What is it with all this....

[Maz]

And i would also hope that the 'snobbery' wouldnt prevent one of the lycra clad top of the range all the gear types offering some road side help if it was needed?

[domtyler]Dream on [/domtyler]

 

[MacB]

My LBS mechanic rates bikes and parts on how well they build up and you can almost get a smile out of him if everything slots together neatly.

BSO as a term is only loosely linked to price, I would apply it to any bike not fit for purpose and not possible to be tweaked to be fit.

If the frame and forks are sound then the rest are just add ons. Nothing wrong with buying a reasonable F&F with cheap parts, as they wear out they can be replaced. The tradeoff then is generally light, blingy and costly versus parts longevity.

 

[byegad]

I think the Supermarket BSO has several faults. They are designed for purchase by non cyclists to look good in the shop and have whatever 'features' are cool with the kids at the moment. So you get a full suspension MTB for £80. To add insult to injury it is then 'assembled' by a shop assistant who frequently has no real knowledge or the skill to do this correctly.

When I returned to cycling in 1999 I bought a cheap bike from an LBS, Cost was around £150 in a sale. The bike was a Scott Atacama, and as new I found I could pull the rear wheel skew in the frame under acceleration. The LBS replaced the QR with an axle and the problem was solved, they did this at the free 6 weeks service, along with truing the wheels. I sold it a few years later for £50. The bike was basic, 21 speed and cheap fittings and accessories, but it commuted to work, took me on day rides and did everything a bike should do. I replaced it with a Thorn Club Tour, at £900+, which had better components and did everything a bike should do. Was it worth six times my Scott? To me yes, but I could have happily continued with my old bike if money had been short. Would a Supermarket special do what either of these bikes could do? I don't think so.

 

[dellzeqq]

you asked a question, you got a whole bunch of well-worked answers.....

If you see a poorly assembled bike on display do you tell an employee about it and offer to show them how it should be put together od do you just start a thread on here?

if CC'ers spent their time checking Halfords, catalogue or supermarket bikes then they'd have no time to ride, let alone start a thread. But, since you ask, I have done Dr. Bike sessions and people have turned up on BSOs, and, yes, they have been poorly put together, they have been dangerously short in the brake department, and they have been, by a long way, the wrong bike for the rider.

 

[uphillstruggler]

If you see a poorly assembled bike on display do you tell an employee about it and offer to show them how it should be put together od do you just start a thread on here?

Yep, but offering to show them how to put it together may null and void the warranty - sorry, couldnt resist

 

[Maz]

3rd Yorkshireman: Bike? Bike? We 'ad a clapped out wheel off've a brokken tractor that we'd roll down't big 'ill, wi' a stick to belt it wi'

That's a pretty good accent, Archie. Are you from Yorkshire, too?

 

[Archie_tect]

'appen, depends like!