Cycling UK Forum

The problem with cheap bikes is they're not.

Leave a cheap bike in the shed for a few months and when you drag it out it it's covered in rust. Within a year or two it needs replacing - the only good thing is the sort of people who buy cheap bikes probably wouldn't bother since they'd have only ridden it twice when it was new anyway.

On the other hand my bike has been ridding for years in all kinds of weather including on salted roads and when it gets its annual clean it still looks like new. Plus I get the benefit of it being nice to ride.

kwackers wrote:The problem with cheap bikes is they're not.

Leave a cheap bike in the shed for a few months and when you drag it out it it's covered in rust. Within a year or two it needs replacing - the only good thing is the sort of people who buy cheap bikes probably wouldn't bother since they'd have only ridden it twice when it was new anyway.

On the other hand my bike has been ridding for years in all kinds of weather including on salted roads and when it gets its annual clean it still looks like new. Plus I get the benefit of it being nice to ride.

I couldn't agree more. Cheap bikes will put people off cycling as they're no fun to ride.
jonty

Jonty wrote:

kwackers wrote:The problem with cheap bikes is they're not.

Leave a cheap bike in the shed for a few months and when you drag it out it it's covered in rust. Within a year or two it needs replacing - the only good thing is the sort of people who buy cheap bikes probably wouldn't bother since they'd have only ridden it twice when it was new anyway.

On the other hand my bike has been ridding for years in all kinds of weather including on salted roads and when it gets its annual clean it still looks like new. Plus I get the benefit of it being nice to ride.

I couldn't agree more. Cheap bikes will put people off cycling as they're no fun to ride.
jonty

What do you suggest then - ban Tesco Asda and Halfords from selling cheap bikes? Not very practical is it?

People buy cheap HD TV's and watch lousy pictures in a fog, they listen to distorted music on crappy iPods and even dock them on on tinny speakers. I was on a camp site in the Lakes last summer, after a very windy night that got everyone up at 3am, loads of Halfords £100 tents were totally wrecked, poles all split and broken, fabric ripped to shreds. People were trooping to the bins with the remains of their tents in droves. It was a sorry sight. We watched the bedraggled masses pack up their sodden possessions and troop off home. They learnt a lesson. They could easily see what sort of tents survived and what didn't. The truth is many people cannot afford expensive bikes, and when you are buying for a growing family it gets very expensive. Mums and Dads know the kids bikes will probably get hammered, why buy something expensive?

Apollos and bad service have got Halfords a bad name amongst keen cyclists. The guy in the OP seems to be committed to expanding this section of their range which will probably sully their reputation even further. Its a pity because the Carrera bikes that I have had have been excellent, 30 - 40% cheaper than branded bikes with a similar spec. People may sneer, but the proofs in the pudding.

The reason people buy cheapo bikes is because they haven't got a lot of money. You cant get around that.

Al

We get lots of people driving BMW, Volvo, and any sort of 4 wheel drive you can think of (never mind the designer clothes, watches, etc) who think Dawes bikes are "far too expensive!"

Its the "perceived value" of bikes thats the problem....so many outlets selling BSO's for silly money.

Also, somebody said already, they have "lost the ability to wield an allen key". A decent secondhand bike is better than a new BSO.

al_yrpal wrote:The reason people buy cheapo bikes is because they haven't got a lot of money. You cant get around that.

Al

Indeed you can. There are hundreds of excellent second hand bikes for the same money.

But your point about kids bikes is a good one, I wouldn't spend a lot on a kids bike either.

The problem with cheap bikes is you need to know what you're buying, I'm sure people on here can make an informed choice and fix the dodgy bits, but I suspect a lot of first time buyers are mis-sold something that will be destined for scrap having merely overwintered in a shed.

There isn't going to be a fix. People these days buy crap and then complain bitterly about how crap it is or "stuff was made much better in the past", in reality it wasn't. Just that the good stuff has lasted and the cheap stuff long since dumped and forgotten.
Good stuff still exists today but it costs and the good news is it costs a lot less in comparison than our fathers paid, it's just that folk have come to expect top quality for buttons.

My experience of Halford's bikes is mixed. I rode a full-sus Halfords BSO which has to be the worst bike that I've ever ridden. It was falling to bits and was less than 6 months old. Another experience was a friend of my wife's bought a halfords BSO and from virtually new it had wheels out of true, bottom bracket loose, gears that were impossible to adjust. However my daughter has a Carrera Subway 24 and it is brilliant. Good quality kit and light as a feather. At her bikeability the instructors declared it the best bike there (and we only baid £50 for it on ebay!).

I think that Colin has it spot on about perceived value of things. People will spend £50k on a car but exclaim at a £1k bike. However it becomes a catch 22, people don't want to spend too much money on a bike in case they don't like it so they buy a cheap nasty bike that pretty much guarantees that they won't enjoy it!

Judging from some of the reviews of cheap bikes on the Halfords website, many purchasers seem well aware of their limitations (heavy, not durable, etc.) from the outset. And decent, affordable secondhand bikes in my size seem to be very scarce in my local area, so if I wanted cheap short distance transport in a hurry and there was nothing suitable advertised in the small ads/newsagent window/eBay/Gumtree/Preloved/Exchange & Mart/etc. I would have no alternative than to buy something of that description from Halfords, of course avoiding anything that has suspension.

Halfords' Apollo Code seems to be their most popular cheap hybrid, judging from its recent appearance in bike racks, and is perhaps the cheapest bike you could risk buying from them as long as it's set up properly of course.

when do kids nowadays want a second hand (albeit good quality) bicycle? A lot of kids don't run with the idea that used is better than new as they don't know what is what and some are spoilt from birth .

Though I had the money to buy a new bike for my son I never did, we got near new bargains for 30% of retail (two specialized Sirrus's) that did him throughout his high school days.
At 11 I showed him what a £100 of newness got you and then showed him the £100 second hand (but still shiny) Sirrus I'd already bought. Weight difference, ease of riding up the hill (steep one on the way home from school) and actually the stealth matt black paint job sold it to him quite easily.

Only when the other lads in the bike sheds cast jealous eyes at his bike and him being able to whizz at much faster speeds than the MTB's etc did he come to realise that his was one of the better bikes there.

Still, if he'd have wanted a new bike I would have got it for him, more time spent fiddling no doubt but it saved us the £3/week school bus money (which he somehow saw as his as he'd saved me paying out ) and he was able to get up 20 minutes later too

I also share Colin's views about the perceived value of different things. Some will spend a couple of grand on a holiday and a small fortune on a car but object to spending a bit more on good quality food, and would never think of buying a good pair of shoes which could be repaired.
I suppose to some extent it comes down to values which you inherit from your parents and, to be fair, your income and the "throwaway rather than repair" society.
Also I suspect that many people think a bike is a bike, food is food and shoes are shoes - in other words they are standard products of uniform quality: a bit like the Mao pyjamas the Chinese used to wear. They don't seem to have trigged that some things are a bit more expensive for a reason.
Having said that I have it on good authority that Halfords sell some good bikes.
jonty

SOME of you need to realise that not all of us are beardy tourers and not all of us are lean speed-freaks. There is a whole range of people, and for some a £35 asda special is good enough for what they need and is better than not riding a bike at all.

A so-called "Bike Shaped Object" does just as well to get the legs pumping as a shiny Dawes.

£35 for a new bike? You must be joking. My Mum paid that for my Sun bike in 1960!
jonty

I have bought my two daughters a couple of Apollo bikes each over the years and have had no issues once I either insisted the shop re-adjusted everything or sorted it myself. After this they have given good service until they became too small for the rider: yes they are a bit heavy but have been much more durable than their mates supermarket dual sus BSOs. I have also had two Carrera Subway 8s for commuting and been perfectly satisfied apart from with the first one's hub taking in water and eating itself, but that was Shimano's fault not Halford's.

531colin wrote:We get lots of people driving BMW, Volvo, and any sort of 4 wheel drive you can think of (never mind the designer clothes, watches, etc) who think Dawes bikes are "far too expensive!"

Its the "perceived value" of bikes thats the problem....so many outlets selling BSO's for silly money.

Also, somebody said already, they have "lost the ability to wield an allen key". A decent secondhand bike is better than a new BSO.

That's because they have a big posh car and a bicycle isn't transport to them. If it was their transport they may invest more in it.

My son is riding from John O Groats to Lands End on his Boardman bike.

This morning a piece holding the gears on snapped just South of Leominster. I took it to two bike shops in Hereford, both were very helpful but did not stock the parts, both gave the same advise to go to Halfords as only they are allowed to stock Boardman parts. The young gentleman in Halfords in Hereford said he could order the part and if the supplier has it in stock they could have it in about a week. No use at all. We have phoned two Halfords stores in Bristol, same success. The bike is less than two years old.

If you want a reliable bike for long distance cycling don't buy a Boardman.

Andrew.

Other folk make them.................this lot came up on Google......................http://www.mountainbikecomponents.co.uk/items.asp?CategoryID=364&Name=Boardman+Hanger%2FDropout