Halfords bikes
Discussion
In a follow on from my other thread about building Emma a bike I wanted to raise a point, Halfords bikes.
She has one and it is absolutely rubbish, it isn't just Halfords it is all cheap bikes in general, you know the kind, advertised at £99 full suspension grip shift yellow painted monstrosities, I can't understand why people even buy them, surely they realise you cannot make a decent bike with full suspension for anywhere near that price?
Her current bike would be best used as a boat anchor, except it would be impracticle as ten men would be needed to lift it back up, I got given an alloy framed full suspension halfords special, called a Kraken I think, the front wheel had obviously died at some point as he had replaced with a not too bad quality one, as per the rear derailieur, apparently these parts lasted a few months? So the other day I set about stripping it to use as a basis for her new bike, everything crap, cheap and heavy went in the bin.
I am left with a completely bare frame!!!! The front forks were these huge impressive looking things that the tubes came up above the headstock like a trials bike, they just had big springs in them! they were binned, I think the best thing though was the Bottom bracket which had so much play you would not have thought bearings were even fitted!
Well looking at the bare frame I really don't want to base anything on it, because franky even the frame is junk.
Oliver
She has one and it is absolutely rubbish, it isn't just Halfords it is all cheap bikes in general, you know the kind, advertised at £99 full suspension grip shift yellow painted monstrosities, I can't understand why people even buy them, surely they realise you cannot make a decent bike with full suspension for anywhere near that price?
Her current bike would be best used as a boat anchor, except it would be impracticle as ten men would be needed to lift it back up, I got given an alloy framed full suspension halfords special, called a Kraken I think, the front wheel had obviously died at some point as he had replaced with a not too bad quality one, as per the rear derailieur, apparently these parts lasted a few months? So the other day I set about stripping it to use as a basis for her new bike, everything crap, cheap and heavy went in the bin.
I am left with a completely bare frame!!!! The front forks were these huge impressive looking things that the tubes came up above the headstock like a trials bike, they just had big springs in them! they were binned, I think the best thing though was the Bottom bracket which had so much play you would not have thought bearings were even fitted!
Well looking at the bare frame I really don't want to base anything on it, because franky even the frame is junk.
Oliver
i went over to my local branch of Halfrauds at the weekend, with the idea of getting my girlfriend a new bike.
Like you say the cheep ones are crap, so what i am going to do is uprate my bike and get her a frame to put my old parts on, which are all still pretty good... just a excuse for me to spend money!
I also managed to pick up from Halfrauds a carrera frame, totally bear, but pretty light and not bad for £50! brand new too. down from £150 to clear.
Like you say the cheep ones are crap, so what i am going to do is uprate my bike and get her a frame to put my old parts on, which are all still pretty good... just a excuse for me to spend money!
I also managed to pick up from Halfrauds a carrera frame, totally bear, but pretty light and not bad for £50! brand new too. down from £150 to clear.
You do get what you pay for with bikes.
Remember the law of diminishing returns that applies to everything.
If you were to rate your requirements for a new bike from 1 to 10 (1 being rarely used, and never on anything rougher than a park path, and 10 being a works XC/DH world champion), there is not a linear line of price that you can draw through the numbers.
Usage 1 - 4 may cap at £500-£600 tops, but 8 - 10 may top £6000 if you copied specs exactly.
Remember the law of diminishing returns that applies to everything.
If you were to rate your requirements for a new bike from 1 to 10 (1 being rarely used, and never on anything rougher than a park path, and 10 being a works XC/DH world champion), there is not a linear line of price that you can draw through the numbers.
Usage 1 - 4 may cap at £500-£600 tops, but 8 - 10 may top £6000 if you copied specs exactly.
My current bike is a Halfords Carrea Fury. It's not a bad bike for £400 down form £600. It has taken a beating on XC over the winter and is still holding together. It's by no means a great bike. But had the best spec in that price range.
When I first got it everything was loose and badly setup, the thing nearly disintegrated on the first ride. I was also picking up punctures and pinches on nearly every ride, so put some DH tubes in and haven't had one since (touch wood). Now it's nicely bedded in and setup up right it not let me down and is a nice ride.
I have had the unfortunate task of riding a friends full suspension Apollo, which was truly awful. Went about 100 metres down the road applied the cable disc brake and nearly ended up under a car and the suspension was even more of a gimmick.
When I first got it everything was loose and badly setup, the thing nearly disintegrated on the first ride. I was also picking up punctures and pinches on nearly every ride, so put some DH tubes in and haven't had one since (touch wood). Now it's nicely bedded in and setup up right it not let me down and is a nice ride.
I have had the unfortunate task of riding a friends full suspension Apollo, which was truly awful. Went about 100 metres down the road applied the cable disc brake and nearly ended up under a car and the suspension was even more of a gimmick.
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