Silly Guardian - have they got it wrong about Roberts?

[patricktaylor]

Either way Horizon, I subscribe to your new signature (but I think it's privileged isn't it?).

Incidentally, this thread is making me want a Roberts bike.

[horizon]

Either way Horizon, I subscribe to your new signature (but I think it's privileged isn't it?).

Written in haste and anger and now altered but thank you. It is a temporary signature but my feelings against the principle of shared paths are permanent. We are witnessing an unbelievable shift in resources from one "class" to another.

[horizon]

Incidentally, this thread is making me want a Roberts bike.

At that price, definitely!

[pete75]

From the Roberts website "And, history has shown that, if properly cared for, a steel frame will last a lifetime (and then some)."

http://www.robertscycles.com/robertsprimersteel.html

Yes, but not the whole bike. It seems like splitting hairs but it (the article, not Roberts) is actually giving a misleading impression about what owning a bike is all about. I wouldn't have raised it specially but I was on the case at the time so threw it in for free.

With correct maintenance, which includes replacing wearing parts, it would last a lifetime. I don't think the article was implying it would last a lifetime with nil maintenance.
Almost any object made by humans requires maintenance for instance your house as it is now won't last a lifetime without correct maintenance which is likely to involve replacement of some of it's components.

[horizon]

TBH if the rest of the article had been informative (and factually correct) I wouldn't have nit-picked - last a life time is actually a good way of describing a bike and is more than can be said about a car. George Washington's shovel/hammer/pick comes to mind though.

[pete75]

last a life time is actually a good way of describing a bike and is more than can be said about a car.

Yep but a chap in a village near me has a 1907 RR Silver Ghost which runs very well!!

[Edwards]

TBH if the rest of the article had been informative (and factually correct) I wouldn't have nit-picked - last a life time is actually a good way of describing a bike and is more than can be said about a car. George Washington's shovel/hammer/pick comes to mind though

But they were correct about the price of the Frameset (I posted a link for you to check), the price quoted is not for a bike.
I do not understand how getting the price within £45 is lazy journalism?

[horizon]

But they were correct about the price of the Frameset (I posted a link for you to check), the price quoted is not for a bike.
I do not understand how getting the price within £45 is lazy journalism?

I've tried and tried but cannot see any reference to a frame only. That's why I posted this thread - was I right or had I missed something? I really wanted to know. I am still very open to being proven wrong on this.

[Edwards]

I've tried and tried but cannot see any reference to a frame only. That's why I posted this thread - was I right or had I missed something? I really wanted to know. I am still very open to being proven wrong on this.

The link I put on page one takes you to the price list. At the top of the price column it says Frameset only price.

I hate news papers and Journalists nearly as much as Politicians but at least on that point he seems to be right.

If my wife had not found my Thorn Audax the best bike for her to commute on, then it would still be usable. As she would have been riding her 26" wheel tourer type.
So I would thus say an Axdax bike was not a silly option for commuting. But it has to be set up for this with high handlebars.

I can not open the Guardian web link as I refused the tracking cookie and it does not like that. So can only comment on this one part.

[patricktaylor]

... The link I put on page one takes you to the price list. At the top of the price column it says Frameset only price ... at least on that point he seems to be right ...

The Guardian article clearly says, under the picture of a Roberts bike, "Roberts Audax Standard, £1,295." No mention of frameset only (unless you explore the Roberts website). But as I said, it doesn't matter. No-one will take it seriously or rush out and try to buy one just because of a newspaper article. I think this is just typical reporting. At least the article is about bicycles (don't look a gift horse in the mouth etc).

[ukdodger]

for those of you who can't be ..ed to read the offending 'article' here's a taster..

As cars become ever more homogenous, cyclists have taken it upon themselves to fill our streets with colour. Stop at any junction and you'll see a two-wheeled cavalcade, from moustached tweedy types on butcher bikes and Lycra loons on carbon racers to dreadlocked urban warriors on skip-find frames covered in stickers. Here are seven very different bikes for the budding hipster. They're all high-quality with an emphasis on design, because that's the way we roll…

etc etc....

pass the sick bucket, eh....

cheers

They have to be controversial to attract readers. Dont think I've ever seen a tweedy type on a butcher bike. Do butchers still have bikes. There are times though when you see a cyclist with all the gear on they look like they've just landed.