Is my BSO the best bike I could have bought? I think so

[BSOh]

This is a long thread, apologies, but I thought I'd share my BSO experience with you.

At the end of last summer I decided to buy a bike to get out and about. I enjoy walking, and thought cycling might be another way to get outdoors and enjoy the scenery. As I mainly walk fire-roads etc. I thought I should get myself a MTB. What I ended up with, thanks to a cheap internet outfit, was a BSO in the wrong colour (I'm a lady - it's important) and with different spec than I ordered. Of course they didn't respond to my complaints so I kept it as was in the end. It was half price from £260 to £130. It's listed weight was 15kg (I'm about 50kg soaking wet) and it was a nightmare to get on and off the rack on the car. It was horrible to ride with jumping gears, so it was ridden about three times and went to the back of the shed,

Just after Christmas, I thought again about cycling, So I dragged the bike back out of the shed and set to try to at least make it ride-able. I had zero cycling experience or mechanical nous, so I hit the forums. Thanks to my BSO (and the inter-web) I now know how to:

Break a chain, but even better fix one again! (too long anyway when fitted by said rubbish internet shop)
Adjust derailleurs (gears jumped from the day I bought)
Fit a new front derailleur (arrived from shop damaged, replacement basic tourney for £8)
Fit sus corrected exotic rigid fork (to replace heavy zoom sus fork, £40 fork ebay second hand, tools £40)
Fit a mechanical disc brake (to go on new fork £26)
Change tyres (Came with big cheap knobblies so LBS sold me some Bontrager semi's they had for £20 the pair)

So my £130 BSO has now cost me £260. It's still a very basic bike, basic Tourney components and still heavy, but its definitely better than the pile of rubbish that turned up in a box last year. And it'll be fine for a while to do what I want it to. Of course I now know I should have just bought a decent spec second hand hybrid (and read this forum sooner!!)

But I've had a wonderful time learning about bikes, how they work, how to maintain them, and even fix them when stuff breaks. I may even buy a wreck off ebay and sort it out for practice, I enjoyed it that much. It's given me confidence. And for that my BSO is priceless to me. Few more bits and bobs to sort on it and I'll be away on my first maiden voyage

 

[r04DiE]

I love your story and I love the way you have got your hands dirty and bothered to learn.

 

[User32269]

It's good to learn the mechanics.
I would always buy a used bike due to limited budget, as you stated. £130 new bike is never going to be good. For that money, or less, you can get a decent 80's or 90's mtb. These are virtually indestructible and can have decent components on.

I bet in a few months you will have a shed full of "projects" and parts that may come in useful. It's an addiction!

 

[Cycleops]

@BSOh you did well. Most wouldn't even have bothered, it would have just gone in the shed. Beware though, you're in serious danger of becoming a serial bike tinkerer.

I'm suspicious though, your use of language and knowledge of parts leads me to believe you're not such a bike virgin as may be apparent.

 

[johnnyb47]

Fantastic post there "BSOh". I've got a very old Bso stuck in the garden shed that cost me the best part of £10 second hand. The parts on it are are truly rubbish ,and made of cheese, but I've enjoyed many hours messing around with it trying to get it road worthy. I will no doubt sell it on as I don't have much use for it and will make virtually no profit from it but on the up side it has taught me how to repair and self teach my self how to work with bikes.Its also kept me out of the pub to by keeping me occupied through the dark nights of winter lol. I hope the coming summer will be an enjoyable one for you with your new bike.
All the best
Johnny

 

[growingvegetables]

Way to go, @BSOh .... now get riding

 

[Hugh Manatee]

@BSOh you certainly hail from a lovely part of the country to cycle in! Enjoy the coming Summer!

 

[BSOh]

I love your story and I love the way you have got your hands dirty and bothered to learn.

It's been fun

It's good to learn the mechanics.
I would always buy a used bike due to limited budget, as you stated. £130 new bike is never going to be good. For that money, or less, you can get a decent 80's or 90's mtb. These are virtually indestructible and can have decent components on.

I bet in a few months you will have a shed full of "projects" and parts that may come in useful. It's an addiction!

Absolutely. I now have a new bike fund going after giving up tobacco. £100 so far since xmas. Should have a tidy sum by June

Fantastic post there "BSOh". I've got a very old Bso stuck in the garden shed that cost me the best part of £10 second hand. The parts on it are are truly rubbish ,and made of cheese, but I've enjoyed many hours messing around with it trying to get it road worthy. I will no doubt sell it on as I don't have much use for it and will make virtually no profit from it but on the up side it has taught me how to repair and self teach my self how to work with bikes.Its also kept me out of the pub to by keeping me occupied through the dark nights of winter lol. I hope the coming summer will be an enjoyable one for you with your new bike.
All the best
Johnny

Wish mine had been £10

Way to go, @BSOh .... now get riding

Thanks

@BSOh you certainly hail from a lovely part of the country to cycle in! Enjoy the coming Summer!

It is beautiful here

@BSOh you did well. Most wouldn't even have bothered, it would have just gone in the shed. Beware though, you're in serious danger of becoming a serial bike tinkerer.

I'm suspicious though, your use of language and knowledge of parts leads me to believe you're not such a bike virgin as may be apparent.

No need for suspicion. It's just from hours and hours of internet reading. Maybe I've made it sound easier than I found it. E.g. It took me about 6 hours just to work out the rear derailleur

 

[biggs682]

@BSOh well done you now go and enjoy it and keep us posted

Pictures always help

 

[Aravis]

Fantastic story, and genuinely inspiring. Replacing forks is beyond my experience.

It's not just ladies who care about colour!

 

[mjr]

Fantastic story, and genuinely inspiring. Replacing forks is beyond my experience.

Undo stem, remove it, lift up frame, forks fall out? Have to do it when you need to replace the bottom steering bearings if they're a cage or cartridge. Have to almost do it when you need to regrease them.

 

[3narf]

Great stuff!

Remember, it's only a BSO until someone rides it. It sounds like you have successfully turned yours into a bicycle, which is more than a lot of buyers manage!

 

[Vantage]

I think it's fair to say many of us learned about our bikes the hard way too. Best way in my opinion.
Congrats on giving up smoking (I gave up 5 years ago and never looked back) and your determination to not let the bike sit there unused was inspiring. I wasn't planning on taking the bike out today as I feel like hell...but I just might now

 

[GlenBen]

Like this story, very similar to how I began in cycling and I still have and ride my first BSO.

 

[chriscross1966]

Six hours to sort a derailleur from a situation of never having touched one isn't actually that bad.... I remember spending a weekend on my first one.... we didn't have the internet back then, I had a badly translated manual and some photocopied bits from a manual for a different model....