crap bikes - discuss...

[We_are_Stevo]

What've crap bikes got to do with athletics anyway? I always preferred the shot put myself... :?

 

[Deleted member 71366]

I bought a second hand rigid Apollo about 2001 to use a commuter bike, (similar to the one in the photo) converted it to a 1x 5 using an alloy crankset making it considerably lighter and probably put some v brakes on it if I recall correctly. I bought it cos I knew it wouldn't get nicked. Although it has long been sent to that recycle centre in the sky I thoroughly enjoyed riding that bike, it was bombproof and I wish I still had it as a run around. As a bike or BSO as everyone likes to call it, it carried out its job undeterred by the punishment I gave it despite all the criticism thrown at them on this forum. I admit the standard components leave a lot to be desired, but some cheap upgrades makes this bike more than capable for me.

I may be old fashioned by still riding a rigid bike, but i love 'em. Keep it simple and love what you have.

 

[Hotwheels.]

I bought a second hand rigid Apollo about 2001 to use a commuter bike, (similar to the one in the photo) converted it to a 1x 5 using an alloy crankset making it considerably lighter and probably put some v brakes on it if I recall correctly. I bought it cos I knew it wouldn't get nicked. Although it has long been sent to that recycle centre in the sky I thoroughly enjoyed riding that bike, it was bombproof and I wish I still had it as a run around. As a bike or BSO as everyone likes to call it, it carried out its job undeterred by the punishment I gave it despite all the criticism thrown at them on this forum. I admit the standard components leave a lot to be desired, but some cheap upgrades makes this bike more than capable for me.

I may be old fashioned by still riding a rigid bike, but i love 'em. Keep it simple and love what you have.

View attachment 543634

Holy guacamole, a 9 year bump!!
Well done.

 

[Magpiegifts]

Lol

 

[velomaniac]

Long past threads will revive lots due to the similar posts section at the bottom of each page on the new look system. Nearly got me a few times in the last month. You see the big title but you don't spot the small date.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

With all these people bashing Rockhoppers, I think I will just be quiet about how awesome my crap Hardrock has been for the last 25 years.

 

[CassidyAce]

With all these people bashing Rockhoppers, I think I will just be quiet about how awesome my crap Hardrock has been for the last 25 years.

I voted for your Hardrock in blue collar BOTM some time back. Those folks who think a Hardrock is crap really haven't explored thoroughly enough just how crap a crap bike can be. Back in the 90s, although I often cycled on a road bike, I had no interest in mountain bikes, until 99 when I got a dead cheap, secondhand MTB and ditched the road bike. I remember the guy in the shop telling me he didn't know what the MTB was: 'perhaps Polish and feels like it's made of cast iron'. He wasn't wrong about it feeling like it was made of cast iron: very, very heavy. Riding that thing was a grim slog. And it put me off cycling for years. So, I'd say that a crap bike is a bike that functions as a cycling deterrent.

 

[grogee]

Suppose we have to start by defining 'crap' - does this mean it fails to meet a bicycle's design brief? Supermarket bikes are meant to be cheap, so they've ticked that box.

The things that are interesting to me are where they're not cheap but still manage to fail in some regard. The one that jumps into my head with this thread is the Kirk magnesium - it's not cheap, but it's also not light. It's interesting to me as an engineering 'dead end' - I can't think of another cast magnesium frame. Although I'm sure there are plenty of cast magnesium parts on modern Sus frames.

I've not had the pleasure myself but I've not read much positive love for Trek Y-frame, so perhaps another example of getting it wrong.

My second bike was an Apollo Blizzard, 15 speed with steel rims... horrible but I still did some miles on it. My mates had those Raleigh pink things that were pretty much the same gruel. Were they crap? Yes. Did we have fun anyway? Also yes.

 

[legrandefromage]

maybe the post at the top of page one will go someway to explain what a crap bicycle is in the context of this thread.

 

[onyerbike531]

I had an activator when I was a kid and I can confirm it was crap. The pedal fell off mine on one of my first rides, the forks might as well of been rigid, it was very heavy from what I remember.
Now has anyone ever got hold of one, swapped out the components for half decent ones, I'm picturing some black Rockshox Indy C instead of the fake sus forks and a decent wheel set?
Could it be done, you know just for s***s and giggles?