Subway bike reviews?

Thomas Houseman said:

So anyone got a Subway bike delivered yet?

Me.

Quoted message said:

How are they?
Cheap and nasty or value for money?

In my opinion, they're pretty much identical in specification to this
other bike of mine, so I'm expecting them to perform similarly over
the long-term:

http://www.smallsolar.org/BTH/budgetbike/

The main differences being that the Subway bike has alloy brake levers
(on plastic brackets) and pressed-steel brake V-brake calipers. Also,
it's very black:

http://www.smallsolar.org/BTH/budgetbike/BILDd023.htm

Quoted message said:

Do they need assembling? Come with tools? What's required?

I needed to:
- remove it from the box;
- fit the front wheel;
- fit the saddle;
- adjust the brake pads;
- Adjust the front wheel bearings;
- true up the front wheel (it looked as though the box had been
squashed in transit);
- adjust the rear derailleur indexing;
- lube the chain and sidestand.

It didn't come with any useful tools. At a minimum you'll need a
shifter, a #2 Phillips screwdriver and a set of allen keys.

BTH

On Mon, 25 Feb 2008 22:34:53 +1100, "Thomas Houseman"
<[email hidden]> wrote in
aus.bicycle:

Quoted message said:

So anyone got a Subway bike delivered yet?

How are they?

Cheap and nasty or value for money?

Do they need assembling? Come with tools? What's required?

Have had mine for a while.

Yes they are cheap and nasty but ideal for travelling down to the
library or shops and at $50 + $10 postage were definitely value for
money.

From memory the assembly required was to put on the pedals, front
wheel and the handlebars. The latter also needed adjusting in the stem
as did the brakes and the gears.

The chainwheel gears are friction rather than SIS. One piece crank,
stupid 'ding' bell and a stand.

No tools provided but the usual booklet.

I think it is a one size fits all - I am 6ft and it was OK to adjust
for my height though I have a bad back so I prefer to sit more upright
than the average cyclist.

What can I say it? is not a patch on my 10 year old Shogun Metro SE or
my even older Shogun Samuri (that I can no longer ride because of my
back) but as value for money for quick trips to the shops etc it is
pretty good.

Regards
Harold

Tantum religio potuit suadere malorum - Lucretius

BT Humble said:

Thomas Houseman said:

Do they need assembling? Come with tools? What's required?

I needed to:
- remove it from the box;
- fit the front wheel;
- fit the saddle;
- adjust the brake pads;
- Adjust the front wheel bearings;
- true up the front wheel (it looked as though the box had been
squashed in transit);
- adjust the rear derailleur indexing;
- lube the chain and sidestand.

It didn't come with any useful tools. At a minimum you'll need a
shifter, a #2 Phillips screwdriver and a set of allen keys.

So we'll be seeing a load of them at the next council kerbside rubbish
collection then? How many people would do all that was required above
(or even be capable of doing)? I have a feeling that it might put a
lot of people off cycling - "This bike's useless, it's wobbly, the
brakes are bad and the gears don't change properly" which might
translate to "Bikes are useless, I'll stick to the car/bus/whatever."

Graeme

Graeme Dods said:

BT Humble said:

I needed to:
- remove it from the box;
- fit the front wheel;
- fit the saddle;
- adjust the brake pads;
- Adjust the front wheel bearings;
- true up the front wheel (it looked as though the box had been
squashed in transit);
- adjust the rear derailleur indexing;
- lube the chain and sidestand.

Quoted message said:

It didn't come with any useful tools. At a minimum you'll need a
shifter, a #2 Phillips screwdriver and a set of allen keys.

So we'll be seeing a load of them at the next council kerbside rubbish
collection then?

Someone grab one for me in that case!

Quoted message said:

Graeme Dods said:

So we'll be seeing a load of them at the next council kerbside rubbish
collection then?

Someone grab one for me in that case!

I think I'm getting too fussy with the kerbside bikes. The last one I
got is good, but a wee bit on the small side (fixed by a stupidly long
seat post). I'm 6'2" and I've decided that unless it's a decent size
it gets left for someone else. Unfortunately it only seems to be short-
arses who throw their bikes out :-(

Graeme

Graeme Dods said:

I think I'm getting too fussy with the kerbside bikes. The last one I
got is good, but a wee bit on the small side (fixed by a stupidly long
seat post). I'm 6'2" and I've decided that unless it's a decent size
it gets left for someone else. Unfortunately it only seems to be short-
arses who throw their bikes out :-(

Graeme

I've got a nice tall-person frame for 27" wheels that might suit you
then. I'm only 5'11" and it's a wee bit snug in the crotchal area
when I'm standing over the top tube. ;-)

BTH

Graeme Dods said:

Quoted message said:

I needed to:
- remove it from the box;
- fit the front wheel;
- fit the saddle;
- adjust the brake pads;
- Adjust the front wheel bearings;
- true up the front wheel (it looked as though the box had been
squashed in transit);
- adjust the rear derailleur indexing;
- lube the chain and sidestand.

Quoted message said:

It didn't come with any useful tools. At a minimum you'll need a
shifter, a #2 Phillips screwdriver and a set of allen keys.

So we'll be seeing a load of them at the next council kerbside rubbish
collection then? How many people would do all that was required above
(or even be capable of doing)?

Probably not many. I thought I repeatedly made the point in my bloggy
thing that these type of bikes *can* be useful, reliable and above all
*cheap* bits of transportational equipment *IF* you're prepared to do
some learning and perform regular basic maintenance yourself.

Quoted message said:

I have a feeling that it might put a
lot of people off cycling - "This bike's useless, it's wobbly, the
brakes are bad and the gears don't change properly" which might
translate to "Bikes are useless, I'll stick to the car/bus/whatever."

Maybe. But certainly no more so than the department store 10-speeds
of yesteryear did (which cost a hell of a lot more, in inflation-
adjusted terms).

BTH

Graeme Dods said:

it gets left for someone else. Unfortunately it only seems to be short-
arses who throw their bikes out :-(

Graeme

Oh if only that was true.

Dave "shortarse" B

Graeme Dods said:

Quoted message said:

Graeme Dods said:

So we'll be seeing a load of them at the next council kerbside rubbish
collection then?

Quoted message said:

Someone grab one for me in that case!

I think I'm getting too fussy with the kerbside bikes. The last one I
got is good, but a wee bit on the small side (fixed by a stupidly long
seat post). I'm 6'2" and I've decided that unless it's a decent size
it gets left for someone else. Unfortunately it only seems to be short-
arses who throw their bikes out :-(

Graeme

At least you get kerbside bikes, out here in regional Australia we
don't have hard rubbish day. Still I did get a nice 12 speed drop bar
roadie for $15 from the shop at the rubbish tip.

On 2008-02-26, [email hidden] (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

At least you get kerbside bikes, out here in regional Australia we
don't have hard rubbish day. Still I did get a nice 12 speed drop bar
roadie for $15 from the shop at the rubbish tip.

Shop at the rubbish tip?

So you go in, scrounge around, and then they charge you for it? Gee,
I miss the good old days.

--
TimC
If my head were spinning at relativistic speeds,
it would appear to everyone else that my brane had slowed down.
-- Dan E. Macs on RHOD

On Feb 26, 3:52 pm, TimC <[email hidden]-

astro.swin.edu.au said:

On 2008-02-26, [email hidden] (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

At least you get kerbside bikes, out here in regional Australia we
don't have hard rubbish day. Still I did get a nice 12 speed drop bar
roadie for $15 from the shop at the rubbish tip.

Shop at the rubbish tip?

So you go in, scrounge around, and then they charge you for it? Gee,
I miss the good old days.

They've got one at the Armadale tip (south of Perth) and it's not bad.
They do the scrounging around for the decentish stuff and you wander
around their yard and shed to see what they've got. I got a huge, used
once canvas tent there just before Christmas for a good price. But I
must admit, I do miss the days when you could clamber over the piles
of junk in the land fill.

Graeme

Graeme Dods said:

...I got a huge, used
once canvas tent there just before Christmas for a good price.

Me too! I've cut it up to use for canvas, but interestingly the roof
of it fits quite neatly on top of my Hills Hoist.

Quoted message said:

...But I
must admit, I do miss the days when you could clamber over the piles
of junk in the land fill.

Not me! I prefer having tame dumpkeepers. ;-)

BTH

BT Humble said:

Graeme Dods said:

...I got a huge, used
once canvas tent there just before Christmas for a good price.

Me too! I've cut it up to use for canvas, but interestingly the roof
of it fits quite neatly on top of my Hills Hoist.

The one I got is too nice to cut up, when it cools down a little we're
off camping somewhere. It's already saved the day once -
http://gpdods.com/v-web/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=385

Quoted message said:

Not me! I prefer having tame dumpkeepers. ;-)

That conjures up visions of some affable troll dressed in reclaimed
thongs and a holey t-shirt, but perhaps that's just me 🙂

Graeme

On Feb 26, 5:52 pm, TimC <[email hidden]-

astro.swin.edu.au said:

On 2008-02-26, [email hidden] (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

At least you get kerbside bikes, out here in regional Australia we
don't have hard rubbish day. Still I did get a nice 12 speed drop bar
roadie for $15 from the shop at the rubbish tip.

Shop at the rubbish tip?

So you go in, scrounge around, and then they charge you for it? Gee,
I miss the good old days.

Nah, it's as Graeme describes. The piles of landfill are reduced
these days anyway since everything has to go via the recycling centre
first. There's big skips full of broken steel things, broken timber
things and boring cardboard. I eyed off the steel and timber skips
last time I was there but there was nothing worth taking.

Graeme Dods said:

BT Humble said:

Graeme Dods said:

...I got a huge, used
once canvas tent there just before Christmas for a good price.

Quoted message said:

Me too! I've cut it up to use for canvas, but interestingly the roof
of it fits quite neatly on top of my Hills Hoist.

The one I got is too nice to cut up, when it cools down a little we're
off camping somewhere. It's already saved the day once -http://gpdods.com/v-web/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=385

Nah, the one I got only cost me $10. It's one of those old-fashioned
square "scouty" tents with no floor that used 9 poles the size of
shovel handles.
(The bag of poles, pegs and guy ropes was missing, that's why it only
cost $10).

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Not me! I prefer having tame dumpkeepers. ;-)

That conjures up visions of some affable troll dressed in reclaimed
thongs and a holey t-shirt, but perhaps that's just me 🙂

Really? I was thinking more of a tweed-clad Yorkshire gamekeeper,
cracked-open double-barrelled shotgun over one arm. ;-)

BTH

BTH

BT Humble said:

Graeme Dods wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The one I got is too nice to cut up, when it cools down a little
we're
off camping somewhere. It's already saved the day once
-http://gpdods.com/v-web/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=385

Nah, the one I got only cost me $10. It's one of those old-fashioned
square "scouty" tents with no floor that used 9 poles the size of
shovel handles.
(The bag of poles, pegs and guy ropes was missing, that's why it only
cost $10).

I think I've got one of those in the ccorner of the shed somewhere. Was
complete last time I saw it.

Theo

Quoted message said:

Nah, it's as Graeme describes. The piles of landfill are reduced
these days anyway since everything has to go via the recycling centre
first. There's big skips full of broken steel things, broken timber
things and boring cardboard. I eyed off the steel and timber skips
last time I was there but there was nothing worth taking.

I wonder what conditions bicycles are in after going through the
end-of-truck compactors the contractor here uses for kerbside clean-ups.

Rate payers can phone in four a years, so if you want to kerbside
recycle, you need to be out scouring your area first thing Monday
morning. They ask you to throw out on Sundays.

Theo said:

BTHumble said:

Graeme Dods said:

The one I got is too nice to cut up, when it cools down a little
we're
off camping somewhere. It's already saved the day once
-http://gpdods.com/v-web/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=385

Quoted message said:

Nah, the one I got only cost me $10. It's one of those old-fashioned
square "scouty" tents with no floor that used 9 poles the size of
shovel handles.
(The bag of poles, pegs and guy ropes was missing, that's why it only
cost $10).

I think I've got one of those in the ccorner of the shed somewhere. Was
complete last time I saw it.

Theo

If you need a spare roof for it, let me know. ;-)

BTH

"Graeme Dods" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

BT Humble said:

Graeme Dods said:

...I got a huge, used
once canvas tent there just before Christmas for a good price.

Me too! I've cut it up to use for canvas, but interestingly the roof
of it fits quite neatly on top of my Hills Hoist.

The one I got is too nice to cut up, when it cools down a little we're
off camping somewhere. It's already saved the day once -
http://gpdods.com/v-web/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=385

Quoted message said:

Not me! I prefer having tame dumpkeepers. ;-)

That conjures up visions of some affable troll dressed in reclaimed
thongs and a holey t-shirt, but perhaps that's just me 🙂

Awfully close to reality at a couple of tips I've been to.