Riding a bike as day to day transport

[Oldhippy]

The H&S risk averse culture plays a part as well I think. I see a fair few people who only seem to use road separated cycling paths and yet have the helmet, hi viz etc. If new people to daily cycling feel they need loads of safety gear I think this puts a lot off.

 

[Smokin Joe]

We look at cycling in a different way to most people because we enjoy riding a bike. We have to accept that the majority of the population don't have any interest in it at all.

 

[Lovacott]

The H&S risk averse culture plays a part as well I think.
I think this puts a lot off.

The quality of life gained from riding a bike far outweighs any negatives.

 

[Oldhippy]

I agree. Those of old enough to remember the joys of getting yourself about as a kid was freedom from being picked up and delivered anywhere. 5 miles to school and back and a computer was what took the space of a store room and punched holes in cards. I remember putting long chopper forks on a bike made from chrome dress rails after hammering the forks straight! Probably frowned upon now but fun.

 

[Andy in Germany]

I agree. Those of old enough to remember the joys of getting yourself about as a kid was freedom from being picked up and delivered anywhere. 5 miles to school and back and a computer was what took the space of a store room and punched holes in cards. I remember putting long chopper forks on a bike made from chrome dress rails after hammering the forks straight! Probably frowned upon now but fun.

My kids still have that freedom: they all use the tram to get to school and rather helpfully their school season ticket is valid for all public transport in Stuttgart, all day, so they can go to the local big town and visit friends in distant villages. Germany is much more relaxed about this sort of thing than the UK.

This is handy because as mentioned above we don't have a car so lifts are out of the question, and they have yet to discover the joy of cycling up 200m hills every time they want to go out somewhere...

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

The fact is they shouldnt be so expensive as most are mass produced cheaply in the far east. A lot of these low end bikes shouldnt even be sold imo, i have tried a few and they fall apart within months if used daily, costs more to maintain them than the price they cost.

I own and regularly ride some very low end stuff that had already been discarded by someone else. I don't have any problems with stuff falling apart within months, they are decades old already. The difference between me and a lot of people who buy or own low end bikes is I don't expect to get one and just be able to ride it without spending a bit of time sorting it out. first. Many buyers of the cheapo stuff are clueless, just witness how many are riding around with their forks facing back to front and the brake cables twisted tightly round the head tube. The assembly QC on cheap bikes is frankly non-existent, and if you want a cheap one to be reliable and not cost much to run, you need to build it how it should have been built at the factory, but wasn't. I spend virtually nothing on bike maintenance whatsoever, apart from a bit of lube and the odd tyre replacement, and when I say virtually nothing I mean exactly that. I'm not buying £100 bikes then spending another hundred a year fixing them. More like I'll get a bike FOC or for a quid off the 'Bay, and I might then spend a whole tenner on it over the course of the next year!

 

[Oldhippy]

The UK is so far backwards on some things it's facing the other way!

 

[classic33]

I own and regularly ride some very low end stuff that had already been discarded by someone else. I don't have any problems with stuff falling apart within months, they are decades old already. The difference between me and a lot of people who buy or own low end bikes is I don't expect to get one and just be able to ride it without spending a bit of time sorting it out. first. Many buyers of the cheapo stuff are clueless, just witness how many are riding around with their forks facing back to front and the brake cables twisted tightly round the head tube. The assembly QC on cheap bikes is frankly non-existent, and if you want a cheap one to be reliable and not cost much to run, you need to build it how it should have been built at the factory, but wasn't. I spend virtually nothing on bike maintenance whatsoever, apart from a bit of lube and the odd tyre replacement, and when I say virtually nothing I mean exactly that. I'm not buying £100 bikes then spending another hundred a year fixing them. More like I'll get a bike FOC or for a quid off the 'Bay, and I might then spend a whole tenner on it over the course of the next year!

How many of these low end bikes do you ride all year round, as opposed to using the car when the weather isn't that good? I've cycled all year round whatever the weather. The option of jumping into a car wasn't there.

As for buying a brand new low end bike, with the intention of pulling it apart to rebuild it, before use, is a false economy, and possibly dangerous. If it were in that condition, it'd never leave the shop and my money would remain mine.

 

[RoMeR]

What do you mean quality 'may not be to your liking'? Cheap crap is cheap crap and i dont care if bikes that dont fall apart after a few months and are like cycling a jcb have always been expensive. The fact is they shouldnt be so expensive as most are mass produced cheaply in the far east. A lot of these low end bikes shouldnt even be sold imo, i have tried a few and they fall apart within months if used daily, costs more to maintain them than the price they cost.

'Cheap crap', at what price would you say a bike can be described as such?. Interesting to see others take on this.

 

[Drago]

We look at cycling in a different way to most people because we enjoy riding a bike. We have to accept that the majority of the population don't have any interest in it at all.

As is quite often the case, just because they're a majority does not make them right.

 

[Smokin Joe]

As is quite often the case, just because they're a majority does not make them right.

It's neither right nor wrong. If any of us dislike doing something we don't do it.

 

[Lovacott]

I remember putting long chopper forks on a bike made from chrome dress rails after hammering the forks straight!

The Chopper was an obsession for me and and my mates.

Those were the days.

 

[Oldhippy]

Mine were slightly more bodged, hacksaw to make axle space and hammer to flatten the ends and straighten the forks.

 

[Drago]

It's neither right nor wrong. If any of us dislike doing something we don't do it.

No, they are wrong. Cycling is so far beyond a lifestyle, so beneficial to body, soul and nature, that it transcends even mere religion. The lazy, bloated, prematurely dying, polluting masses are wrong.

 

[bladesman73]

'Cheap crap', at what price would you say a bike can be described as such?. Interesting to see others take on this.

Maybe a wrong term of use, i am talking about build quality. however i see many bikes on sale new for just over 100 quid and theyre not fit for use.we have a local bike retailer in east anglia and they sell some terrible bikes charging up to 200 quid for some. I fell for it years ago and they all fell apart within months. Now i know my stuff i cringe whenever i see people in that shop in my town.its a shame that you cannot get a really nice new bike for a decent price. At least even if the frame is poor put some decent components on it. But then decent components that actually work cost a fortune. For something so basic we dont half inflate the cost of a bike.