how rubbish is this argos bike?

thelawnet

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/p ... 21418.html

friend of the wife's has bought it . It's arriving on Saturday, and she's coming out with us on it on Sunday (allegedly).

Eau Rouge

thelawnet wrote:

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3321418.html

friend of the wife's has bought it . It's arriving on Saturday, and she's coming out with us on it on Sunday (allegedly).

or maybe not...
"Some assembly required - fit front wheel, saddle, pedals, handlebars and align brakes (tools and instructions included)."

It's designed for taking an age to go a mile or two to the shop and back. Much more than that could be hard work and start to take it's toll on the components.

zanes

Shimano still make 6 speed derailleur gears??

deptfordmarmoset

She's bound to be very happy with it so don't go insulting it

At least she's out on a bike. I wouldn't expect to beat any speed records while you're out though...

ratherbeintobago

Look on the bright side - at least it hasn't got dual suspension that doesn't work properly.

Andy

Radioactiveman

At least she went for a practical bike i.e rigid with a basket.

Most £99 bargains I see are full suspension made of pig iron

carrock

In my experience, anything branded " Challenge" from Ars-go is aptly named.

See if she can go more than 10 miles without something falling off- that's a challenge

I spent 2 months riding a sterling house Universal special- weighed about 30 kg with dual suspension, and was utter garbage- this bike looks only slightly better

I suggest she takes advantage of Ars-go's money back gurantee and spends the same money on a trade-in at the LBS that willbe perfectly adequate, and much much better than the challenge

tomb353

you could argue that as long as the rack, mudguards and tyres are ok thats £99 spent in most bike shops anyway. If she is is a friend check her assembly for her, forks on right way, brakes working, steering ok, mudguards attached properly - you could tell her to take it to a bike shop but they'd be likely to give her a hard time :-)

Fireblade96

as has been mentioned - at least it doesn't have useless suspension !

thelawnet

Eau Rouge wrote:

thelawnet wrote:

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3321418.html

friend of the wife's has bought it . It's arriving on Saturday, and she's coming out with us on it on Sunday (allegedly).

or maybe not...
"Some assembly required - fit front wheel, saddle, pedals, handlebars and align brakes (tools and instructions included)."

It's designed for taking an age to go a mile or two to the shop and back. Much more than that could be hard work and start to take it's toll on the components.

They told her it was ready-to-go. She went for Argos because they would give her credit.

It could definitely be a lot worse: http://www.toysrus.co.uk/Toys-R-Us/Bike ... ke(0071889)

We are going 15 miles with the Cycle Users Group; hopefully someone will be able to spot if it's a death trap.

fnegroni

It won't be a death trap.
It simply won't be a great ride and parts might never ever work just right.
For going to the shops or to the train station, a bargain.

Kieran_Burns

Read the reviews:

"The Gear Mechanism
By Edward
from South Yorkshire
Overall Rating
2 of 5
2 Stars Fair
Recommend to a friend? No
"After the small amount of assembly, I had a trial run, before letting my wife use the cycle.
I found that selecting the 1st gear the chain came off, also selecting the 6th gear did the same. I am still haviing difficulties setting the gears up to match the selected/chosen gear. At the moment my wife does not select the 1st or 6th gear when using the cycle. The other drawback was that I was given no choice of color"

Every person on this site reading that knows just why, but hell we've all been there

amnezia

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Read the reviews:

"The Gear Mechanism
By Edward
from South Yorkshire
Overall Rating
2 of 5
2 Stars Fair
Recommend to a friend? No
"After the small amount of assembly, I had a trial run, before letting my wife use the cycle.
I found that selecting the 1st gear the chain came off, also selecting the 6th gear did the same. I am still haviing difficulties setting the gears up to match the selected/chosen gear. At the moment my wife does not select the 1st or 6th gear when using the cycle. The other drawback was that I was given no choice of color"

Every person on this site reading that knows just why, but hell we've all been there

"I finished building the bike and there were two little screws left"

Headhuunter

I'm surprised that someone with a BSO like that would even use the gears. I've seen people riding along the Old Kent Road with the bike in big ring and small gear grinding away and never once shifting gear.

richk

zanes wrote:

Shimano still make 6 speed derailleur gears??

Bought a bike for my son a couple of weeks ago

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/24-quot-b-twin-boy-34963841/

which has a Shimano 6 speed on the back

simon_e

zanes wrote:

Shimano still make 6 speed derailleur gears??

Yes, 6-speed freewheels are still available. My son's 18 month old Islabike Beinn has a 6-speed freewheel (not splined cassette) with SRAM MRX gripshift.

Argos are box-shifters, what else does anyone expect? Cheap bikes are heavy and poor quality, you generally get what you pay for. I never understand why people will spend thousands on a car, similar amounts on clothes or booze, only a bit less for a TV/PVR/Sky+ setup yet grudge paying more than £80 for a bike that could last longer than any of those things?

As this model has no suspension and a single front chainring it should be somewhat better than the usual rubbish in this price range. As for the clueless buyer's comment about the gears, that could be sorted in 15 minutes with an allen key or small screwdriver. Proper bike shops usually do this task at the point of sale, which is why any number of people who buy bikes from Halfrauds, Argos etc end up taking it to the LBS to be assembled and adjusted correctly.

Stuey01

They should put non indexed friction shifters on cheap bikes, indexing woes remedied in one fell swoop. Screw in limit adjusters, job done.

That bike will be heavy, probably won't last all that long, but it will probably do a job for her if she is not a serious cyclist. Just make sure it is set up right (brakes, gears, spoke tightness etc)

Jehannum

Argos are box-shifters, what else does anyone expect? Cheap bikes are heavy and poor quality, you generally get what you pay for. I never understand why people will spend thousands on a car, similar amounts on clothes or booze, only a bit less for a TV/PVR/Sky+ setup yet grudge paying more than £80 for a bike that could last longer than any of those things?

Maybe because they're going to use it twice, then leave it in the shed for 3 years before taking it to the tip?

Or possibly because someone needing to get credit to buy something for £99 just can't afford anything better, but feels they want a new bike, and have the security of being able to return it without a load of fuss, if it goes wrong.

Even reasonably intelligent people I know do this. However, a small proportion of the people who buy these bikes might grow to love cycling and move on to something better when funds allow.

Just my 2c.

J.