mightyquin
Active Member
Just wondering who has a beater bike and where it fits in your fleet?
A couple of months ago I started looking for a new bike. I have an old Raleigh MTB in the garage which hasn't been used for a few years and, long story short, I bought a Kona Paddywagon for commuting and general running about.
A friend heard I was looking for a bike and offered me one which had been abandoned at his place. I went and had a look and it was a Decathlon Rockrider MTB, clearly low spec (no name gears!) and bloody heavy, but it was free. Covered in dust/dirt and with the tyres hanging off the wheels, but looked hardly used, I took it home and stuck it in the garage.
I managed to spend time at the weekend on it, good clean, lube, new tyres and tubes fitted and ran it around the block. The gears aren't great but they work, I don't think they're indexed properly and could do with some adjustment, and the back brake doesn't want to centre properly so its rubbing a little. But as it cost me a total of £15 I think it can be my beater, bike trail bike, pub bike. I definately won't worry about getting it stolen!
I have thought of converting it to single speed, although I was thinking of using the Raleigh for that. I do need a bike with gears to run alongside the Paddywagon, so my quandry is plod along with the Decathlon, restore the Raleigh (has Shimano comps), or wait until I can afford another bike - new MTB, hybrid or Cyclo cross.... But I really don't need 4 bikes! Or do I?
A couple of months ago I started looking for a new bike. I have an old Raleigh MTB in the garage which hasn't been used for a few years and, long story short, I bought a Kona Paddywagon for commuting and general running about.
A friend heard I was looking for a bike and offered me one which had been abandoned at his place. I went and had a look and it was a Decathlon Rockrider MTB, clearly low spec (no name gears!) and bloody heavy, but it was free. Covered in dust/dirt and with the tyres hanging off the wheels, but looked hardly used, I took it home and stuck it in the garage.
I managed to spend time at the weekend on it, good clean, lube, new tyres and tubes fitted and ran it around the block. The gears aren't great but they work, I don't think they're indexed properly and could do with some adjustment, and the back brake doesn't want to centre properly so its rubbing a little. But as it cost me a total of £15 I think it can be my beater, bike trail bike, pub bike. I definately won't worry about getting it stolen!
I have thought of converting it to single speed, although I was thinking of using the Raleigh for that. I do need a bike with gears to run alongside the Paddywagon, so my quandry is plod along with the Decathlon, restore the Raleigh (has Shimano comps), or wait until I can afford another bike - new MTB, hybrid or Cyclo cross.... But I really don't need 4 bikes! Or do I?
