cell bikes

microsnot said:

Looking for an entry level (cheap'ish) bike and found the following on
ebay. Seems like good value but has anyone ever had any experience with
Cell bikes?

That's a very odd looking frame (not *necessarily* a bad thing though).
For that price, it's come out of an anonymous factory in China or
Taiwan and is just someone's own brand name they've whacked on the
frame.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/New-20-speed-105-racing-bike-super-frame-great-value_W0QQitemZ7247172408QQcategoryZ7298QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Quoted message said:

http://www.cellbikes.com.au/

Can anyone else recommend a bike for under $1,300?

Roadbike? Sure - Trek 1000 (Sora) Trek 1200 (Tiagra), Giant anonymous
somethingorother, Learsport, Inexa something ... Buy one from a LBS
and they'll set it up for you, make sure it fits, support it with parts
etc. May not be something you need, but be aware of what LBS's offer
than ebay vendors don't.

I've popped down to a couple of LBS but they've been fairly busy. Might
pop out to a bike shop in the suburbs instead of the city.

The advice I keep getting from people who ride (at work) is that I
should probably start off with a 2nd bike with decent components and
frame (this pretty much meant Tiagra minimum). I'm still trying to
learn all the lingo 😄 Would a 2 year old Trek 1400 be any better than
a new Trek 1200 or are they blowing smoke up my [censored]? Buying 2nd hand
would mean I have a few hundred more for repairs and service (if
needed)

Quoted message said:

Roadbike? Sure - Trek 1000 (Sora) Trek 1200 (Tiagra), Giant anonymous
somethingorother, Learsport, Inexa something ... Buy one from a LBS
and they'll set it up for you, make sure it fits, support it with parts
etc. May not be something you need, but be aware of what LBS's offer
than ebay vendors don't.

microsnot said:

I've popped down to a couple of LBS but they've been fairly busy. Might
pop out to a bike shop in the suburbs instead of the city.

The advice I keep getting from people who ride (at work) is that I
should probably start off with a 2nd bike with decent components and
frame (this pretty much meant Tiagra minimum). I'm still trying to
learn all the lingo 😄 Would a 2 year old Trek 1400 be any better than
a new Trek 1200 or are they blowing smoke up my [censored]? Buying 2nd hand
would mean I have a few hundred more for repairs and service (if
needed)

You can definitely get a better bike second hand, but be careful to
check out the components. My second hand Trek 2300 is a nice bike, but
the wheels are worn out and I'm not sure how long the groupset is going
to last. Add on the cost of replacement wheels (of equal quality) and
a new Ultegra groupset and the price is not much different to what I
would have paid for a new Trek 2000, which would come with a lifetime
frame warranty etc.

However Ebay does have quite a few bikes which have done almost no
riding at all, from people who just went out and splurged on a mid to
high end bike and then realised they don't really like riding much (or
were shocked to find that buying an expensive bike doesn't guarantee
that you'll be able to go faster than some old codger on a crappy
mountain bike who is much fitter).

Travis