Badly manufactured bike?

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summerdays

Cycling in the sun
Location
Bristol
I saw this bike at school this morning and the way it was leaning against a bench as I passed caught my eye.

2rx8wh3.jpg


On closer inspection this is what I saw:

8xin37.jpg


He says he's never done anything major to the bike (other than the normal scraps), so is this how poorly finished bikes can come out of a factory. The other side looked normally smooth (well as normal as all the other welded bits).
 

PaulB

Legendary Member
Location
Colne
Well, it's not so much a bike as a sort of a kind of a style of a BSO.
 

bauldbairn

New Member
Location
Falkirk
summerdays said:
Thing is the painted finish was fine... I looked at it closely and he had no reason to lie to me.

It does look like grinder/dressing marks under the original paintwork and must weaken the structural integrity of the bike - pretty poorly finished to be honest. :tongue:
It's disgraceful any manufacturing quality assurance inspection missed this - a real shame our kids are being sold such rubbish.

It happens in heavy industry too, I rejected a £60K electric motor that had been made by an subsidiary of a major French company in India. The finish was so poor - I dismantled it to inspect the internal quality of manufacture and it was worse. :tongue: The machine was for the local petrochemical industry.
 

Mad Doug Biker

Just a damaged guy.
Location
Craggy Island
I have a VERY cheap bike (£30 - it was a discount from a furniture recycling/house clearing outfit I once worked at, and it was all still in it's box, brand new) in that style (no connection from the bottom of the stem to the rest of the body) that I bought a few years ago and it has creaked since day one despite me trying to fix it. That's bad enough to me (I have images of it suddenly snapping in half or something! :tongue:) so I eventually stopped riding it.

It's a pretty good looking bike though, so I should really get it seen too one of these days to make sure it isn't a deathtrap in waiting.
 

Apeman

Über Member
Got a better deal(?)than MDB! Paid a tenner for a hack sold instore returned by a punter who originally paid £80 for it! It was going to be skipped but the downside is that it has twistgrip gears---yeughhh!
 

Mad Doug Biker

Just a damaged guy.
Location
Craggy Island
Well done there! this is twist grip gears also and is called a (something) Mantis.
Black red and yellow it is and actually looks pretty decent.

They were going to put it in the skip? what a waste!!
 

Noodley

Guest
Browser said:
Horse-pish he-hasn't-done-anything-major-to-it!! I refuse to believe that even a cheapo bike would be allowed out of the factory looking like that! :eek:

Of course they let them out of the factory! They know there's a market. They don't give a shoot if it's any good or not.
 
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?
 

zimzum42

Legendary Member
Over The Hill said:
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?
Not necessarily, cos the kid is unlikely to ride that lump of pig iron very far, an it may put him off the idea that a bike is a form of transport and just think it's a style thing

Riding a weight like that would put me off!
 
zimzum42 said:
Not necessarily, cos the kid is unlikely to ride that lump of pig iron very far, an it may put him off the idea that a bike is a form of transport and just think it's a style thing

Riding a weight like that would put me off!

I would put money on it being an alloy frame. Suspension seems to be the unneccesary dead weight, but kids seem to like it.
 

mr_hippo

Living Legend & Old Fart
zimzum42 said:
Not necessarily, cos the kid is unlikely to ride that lump of pig iron very far, an it may put him off the idea that a bike is a form of transport and just think it's a style thing

Riding a weight like that would put me off!
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!
 

zimzum42

Legendary Member
I take your point, but I do still have the feeling that a heavy bike may put someone off doing longer distances.
 
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