what a cheap bike can do.

roger_merriman

looking after my folks hound over fireworks weekend, didn't take any bikes so on monday though why not see what my dad's cheap and very nasty bike can do.



nasty twist gearing, plastic flexie brakes etc.

But we got down the lanes covered in leaf litter fine and even up the Cuckoo, 500ft in half a mile put's it into the short and nasty climb.

and even coped with a bit of following wet sheep trails, did wander a bit on the wet grass but did well.

it's still a crap bike but I was impressed.

mudcow007

are they 24" wheels?!

roger_merriman

No they are 26inch wheels table and mutt are fairly tall. lord knows what tyres, some sort of cheap semi slick...

prawny

Good to know, I've just been donated my Dad's heap of a hybrid for commuting over the winter, picking it up tomorrow.

meanredspider

Don't knock cheap bikes when it comes to getting fit. I used to have a nasty super-heavy (concrete) MTB and commute with my bro - him on an OCLV Trek MTB - I had thighs Chris Hoy would have been jealous of by the time I upgraded to my Cinder Cone - and that was in Cambridge where it's flatter-than-flat.

Gallywomack

As a cheap bike rider myself, I agree they can do a lot. Plus you can still hold on to the belief that it IS about the bike! Whereas once you go expensive, the excuses go out the window...

medoramas

On 31st of July there was a xc race on Totnes District Show. Plenty of opponents, all on high end bikes, fox suspension, hydraulic disc brakes, you know... I took part in this race on my old, fully rigid Dawes Tekarra (rip...). I finished 4th :-)

Twostage

I've done the coast to coast in two days on a MTB that I bought new for £279. It was my commuter until I pressed my alu road bike into that role. You can probably go too down market though

cyberknight

I am looking for a rigid MTB to use as a winter hack , unfortunately i keep getting outbid on fleabay and the local freecycle is just full of booters grabbing anything before you get chance

medoramas

cyberknight wrote:

I am looking for a rigid MTB to use as a winter hack , unfortunately i keep getting outbid on fleabay and the local freecycle is just full of booters grabbing anything before you get chance

www.retrobike.co.uk - that's the place to visit for you :-)

walkingbootweather

24" wheels are better for cheap bikes - it means they fit into the skip better

Yes you can have fun on a cheap bike, but it's much nicer on something just a bit better. Trying to maintain a cheap bike is one of the most un-rewarding things known to mankind. Anything that should move seems to lock solid, and anything that should remain rigid seems to bend or shear.

thistle_

I rode my 180 quid GT Aggressor up and down Snowdon (well, about 2/3 up Llanberis Path and about 1/2 down Ranger Path). It had 100mm suspension forks which made a whole lot of difference :roll:

I did my first 100km road ride on that bike too.

It's all about determination/luddism/tight fistedness

roger_merriman

walkingbootweather wrote:

24" wheels are better for cheap bikes - it means they fit into the skip better

Yes you can have fun on a cheap bike, but it's much nicer on something just a bit better. Trying to maintain a cheap bike is one of the most un-rewarding things known to mankind. Anything that should move seems to lock solid, and anything that should remain rigid seems to bend or shear.

indeed they are in many ways disposable bikes, since they get used until the wear out.

prawny

First commute on my new POS bike today. Have to say it wasn't bad.

It's a raleigh spirit. My dad paid about £125 for it 12 years ago. It's made for old people so it's got a suspension seatpost that doesn't work properly and the worlds shortest stem so handling is a bit lively at speed, but otherwise not bad. Gears all work, but the biggest cog on the back is loads bigger than all the others so you really have to be careful shifting down because the sudden change in resistance destabilises the whole thing.

I'll post a pic up at the weekend.

The Rookie

cyberknight wrote:

I am looking for a rigid MTB to use as a winter hack , unfortunately i keep getting outbid on fleabay

Look for ones ending at silly times, the lad still commutes on an old Townsend 'MTB' that cost me £5.50 on the bay (ended 2am), it's ideal as he has to leave it in town as the college provide a minibus from there, bikes are always getting knicked, even from outside the Police station.

Simon

barney69

I did the C2C (135 miles) in a day 6am start - 9pm finish on a £299 Claude Butler Cape Wrath 'mountain bike' that I put slick tyres and a Selle Italia saddle on :-)

walkingbootweather

barney69 wrote:

I did the C2C (135 miles) in a day 6am start - 9pm finish on a £299 Claude Butler Cape Wrath 'mountain bike' that I put slick tyres and a Selle Italia saddle on :-)

Well done. You also probably felt a lot better the next day than had you been riding a decent bike*

* because you would have been in the pub 2 hours earlier and therefore had a much better chance of developing a hangover

To be fair your Claude Butler is a damn sight better than what I think of as a cheap bike (aka BSO)

barney69

I must say I bought a Dawes Ultra Galaxy (which wasn't cheap)to do my recent LeJog
www.nigelend2end.co.uk

roger_merriman

walkingbootweather wrote:

barney69 wrote:

I did the C2C (135 miles) in a day 6am start - 9pm finish on a £299 Claude Butler Cape Wrath 'mountain bike' that I put slick tyres and a Selle Italia saddle on :-)

Well done. You also probably felt a lot better the next day than had you been riding a decent bike*

* because you would have been in the pub 2 hours earlier and therefore had a much better chance of developing a hangover

To be fair your Claude Butler is a damn sight better than what I think of as a cheap bike (aka BSO)

indeed my main bike, is a cheap SS... now my dads bike is a BSO cheap plastic brakes and what not.

MonkeyMonster

I've done bits of scottish mountains on a fluro yellow emmelle back in the days of no real tracks and having to use firebreaks. Anything is possible really it's more about comfort and enjoyment during and after surely?