Expensive £3.99 Lidl computer

Confusedboy

A cautionary tale. I bought one of these back in May when they had the bike stuff. I wasn't convinced that I needed one for a cheapo shopping bike, but at that price I couldn't allow it to stay in the shop.

Now, it is at this point that I must come clean, in that I used to be a cycle commuter but have not worked for some years owing to a chronic but not physically disabling illness; regular readers may be already up to speed on this. When I worked, I used an 'Urban'' bike, a Ridgeback Cyclone; basically a 26" wheeled rigid framed hybrid. I used to do reasonably well for someone my size and age on this- I would do about 70 miles a week, and my overall average speed was about 17mph. My commute lasted about 25 minutes, though I once took 47 and once 14, strong head or tail winds being responsible. Then I stopped work and took less notice of the computer I had then, as I had less of a regular route to test myself on, and then the Cyclone got (unwillingly and while uninsured) donated to some local drug-addicted skinwaste with an underdeveloped sense of correct behaviour around other people's property. I don't want it back now; it will have been polluted. I can only dream of seeing it mangled beneath a lorry with the rider, or what's left of him, still on it. So, no bitterness or unresolved issues there, then.... I read this forum because it most approximates discussing the sort of urban cycling I still do.

But I have made the mistake of using the new computer on my shopping bike. This is an Apollo Code, a steel framed beast which is comfortable enough and a good load hauler, but slow and heavy. Even so, the Lidl computer works all too well, and shows that I am putting in less than 10 miles a week, and my average speed is 11.7mph. My longest regular ride is about 15 minutes, and my bum hurts a bit at the end of it. These statistics are emblematic of someone who has let himself go and is now in a pathetic physical state.

The answer is all too obvious; I must cycle more. And harder. And faster. And further. And for longer periods. And out in the country where there are no traffic lights and I can get a bit of a rythym going and crunch some miles. And more regularly. And so on. I have two bikes, a 'classic', i.e. old and battered Raleigh Arena pub bike and a new but rubbish cheapo Apollo Code shopping donkey. Now, anyone who has ever heard of n + 1 will know what is coming next. But I am just a poor pensioner and cannot afford a new road bike.I will not buy anything I cannot see and touch beforehand, so that means buying brand new from a local dealer; I cannot trust secondhand, ebay, online or mail order bikes. The best brand new ride-it-home deal I've found locally is the £249 Raleigh Pursuit in Tredz (£300 would be the absolute maximum I can muster; this is an absolute maximum and only negotiable downwards). It is pay day next Thursday.

But I would be daft not to invoke the considerable expertise available on this forum, and ask if anyone can come up with anything better that is available to me locally (South Wales but I'd include Bristol/Bath at a push). I need a road bike, brand new, sub £300, available from stock at a dealer that I can take it back to if things go wrong. Any suggestions, or opinions about the Pursuit, or the Barracuda RS 100, or Halfrauds' Carrera TDF which seem to be the available alternatives so far. I am already going to check out some of the better LBSs to see if anyone can do a deal.

dhope

Confusedboy wrote:

I cannot trust secondhand, ebay, online or mail order bikes.

Why :?

What makes you think a Halfords part timer would have a clue? They might, but there's no guarantee.

No reason you shouldn't trust a £250 second hand bike from a reputable seller far more than a £250 new bike from a shop. And no need to hand over money before looking at something s/h either. And there are plenty of shops that fix up old bikes so you can still look and touch before buying and get some limited warranty.

SimonAH

Dear Confusedboy,

What size are you? I know what you said about not buying secondhand...but I have a perfectly serviceable Carerra Vanquish gathering dust. I'm not far from you and (if it suited) you'd be welcome to take it away and play for a few days before commitment (and I definitely don't want anything like £300 for it!)

It's light, pretty (black and white), Mavic rims, BB30 bottom bracket, hollowtech cranks, carbon fork etc. Frame size L

dhope

Careful with SimonAH though, he has a workshop and knows what he's doing. You'd be in danger of ending up with something well built that's in good condition for a song.

The Rookie

Unlike a new bike thrown together by the spotty kid in Halfords who used to nick bikes for a living and sepcialised in Ridgebacks........

Joke, for chissakes its a JOKE!
Simon

wgwarburton

SimonAH wrote:

... I have a perfectly serviceable Carerra Vanquish gathering dust. ...you'd be welcome to take it away and play for a few days before commitment (and I definitely don't want anything like £300 for it!)...

This has got to be the best offer you'll see this side of doomsday... Do not hesitate to try out this bike and grab it with both hands (bring a friend to help, if necessary) if it fits.
£250 (even £300) bikes are marginal, £500 bikes are massively better, £500 bikes with upgraded wheels (if I read Simon's post correctly) are better still, and a world more fun to ride!
Go now; here... take my car....

Cheers,
W.

Confusedboy

SimonAH wrote:

Dear Confusedboy,

What size are you? I know what you said about not buying secondhand...but I have a perfectly serviceable Carerra Vanquish gathering dust. I'm not far from you and (if it suited) you'd be welcome to take it away and play for a few days before commitment (and I definitely don't want anything like £300 for it!)

It's light, pretty (black and white), Mavic rims, BB30 bottom bracket, hollowtech cranks, carbon fork etc. Frame size L

This sounded remarkably like a result, especially given that you come so highly recommended. Unfortunately (on several levels), I am the little fat hairy loud sort of Welshman (think Neddy Seagoon), though without the singing voice, and unfortunately a 'L' frame will not suit me. Thank you for your kind and very fair offer, though, it is much appreciated.

Confusedboy

SimonAH wrote:

Dear Confusedboy,

What size are you? I know what you said about not buying secondhand...but I have a perfectly serviceable Carerra Vanquish gathering dust. I'm not far from you and (if it suited) you'd be welcome to take it away and play for a few days before commitment (and I definitely don't want anything like £300 for it!)

It's light, pretty (black and white), Mavic rims, BB30 bottom bracket, hollowtech cranks, carbon fork etc. Frame size L

This sounded remarkably like a result, especially given that you come so highly recommended. Unfortunately (on several levels), I am the little fat hairy loud sort of Welshman (think Neddy Seagoon), though without the singing voice, and unfortunately a 'L' frame will not suit me. Thank you for your kind and very fair offer, though, it is much appreciated.

dhope

Something like
http://www.re-cyclebristol.co.uk/
http://www.thebristolbikeproject.org/

Sure there are more
?

Confusedboy

dhope wrote:

Confusedboy wrote:

I cannot trust secondhand, ebay, online or mail order bikes.

Why :?

What makes you think a Halfords part timer would have a clue? They might, but there's no guarantee.

No reason you shouldn't trust a £250 second hand bike from a reputable seller far more than a £250 new bike from a shop. And no need to hand over money before looking at something s/h either. And there are plenty of shops that fix up old bikes so you can still look and touch before buying and get some limited warranty.

But how do I determine who is a reputable seller? Simon AH obviously is, given the unsolicited comments that his post generated, and it is a howling shame his bike is too large for me. Fact is that I have had my fingers burned too often to want to go down that road again with anyone, dealer or individual, unless I know them personally or they have excellent testimonials (bugger me that sounds like a euphemism).

I have asked my LBS about secondhand, and they have no secondhand road bikes available at the mo. Other LBSs remain to be checked out. My local round-the-corner LBS does have the Raleigh Pursuit at the same price as Tredz, 4 miles away across town, so we are making some progress. And I have found the same bike 2010 model at Go Outdoors for £199, but Go have an even worse rep than Halfrauds. I have one of thier discount cards, though....Tomorrow, when the shops are open, may be a good day to ride over to Bike Shed on Cathederal Road to see if they can help-I do trust them-and then back down to Go to check out their bike. So far, though, the machinations of fate seem to be thrusting me Pursuitwards. I have more or less abandoned the idea of the Barracuda as it has what looks to me like an MTB frame.

I don't think even a Halfrauds full timer would have a clue, particularly at my nearest (Newport Road). Pleasant enough lads, but useless. there. This is why, when you are buying a bike in Halfrauds, you have to factor in the cost of having it checked overoperly built up at the LBS (Braddicks charge very reasonably for this, and therefore the Go lastyears deal is worth a look).

Thank you all for your efforts on my behalf so far-I will keep you all informed as the saga unfolds.......but by hooky or by crooky, I'm having a new/another bike this time next week-yay me.

Confusedboy

dhope wrote:

Something like
http://www.re-cyclebristol.co.uk/
http://www.thebristolbikeproject.org/

Sure there are more
?

Will ring these guys next week payday and see what they have got; it may well prove to be worth the train fare!

SimonAH

Hi Dude,

(ah, you're all so sweet),

If you do go the Halfords route (and they do have some good bikes on the books if you're not a brand snob) sling her on the train to Cwmbran and I'll set it up for you - we can then hammer back down the hill to Newport where a pint will suffice for payment

Otherwise have.you looked at the in-house BTwin bikes from Decathlon? Some.really good machines.for.the money there.

Moodyman

It was quite a long post and I may have missed it, but... what's it all got to with a £3.99 Lidl computer?

dugliss

Just noticed online that Halfords are now knocking out the Virtuoso for £299 as well, not sure if it`s better or worse than the TdF though. Probably the same bike but not in yellow!!

deptfordmarmoset

dugliss wrote:

Just noticed online that Halfords are now knocking out the Virtuoso for £299 as well, not sure if it`s better or worse than the TdF though. Probably the same bike but not in yellow!!

The £299 Decathlon Triban appears to have carbon forks. Worth a try.

garrynolan

A friend just got the Triban3 at Decathlon for £299. Had to get spokes sorted after about 100 miles - cheap to do so OK with it. Bike has been excellent apart from that little hiccup. Worth a look?

Confusedboy

Moodyman wrote:

It was quite a long post and I may have missed it, but... what's it all got to with a £3.99 Lidl computer?

Some fool (oh, cr*p, it's me) bought a £3.99 computer which has ended up potentially costing him maybe £300 for a new bike; at least that's my story. And you'd never had been seduced into reading it if it had been just another 'what bike should I buy thread.

Seriously, the little Lidl computer has made me quantify how lazy and out of condition I've got, and forced me to face up to having to do something about it. Not bad value overall. I do ramble a bit though-it's what you do when you get to my age, y'know.......

Confusedboy

dugliss wrote:

Just noticed online that Halfords are now knocking out the Virtuoso for £299 as well, not sure if it`s better or worse than the TdF though. Probably the same bike but not in yellow!!

Very similar but I've just checked out the spcecs and the TDF is slightly better kitted out, if ST 2300 shifters are better than 2200 (they must be, they've got a hundred more of whatever it was we were counting, right?) and there are some other detail differences. The TDF looks on paper also to be the better bike in the sense that it has been discounted more than the Virtuoso, from £450 to £349 to £299 as opposed to from £349 originally for the Virtuoso.

The TDF is the current state of my thinking despite having to deal with Halfrauds' wrench monkeys preparing it. Unfortunately my local Halfrauds is especially bad in this regard; friendly enough lads but not the sharpest tools in the tray. Plus side is my local, literally round the corner, LBS is a good one and quite happy to look over Halfrauds or anyone else's bike for a reasonable fee. TDF is nearly 2kg lighter, a noticealble factor of more than 15%, than the Raleigh alternative for only £50 more, has much nicer shifters, and I quite like the JCB colour scheme.

I am aware of the Decathlon BTwin Triban 3, and it looks like a lovely bike, but there are no retail outlets anywhere even vaguely near Cardiff, which sort of rules it out. Similarly, Go Outdoors are knocking out the Raleigh Pursuit for £199; it may be last year's model but that doesn't bother me, but are sold out unless I want to go to some trading estate in Gloucester. I do not have a car. In any case I am starting to think that, even if the Pursuit is good value for the money, I will be constantly regretting it not being a TDF if I buy it.

So, it looks like being the TDF unless that is unavailable, with the Virtuoso as plan b, and the Pursuit as plan c. Today I will be checking out Bike Shed, the other decent LBS in Cardiff who did me a very good deal on my stolen Ridgeback when I bought it. Watch this space for further exciting developments......

Again, thank you everyone for the time you have taken to respond; you are all very kind to an elderly drunk....

Confusedboy

Success! I took a bit of a tour of Cardiff's better purveyors of bicycles to find out if any of them did secondhand or reconditioned bikes, and to see if there were any deals about. Anyway, the guy in Harris's (Whitchurch) said they didn't do anything but brand new bikes, but that they got rid of their trade-ins to a place called 'The Bike Shop', original name eh, in Penarth, and he strongly recommended them.

So I gave them a bell, and discovered they had a reconditioned Carrera TDF that they wanted £200 for. Went to have a look, and found that the bike was a 2009 model which looked in excellent order, and hardly used. I got a bit suspicious when the guy said that they'd bought it off a woman who had had it for 2 years but only used it twice, but the condition of the bike bore it out. He is either telling the truth or has done a seriously magnificent job reconditioning it. Even the tyres are still shiny.

Either way I was happy to give him a deposit, so I seem to have sorted out myself a road bike suitable for my needs for a price I can nearly afford; result! Almost makes up for SimonAH's fine offer being too big for me. It is not quite the same as the current model; yellow all over and it has Shimano AO50 changers, but it should do me nicely.

Thank you all again for your help and advice, and let this be a warning to you about the perils of cheap computers....... Photos will follow next week when I pick the thing up.

Poacher

Congratulations, Confusedboy, sounds like a great result.

However, don't denigrate buying second-hand. If you've got room for two bikes (as admitted in your first post), you've got room for more, especially if you keep the extras as components - do you see where I'm going here? Mix and match, boyo. Don't throw anything away. If you see a second-hand bike for sale locally, check it out. The frame may be a classic 531, but with crap componentry; if it's cheap, buy it for the frame. Keep the components for largesse towards grateful but ignorant recipients. On the other hand, the frame may be lead pipe, but with hand-me-down classic campag record bits and pieces. Lo and behold, you have a desirable vintage machine.





Never did me any good, mind. I need a bigger shed.

Confusedboy

Poacher wrote:

Congratulations, Confusedboy, sounds like a great result.

However, don't denigrate buying second-hand. If you've got room for two bikes (as admitted in your first post), you've got room for more, especially if you keep the extras as components - do you see where I'm going here? Mix and match, boyo. Don't throw anything away. If you see a second-hand bike for sale locally, check it out. The frame may be a classic 531, but with crap componentry; if it's cheap, buy it for the frame. Keep the components for largesse towards grateful but ignorant recipients. On the other hand, the frame may be lead pipe, but with hand-me-down classic campag record bits and pieces. Lo and behold, you have a desirable vintage machine.





Never did me any good, mind. I need a bigger shed.

Sound advice poacher, but I still have a bit of an issue with secondhand, not so much because of the bikes but because of the people. I broke my own rule with 'Bike Shop', who were recommended by a dealer I already regard as reputable, and who were brilliant when I got there. They will be my first port of call next time I want another bike-and I will want another bike.

I live in a 2 room flat which is not huge, which has a patio* which is also not huge (not big enough for a shed), but I could probably squeeze more bikes in. Maybe a tidy old-school rigid mountain bike for next year. Then I want a folder to take away on trips with me, and the Apollo hybrid I use for shopping works ok but could easily be improved on. and so the long n + 1 night wears on. And I will never get rid of any of my bikes; if they get too shonky to ride they will be retired to the patio* to do duty as plant pot holders.

The next project, something to while away the long winter hours, is to give a bit of tlc to the pub bike, an old (1980s) Raliegh Arena, which needs new rims and bottom bracket. It is possible thease may come off a secondhand or skip raided bike, as I paid my next door neighbour £20 for this bike and have decided that at no one time should I spend more than £20 on it, so as to preserve it's status as pub hack and not become a new restoration hobby.
.



*I know it's a patio because it has patio doors. Otherwise it'd be a back yard.