Bargain?

[Sheffield_Tiger]

To play DA here, no-one posts "average" reviews, only good or bad. Most reviews would, if reviewing were mandatory, fall into the "average" category I guess, and there are unlikely to be outstanding reviews of a bike at this price.

Review #2: "The only disappointment was that having built the bike and then pumped the tyres up one of the tyres promptly burst"

Read: "I shouldn't have tried to build this myself as I'm all fingers and thumbs and haven't a clue. I only went and tried to pump up the tyre with the tube pinched under the bead and didn't notice until it went pop. I should have got a competent person to put the bike together, my brakes are probably set up with one block running the tyre sidewall and the other dipping under the rim.

No, I would not reccomend this bike to anyone who asked me, but to suggest that only one of my bikes is any use at all for anything because the other 2 cost less than £500 each IS plain snobbery and out-of-touch.

 

[CopperBrompton]

I agree there are some perfectly good £300-ish bikes around (though even then £300 spent on a secondhand bike will get something really good). But at the £100 mark, secondhand is the only sensible way to go IMV.

 

[LukeA]

I work at Argos part time myself inbetween freelance work, and have seen these bikes first hand, they're honestly not too horrific. You absolutely get what you pay for, if you know what youre looking for you would definately be able to get something of higher quality second hand, but i doubt you'd be dissapointed with this one, for the money paid atleast.

 

[johnr]

Argos Challenge road bike, was £199, now £79. Has to be a bargain!

No it doesn't. (Is that enough?)

 

[Globalti]

A friend of mine bought his GF a £99 bike. He asked me to check it over... to be honest you can't adjust a bike that bad because the components are so crudley made that it's impossible to achieve a fine adjustment. For example the brakes were side-pull and made from pressed steel so they distorted when you used them. The actual pads were held on with nuts and some washers but you couldn't tighten the nut while holding the pad in the correct position.

The bike weighed a ton and the gears didn't work properly.

She never rode it.

 

[kewb]

past experience of an argos bought raleigh mtb have put me off ever buying from them 3 bikes 3 buckled wheels all from the box ,
assembled the first bike put front wheel on had to take it apart to return it to store , two replacements same problem , got refund in the end was a kids present so resulted in mad dash to hafords for replacement ,
no kidding btw similar bike they put it together in shop looked ok , time was ticking , got it home out for ride yep both wheels buckled ,
fair due halfords replaced with better rims free of charge .

 

[summerdays]

The problem with secondhand is that you if you pay £80, or whatever, you usually need to replace a few bits and pieces, and these can easily cost another £80. Just a cheapo wheel, tyre and tube will be £40, probably more.

At least with a RBSO you know that it's all new, if not necessarily the finest quality!

But if the parts are made of cheese you have to replace them and then you have paid out that £40 etc... we had to buy new wheels for our BSO object within 4 months of purchase.

A friend of mine bought his GF a £99 bike. He asked me to check it over... to be honest you can't adjust a bike that bad because the components are so crudley made that it's impossible to achieve a fine adjustment. For example the brakes were side-pull and made from pressed steel so they distorted when you used them. The actual pads were held on with nuts and some washers but you couldn't tighten the nut while holding the pad in the correct position.

The bike weighed a ton and the gears didn't work properly.

She never rode it.

I've seen many a cheap bike component such as the brake adjusters where the metal is so soft that it bends and easily becomes stripped of its threads, the noodles brake, the plastic brake levers bend rather than apply proper pressure etc. That's even if it has been assembled correctly.

One bike I saw in school - told the lad the saddle was too low and offered to put it up for him... only to find it was sold with litterally 1 inch of seat post adjustment. Now would you accept that on your bike? and is that truely fit for a growing child.

I'm not a bike snob ... but at the very bottom of the bicycle market there is stuff that is not fit to be sold as a bike. From the point when the bike is adjustable and serviceable I don't care if its second hand or really expensive - though obviously some bikes look nicer than others (doesn't always equal more expensive).

 

[Vitesse]

A friend of mine bought his GF a £99 bike. He asked me to check it over... to be honest you can't adjust a bike that bad because the components are so crudley made that it's impossible to achieve a fine adjustment. For example the brakes were side-pull and made from pressed steel so they distorted when you used them. The actual pads were held on with nuts and some washers but you couldn't tighten the nut while holding the pad in the correct position.

The bike weighed a ton and the gears didn't work properly.

She never rode it.

One of the main problems with cheap (and not so cheap) bikes seems to be that the slave labourers paid a pittance to build them over-tighten the steering, wheel and bottom bracket bearings. Riding a BSO straight from the box is thus likely to wear everything out in a few miles, so the idea that 'you can't adjust a bike that bad...' makes no sense.

 

[Sheffield_Tiger]

One of the main problems with cheap (and not so cheap) bikes seems to be that the slave labourers paid a pittance to build them over-tighten the steering, wheel and bottom bracket bearings. Riding a BSO straight from the box is thus likely to wear everything out in a few miles, so the idea that 'you can't adjust a bike that bad...' makes no sense.

I once worked at a BSO-importer that started out fairly well. Every bike was COMPLETELY stripped, parts sorted and then everything was hand-built. The main reason for this was that the business was aiming to find its niche in supply to companies, football clubs and other sports clubs etc. so many of the frames were blasted and properly resprayed in corporate colours.

Good idea in theory, the bad idea was trying to source BSO's from Italy which were far overpriced. It went bust after throwing a lot of money at trying to secure exclusivity on Bianchi imports, which went tits up after the launch party had been arranged and announced.

The company then limped on buying in Taiwanese BSOs (Magna being the main one) and rather dodgily and illegally stripping down and respraying/rebranding as an Italian brand.

But I guess they were the only Magna BSOs to be fully stripped and hand re-built, so at least the customers being duped got something that was set up as good as it could ever be.

Thankfully (though it caused me issues at the time being paid in rubber cheques) the company went under and is no more. The boss insisted that their wheels were the best because he said they were 100% aluminium, not an alloy, and that they were built by robots who could get a wheel far straighter than any human. Yes, he was a complete nitwit.

(I only worked there by the way - and before minimum wage at the princely sum of £2.50/hr so was in no real position to do anything about it)

 

[Vitesse]

Back to £99 now - still half price, allegedly!

 

[gavintc]

Back to £99 now - still half price, allegedly!

£99 wasted is still £99 wasted. I can think of lots better things to spend £99 on.