying a another cheap one.
    I see Muddy Fox Mountain bikes advertised for £150, or those Chinese Single Speed/Fixed Gear bikes go for under £200.
    Moan, moan, moan…

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Viewing 5 replies - 16 through 20 (of 20 total)
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  • April 23, 2014 at 9:24 am #787713
    0
    Shades

    Get a decent commuter bike
    Get a decent commuter bike with ‘bomb proof’ tyres. Learn how to replace (and maintain) the chain, cassette, chain ring and brake blocks (pref have hydraulic brakes), and trips to the LBS will be rare. As someone remarked to me years ago when I was teaching myself, “it really isn’t difficult”, and now there are numerous on-line tuition videos.

    April 22, 2014 at 9:17 pm #787711
    0
    Ghedebrav

    Oh, and a lot of decent bikes
    Oh, and a lot of decent bikes are made in China, as well as the BSOs.

    April 22, 2014 at 9:15 pm #787709
    0
    Ghedebrav

    Marathon Plus tyres should be
    Marathon Plus tyres should be standard issue on any commuter bike. Only ever suffered two punctures in five years of running them: one from a spoke piercing the rim tape (so nowt to do with the tyre) and the other from a ruddy enormous industrial nail, and even then that was only after the tread had been worn well down.

    On the wider point, I can understand your frustration but the fact is if you’re going to be putting that kind of mileage in over well-worn roads in all weathers, your steed will require regular maintenance, professional or otherwise. People who cycle infrequently often baulk at this; but then most people who have a bike only use it four or five times a year.

    To put an eco-hat on, it is much more socially responsible to buy a decent bike and maintain it than buy cheapo after cheapo. And in the long run, it will still save you dough. For example a good steel frame (e.g. from Genesis) will likely last you twenty years or more. And hub gearing, if you need gears, will also greatly reduce wear and tear, and will last longer. A Brooks saddle will also last 20+ years, if kept properly. Also, buying crappy bikes only encourages them…

    I spend probably in the region of £300 (max) per year on maintaining my bike, including new parts where necessary. Even after the initial £900 outlay, I’m still in profit vs public transport (which would cost me around £900 p.a.) and I get to work quicker, keep fit, avoid other peoples’ smelly armpits… and of course my bike never gets cancelled!

    April 22, 2014 at 9:05 pm #787707
    0
    Gkam84

    Tell me what they are taking
    Tell me what they are taking £130 for on a single speed….

    I just finished repairing a recovered stolen bike that was to be honest well and truly f*cked. The guy loved this bike though.

    Had to bend it back into shape, replace rear wheel, both tyres and tubes, chain, cassette and then my labour on top. Came to not much more than you are being quoted.

    April 22, 2014 at 8:52 pm #787705
    0
    arfa

    chains will stretch,
    chains will stretch, components will suffer wear and tear (especially in bad weather). You might find that mud guards and gatorskins might be a good investment ?
    That said, I do find that around the 5000-8000 mile mark you will face diminishing returns on your refurbishment spend but simple maintenance is not difficult, will elongate the life of components.
    On cheap bikes, all I’d say is that I wouldn’t want to get on a bike in the morning I didn’t enjoy riding….
    Good luck

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