Disposable Bikes

[User10119]

Many years ago my dad decided to buy himself a new bike so he wandered into Halfords to pick one because that's what most people who, like him or me, aren't "real" cyclists do. I've often described myself as a utility cyclist who got led astray by the strange people on the internet! I don't remember what he bought and don't think he ever rode it much but I do remember the burgundy BSO he acquired for me as part of the BOGOF deal they were running at the time. I was about to move to Cambridge where my then-beloved had landed his first graduate job (which means it must have been 1997, I think) and dad reckoned it might actually be illegal to live in Cambridge and not have a bicycle

I rode said completely free BSO for 13 years and even did the odd 40-odd mile trip on it before eventually it hit the point that so many bits wore out and needed replacing, at the same time, that it didn't make financial sense given that I pay the LBS to service my bikes and replacement chain/cassette/chainrings/brake blocks/tyres would cost more than buying a new equivalent BSO. Rather than doing that (this may have coincided with the leading astray...) I replaced it with the Very Lovely Valencia (my sturdy Trek hybrid who has got me round a fair number of Silly Bike Adventures, including a couple of FNRttCs) just over 6 years ago and donated the old one to the bike rescue in town. Spotted it (with a number of replacement parts) in a bike rack outside the coop a few weeks later so I guess they managed to fix it up and it went on to be someone else's getabouttown bike.

It was never a thing of beauty but it got me to and from work and shops and stuff around Cambridge/St Albans/York for years. The bike in the link looks fairly similar - although with fewer gears.

 

[summerdays]

Why not just buy something better, second hand?

If you are new to cycling, you just don't know what you are looking for, or understand why some bikes that "look" very similar go for huge price differences. A new bike you assume will be fine without any problems. I know that is why I originally bought a cheap brand new rather than second hand.

 

[Slick]

If you are new to cycling, you just don't know what you are looking for, or understand why some bikes that "look" very similar go for huge price differences. A new bike you assume will be fine without any problems. I know that is why I originally bought a cheap brand new rather than second hand.

That's exactly what I did and why I did it. There were a few good looking second hand bikes around that I would be happy to snap up now, but at the time I viewed with suspicion, as I thought I would be buying someone else's problems. Now I know a bit more, I'm happy to spend more to get exactly what I need. With every purchase I feel there is a bit of a trade off, as you either give your cash to the retailer or eventually the LBS. Not true for everyone, but shock horror, my idea of fun is not stripping down bottom brackets or replacing cassettes. I make money at what I do enjoy, which allows me to pay someone else to do the things I don't like.

 

[marknotgeorge]

I clicked on the link expecting much worse.... at least they haven't tried to squeeze in suspension! Why call it a mountain bike though?

Probably because the sort of buyer that wants a basic, cheap bike to get to work on will look for a 'mountain' bike as that suggests ruggedness. Remember the competition for this bike isn't the slinky carbon road bikes or even the 29ers further along the row, but double boingers made from carbo-ferric technology with Wensleydale groupsets from that toyshop with the giraffe.

 

[summerdays]

Probably because the sort of buyer that wants a basic, cheap bike to get to work on will look for a 'mountain' bike as that suggests ruggedness. Remember the competition for this bike isn't the slinky carbon road bikes or even the 29ers further along the row, but double boingers made from carbo-ferric technology with Wensleydale groupsets from that toyshop with the giraffe.

And it does look better than that!! (Speaking as the owner of an ex-one that lived just long enough for me to be hooked.... not very long counting in days rather than months or years!)