BSO

[blockend]

I've never been keen on the BSO description. Lots of people start out on heavy bikes of uncertain provenance but if the moving parts revolve, the chain doesn't snap or the tyres deflate, the object is a bicycle and shares 99% of the DNA of a carbon Colnago team bike.

You're also much likelier to get a conversation that goes further than OLN dimensions and the mystical properties of tubing from a BSO rider. Very few bicycles are thoroughly bad, unfortunately the cheapest ones cut corners that are least likely to be remedied by their target consumer, so when something dies the whole bike dies with it.

 

[Bicycle]

"Is this a BSO?
It is an object shaped like a bike after all."



Of course it is! It's got BSO written all over it. (Not literally, of course).

What really saddens me in this instance is that the troll who assembled it has mounted the stem the wrong way round.

This sorry excuse for a bicycle will probably end up in the hands of a small, innocent child who will steer it nervously into traffic little realising that the wheels are held on only by sticky tape.

I hope the poor, innocent child who rides it will be wearing a helmet.

It will certainly save his or her life. Photos prove it.

 

[Sonofpear]

I am pretty sure that they are exempt

Damn I was gonna go to my lbs and demand my reflectors

 

[chillyuk]

"Is this a BSO?
It is an object shaped like a bike after all."

Nice one

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

Is this a BSO?
It is an object shaped like a bike after all.

Strange frame geometry though.

Nah. But my fixie is.

But damn, it has one hard saddle I tell ya!

 

[apollo179]

I was totally oblivious of this snobbery till now. I feel that i should change my user name to hide my misfortune. Whats the name of a decent make of bike ? Just to think I regularly commute between london and watford on this thing and ive only now discovered that all the time ive been harbouring a BSO.

 

[Fnaar]

And there was me thinking BSO stood for Big Scary Oswaldwistlian. Doh!

 

[Chris.IOW]

And there was me thinking BSO stood for Big Scary Oswaldwistlian. Doh!

I always had it down as Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, but then maybe I'm an initialism snob!!

 

[Alembicbassman]

Nah. But my fixie is.

But damn, it has one hard saddle I tell ya!

Chain's a bit slack

 

[Chris.IOW]

The tide was out on the way home and I passed this....



I think even the OP will agree, this is a BSO.!!!

Thread closed!

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

Chain's a bit slack

Slack? I did follow the instructions from Park Tools!

 

[lukesdad]

So very strange that the OP is offended by the term BSO and yet calls a very nice good quality bike a BSO????? Do I sniff a :troll:

 

[lukesdad]

I can smell one and it aint the OP.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

So please tell us all who you think the Troll is.

I can smell one and it aint the OP.

 

[sunnyjim]

I've just had a quick scan through BS EN 14764 (access conditions apply, so won't quote directly) It looks fairly thorough IMO, although not particulary onerous. ie front fork impact ~40J so might lose out to a headbut by 100J helmet...

Frame fatigue test is 100000 cycles of 1000N on pedals with no fracture of frame. Say average 60 ins gear, that's about 100miles - I think I've seen numbers like that quoted as the average achieved life of a BSO.

1/2 mile to the shops & back every other tuesday on a flattish road, last for years - why spend more?

This is the problem with standards - defining the requirement. With lights, everyone is equal, with the whole bike, there isn't a single requirement, so they can only try limit the absolute minimum, which not surprsingly cost concious manufacturers treat as a target.

BS /EN gives purchacesr users a false sense of security. Maybe a star rating would help more.