Cycling UK Forum

landsurfer wrote:

reohn2 wrote:Yep,lower spec alround and surprisingly a 130mm oln road rear end,bit of a puzzle on a tourer,but as you say adequate for purpose,whereas the Spa is a dedicated tourer and at £1k great VFM IMO.

Yes i made all the points about the wheels etc in my post ...
I bought a set of handlebars with Sora STI's from EBAY for £32 from a nice chap in Scotland. I just did not get on with the cheaper bar end gear levers.
I am the owner of both bikes mentioned.
I paid for a SPA Steel Touring and I also bought myself a Jamis Aurora.
The SPA was to be my "best bike" and the Jamis my daily hack / winter bike ... the fact that i did my LEJOG on the Jamis should tell you a few things.
£400 is a great deal of difference, and as for wheels..... hand built are excellent, but machine built are very good as well.
Would you rather have a hand built smart phone or a robot built one ??

I offered my as new SPA on here recently for sale for £600 ono. .... a saving of £400 on new .... not the slightest bit of interest from anyone .... or on EBAY ....

SPA bikes are lovely items, jewellery, class .... but mine has now gone to a new home .... It's not about the bike .. it's about the destination...

Second hand bikes and frames never sell for as much as the vendor thinks they're worth. I know people who have almost given decent, expensive bikes away. I've sniffed around locally about selling a very good quality, hand-built frame, hardly used and and completely unmarked except where the wheels go in the dropouts, which cost £1200+ about eleven of years ago and which includes a new Campag bottom bracket; and the best offer, from experienced, knowledgeable cyclists has been "I'll give him a couple of hundred for it".

landsurfer wrote:...
SPA bikes are lovely items, jewellery, class .... ...

Mine was definitely not. See previous posts.
If you have a problem don't give them the benefit of the doubt.

If you find yourself selling a bike after a few rides, you bought the wrong bike. Of course it will be poor value, mistakes always are. That's not a criticism of anyone, I've got a fairly long list of such mistakes, it's just an acknowledgement that it has little to do with the bike. As for comparisons of value, it might have been more relevant after a decade or so. If the lower grade components on the cheaper bike need replacing sooner, it might not turn out to be such great value after all.
The opposite is also true of course, if you buy something you like and get loads of use out of it, it's likely to prove good value whatever it cost. My Hewitt Cheviot SE was over a grand in 2004, I'd get washers if I sold it, though that's not likely to be till I can't ride it.

PH wrote:If you find yourself selling a bike after a few rides, you bought the wrong bike. Of course it will be poor value, mistakes always are. That's not a criticism of anyone, I've got a fairly long list of such mistakes, it's just an acknowledgement that it has little to do with the bike. As for comparisons of value, it might have been more relevant after a decade or so. If the lower grade components on the cheaper bike need replacing sooner, it might not turn out to be such great value after all.
The opposite is also true of course, if you buy something you like and get loads of use out of it, it's likely to prove good value whatever it cost. My Hewitt Cheviot SE was over a grand in 2004, I'd get washers if I sold it, though that's not likely to be till I can't ride it.

That's the thing about bikes. You can get a high quality brand new machine for not much money. Hewitt Cheviot SE, Spa Titanium tourers still not a lot of money new.
Landsurfer changed bar end shifters for flippy, floppy brake levers because he didn't like them not because they were lower grade components.

wearwell wrote:

landsurfer wrote:...
SPA bikes are lovely items, jewellery, class .... ...

Mine was definitely not. See previous posts.
If you have a problem don't give them the benefit of the doubt.

Here we go...

Vantage wrote:

wearwell wrote:

landsurfer wrote:...
SPA bikes are lovely items, jewellery, class .... ...

Mine was definitely not. See previous posts.
If you have a problem don't give them the benefit of the doubt.

Here we go...

Yep,the repetition's getting a bit boring innit

reohn2 wrote:

Vantage wrote:

wearwell wrote:Mine was definitely not. See previous posts.
If you have a problem don't give them the benefit of the doubt.

Here we go...

Yep,the repetition's getting a bit boring innit

Well I for one am all ears. Like a field of corn, me.

Bonefishblues wrote:

reohn2 wrote:

Vantage wrote:

Here we go...

Yep,the repetition's getting a bit boring innit

Well I for one am all ears. Like a field of corn, me.

Is it harvest time again already?
Is that stubble I see or perhaps a close shave.
Beard there done that,wiped the bike down with the T shirt.

reohn2 wrote:

Bonefishblues wrote:

reohn2 wrote:Yep,the repetition's getting a bit boring innit

Well I for one am all ears. Like a field of corn, me.

Is it harvest time again already?
Is that stubble I see or perhaps a close shave.
Beard there done that,wiped the bike down with the T shirt.

I see that you're clutching at straws again.

I go to the nearest Spa, myself.

Bonefishblues wrote:

reohn2 wrote:

Bonefishblues wrote:Well I for one am all ears. Like a field of corn, me.

Is it harvest time again already?
Is that stubble I see or perhaps a close shave.
Beard there done that,wiped the bike down with the T shirt.

I see that you're clutching at straws again.

I go to the nearest Spa, myself.

That's grosser than I thought!

I get the point that everyone has a bad day every now and then. But looking back at these posts, it would appear that one bloke at Spa is having a bad decade!
I know exactly what you mean about some artificial customer service; it's just words with little behind them.
The shame is that as many have testified, Spa have the capacity to back up their claims to customer service. However on occasions it seems like this depends on which way the wind is blowing.
In the end it worked out better for me. The forks were an attempt to lighten a bike that has no business being lightened. The SON hubs turn out to have clearance issues with TRP disc calipers....not good on a bike that gets muddy.
As for the £2000 dream bike? It was an aesthetic desire, more than a functional one. In the end I went to Evans Cycles, fully expecting cheesy service. Far from it. The staff in Durham branch are great. Knowledgeable, genuine enthusiasts. It galls me to give money to Mike Ashley, but if it keeps these staff in a job, I'm okay with that. In the end, instead of a beautiful Spa Elan, I got a bike half the price, same spec, perfectly suited to my needs. Not as pretty or exclusive as the bike from Spa, but it's a bike to use, not look at.

I might give Spa a second chance in the future, either internet sales or in person. On second thoughts...there was talk of the grumpy bloke at Spa waving a spanner at customers. If he comes out of the shop waving a pair of rusty forks...I'll know they are for me!

Please to disclose what bike you got for half the price

Reality check .....

Cyril Haearn wrote:Please to disclose what bike you got for half the price

I’m guessing a Genesis Vagabond

Milfred Cubicle wrote:,....
I might give Spa a second chance in the future, either internet sales or in person. ...

Total boycott from me, they had their second chance.
Have probably spent about £2500 elsewhere since. Wife's new road bike was a titanium but got it locally (Moda Nocturne). Put a pair of Spa wheels on it which must be about the last thing I bought from them - these wheels were OK but mine were definitely not.