Really horrible BSO's - why do people buy them?

[NorthernDave]

Because they look quite flashy online if you don't know much about bikes and appear to have a lot of kit on them for £99 (or whatever)?
If you buy one in a (non-bike focussed) store like Tesco Extra, Sports Direct or Argos, for example, you won't get to ride it beforehand and you'll get passed your bike over the counter in a box and either way you'll get to "simply assemble" it at home later using an included and very thin pressed metal spanner that doesn't quite fit all the nuts and bolts...

Plus there is an element of "Look I've bought a full sus disc brakes MTB for less than half what Halfords wanted for a Carrera", perhaps?

 

[gbb]

Guy at work brought one online...it broke a sprocket on the first ride. He couldn't understand why a bike that was a 'bargain' at £80 failed so miserably.

Another guy talked to me endlessly about buying a bike. I suggested endlessly...do NOT but anything less than say £120, certainly not one of those Dunlop type bikes, a couple weeks later...he proudly walked in with his sub £100 BSO.

Shops sell them because there's a profit in them. They don't care if they're suitable or not,..they only care if there's a profit in it.

My LBS owner once said they do a great deal of damage to cycling. Someone who want to get into it buys his / her BSO, struggles with the weight, the poor quality etc,...and decides cycling definitely isn't for them. What a shame, if only they'd brought a half decent bike for another £30 to £50.

 

[Jenkins]

Years ago my sister & brother in law got one each on a BOGOF for around the £100 mark from Sports Direct. After a few rides where the BIL's one got punctures in the rear every time and fed up of replacing/repairing tubes they got relegated to the back of the garage. When they had a clearout to make room I was asked to give the bikes a quick check over before they tried to sell them - I'd forgotten how heavy bikes were and the lack of component quality and build standards were at that price point - it turned out the BIL's rear wheel had no rim tape at all hence all the punctures. Nobody would buy them so they ended up in the skip anyhow.

I donated a Giant flatbar that I never got on with to my sister as a replacement and she couldn't believe the difference in weight and quality and it's still in regular use over 5 years later.

 

[Milkfloat]

If you look really careful there are a few suitable bikes in the BSO category from the likes of Sports Direct. I managed to snag a useable kids bike that had 24” wheels, rigid fork, tourney rear mech and brakes that pretty much worked. I put some slicks on it and it lasted fine for a few years for a couple of kids. Yes, I had to hunt high and low, plus I had to cold set the fork as spacing was far too narrow for the wheel, but it still works to this day. The cost £60, new.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

A cheap functional bike like you got isn't really a BSO in my eyes. Sports direct usually have a 26" Energy rigid MTB on offer for £95, with basic Shimano on it. I've seen a couple locally in the flesh being used as town hacks, and they are pretty much on a par with any other cheapo rigid offering. I wouldn't expect perfection out of the box for £100, and I'd expect to have to do a bit of tweaking of gears & brakes. Where the real rubbish BSO's differ though is they go for gimmicky features like suspension, but below the price you can engineer them properly. The result is junk, whereas a cheap rigid might not be anything fancy but it is at least likely to work properly once adjusted.

 

[Edwardoka]

It's the stuff marketed as "Shimano geared mountain bikes" as though that's a badge of quality. And "ooh it has 18 gears" and "suspension, that will help with the sore bum". I once borrowed a £60 asda jobby bike to do my commuting while my main bike was getting serviced and it did not survive a single commute.

My friend had a BSO (bought against my recommendations) and was looking to replace it and had the budget for a tanky hybrid or a B'twin Triban. I told him to go with the Triban as IMO you straight up can't get a better new bike for that money.

Of course he went with the hybrid and we made sure he lived to regret his choice on the Five Ferries challenge.

 

[Gravity Aided]

I see these things every time I go to the bike co-op, people bringing them in for repairs almost constantly. Which is our job, that and getting them into something slightly better. It used to be that BSOs were content to be basic, but now that they feel they have to have full suspension and an approximation of all the things higher end bicycles have, without the quality or reliability, they are much less a bicycle, and more a breakdown or injury waiting to happen. That this is inflicted on the general public on such a massive scale, with such disregard for public safety and health, is just another reason to buy a cycle from someone you know, who has been in business for some time, or become knowledgeable yourself, and make your own choices in the new or used market. So many people want to get into cycling without knowing anything about it, and that's no way to make a start of anything. Automobile dealers contend with/profit from this/ all the time, and I suppose people expect a similar experience with bicycles.

 

[Globalti]

Same s

A cheap functional bike like you got isn't really a BSO in my eyes. Sports direct usually have a 26" Energy rigid MTB on offer for £95, with basic Shimano on it. I've seen a couple locally in the flesh being used as town hacks, and they are pretty much on a par with any other cheapo rigid offering. I wouldn't expect perfection out of the box for £100, and I'd expect to have to do a bit of tweaking of gears & brakes. Where the real rubbish BSO's differ though is they go for gimmicky features like suspension, but below the price you can engineer them properly. The result is junk, whereas a cheap rigid might not be anything fancy but it is at least likely to work properly once adjusted.

But you can't adjust them! A pal of mine bought one for £99 for his GF and asked me to look at the brakes. Sure enough the pads weren't meeting the rims right and I tried to reset them but the nut and washer system was so bad that every time I tightened the nut, the pads went out of line. On top of that the brakes were flimsy steel pressings so when you braked the pads went out of line anyway. I gave it up as a bad job and the GF never rode it.

 

[Gravity Aided]

First thing I do when encountering one of those pressed steel brake arms is replace it.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Before I came to Germany I worked in a large well known bike shop for a while with a great supervisor who loved bikes and tried to help people get the bike they needed. One time we had a relatively good, basic Saracen rigid for about GBP 200, which we often recommended to people. One day an apalling 'own brand' monstrosity was delivered with a 'Y' frame made of scaffolding and entirely fake suspension forks, a right BSO. This was way overpriced at GBP200. We wouldn't have paid fifty for it but it was the one that got all the attention that week.
The week after we were sent instructions to place a "Reduced to GBP 99.99" on it, and they flew out of the shop for the next months. We kept pointing out to people that it was basically scrap and the Saracen was a better buy for the money, but no-one even looked twice: everyone wanted the 'Y' framed scaffolding BSO.
I've often wondered how long they lasted, probably still a few are lurking in sheds having been ridden once in the 1990's,

 

[guitarpete247]

Picked the granddaughters bikes for a bit of ride around our lanes. I bought the eldest hers off eBay a couple of years ago. Was going to buy youngest one this year but mum and new boyfriend got her one from Halfords. I really struggled getting the Halfords special on the roof rack. Both are full-sus MTB types but hers, though smaller weighs a ton

 

[Globalti]

A couple of years ago we spotted a young woman riding a supermarket special with a rigid frame and fork. Good.... but the fork was on back to front, with the prongs curling backwards. I chased her down and asked if she would mind me putting her bike right. She told me her boyfriend had built it for her. "Well, he doesn't know much about bikes, does he? " was all I could say.

 

[guitarpete247]

I did a course to be bike ability instructor a few years ago. 1 student, young lad just out school, with a Halfords Apollo, had front forks reversed. He said it rode oddly. I thought it was a test to see if anyone spotted but wasn't.

 

[MontyVeda]

A few years ago a mate of mine thought he'd found the bargain of the century... a full suspension MTB, brand spanking new, from a glossy mail order pamphlet for £80.00. But the £80 MTB wasn't the bargain... it was the buy-one-get-one-free offer!

This guy clearly new feck all about bikes because when he showed me his bargains, he'd managed to get the forks backwards and hadn't noticed. I'm not one for sucking my teeth but i did that day.

 

[gbb]

In the end I guess you can break it down to...
Some people are stupid and won't be told.
Some people are stupid enough not to realise a sub £100 BSO Is usually going to be carp.
Some shops don't give a damn. If it makes money they'd sell you cat sheet if they could.
Ditto the manufacturers.