Badly manufactured bike?

[Gerry Attrick]

Does the lack of a bit if cosmetic smoothing stop the bike serving its function?

In a perfect world we all have lovely bikes, but in the real world is it not better that the kid has a cheap bike rather than not have a bike because he cannot afford it?

If they allow a cosmetically poor bike out of the factory which is plain for customers to see, what horrors lurk where they can't see? In addition, poorly executed joints are easily stressed and may fail suddenly.

However, I am not convinced that damage has not occurred at some time, maybe by a previous owner?

 

[just jim]

When I started riding a bicycle during the stone age, I didn't complain about the weight, I just got on and rode it despite it weighing, quite literally, a ton. Some smartarse Cro-Magnon nicked it off me when I got off to club some dinosaurs.

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

I started cycling in the late 50s when even 'lightweight' bikes were heavy by today's standards and I do not remember anyone commenting about weight or being put off riding!

+1, and I started cycling seriously only in the late 70's, when practically all frames were steel. Many kids get more excited by "features" than lightweight, and I don't see any harm in either, provided that the bike is safe and roadworthy.

 

[tyred]

I think people have too much obsession with weight now. All my bikes are heavy but it is doesn't put me of in the slightest. The heaviest is about 45lb and now with lower gearing, I don't find it tiring to ride, quite the opposite, old roadsters are very relaxing. The only reason I don't ride it more often is nothing to do with the weight, it's the terrifying prospect of having to remove the rear wheel to fix a puncture (full chain case). And for the people who think the V-brakes fitted to cheap bikes are ineffective, try rod operated stirrup brakes.

 

[Gerry Attrick]

I think people have too much obsession with weight now. All my bikes are heavy but it is doesn't put me of in the slightest. The heaviest is about 45lb and now with lower gearing, I don't find it tiring to ride, quite the opposite, old roadsters are very relaxing. The only reason I don't ride it more often is nothing to do with the weight, it's the terrifying prospect of having to remove the rear wheel to fix a puncture (full chain case). And for the people who think the V-brakes fitted to cheap bikes are ineffective, try rod operated stirrup brakes.

Agreed. I have a 1950 Humber roadster. It is a major engineering feat to remove the rear wheel.