Servicing BSOs
- Thread starter Woz
- Start date
Sketchyxup
Retro Guru
Re:
I've also been caught by this net of helping a friend of the wife to service his 'mountain bike' because i'm into bikes and stuff... :facepalm:
Since i've had nice ish bikes from being a yoot I'd largely forgotted the level of dross that exists at that end of the bicycle spectrum, literally nothing on it was savable. Everything yo attemted to touch had either already broken or was about to fall off in your hand, in the end I did the best I could and gave him it back. Told him it was a semi rolling death trap and the kindest thing he could do was chuck it in the skip, que a load of grief about how i didnt know what I was on about, it was a good bike because it was rrp£250 but he got it in the sale for £99 etc etc...
Never again. These sort of bikes must put more people off taking up cycling as a hobby than they encourage as an entry level step.
I've also been caught by this net of helping a friend of the wife to service his 'mountain bike' because i'm into bikes and stuff... :facepalm:
Since i've had nice ish bikes from being a yoot I'd largely forgotted the level of dross that exists at that end of the bicycle spectrum, literally nothing on it was savable. Everything yo attemted to touch had either already broken or was about to fall off in your hand, in the end I did the best I could and gave him it back. Told him it was a semi rolling death trap and the kindest thing he could do was chuck it in the skip, que a load of grief about how i didnt know what I was on about, it was a good bike because it was rrp£250 but he got it in the sale for £99 etc etc...
Never again. These sort of bikes must put more people off taking up cycling as a hobby than they encourage as an entry level step.
Re:
I'm inclined to disagree with you about that. Sure, nothing wrong with screw on hubs for track/single speed and fixed wheel, but 6 and 7 speed freewheels have the problem that the right side bearing is quite a way inboard of where the axle is supported by the dropout.
When I was teenager, and a fair bit lighter than I am now and cassettes were yet to be available, I used to break a fair few rear axles and it would always be at the point where the right rear bearing was. Admittedly, this stopped when I saved enough Saturday job money to buy a decent set of wheels with some nice Campagnolo hubs. However, given the quality of the components on the bikes we're talking about here, it's unlikely that the axles are going to be Campagnolo quality.
With regard to threaded headsets, threadless are just so much easier to set up than threaded, none of that mucking about with nuts, lock nuts and two big spanners. Given the way these £99.99 specials are thrown together, anything requiring the finesse necessary to get threaded headset set up "just so" is a recipe for disaster.
New bicycles being sold with components like 6 speed freewheels and threaded headsets should ring alarm bells, but I guess your "non cyclist" customer just isn't aware that these things are old technology. I wonder if those same people would happily buy cars with drum brakes, leaf springs and lap belts.
I'm inclined to disagree with you about that. Sure, nothing wrong with screw on hubs for track/single speed and fixed wheel, but 6 and 7 speed freewheels have the problem that the right side bearing is quite a way inboard of where the axle is supported by the dropout.
When I was teenager, and a fair bit lighter than I am now and cassettes were yet to be available, I used to break a fair few rear axles and it would always be at the point where the right rear bearing was. Admittedly, this stopped when I saved enough Saturday job money to buy a decent set of wheels with some nice Campagnolo hubs. However, given the quality of the components on the bikes we're talking about here, it's unlikely that the axles are going to be Campagnolo quality.
With regard to threaded headsets, threadless are just so much easier to set up than threaded, none of that mucking about with nuts, lock nuts and two big spanners. Given the way these £99.99 specials are thrown together, anything requiring the finesse necessary to get threaded headset set up "just so" is a recipe for disaster.
New bicycles being sold with components like 6 speed freewheels and threaded headsets should ring alarm bells, but I guess your "non cyclist" customer just isn't aware that these things are old technology. I wonder if those same people would happily buy cars with drum brakes, leaf springs and lap belts.
- Feedback
- View
Re:
Spend a mere few quid on an old Saracen/Marin and the likes, will ride better and last longer, I have TRIED to convince my neighbour of this :facepalm:
Spend a mere few quid on an old Saracen/Marin and the likes, will ride better and last longer, I have TRIED to convince my neighbour of this :facepalm:
- Feedback
- View
Re: Re:
Bad comparison with cars. They are under a far more strict safety regime with millions of pounds of development before they are even allowed near a public road. All that millions can be blown by a cheap set of pads where they are not to standards and the material comes off the pad itself...
Cars are widely available with drum brakes and there were plenty of vehicles with leaf springs, especially commercial vehicles as late as 2010.
Your experience of freewheels and threaded headsets wont match that of others. IRD still do quality freewheels, these mated to Campagnolo or even most Shimano hubs of old will give decades of service. Mavic Dakar MTB hubs are screw-on and are more than capable. Hope even had the option.
Its only at the low and BSO end of things do your troubles crop up - especially when 8 and even 9spd freehweels were lobbed on to cheap GT's and so on. You need to understand it the materials involved and not the methods used.
Hubs are pretty benign but as soon as you make these out of steel instead of aluminium, you get the hub flanges eating into the spokes after a few months - a Favourite of Giant on their popular 2011 entry level range of MTB and Hybrids - £220 and £300 bikes coming back in after a few rides with broken spokes.
2011 Mongoose bikes at around £350, a really popular model with discs and 'spenshun but the worlds shittiest aheadset that would simply stretch and undo itself because it was made from monkey metal.
So its not how things are done, its the cheapest nastiest materials used from plastic brake levers to pressed steel chainsets that cause the problems.
xerxes":1qiup01w said:
Bad comparison with cars. They are under a far more strict safety regime with millions of pounds of development before they are even allowed near a public road. All that millions can be blown by a cheap set of pads where they are not to standards and the material comes off the pad itself...
Cars are widely available with drum brakes and there were plenty of vehicles with leaf springs, especially commercial vehicles as late as 2010.
Your experience of freewheels and threaded headsets wont match that of others. IRD still do quality freewheels, these mated to Campagnolo or even most Shimano hubs of old will give decades of service. Mavic Dakar MTB hubs are screw-on and are more than capable. Hope even had the option.
Its only at the low and BSO end of things do your troubles crop up - especially when 8 and even 9spd freehweels were lobbed on to cheap GT's and so on. You need to understand it the materials involved and not the methods used.
Hubs are pretty benign but as soon as you make these out of steel instead of aluminium, you get the hub flanges eating into the spokes after a few months - a Favourite of Giant on their popular 2011 entry level range of MTB and Hybrids - £220 and £300 bikes coming back in after a few rides with broken spokes.
2011 Mongoose bikes at around £350, a really popular model with discs and 'spenshun but the worlds shittiest aheadset that would simply stretch and undo itself because it was made from monkey metal.
So its not how things are done, its the cheapest nastiest materials used from plastic brake levers to pressed steel chainsets that cause the problems.
Joe_Rides
Senior Retro Guru
Re:
Had a similar experience recently,
A family friend had pulled 2 bikes out of a skip and wanted to make 1 good one :? - a modern BSO (mtb) and a 1980's Raleigh Sirocco. Both very rusty and tired.
Having looked over the BSO, I didn't know you could buy a bike that cheap and low in specification! So I just gave it to the scrap man.
Only thing I kept were the handle bars, which I transferred onto the Raleigh (it had drops and the guy wanted flat bars). The Raleigh cleaned up nicely, I spent a lot of time fettling it and using random parts to get it rolling, but it turned out ok in the end.
I've bought decent quality branded, low milage bikes for friends for £15 off gumtree. It's ridiculous that people still go to Halfords and buy this sort of thing for £200+.
Had a similar experience recently,
A family friend had pulled 2 bikes out of a skip and wanted to make 1 good one :? - a modern BSO (mtb) and a 1980's Raleigh Sirocco. Both very rusty and tired.
Having looked over the BSO, I didn't know you could buy a bike that cheap and low in specification! So I just gave it to the scrap man.
Only thing I kept were the handle bars, which I transferred onto the Raleigh (it had drops and the guy wanted flat bars). The Raleigh cleaned up nicely, I spent a lot of time fettling it and using random parts to get it rolling, but it turned out ok in the end.
I've bought decent quality branded, low milage bikes for friends for £15 off gumtree. It's ridiculous that people still go to Halfords and buy this sort of thing for £200+.
- Feedback
- View
cce":1emxhbya said:
There you go.
Eight whole pounds for a 'bicycle'...
:facepalm:
<runs screaming from the room>
- Feedback
- View
cce":2xdaf8n2 said:
I once paid more than that for a cup of tea.
Cake was also involved.
Re: Re:
I'm just quoting this massive
understatement because I like it
a lot and have had some wine.
Likewise, I was "raised" with decent components as a kid; hell
my paper boy bike was built with
cast offs from 70s,80s racing bikes - 531 tubes, Campag, Mafac, Gipeimme, Mallard, Simplex, Stronglight etc.
so admittidly dealing with utter
shit material quality and disturbing manufacturing tolerances was never an issue.
xerxes":1xroxdu9 said:
I'm just quoting this massive
understatement because I like it
a lot and have had some wine.
Likewise, I was "raised" with decent components as a kid; hell
my paper boy bike was built with
cast offs from 70s,80s racing bikes - 531 tubes, Campag, Mafac, Gipeimme, Mallard, Simplex, Stronglight etc.
so admittidly dealing with utter
shit material quality and disturbing manufacturing tolerances was never an issue.
