My knackered old bike - to replace or repair?

Juddlinski
Juddlinski Posts: 54
edited June 2014 in Commuting general
I realise this is question might be difficult/impossible to answer without you having all the facts to hand BUT. I thought I'd post it anyway. Just for fun.posting.php?mode=post&f=40052#

I use a cheap sub £200 hybrid bike and take my kid to school on the back of it a couple of times a week.

The bike's knackered. It hasn't been treated well. The brakes are shot to pieces, the gears hardly work, everything is rusty and the wheels... actually the wheels are fine. But that's about it.

So my question is - bearing in mind that it's a cheap bike, would it be best to get it completely repaired/overhauled at an LBS? Or what about chucking it on ebay for £20 and just buying a new one?

Anyone else been in a similar situation? What do you reckon?

Comments

  • craker
    craker Posts: 1,739
    Spend the money on tools and do it yourself.

    A complete set of cables, new brake blocks, degrease and clean the drivetrain.

    How are the bearings? Nothing's terminal, but a new headset is probably a LBS job though you can do the bottom bracket yourself once you've got the right tools.

    Or just buy a new one.
  • Initialised
    Initialised Posts: 3,047
    I did just that a few years back, I swapped some PC parts for a Giant Boulder ALU Lite, that had been ridden into the ground it turned into quite a nice bike once I'd replaced the wheels, bottom bracket, drive train (Alivio), brakes (XTR-V), grips (Ergon GC2), and saddle (Selle Italia).

    That was the bike that got me back into cycling so I'd say that it's a good place to start as you learn how to fix bits on the way so when you do get a decent bike you'll be able to maintain and upgrade it.

    When I bust the frame I transferred most of the bits onto one of my son's bikes as an upgrade. Apart from having a rubbish Zoom fork that bottoms out over the smallest root or drop it's a nice bike to ride for non-trail centre stuff I actually prefer it to my Voodoo MTB (also Preloved and subsequently repaired) and if I have to take it into town and lock it up outside it's the bike of choice as at first glance it looks old, tatty and cheap and it wouldn't be a huge loss if it was pinched.
    I used to just ride my bike to work but now I find myself going out looking for bigger and bigger hills.
  • daddy0
    daddy0 Posts: 686
    I too started out on a knackered old hybrid that cost me £150. I replaced the tyres, tubes, freewheel, cassette, chain and brake blocks, cleaned and lubed everything and it worked great.

    Deffo do the work yourself, its not hard, everything you need to know is on YouTube. It might not be actually worth fixing up an old BSO financially, but learning how to fix and set up bikes is a valuable skill which will save you money in the long run if you cycle regularly.
    https://cyclejames.wordpress.com/
  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    While agreeing with the above in principle it does depend a bit on which bike with which parts.....a £200 hybrid could range from overpriced junk to a fairly decent bike with modern parts (Ahead not quill, freehub not freewheel for example) if its the former it may never be nice and putting money into it could be throwing good money after bad, if it's the latter then doing it up could give you a much better bike than you could otherwise buy (which makes financial sense to me even if it would never sell for that 'value').
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.

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