Ammaco bikes

Monty Dog

Holy thread resurrection Batman! Despite two posters confirming that Ammaco bikes are indeed a pile of poo, I'm surprised the OP hasn't been back on to blame them for their misfortunes, for actually riding the thing and expecting them to function normally....so not only do they look like cr@p, they are just cr@p.

swfanatic717

Seeing as appears to be the longest (and most informative, unfortunately) thread on Ammaco bike anywhere on the web, I figured I should give my two cents on the brand.

I needed a bike for university, and seeing as bike thefts are very common in town and students are generally encouraged to spend less than 300 GBP on the entire bike, I bought an Ammaco Ethos from Cycle King for 130 GBP. It was my first bike in about 10 years so I am by no means an expert.

I have used it as a commuter to get to and from town for lectures. I have cycled around 4 miles a day, 6 days a week, in approximately 10 week bursts for the past year and a half, and I have to say that it does the job just fine. My route is mostly asphalt, with some dirt paths, brick roads, and more than a few potholes on the way. There one significant downhill slope/hill climb on the route. I have cycled through a variety of weather conditions including rain, hail, snow, and icy roads.

There is a front suspension fork that is practically rigid 100% of the time, the Shimano RevoShift grip shifters work quite well, and the brakes are terrible. I have not had a single tyre puncture in all the time I've had the bike (I weigh about 50kg with gear included).

It's served me well over the past year and a half and made me into quite an avid cyclist, but gaining more experience on the road you notice that it leaves quite a few things to be desired. The Ethos has been a nice sturdy bike for me so far, but I plan on upgrading to a Carrera Vulcan next year which should make things more fun.

In my opinion, Ammaco bikes work well as budget bikes for beginners, commuters or for casual cycling, especially when you live in a town where statistically a bike is stolen every minute or so. They are by no means meant for serious competition, but that said, it certainly got me back into cycling and interested in the more technical aspects of the sport, and any bike that makes you enjoy cycling can't be all bad.

Richey1977 wrote:

I bought an Ammaco Monte Carlo bike around a year ago.

I looked more closely, and realised that the waffer-thin mudflap was susceptible to being folded with pretty much any contact, and jamming the wheel.

In short, avoid these bikes, and in particular, this model. It's a death-trap.

I wasn't aware Ammaco road bikes came with mudflaps included. Surely your accidents were caused by your cheap mudflap rather than the bike itself?

tesseractorion

Haha necro thread but there's not much content available when Googling Ammaco so this keeps popping up. I was just looking at the sales again (half price 29er, £350 with hydraulic disks - mayb a cheap intro to big wheels before migrating to something more err... substantial). Still not many decent reviews around so I guess the brand isn't taken too seriously :oops:

I've got 2 bikes, sort of polar opposites: GT i-Drive 2.0 from 2000 and an Ammaco Ethos from couple years back.

Like the previous poster I've found that, with a few upgrades and tweaks and regular servicing, the Ethos serves me well for in-town commuting and some muddy short-cuts thru fields. At the price I reckon they're a fine BSO for cheap transport which you won't mind too much if it gets stolen/smashed.

None of the mechanics in the LBS I got it from have an Ammaco, despite their employee discount, funnily enough

tesseractorion

Damn, no resurrection of this thread yet? Disappointed