The problem with "entry-level"

[GarthW]

Good points about bad fit (which shouldn't happen if they'd buy at a real bike shop) and about finding out that a shiny bike doesn't automatically make you able to maintain hundreds of watts' output power going uphill.

What about those who try expensive bikes and then decide cycling isn't for them? There's more to cycling than just a bike.

I have a shirt-tail relative who's wealthy and buys expensive things on a whim. He bought a high-end bike years ago, professional grade at the time, rode it very little, and after it sat in his garage for years, he gave it to me. It was the perfect size for my wife. It had professional gearing though (42/21 low gear, think Pantani in the mountain climbs), and she's definitely not a climber, so I had to make some changes in the components so she wouldn't be discouraged by hills. So because of his buying habits, we got an outstanding quality bike, free, and then I put probably a couple hundred dollars into it to get it ready for her to ride. She rode it a lot.

 

[albion]

Most dropping out will generally have little to do with the bike.
Mixing with traffic, coping with hills and feeling unsafe cycling alone will be at the fore.

There is normally little wrong with 'entry level'.

 

[Oldhippy]

My entry level bike had three wheels, pedals attached to the front wheel and I was 5.

 

[Punkawallah]

My entry level bike had three wheels, pedals attached to the front wheel and I was 5.

Wheels? Luxury . . .

 

[presta]

My entry level bike had three wheels, pedals attached to the front wheel and I was 5.

...and a steel seat, and spokes painted onto the wheels....

 

[mickle]

My late Great Great Aunty Edna once asked me why I'd spent so much money on my bike. Back in the mid nineties my posh mountain bike retailed for £2500. I asked her how much she'd paid for her 3 speed All Steel Raleigh that she'd purchased in 1950something. It turned out she'd paid the equivalent of about two months pay, so not far off what id paid for my super bike. That shut her up. The fact is, modern bikes represent extraordinary value for money and they get better value year on year. Even so, many people just don't want to pay what a decent bike costs, and so they buy junk, and then they wonder why cycling sucks.

 

[Tom B]

Cant we just be pleased that people are riding bikes?

To paraphrase someone - Just rejoice at that news and congratulate those people sharing in our hobby and interest.

I see a chap regularly who rides his bike daily - its little more than a supermarket BSO from the 90s with a tote crate nailed to the front.
I doubt the bike has ever been in a bike shop, let along subject to a bike fit.
I see him at the local supermarket doing his shopping, I see him in the city 15 miles away, i see him tooing and froing around town.
He's knocking out at least 100 miles each week, hes fit, hes happy, he seems healthy.

I know another lad who a few years ago was an alcoholic and getting into trouble with the police. He ended up on community service litter picking after a court appearance and from there found he enjoyed it and ultimately got a job with the council as a litter picker. The problem is he starts work at 6am, the depot is 4 miles form his home, buses dont run at that time and he doesnt drive. He didnt have money for a bike fit, or a £600 bike, ill bet he didnt have £60. He ended up borrowing a bike 24" wheels one of the local teenagers had grown out of and with the help of a few people battered it into life. He's never looked back.... but for me.... the ill fitting BSO played a significant part. He still rides an X framed MTB, onroad, to the depot and back almost a decade on. Are you really saying she shouldn't have taken that bike? - He'd probably be dead or in gaol.

Another couple of old boys I see at the pub must weekends ride secondhand classics theyre easily in their 70s and i dare say their fit has changed since they aquired the bikes, they ride out at weekends and the occasional summer week day, do 20-30miles at a sedate pace stopping for a beer and a cake. They both have huge panniers front and rear and ive never seen a thing in them beyond their coat and hat while in the pub.

I ride a bike that cost me £450 in 2012, the frame has always been a bit big and i use a really short stem to make it feel okay. I got it when i was getting back into cycling with the intention of making sure it was do-able before spending more on a better bike. Well that bike has now got about 60'000miles on it and while i've often thought about new better bikes.... This one seems to do what I ask of it and being entry level chains cost £5-8, cassettes £15, bearings are pennies.

Are these efforts somehow less worthy than then the efforts of someone on a £4k bike, fitted at a bike shop with stuff above entry level.

I am usually in the top 10% on Strava and take great pleasure in whistling past people on plastic bikes with all the posh gear on my £450 bike with a teeshirt and Craghopper shorts on!
One of the things about Shimano entry level stuff is that its trickled down and actually pretty damn good - in my view its the smart buy.



When buying "vin-ordinare" entry level wine I was told to avoid the stuff thats usually just above the base price as the retailers and sellers know people will buy that rather than the cheapest, often the cheapest is better than the stuff £1 more.

 

[kingrollo]

Entry level bikes are mostly fine.

IME buying a low spec bike is unlikely to be the determining factor as to whether the person sticks with cycling.

I started with a £90 falcon ordered from a mail order - I'm still cycling 35+ years later.

In lockdown my bro brought a reasonable specialized MTB after a summer's use it's sat in the garage ever since.