Really cheap bikes

Joel Mayes said:

I've had a volunteer at work the past couple of week working on bikes
for asylum seekers (we've got a big course comming up with ASRC)

We'll be over later today. 😉

Plodder said:

I'd say spend a few bucks more and get a reliable bike from a bike shop.
Tell them you want to store the bikes and you'll get advice on how to
protect them and ensure they work when you want them to.

I saw a Giant at the bike shop around the corner the
other day. It looked like a normal mountain/hybriddy sort
of thing, adjustable stem, good tyres. Nice looking bike I
thought, although I am certainly no expert. Price $199.

The gotcha? Single speed. An interesting product.
This could be a great bike for a holiday house, assuming
no significant hills. Eliminating the gears could significantly
reduce the maintenance. You also eliminate one of the
brake cables.

I have a bit of a soft spot for single speed bikes. I had
a really ugly old single speed when I was about 18. A
friend lent it to me to get home one night and then
didn't want it back (I suspect it was stolen). I took it to
uni and used it daily. Never locked it. It was finally
stolen (restolen?) when I left it at the college over the
Christmas break. Or maybe someone just tidied it up.

Joel Mayes said:

I've had a volunteer at work the past couple of week working on bikes
for asylum seekers (we've got a big course comming up with ASRC) she's
German/Chillian and has reasonable but limited english.

I got a bit of a suprised look when naming the tool used to true a wheel.

Oh! Have you taken over the Red Cross bike servicing while Moike is
on holidays?

BTH

Theo Bekkers said:

BT Humble said:

Travis said:

On Sep 20, 9:45 am, [email hidden] wrote:
> They sound perfect for what you want and at $70 a pop how can you go
> wrong?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Famous last words... probably spoken by people who thought their
brakes would actually work... :P

Quoted message said:

Actually, famous last words are more commonly the last words spoken by
famous people. An example would be:

Quoted message said:

"I wanna be just like my brother!" -- Bobby Kennedy.

Damn it Ben, I made a mess of my coffee.

I note that you didn't laugh at my Colin McRae remark over on
aus.motorcycles though.

BTH

BT Humble said:

Theo Bekkers said:

BT Humble wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

"I wanna be just like my brother!" -- Bobby Kennedy.

Damn it Ben, I made a mess of my coffee.

I note that you didn't laugh at my Colin McRae remark over on
aus.motorcycles though.

Something must be lacking in my humerus.

Theo

brucef said:

I saw a Giant at the bike shop around the corner the
other day. It looked like a normal mountain/hybriddy sort
of thing, adjustable stem, good tyres. Nice looking bike I
thought, although I am certainly no expert. Price $199.

The gotcha? Single speed. An interesting product.
This could be a great bike for a holiday house, assuming
no significant hills. Eliminating the gears could significantly
reduce the maintenance. You also eliminate one of the
brake cables.

I never saw a multi-speed bike when I was a youngster. Single speed with a
single back-pedal brake was the norm. No cables. Nobody ever told me they
couldn't go uphill.

Theo

Theo Bekkers said:

I never saw a multi-speed bike when I was a youngster. Single speed with a
single back-pedal brake was the norm. No cables. Nobody ever told me they
couldn't go uphill.

Theo, weren't you raised in the Netherlands?

brucef said:

Theo Bekkers wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I never saw a multi-speed bike when I was a youngster. Single speed
with a single back-pedal brake was the norm. No cables. Nobody ever
told me they couldn't go uphill.

Quoted message said:

Theo, weren't you raised in the Netherlands?

Until I was ten. Were you asleep in geography or do you really believe there
are no hills in Holland? Even by the time I was 20 three speed Sturmey
Archers were still esoteric equipment. As to derailliers...... Wow!

Theo

In aus.bicycle on Fri, 21 Sep 2007 12:57:47 +0800

Theo Bekkers said:

I never saw a multi-speed bike when I was a youngster. Single speed with a
single back-pedal brake was the norm. No cables. Nobody ever told me they
couldn't go uphill.

I rode single speeds till I was in 2nd year (year 9 to you youngsters)
when I got a 10 speed. It was one of very few 10 speeds in the school
bike shed.

Zebee

Theo Bekkers said:

Were you asleep in geography or do you really believe there
are no hills in Holland?

Be nice. The parts of Holland that I remember were pretty damn flat.

brucef said:

Theo Bekkers said:

Were you asleep in geography or do you really believe there
are no hills in Holland?

Be nice. The parts of Holland that I remember were pretty damn flat.

So is the Nullarbor. :-)
As a cyclist you should already know that it's all uphill and into the wind,
no matter where you are.

Theo

On 2007-09-20, Zebee Johnstone (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

In aus.bicycle on Thu, 20 Sep 2007 11:31:51 +1000

Pete said:

I'm looking for two cheap bikes to leave down at a holiday house near
the beach. Will mostly be ridden on sealed roads and bike tracks, and
usually only during summer and easter.

What do people think of the Huffy bikes in the latest K-Mart catalogue?

Ask BTH... he seems to be doing OK on a cheapie.

I gave away my GVBR bike. Sorry Dutchie!

--
TimC
Always carry a short length of fibre-optic cable. If you get lost, then
you can drop it on the ground, wait ten minutes, and ask the backhoe
operator how to get back to civilization. -- Mike Andrews in NANAE