Need a new bike.. again.

General cycling advice ( NOT technical ! )
thelawnet
Posts: 2736
Joined: 27 Aug 2010, 12:56am

Re: Need a new bike.. again.

Post by thelawnet »

Bonefishblues wrote:PH link:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pinnacle-Lit ... :rk:1:pf:0

My link:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pinnacle-Lit ... 0005.m1851

Am puzzle...

Let's not make, to quote a currently favourite phrase, the perfect be the enemy of the good.


This is not a puzzle, PH explained that they sent a different bike from the one advertised. This is not particularly surprising given the goal of clearing out old/odd stock, but there's clearly no guarantee that this would happen a second time.
Bonefishblues
Posts: 11010
Joined: 7 Jul 2014, 9:45pm
Location: Near Bicester Oxon

Re: Need a new bike.. again.

Post by Bonefishblues »

thelawnet wrote:
Bonefishblues wrote:PH link:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pinnacle-Lit ... :rk:1:pf:0

My link:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pinnacle-Lit ... 0005.m1851

Am puzzle...

Let's not make, to quote a currently favourite phrase, the perfect be the enemy of the good.


This is not a puzzle, PH explained that they sent a different bike from the one advertised. This is not particularly surprising given the goal of clearing out old/odd stock, but there's clearly no guarantee that this would happen a second time.

So PH selected and bought a bike as being suitable for his purposes and they sent the next model up?

Lucky escape, eh, given his obvious error :D
PH
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Joined: 21 Jan 2007, 12:31am
Location: Derby
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Re: Need a new bike.. again.

Post by PH »

thelawnet wrote:
PH wrote:
thelawnet wrote:
Ok but the problem it is it is still not very well suited. There are nasty gear shifters, a freewheel, the world's cheapest tyres, some un-named v-brakes that will quite likely need replacing at the cost of some £ in a few months, etc., etc.

It’s the exact bike I bought, linked on page 1. It came better than advertised, see original post. Perfecty fine for the job, mine has earned around £500 in the couple of weeks I’ve used it... have to dash just got an order


completely different bike I think....

It's actually better than advertised! Although it says ex demo, mine had never been ridden, the wheels didn't match (rims and tyres are different, front is nutted rear QR) the 7 speed freewheel turned out to be an 8 speed cassette and the twist shifters are triggers... All in all, it's a lot of bike for £160


that's a lot better....

Yes a couple of differences in my favour, but no not a completely different bike and I'd have used it if it had come as advertised.
There are nasty gear shifters, a freewheel, the world's cheapest tyres, some un-named v-brakes that will quite likely need replacing at the cost of some £ in a few months, etc., etc.

I disagree with that, but lets for a moment accept it - in a few months time I might have needed to buy a good rear wheel (£150) and replace cassette (£15) shifters (£10?) chain (£10) levers (£15) Say £200 for a bike that you'd then expect to last a few years (Or more likely be nicked before you wore it out) and it's all tax deductible so that's a 20% saving. What's your most pessimistic prediction? I'd say doing no more than keeping it clean, lubricated and adjusted it'd be at least 2,000 miles - the average job is 3.2 (collecting and drop), the minimum fee £4, so the OP would have earned at least £2,500 before needing to find £200 - makes sense to me, it's a tool, it's inevitable it'll get some abuse, but it ought to be earning it's keep.
Whatever the OP does, it ought to be quick, there's some hefty bonuses being paid over the Christmas period, a couple of unsocial shifts and they could double the budget (Though I wouldn't)
Reverend
Posts: 14
Joined: 2 Oct 2018, 2:26pm

Re: Need a new bike.. again.

Post by Reverend »

Thanks everyone for their help, sorry for not replying earlier but last week I went and got the BTWIN Triban 5 bike. Being using it everyday (16+ hours overall so far) and it's going sooo good. Got it for a very good price of £150 - been cleaning it almost everyday and lubing lol.

Thanks so much again guysssssssssss and gals
PH
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Joined: 21 Jan 2007, 12:31am
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Re: Need a new bike.. again.

Post by PH »

Reverend wrote:Thanks everyone for their help, sorry for not replying earlier but last week I went and got the BTWIN Triban 5 bike. Being using it everyday (16+ hours overall so far) and it's going sooo good. Got it for a very good price of £150 - been cleaning it almost everyday and lubing lol.

Thanks so much again guysssssssssss and gals

Glad you're sorted. Wouldn't have been my choice for a delivery bike for the reasons given but it's not me working with it....
Hope it's going well for you. I worked all the bonus shifts and could have bought several new bikes :D
Brucey
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Joined: 4 Jan 2012, 6:25pm

Re: Need a new bike.. again.

Post by Brucey »

IIRC this model is another one with a screw-on freewheel and basic hubs? If so I predict that -in hard use- the rear wheel will last about three months tops before it falls apart.

cheers
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
thelawnet
Posts: 2736
Joined: 27 Aug 2010, 12:56am

Re: Need a new bike.. again.

Post by thelawnet »

Brucey wrote:IIRC this model is another one with a screw-on freewheel and basic hubs? If so I predict that -in hard use- the rear wheel will last about three months tops before it falls apart.

cheers


Triban 5 is a used bike with Sora, afaik. No freewheel
Brucey
Posts: 44517
Joined: 4 Jan 2012, 6:25pm

Re: Need a new bike.. again.

Post by Brucey »

ah yes, I remember that model now.... a (no-name?) cassette hub in the rear wheel, wasn't it? Should be OK if it is given the right TLC.

cheers
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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bigjim
Posts: 3244
Joined: 2 Feb 2008, 5:08pm
Location: Manchester

Re: Need a new bike.. again.

Post by bigjim »

Brucey wrote:IIRC this model is another one with a screw-on freewheel and basic hubs? If so I predict that -in hard use- the rear wheel will last about three months tops before it falls apart.

cheers

Why?
PH
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Re: Need a new bike.. again.

Post by PH »

Brucey wrote:ah yes, I remember that model now.... a (no-name?) cassette hub in the rear wheel, wasn't it? Should be OK if it is given the right TLC.

cheers

What’s your prediction without any care?
The rear wheel that came on my cheap bike Is probably similar quality, painted pg spokes, no name hub, I’ve stressed and trued it but I’m not inclined to invest too much time on it. In the context of a delivery bike I’ll be happy with three months after which a Sputnik on a Deore hub seems like the right tool.
Brucey
Posts: 44517
Joined: 4 Jan 2012, 6:25pm

Re: Need a new bike.. again.

Post by Brucey »

without any TLC it is a bit of a roll of the dice. IIRC a lot of BTWIN road bike wheels around that time were built with a single-eyelet rims which superficially resembled one of the exal models (but they have twin eyelets). These single eyelet rims seem to work well in the front but are not quite strong enough to be 100% proof against cracking on the DS spoke eyelets. I've also seen the spokes go rusty (despite the fact they appear to be black finished stainless).

The hubs seem basically OK to me but are (of course) entirely at the mercy of the quality of the setup and whether the seals work or not.

Any lip seal will only work if there is a film of lubricant betwixt it and the metal parts. Salt water will strip the lube out of the seals first and then let water into the bearings. Once this happens you are almost worse off with 'seals' than without; it is almost as if they can let the water in but prevent it from getting out again!

The next step up in hub quality from Taiwan has basically the same freehub body and seals etc but also has better finished cones. I have set such hubs up carefully and they have done over 20000 miles (in all weathers) without needing to be touched again. I don't expect the BTWIN hubs to be quite as good as that but if set up and lubricated correctly they ought to last a long time. However if the setup and lube are bad, the hubs (like any hubs) can easily fail quickly; pot luck how fast exactly.

My take on this is that it is such a (usually needless) PITA when a wheel fails that it is worth spending a little time on new/newish hubs (any quality) because this will greatly decrease the chances of premature failure. My setup/maintenance regimen extends to reshimming the freehub body if necessary; this allows the seal in the left end of the freehub body to work/survive properly. Once set correctly they usually don't ever need to be adjusted ever again.

cheers
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PH
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Re: Need a new bike.. again.

Post by PH »

Brucey wrote:My take on this is that it is such a (usually needless) PITA when a wheel fails that it is worth spending a little time on new/newish hubs (any quality) because this will greatly decrease the chances of premature failure. My setup/maintenance regimen extends to reshimming the freehub body if necessary; this allows the seal in the left end of the freehub body to work/survive properly. Once set correctly they usually don't ever need to be adjusted ever again.
cheers

Thanks for the reply.
Despite saying I wouldn't, I've just added grease and adjusted my cheap bike's rear hub. Pleasantly surprised, I've had more expensive hubs with less grease and it was just a bit tighter than needed.
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