Education We Like to Ride Bicycles

got them working!

both brakes are on the highest tension hole (on any of the lesser ones there wasnt enough force to move the pads away from the rims)

after much adjusting of the screws i have them both working reasonably well. occasionally one seems to stay on a bit, but i can live with that.

time to buy another set for the rear now and i can have decent brakes that dont squeak and work properly at both ends!

cheers for the advice guys!

 

Jealous! I was lent one for a day by my LBS and it was awesome. One of the guys in the shop described it perfectly. "The Hustler goes over anything, whether you want it to or not."

 

My soon to be new bike

Forks are Fox 32 Van's 140mm, these have blue spring in at the moment but I need to get a green spring for them really - going to send these to mojo's for a service and get them to put a stiffer spring in. Wheels are mavic crossmax enduro, one of the vinyls is really crappy as can be seen in this picture, but the spokes are all tight and the wheels are true, my friend only rode on them for about 3 months. Frame is a medium 17.5, has a bit of chain rub as his chain used to fall off alot apparently, before he was using a blackspire. 160 + 180mm rotors and mounts and a raceface headset.

Looking forward to the end of the month when I can afford to kit it out.

 

I'm thinking about getting a Trek Remedy, I was going to port all the bits over from my Trance, but most of it won't go without fiddling, rear hub is 142mm not 135 that I have, brakes would need post to IS adapter on forks, Saint is 9spd and the Remedy runs 10spd, would be okay, but the chainset won't take a double ring plus bashguard. So I might just keep the bars and stem, dunno.

I'm not in it to rip someone off, I work in a bike shop, so I paid trade price + VAT, but I'd like to know a total without this affecting it. I already have an idea of what I'd like to sell it for, and personally I think it's a good buy at that price.

So, would anyone in here care to hit me with their estimations on what I could sell my bike for?

Frame: 2007 Giant Trance (small) new as of sept 2011, Fox Float R shock,
Forks: 2007ish Rock Shox Revelations,
Wheels / Tires: Handbuild Spank Subrosa rims on Hope Pro II hubs (front QR, rear 10mm Bolt In), Kenda Small Block 8's
Brakes: 2004 Hope Mono M4's,
Shifter: Shimano Saint 9spd,
R Mech: Shimano Saint SS,
Chainset: Shimano Saint 36t (inc bash, not fitted) / Shimano Saint BB / Turvativ Chain Guide
Cassette: Shimano 9spd road block / 9spd chain,
Seatpost / Saddle: Giant generic post / Charge Spoon saddle (probably swap this out, I love it)
Bars / Stem: ODI FlightControl chopped down / Odi FLightControl 50mm
Pedals: DMR V8

 

How old is the frame? The Hustler I tried had a different looking top suspension link?

 

Has different vinyls too - I'm fairly sure it's an 09 frame, as the cable clips etc. have all moved to the bottom of the top tube, as models before that they were on the top, but it's not as new as the one with the reduced weight top suspension assembly.

 

I just ordered a torque wrench, a bunch of sockets for it and a 16t bottom bracket removing tool. I think I have the bug. I might get some new wheels for my road bike now that I have all the right kit to do it properly.

I might be slowly turning into Malvolio

But I still use a mallet for some of the finer adjustments to my beater, something I'm sure he wouldn't approve of

 

I actually use loads of my car mechanics tools on my bike. Cant say ive used my hammers on the bike though... yet

 

Then you're bike has never been broken enough

Only way I could get the freewheel off my single speed was to attack the end of the (very long) spanner with a mallet.

 

A good snipe (noob-tube, cheaters pipe, extension, a chunk of pipe ect) will beat the pants off a mallet any day. Control, power, and less damage to your expensive tools. Example below of typical hammer-spanner interaction.

 

Woop woop a working rear brake. I just ended up buying a Shimano RB-M486 brake for 19 EUR.. new pads for the old one would've set me back 24 EUR

The weather has been perfect and I just learned that they're actually riding winter DH in here... Too bad I've had yet another goddamn flu.

Also still loving the bike every time I go for a ride, it's just such a shame someone has painted it disgustingly ugly. Thinking of getting it painted pink, with the linkage back to brushed aluminum.

 

A breaker bar may help shift it. I only really used the mallet to pop the old headset out of the head tube (using a sawn off bit of steerer tube as a home-made tool for the job). And to chisel out a bit of quill stem that snapped off in the head tube of a different bike, photos of that somewhere a long way back in this thread

edit: http://i.imgur.com/nVtie.jpg?1

Wow, that spanner must have taken a lot of abuse. I had to screw a spanner to a 1.5m long plank of 2x4" to provide enough torque to remove my pedals. It required some interesting mounting of the bike to get the right angle on it but it worked!

 

Quite, but if all you've got is a mallet...

Rule one of wood work, never hit metal chisels with a metal mallet all ways use a good quality hardwood tool. I used one of my older wooden mallets, too deformed to control chisel but still heavy enough to loosen the stuck part.

 

Hi all,

I started a thread about buying a cheap bike and Cookie Monster suggested I post in this thread. Anyway, original post:

I'll be riding a total of about 18 miles a day entirely on road and I'm 5 foot 9.

Cheers!

 

Before looking at super cheap bikes (as with every buy cheap buy twice), ask at your work see if they run the Cycle to work scheme if so they you get a far better bike which you pay for out of your wages before tax, win win.

 

Brilliant ride today out in the woods, id share some photos but Photobucket is broken at the mo. Couple of issues came to light during the ride though.

My fingers are shredded i had half mitts on and the woods round here are covered in some really thickly spiked bush . Can anyone recommend a set that will take a lot of scraping?

My rear tyre was shocking its only a cheap Schwalbe Black jack so i wasnt expecting miracles but every time it got a bit boggy I had no grip what so ever.

Last one, my rear brake was overheating a fair bit. Im going to swap out the pads which were the semi metal sintered for a fresh set but would it be worth looking at a new rotor or even going up a size from the 160 thats on there now?

 

I didn't htink it was even possible to make a bike that cheap.

On the one hand it seems too cheap and might fall apart - on the other at that price can you go wrong? You can just upgrade to a nice bike if you are using it a lot and only lose £140.

 

I'll be honest here: though i can understand the drive to purchase something on the cheap, what I cannot understand is the thought process behind wanting to use said cheap item well beyond it's intended functionality.

Understand that all three of the bicycles you've listed are entirely designed for impulse purchases by people who, first of all, don't really want to ride (they just think they do), and secondly those who don't really understand the concept of a bicycle beyond that of a child's toy. All three that you've linked to should be considered as the most basic of basic bikes, and all should be considered disposable - unfortunately.

If you should decide to purchase one expect the following: discomfort from poor geometry, discomfort from poor quality/designed components (the bars and seat absolutely will not be something you enjoy), components that only stay in tune for the shortest amount of time, components that fail almost immediately, components that won't function all that well straight out of the box and actively discourage you from riding, a hefty price tag when you bring it in for repair but ending up with a "repaired" bicycle that is very much functionally the same as when you took it in. How you should think of this purchase is along the same lines as "getting your feet wet" before you go swimming, only your using a bucket of chum to dip your feet in before jumping into a warm ocean.

For sizing it isn't as simple as "Your height is ___? Then you need ___ size frame!". Doesn't work like that, despite what some rather incredulous manufacturers would have you believe. To give you some idea of flexibility in sizing I'll use myself as an example: I'm not a whole heck of a lot taller than you, but dependant upon manufacturer, model, and purpose I typically ride between a 54cm and a 58cm - though I've had bigger and smaller than even this range for specific purposes. Best bet? Go into a local shop and get sized up on a bike, note down specifics about the bike (if it's a 54cm frame say, what is the seat tube and top tube length? How long is the stem? How much seatpost is exposed?) then match these measurements up to a potential bike you are looking to buy. Though if you're set on a sub-£150 bike there won't be much variety, as most of the framesets you'll find that these bikes use will all be made from an identical template - so it is going to be extremely hit and miss.

To be honest, with the amount you plan to ride, I would recommend looking into a cycle to work scheme and saving up a bit more cash, going for a bike that will better suit what you are looking to do so that it hopefully won't immediately fall apart on you. Also keep in mind that there is always a very large second-hand market out there with plenty of deals to be had - but do not be afraid to ask those in the know before you plonk down your hard earned! Lemons are everywhere. As a great example of utilizing used bikes well: those three bikes you listed? They're based very heavily on older, 80's style road bikes which can be had for a tenner in the used market - but are typically much sturdier and better equipped for actual use than a new counterpart.

Moral of this post: keep your options open and do your best not to purchase any of the bikes you listed.

 

They are all what I refer to as BSOs. Bike Shaped Objects. Avoid, you will get no enjoyment from riding them and you'll incorrectly think that you don't like riding.

 

I will quote my post from a few pages back when I was looking for new tyres. I tried them for the first time yesterday and they were a definite step up from the Rapid Robs I had before. The back slid a bit in the thick mud and patches of snow I encountered but the front was brilliant.