Sheffield_Tiger
Guru
No, not my BSO.
The company I work for sells bikes, some half decent ones and some BSOs, and we had some awful ones in...but it doesn't really have a bike department per se (it used to have, I used to run it but I moved sideways and upwards)
This particular BSO model is awful, and a bloke came in to buy a brand new bike..as he left with his new purchase (I didn't have any part in this sale, as I said, the bike dept isn't really anything to do with me) I said "that will be back"
Sure enough it did come back. The cranks were loose and so was the bottom bracket, and as there was no-one capable, it fell to me to sort this. Nice and simple
2 weeks later it's back again. This fella rides this bike some distance (for a BSO) and he'd been out on a ride into the peaks, and had to walk 15 miles home when the freewheel, made of Wensleydale cheese, exploded.
Not having a workshop at work, I took the wheel home with me to remove/replace the freewheel, and adjust the cones on the rear wheel while I was at it. Sorted?
No! Today the bike came back again. With an injured rider with a fractured arm! The front bearings have somehow ground themselves into dust, inducing a bad wobble and thrown him off, You could challenge people to ride this bronco at a rodeo!
I argued with the store manager and got him to offer a full refund (no "credit note as you've had it 3 months" or other nonsense) as the bike is in my opinion not fit for purpose. Not for daily rides of a decent distance. But he loves the bike, even after all this and wanted it fixed... I can repair it, sure, but how long until something else goes?
So now the whole bike has spent the evening in my home workshop, cones and bearings replaced and all other bearings degreased, re-greased and re-assembled.
Took it for a test ride and bizarrely, although it has that uprighty short stem BSO feel it does actually ride quite nicely...albeit with a Garth-like grip required on the gripshifts. I could actually get why he likes it if he's only had squeaky second hand clunkers. But instantly I could feel the wonky pedal..so, replace the pedals tomorrow back at work and hope its not the cranks that are threaded askew. After regularly using pedals with a bent spindle, if I fit new ones I bet he comes back saying the pedals "feel weird" - as you get used to eccentric pedals over time..
Oh, and I noticed the stem was twisted. Not fitted wrongly - twisted.
I've spent a good 2 hours of my own time this evening, unpaid, fixing this fella's bike because I genuinely feel sorry for him..but I can't work miracles!
But if (when) some other cheese-made part fails and it comes back again, how do I say "look, take the refund, but don't buy another Reflex/Trax/Universal type thing and try to find another £100 for a bike that will actually be up to daily all-weather riding"
The company I work for sells bikes, some half decent ones and some BSOs, and we had some awful ones in...but it doesn't really have a bike department per se (it used to have, I used to run it but I moved sideways and upwards)
This particular BSO model is awful, and a bloke came in to buy a brand new bike..as he left with his new purchase (I didn't have any part in this sale, as I said, the bike dept isn't really anything to do with me) I said "that will be back"
Sure enough it did come back. The cranks were loose and so was the bottom bracket, and as there was no-one capable, it fell to me to sort this. Nice and simple
2 weeks later it's back again. This fella rides this bike some distance (for a BSO) and he'd been out on a ride into the peaks, and had to walk 15 miles home when the freewheel, made of Wensleydale cheese, exploded.
Not having a workshop at work, I took the wheel home with me to remove/replace the freewheel, and adjust the cones on the rear wheel while I was at it. Sorted?
No! Today the bike came back again. With an injured rider with a fractured arm! The front bearings have somehow ground themselves into dust, inducing a bad wobble and thrown him off, You could challenge people to ride this bronco at a rodeo!
I argued with the store manager and got him to offer a full refund (no "credit note as you've had it 3 months" or other nonsense) as the bike is in my opinion not fit for purpose. Not for daily rides of a decent distance. But he loves the bike, even after all this and wanted it fixed... I can repair it, sure, but how long until something else goes?
So now the whole bike has spent the evening in my home workshop, cones and bearings replaced and all other bearings degreased, re-greased and re-assembled.
Took it for a test ride and bizarrely, although it has that uprighty short stem BSO feel it does actually ride quite nicely...albeit with a Garth-like grip required on the gripshifts. I could actually get why he likes it if he's only had squeaky second hand clunkers. But instantly I could feel the wonky pedal..so, replace the pedals tomorrow back at work and hope its not the cranks that are threaded askew. After regularly using pedals with a bent spindle, if I fit new ones I bet he comes back saying the pedals "feel weird" - as you get used to eccentric pedals over time..
Oh, and I noticed the stem was twisted. Not fitted wrongly - twisted.
I've spent a good 2 hours of my own time this evening, unpaid, fixing this fella's bike because I genuinely feel sorry for him..but I can't work miracles!
But if (when) some other cheese-made part fails and it comes back again, how do I say "look, take the refund, but don't buy another Reflex/Trax/Universal type thing and try to find another £100 for a bike that will actually be up to daily all-weather riding"
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