Bike imports into UK fall to 10 year low

[TheDoctor]

Thread cleaned up.
This is not the place to argue about who needs an Ebike.
Please keep it friendly and on topic.
[/Mod hat]

 

[Shadow121]

You mean like the good old steel Raleighs and Dawes that I own?



You just made me spill hot coffee all down my jeans laughing at that.....
I must have some Yorkshire tendencies as well, because I don't see any reason to splash out cash on new bikes either when my 20/30/40 year old bikes are still going strong.



Maybe it's getting even more common, but there have always been numerous well-intentioned "lose weight/get fitter" types who have gone out and bought new quality bikes - then hardly ever used them once they realised that riding can involve physical exertion. I have a '94 Raleigh Sabre MTB and a '88 Raleigh Gemini hybrid, both one previous owner and still in virtually as new time warp condition. The MTB was ridden down a canal path no more than a handful of times then put in a shed. The Gemini is Reynolds 531 and would have been expensive, yet didn't even get used enough to wear out the original Michelin World Tour tyres in 30 years!



So would I. It keeps the market flooded with hardly used secondhand bikes at bargain prices.



I could go out and buy any new bike I want, but 99% of what is being sold today just doesn't appeal to me at all, from the £100 suspension BSO right up to the £6k carbon roadies.
Fat frame tubes, garish decals all over the frame and wheels, and a foot of seatpost sticking out of a silly small sized frame doesn't do it for me I'm afraid. That's before you consider the rubbish engineering at both the BSO and super bike end of the market.

I agree, good old steel bikes, had them too, wish I kept them, and you have to love the second hand super bikes
that were just too heavy for their first owner.

 

[screenman]

I have a nice 653 Barron from the early nineties, it has been attached to the turbo for about 6 years, it is just starting tourist though in a couple of places.

 

[Shadow121]

Steel does take a bit more care, keep warmer outside the tubes, and keep
the tubes clean.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I have a nice 653 Barron from the early nineties, it has been attached to the turbo for about 6 years, it is just starting tourist though in a couple of places.

What a waste running a good Reynolds steel frame on a turbo trainer. It should be put on the road, and used for real cycling. It always makes me laugh when I see adverts for Zwift etc, and it shows the rider sitting atop an expensive top of the range road bike with no back wheel. As if the light weight of all the super expensive parts makes a blind bit of difference to a gym exercise machine that isn't actually going anywhere! There's one born every minute.....

 

[screenman]

What a waste running a good Reynolds steel frame on a turbo trainer. It should be put on the road, and used for real cycling. It always makes me laugh when I see adverts for Zwift etc, and it shows the rider sitting atop an expensive top of the range road bike with no back wheel. As if the light weight of all the super expensive parts makes a blind bit of difference to a gym exercise machine that isn't actually going anywhere! There's one born every minute.....

It is your money thing again, have you thought that it is a good idea to train in the exact position you race in.

 

[fossyant]

What a waste running a good Reynolds steel frame on a turbo trainer...

Just so happen to have a 653 with Ultegra sat on my Zwift set up. After years of a road cyclist I've ditched road cycling due to life changing injuries caused by drivers. The bike is too good for the turbo, but it fits me.

I have a very nice custom built for me, Columbus SLX bike with full Dura Ace 7400 that's not moved for 4 years, other than a wipe the dust off it.

 

[Smokin Joe]

I have a steel Raleigh (501) fixed permanently attached to a turbo.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

It is your money thing again, have you thought that it is a good idea to train in the exact position you race in.

I suppose it depends on how seriously you view the benefit of gym bikes! I never have and never will, equate riding a gym bike as being anything like riding a real bike on a real road surface.
To get even a rough approximation of real world conditions like gradients, you need a pretty sophisticated machine, and even that cannot recreate the effects on the human rider of different ambient temperatures and wind direction. Resistance training is not cycling.

 

[screenman]

I suppose it depends on how seriously you view the benefit of gym bikes! I never have and never will, equate riding a gym bike as being anything like riding a real bike on a real road surface.
To get even a rough approximation of real world conditions like gradients, you need a pretty sophisticated machine, and even that cannot recreate the effects on the human rider of different ambient temperatures and wind direction. Resistance training is not cycling.

Yes I suppose it does, not a racer are you so you may not appreciate the benefits.

 

[AuroraSaab]

I cried all the way home Saturday week, saw a cracker of a bike in a trailer heading for the
dump, was a bank holiday weekend and roads crawling with cars so no hope of getting turned to follow it.

The number of times I have seen people throwing decent kids bikes away at the tip is heartbreaking, some look nearly new. You are not allowed to fish stuff out of the giant skips, which is fair enough, but I wish they had an area for bikes like they have for furniture and tv's etc.

 

[Nebulous]

The number of times I have seen people throwing decent kids bikes away at the tip is heartbreaking, some look nearly new. You are not allowed to fish stuff out of the giant skips, which is fair enough, but I wish they had an area for bikes like they have for furniture and tv's etc.

I once put two children's bikes on Freecycle. We were messed about for days by people wanting to come and see them, wanting us to confirm sizing etc and no-one took them. Put them on eBay and got £7 for one and £37 for the other, which was a Giant, so a better recognised brand. It was interesting that it was easier to get some money than to give them away. We are on quite a busy street and have also left a bike outside with a note saying. "We no longer need this bike. Help yourself if it is any use to you." It disappeared very quickly, with a nice thank you appended to our note.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

not a racer are you so you may not appreciate the benefits.

That's true I'm not remotely interested in racing. Strictly non-competitive leisure and utility cycling for me. Still enjoy it most of the time though, including the DIY tinkering needed and it helps keep me in better shape than I would be if I didn't ride at all.

 

[Blue Hills]

Looks like Brompton is heading that way too.

Into making disposable stuff? If so can you enlighten me cyclops? **
Am a bit out if touch in that area. My brommie from last century is still running ok.
** Trust you won't tell me to google it as one soul did on here the other day. An honest question.

 

[Blue Hills]

I would like a new bike, but it doesn't seem a good time to buy , I'm considering selling my brompton to fund a new audax frame.

I'd hang on to the brommie if at all possible. You in later life or a family member may well get into it later/find a use for it - shopping, integrate it with your senior bus pass. If cash strapped, others have pointed out upthread that there are good secondhand bikes to be had.