The decline of European manufacturing and the rise of the BSO

[bikeworkshop]

We usually laugh at hub and bb quality of bikes destined to be sold online.
An "XT groupset" frequently includes a disposable fsa chainset with bb bearings you wouldn't bother fitting from new, and matching peppergrinder headset you can't even get decent bearings for if you wanted

 

[Takingabreak]

We usually laugh at hub and bb quality of bikes destined to be sold online.
An "XT groupset" frequently includes a disposable fsa chainset with bb bearings you wouldn't bother fitting from new, and matching peppergrinder headset you can't even get decent bearings for if you wanted

So FSA chainset = NBSO?

N standing for nearly

 

[Gtpulse]

I have a good mate who rides anything . It does not matter how cheap and heavy it is . He did coast to coast on a bike could best describe as scaffolding poles with bits attached. He Rode up the hill from Robins Hood bay without stopping , i have never seen him struggle, what ever he rides. It really pisses me off .

I also have a friend who I could describe exactly the same! His bike isn’t a BSO but it’s very close. I’ve done maintenance for him every now and then, usually when something has failed. I noticed grumbly rear wheel bearings about 10 rides ago and he’s still running it as it was a hub replacement last time and I think he wants to see it actually fail!

 

[bikeworkshop]

So FSA chainset = NBSO?

N standing for nearly

FSA makes some nice stuff im sure, but the OE kit (we see loads of) is just tat.
Had a customer needing an inner ring, I had to buy it from Germany for like £8! Pointless incompatibility combined with Useless spare parts supply. Might as well have riveted chainrings.

I also have a friend who I could describe exactly the same! His bike isn’t a BSO but it’s very close. I’ve done maintenance for him every now and then, usually when something has failed. I noticed grumbly rear wheel bearings about 10 rides ago and he’s still running it as it was a hub replacement last time and I think he wants to see it actually fail!

Perfect candidate for finding him a bargain quality piece!
If you can get a guy who properly uses a bike onto something 1/2 decent, he will be well chuffed.

 

[Black_puma]

Still remember being a young kid and we all met up on our BMX bikes on the street when one of the older lads rocked up on his Mustang which he called an ATB. Most of us had never heard of a mountain bike and he was the cool kid on the block until others started to catch on. Crazy to believe we could envy a Mustang so much but the rest of us did at least he did let us all have a go.

Not sure if it was the start of the BSO but in our area it sure was the death of the BMX.

I remember seeing the Raleigh Mustang in the shop window of our local bike shop in 1988, But I am glad I didn't buy it. I saw sense and bought a 1988 Dawes Tracker instead, a Reynolds frame and Suntour groupset, complete with full mudguards and pannier rack! The most expensive brand new bike I bought myself at that time. I had only ever had either cheap new or second hand bikes until then.

 

[Scott-S]

it was Universals, Apollos and the stuff you’d get in the Freemans catalogue.

Mid 90's (ish) I had a DB Sorrento, it was a low end PoS but quite ridable and lots of fun but not a BSO, it was all I could afford as a young man who desperately wanted a Kona, and lusted after a Stumpy (would have been wasted on me right enough)
Anyway the future wife's parents weren't well off and bought my soon to be bother in law a lurid hi vis green and pink Apollo from Grattan's catalogue it was oil tanker heavy and way beyond shit quality everything but it was a bike and a young lad from a city housing estate loved it although he loved my cheapo DB even more.

I would say the shite catalogue BSO's did more towards putting possibly interested riders onto better bikes than anything else out there...
I'd also argue that the opposite is also true and it put many who could have enjoyed bikes off them for life (my wife for one, and her dick of a brother)