Cheap mountain bikes off ebay

steve said:

Many people are buying bikes from ebay and although the prices are
cheap they probably will have many problems due to assembly and cheap
parts.

Can people comment on how they have found the bikes that have been
bought so far , to give warning and advice to others.

Also comment on parts such as shocks providing information on which
ones appear to give the best performance.

When I was working in a bike shop, we had a few of these bikes brought for a service. I can't tell you which part of them was worst, as everything was terrible. Even worse than K-Mart bikes. Far too heavy for what they are (we weighed one at 22kg!), and everything on them is absolutely as cheap as can be.

If you're going to buy on ebay buy a name brand, or better still go into your LBS and talk to them first.

A fella at work bought one of these before Christmas and had it
delivered to the office. He brought it in to me to give an opinion. It
was a complete pig, but I had to hum and ha and not tell him he'd
chucked his money away.

Donga

I have just picked up an Atomik Alpha MTB.
I will keep you informed of any problems experienced.
I was pleased to see that they use a normal spoke pattern (32 spokes)
instead of what looks like a less than ideal 24 spoke pattern in the
picture.
I always take the idea with these Chinese products that they are a kit
of parts that you assemble ,modify and replace as required.
No complaints so far and probably good value for money as I would get
bored and break an expensive bike (or myself) anyway.

I think feedback on these bikes will help improve the bikes for
everyone and allow the importers and manufacturers to work out where
their products are deficient and need to be improved.
A review of these cheap bikes could be helpful or a warning to others.

steve said:

slice....

I think feedback on these bikes will help improve the bikes for
everyone and allow the importers and manufacturers to work out where
their products are deficient and need to be improved.
A review of these cheap bikes could be helpful or a warning to others.

ummmm.... inclined to think manufacturers/importers aim to deliver component standard commensurate with dollar cost/profit. ( some may sell what they can to as many punters as are out there and run...but sure there are reputable operations on line which offer very good value for money... and some shonks too.)

You get what you pay for and that is why LBS's exist, and will continue for yonks, they can service your needs better and in the end save you money...the warning is buyer beware...so do some research, get to know what you need and what is available to meet that need and your budget...if you buy online, know that the risk is yours and you may be dissappointed...and may have limited or no recourse.