Cheap Decathlon commuter
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fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
The bikes are pretty good for the money - cheap bikes are shite and don't last too long, but that's what you pay. The bloody pedals on each of my road bikes cost more than a cheap complete bike. Their half carbon ultegra road bike was 500 quid after xmas....half price.
John the Monkey
Frivolous Cyclist
- Location
- Crewe
Maz said:
Probably the Sport 1.
A guy on ACF is giving it a long term test. His last post on the subject;
One month and one week in:
90 miles a week commuting though London. So about 500 miles so far.
Every thing seems to be holding up (touch wood). It did seem to be running a bit squeaky, but switching from White lightning lube to 3 in 1 oil seemed to sort that out. This bike prefers to be fed on cheap stuff
Brake pads seem to wear a little quickly, but we shall see.
Still very pleased with it all.
Tynan said:
I've got the Sport 2 16S, race style, shimano sora, STI, aluminium frames got a 5 year warranty.
http://www.btwincycle.com/EN/sport-2-16s-25131977/#product-details
Not a squeak as yet, extremely minimal adjustment required since new.
£169 all in.
When you consider how many countries they're in
http://www.decathlon.com/new/en/020_distribution_networks/010-10_network_decathlon.html
how many stores they've got worldwide (and they're not small stores!)
You can see they've got the economy of scale that a lot of other bike manufacturers haven't got, they've got their own retail/service network and you're not paying a premium for a 'name'
Check out the B'twin website, you might be pleasantly surprised
http://www.btwincycle.com/EN/chambery-cyclisme-formation-10240525/
First company I've seen produce a £300 full sus MTB that got decent reviews.
http://www.decathlon.com/new/en/020_distribution_networks/010-10_network_decathlon.html
how many stores they've got worldwide (and they're not small stores!)
You can see they've got the economy of scale that a lot of other bike manufacturers haven't got, they've got their own retail/service network and you're not paying a premium for a 'name'
Check out the B'twin website, you might be pleasantly surprised
http://www.btwincycle.com/EN/chambery-cyclisme-formation-10240525/
First company I've seen produce a £300 full sus MTB that got decent reviews.
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
Down tube shifters are dead easy, especially indexed ones. Still use Ultegra and Dura Ace down tube shifters on both my road bikes
fossyant said:
am i right in thinking you can only put downtube shitters on bikes with narrow tubes, or even only ones with the bosses already drilled into the frame?
it is ridiculous though, 105s should be over a ton on their own, so if you want some shifters it's almost worth getting that bike and just keeping the rest for spares....
I think decathlon make good bikes and sell their bikes at a loss as a kind of loss-leader in order to keep people coming back to the store for the accessories most of which are total crap.
John the Monkey
Frivolous Cyclist
- Location
- Crewe
fossyant said:
I reckon indexed ones for the rear block is the way to go, if not all round. (TBH, friction is easy enough for the front, as the alignment is less crucial).
I found downtube shifters ok to ride with Maz, although you have to anticipate the gear change a bit more than you do with STis or Ergos. With non indexed shifters, getting the alignment right (esp. on the rear) is the thing to get used to, as otherwise the chain rattles about and you may get spontaneous changes of gear
. With an indexed rear (the Sport 1 is friction front, indexed rear) it's easy as long as it's adjusted correctly. The only other complication is having to have one hand off the bars whilst changing - not always possible if the roads are a bit poo and you need to hang on over the potholes
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
You get used to using shifters (bonj - you need bosses or an adapter)- well I don't know much different with my road bikes as they were all indexed from the time I bought my first proper bike at 16 in 1886 (sorry 1986) .... this is from someone who still can't ride non handed...argh f'in argh !
The front isn't indexed - as you can trim it, but the rear shifter is - DA and Ultegra last years -my DA is as sweet as the day they were bought - click - in gear, that's it.
The only reason I didn't move, is... I had two nice bikes, both haven't broken (i.e. components), but are both now outdated as for getting 'good' secondhand replacements.... and they are old, but both work perfectly - yes running on new chain rings, cassettes and chains... Good value !
Although the only thing I'd say, I'm getting STI thumb shifter RSI - my right hand is knackered using the STI's on my MTB on a daily basis - OK during the day, but middle of the night, it locks up and I wake up... bugger... will it stop me using it...nah.....
STI / ERGO - blooming great invention...but still use indexed down tube shifters on the road bikes as it hasn't broken yet.......
The front isn't indexed - as you can trim it, but the rear shifter is - DA and Ultegra last years -my DA is as sweet as the day they were bought - click - in gear, that's it.
The only reason I didn't move, is... I had two nice bikes, both haven't broken (i.e. components), but are both now outdated as for getting 'good' secondhand replacements.... and they are old, but both work perfectly - yes running on new chain rings, cassettes and chains... Good value !
Although the only thing I'd say, I'm getting STI thumb shifter RSI - my right hand is knackered using the STI's on my MTB on a daily basis - OK during the day, but middle of the night, it locks up and I wake up... bugger... will it stop me using it...nah.....
STI / ERGO - blooming great invention...but still use indexed down tube shifters on the road bikes as it hasn't broken yet.......
had my second bike, a hybrid that I kept commutable to some expense, nicked the other day.
Was thinking about replacing it with the cheapest decathlon MTB simply because:
-it costs about 70 quid
-there are guarantees on the bits
-i'll only be using it when my main bike breaks
The guarantees are 5 years for the frame, and 3 years for the bits, and they say so on the website. Could be some fun to be had there.
Was thinking about replacing it with the cheapest decathlon MTB simply because:
-it costs about 70 quid
-there are guarantees on the bits
-i'll only be using it when my main bike breaks
The guarantees are 5 years for the frame, and 3 years for the bits, and they say so on the website. Could be some fun to be had there.
fossyant said:
hmm... only ask 'cos I did at one point consider trying DT shifters, or at least a front one just for simplicity's sake - 'cos my front one was beinga bitof a bitch to get right - it got stiff but i think i've found the causeof that which was that the cable was routed on the wrong side of the clamp bolt!
so it maynot have even helped... but after 5 mins research i've come to the conclusion there's no way even the rare clamp-on ones would go on my bike anyway as it's aluminium therefore fatter. Think i'd be a bit wobbly with them aswell, as my cassette's pretty high geared so i dont' go on my big ring till quite late, (although maybe superstition that i wouldn't get used to it).
If you get RSI from MTB onesthough try SRAM - mine are very light and easy to shift.
