Obscure eBay bikes

Quoted message said:

There are some very cheap new bikes on eBay like this one:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180176151189&_trksid=p3907.m32&_trkparms=tab%3DWatching

Has anybody heard of these? I'm looking to get a road bike to get
started and was hoping to get a cheap-n-cheerful second hand job, but
often these new no-name bikes are cheaper. Any thoughts?

98% positive feedback, 2% negative.
http://www.toolhaus.org/cgi-bin/negs?User=trp-uk-improved&Dirn=Received+by

Also there are a lot of neutrals, and withdrawn feedback.

I would be very wary of buying a bike cheap from a box shifter on ebay,
there is a good possibility it is a BSO (see feedback above).

Martin.

Quoted message said:

There are some very cheap new bikes on eBay like this one:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180176151189&_trksid=p3907.m32&_trkparms=tab%3DWatching

Has anybody heard of these? I'm looking to get a road bike to get
started and was hoping to get a cheap-n-cheerful second hand job, but
often these new no-name bikes are cheaper. Any thoughts?

The components are very basic - the Tourney shifters are entry (fake MTB)
thumb shifters mounted on the handlebars (can be seen in the picture),
typical of catelogue BSO machines.
Are they really using a 27in wheel (as described) and not 700c ? Because if
they are, tyres are getting hard to find in anything but 27x1.25in, which is
a bit fat for a "race" bike.
They haven't a clue about assembly; the brake hoods are in the wrong place
on those bars.
No quoted frame dimensions, 20in could apply to almost any measurement.
Ignore the claimed retail price, have you ever seen one in a bike shop ? And
£449 for a bike with Tourney shifters when you can expect decent STI in 20
speed, (at least Sora), a carbon fork, and a brand name frame even in a
"full price" LBS.

Ultimately, depends "how much" and "how desperate you are", they seem to
close bidding at around £60, which is BSO territory.
Personally, I'd look elsewhere, perhaps the own-brand names of the big
outlets (Wiggle, Evans, Edinburgh, Halfords, etc), or the s/hand columns.
For example, Halfords have a "Carrera" branded racer at £225, with 16 speed
STI shifters, steel forks (sensible given the budget rules out carbon),
alloy frame.

- Nigel

--
Nigel Cliffe,
Webmaster at http://www.2mm.org.uk/

Quoted message said:

Has anybody heard of these? I'm looking to get a road bike to get
started and was hoping to get a cheap-n-cheerful second hand job, but
often these new no-name bikes are cheaper. Any thoughts?

Just look at that picture and where the brake levers have been put...

Also claiming at 440 pound RRP is bollocks, to put it politely.

I'd avoid.

--
Arthur Clune PGP/GPG Key: http://www.clune.org/pubkey.txt
The struggle of people against power is the struggle
of memory against forgetting - Milan Kundera

Arthur Clune said:

Also claiming at 440 pound RRP is bollocks, to put it politely.

Oh, I don't know... I mean, according to sales law it must be
/technically/ possible to buy a sofa from DFS that isn't in their sale
(but quite how one would actually go about it I wouldn't know!) ;-/

Quoted message said:

I'd avoid.

Indeed.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

[email hidden] said the following on 05/11/2007 13:42:

Quoted message said:

Has anybody heard of these? I'm looking to get a road bike to get
started and was hoping to get a cheap-n-cheerful second hand job, but
often these new no-name bikes are cheaper. Any thoughts?

Don't. That particular seller is also lying - you can buy the bike
direct for 159 euros, not £450. They're trying to make out it's better
than it is, and if they think they need to do that it isn't a good sign.
See http://tinyurl.com/269ms6

27" wheels are a bit old-fashioned these days, and tyres are harder to
find. Also, a 20" frame is a bit on the small size for many adults -
how tall are you? How does this particular manufacturer measure frame size?

If you really did want to buy that bike, do you know enough about bikes
to be able to turn the loosely assembled box of bits that will arrive
into a useable bike? My own experience of having to set up cheap
box-shifter bikes is that they need a lot of work doing to them before
they can even be ridden. I've even had to true wheels so they would
turn in the frame and set the brakes up so that the blocks hit the rims.

IMO, you'll be better buying a reasonable second-hand bike. Although
I'm an eBay enthusiast generally, I wouldn't by a S/H bike from there
unless I knew exactly what I wanted, and that what I wanted fits.

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

Paul Boyd said:

Don't. That particular seller is also lying - you can buy the bike
direct for 159 euros, not £450. They're trying to make out it's better
than it is, and if they think they need to do that it isn't a good sign.
See http://tinyurl.com/269ms6

159EUR also puts you in the same ballpark as the bottom-of-the-range
decathlon road bike.

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/sport-1-17603629/functionalities.html

which (if you live anywhere near a decathlon shop) may not be an
exceptionally good bike but at least they'll set it up for you and give
you the free first service.

I can understand if people don't want to buy second-hand when they're
new to cycling, though: you might get a bargain or you might get
something that's been thrashed, and unless you can take a knowledgeable
cyclist along to look at it it you don't really know which.

-dan

Quoted message said:

I can understand if people don't want to buy second-hand when they're
new to cycling, though: you might get a bargain or you might get
something that's been thrashed, and unless you can take a knowledgeable
cyclist along to look at it it you don't really know which.

Find out if there's a community bike re-cycle-r (they tend to have
witty names...) in your area. If you can get a suitable bike from one
of these places it's likely to have been looked over by a competent
bike mechanic and be serviceable. Quality varies hugely, but is often
better than you might expect (good bikes fix up better than cheap
ones) and it's unlikely to be state of the art, but I've seen some
excellent machines on sale for little money (Raleigh Record Ace, 12
speed, 531 frame etc, £80; Dawes road bike (can't remember the model)
531 again, £45).
Talk to someone there and they'll often be able to help you, even if
they don't have what you want Right Now.

Cheers,
W.

(Arthur Clune) said:

Quoted message said:

Has anybody heard of these? I'm looking to get a road bike to get
started and was hoping to get a cheap-n-cheerful second hand job, but
often these new no-name bikes are cheaper. Any thoughts?

Just look at that picture and where the brake levers have been put...

Also claiming at 440 pound RRP is bollocks, to put it politely.

I'd avoid.

--
Arthur Clune PGP/GPG Key:http://www.clune.org/pubkey.txt
The struggle of people against power is the struggle
of memory against forgetting - Milan Kundera

I'll second that statement. The valves are Schraeder <sp?> valves, not
the expected prestas, and the wide section of the seat tube is not
where it will do any good. I think I'll log into eBay and post a
complaint.

David Lloyd

David Lloyd said:

I'll second that statement. The valves are Schraeder <sp?> valves, not
the expected prestas

While I personally prefer prestas it's really a matter of preference for
the most part, and makes no /real/ difference. Either one can take and
hold high pressures, so I don't think it's something worth complaining
about.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Peter Clinch said:

Quoted message said:

I'll second that statement. The valves are Schraeder <sp?> valves, not
the expected prestas

While I personally prefer prestas it's really a matter of preference for
the most part, and makes no /real/ difference. Either one can take and
hold high pressures, so I don't think it's something worth complaining
about.

Probably true for the bike in question. For the quality rims it might be
argued that the bigger hole required for a schrader valve weakens the
rim more than necessary.

The eBay bike does appear to feature rims that have been fashionably
designed to look a bit like carbon rims. This causes the schrader valves
to protrude less than they should.

--
Membrane

Peter Clinch said:

David Lloyd said:

I'll second that statement. The valves are Schraeder <sp?> valves, not
the expected prestas

While I personally prefer prestas it's really a matter of preference for
the most part, and makes no /real/ difference. Either one can take and
hold high pressures, so I don't think it's something worth complaining
about.

If you thought you were buying a £449 road bike, any experienced bike
buyer be expecting prestas because they are the only things used on
high pressure inner tubes. Anyway, I've bounced this off eBay, so
we'll see what they think.

David Lloyd

Membrane said:

The eBay bike does appear to feature rims that have been fashionably
designed to look a bit like carbon rims. This causes the schrader valves
to protrude less than they should.

It is probably why the forks are also painted black.

David Lloyd

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden]
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

There are some very cheap new bikes on eBay like this one:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180176151189&_trksid=p3907.m32&_trkparms=tab%3DWatching

Has anybody heard of these? I'm looking to get a road bike to get
started and was hoping to get a cheap-n-cheerful second hand job, but
often these new no-name bikes are cheaper. Any thoughts?

It looks like a bike, if you're some distance away, and squint hard, in
poor light. For around £100 you can get a very useable second-hand road
bike on eBay if you know what you're doing, otherwise you really need to
go to a reputable bike shop and spend more.

On Nov 5, 1:42?pm, "[email hidden]" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

There are some very cheap new bikes on eBay like this one:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180176151189&_tr...

Has anybody heard of these? I'm looking to get a road bike to get
started and was hoping to get a cheap-n-cheerful second hand job, but
often these new no-name bikes are cheaper. Any thoughts?

Peter

Two old adages that have held me in good stead:

a) You get what you pay for, and
b) If it looks too good to be true it probably is

I'd leave well alone, sorry

Quoted message said:

Two old adages that have held me in good stead:

a) You get what you pay for, and
b) If it looks too good to be true it probably is

I'd leave well alone, sorry

It's not even that good in this case.

The bike looks rubbish and it will be rubbish.

~PB

Peter Clinch said:

David Lloyd said:

I'll second that statement. The valves are Schraeder <sp?> valves,
not the expected prestas

While I personally prefer prestas it's really a matter of preference
for the most part, and makes no /real/ difference. Either one can
take and hold high pressures, so I don't think it's something worth
complaining about.

Schraeder valves in themseves aren't that bad, but only the crummiest road
bikes ever had them (from what I can remember). It's one of many things
that rings alarm bells.

~PB

"Pete Biggs" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Schraeder valves in themseves aren't that bad, but only the crummiest road
bikes ever had them (from what I can remember). It's one of many things
that rings alarm bells.

Anyone else spot the kickstand?

Brendan
--
Brendan Halpin, Department of Sociology, University of Limerick, Ireland
Tel: w +353-61-213147 f +353-61-202569 h +353-61-338562; Room F2-025 x 3147
[email hidden] http://www.ul.ie/sociology/brendan.halpin.html

Brendan Halpin said:

"Pete Biggs" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Schraeder valves in themseves aren't that bad, but only the crummiest road
bikes ever had them (from what I can remember). It's one of many things
that rings alarm bells.

Anyone else spot the kickstand?

No. I did notice the two wheel reflectors per wheel though, these are
the first things a cyclist takes off.

Also is the handlebar stem on upside down?, or is it meant to slope
downwards?

Martin.

In article <[email hidden]>, Martin Dann
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Also is the handlebar stem on upside down?, or is it meant to slope
downwards?

You don't get a choice with a quill stem.