bicycle dilemma

[whatnow]

My bike is shafted badly and I need to replace it. I would fix it but I’m incapable because of my brain and financial power. Plus it's quite shit and isn't worth it.

Does anyone know of any good places to get a new one? The £50 ones in Aldi look waaaay to bad to be a useful daily bike and the £500 specialized ones are a bit out of my price range.

I would love to buy one off eBay or similar but I am worried that if I do it'll be another piece of shit which will only boil my blood further. Does anyone have any experience of buying a bicycle off eBay?

I don't know much about bikes apart from my old trek was awesome and it was stolen it was replaced with my current one which after £50+ being spent on it is still in a bad condition and needs a lot more done (much more than what it'll ever be worth). I've decided that I can't hack messing about with it anymore and I’ve got to replace it as i use it daily (yes I do go outside ).

Any suggestions for online shops, eBay traders, models to look out for (vaguely cheap, reliable and like a GT, lol) or any other tips for not getting bummed over while i look would be appreciated as I’m a bit fat novice in this game. oh and if you have a bike in great condition let me know, we might be able to work out a deal (may do a WTD ad in BST later...)

tia

[Cenus_]

I nealry bought one of ebay a few weeks ago but decided against it at the last minute, for the reasons you've mentioned. Still not got round to getting one either..

Aldi bikes sound interesting tho, might have to check this out.

[incognito™]

go to cash converters.. I got a nice GT for £90.00 with shit hot rims and loads of addons...

[BertRoot]

Wouldn't touch ebay with a pole for a complete bike. What you going to do on it? How much is your top end?

You can get cheap GT bikes and they aren't bad. You can have mine cheap.

Questions to think about are do you need suspension? Most buy it cos they think it looks good but if cheap is invariably useless. I would advise on front suspension for road riding as it absorbs a lot of hits for you and makes riding easier on the arms. Don't get something cheap with disc brakes either as they are also shit and more trouble than they are worth when they start to fail unless you want to spend 300 a wheel.

If you can go to 300 knicker then you should be able to get a reasonable model from last years range that won't be too shabby.

Try Merlin. Their own brand frames are good and you can usually get a reasonable complete off them. Leisure Lakes usually have some reasonable ex demo bikes in and some good offers.

If you see anything you fancy let me know. I know a bit about bikes and would be happy to advise.

[whatnow]

lol i am confident an aldi bike wouldn't cut it _cenus!

as for cash converters that's a good idea and i'll go to my local one tomorrow. I think i'd only go rom them if I could get some sort of few month guarentee with it - I dont mind fixing a tire or something small but I would hate to have another one like I got now.

there's also a few bargains on ebay, some look less dodgy than others but searching for 'new' seems to help a lot. Now i've just got to filter out bad brands and dodgy looking coverups.

mission!

edit: thanks bertroot! i'll get back to you. I've seen your GT it inspired me to think theyare great bikes, out of pure interest how much would you want for it? I am looking to spend maybe £100 max but if an offer is good i'll be flexable on that.

My aim for the bike is for road transport or lame path cycling, I dont reall think i'll off road much, I dont really want one of those V frame bikes as I totally agree about they way they look and will ride. I also assumed that cheap disc brakes look a bit pointless and breakable, I like v brakes they work well and seem reliable.

[Spennyboy]

i can get bikes real cheap mate.

dual susspension, looking good etc etc.

prices are really crazy, but for one of them £500 crazy bikes u mentioned... i could have u one for bout £50

only thing is getting it to ya.. dont fancy riding it

what ya think...? - god knows i owe u a favor

if you tell me what bike u want, or kinda bike - i will let the boys know and get you a price

[Ynox]

shangrula- what do you want it for?

For a commuter hack i'd recommend something like a £50-100 bike. Dirt cheap and replace it every couple of years when things start falling off.

For offroad for a beginner i'd suggest a specialised hardrock (about £200-350 in price).

[BertRoot]

edit: thanks bertroot! i'll get back to you. I've seen your GT it inspired me to think theyare great bikes, out of pure interest how much would you want for it? I am looking to spend maybe £100 max but if an offer is good i'll be flexable on that.

Spences offer looks good mate. I would see what he can do. As far as mine goes I am looking for about a grand for it but as the bits I built it with cost me nearer 2.5k I would in reality be loathe to sell it.

[whatnow]

lol oh right, you may have guessed i know nothing about bikes

[Pongo]

I got a nice 3 speed (Sturmley Acrher no less) Raleigh touring bike (those were the days huh?) gathering rust in the shed. LOL..In fact, having just looked, the rust used to be a bike. Looks like it could be an Ebay item! AND it's even got 27" WHITEWALLED tyres !!

[stuz]

Spences offer looks good mate. I would see what he can do. As far as mine goes I am looking for about a grand for it but as the bits I built it with cost me nearer 2.5k I would in reality be loathe to sell it.

And to think I got my last bike for £2 at a car boot sale... :whistle

[BertRoot]

And to think I got my last bike for £2 at a car boot sale... :whistle

Lol I pay more than that for a gear cable inner.

[Conkers]

Been to these: http://www.buyabikedirect.com/ a few times.

Website is good but the store is massive.... they are based in Chorley..always try to beat prices as well.

[BertRoot]

Been to these: http://www.buyabikedirect.com/ a few times.

'Buy a bike, buy a bike and come to Charnock Richard Cycles'

Fucking worst jingle in history.

[Conkers]

ahhh.... a fellow century listener !!!

[WTD]

i can get bikes real cheap mate.

dual susspension, looking good etc etc.

prices are really crazy, but for one of them £500 crazy bikes u mentioned... i could have u one for bout £50

only thing is getting it to ya.. dont fancy riding it

what ya think...? - god knows i owe u a favor

if you tell me what bike u want, or kinda bike - i will let the boys know and get you a price

I've had several expensive bikes knicked over the years, fcuking theiving pikies. Just because its cheap I wouldn't ever buy a stolen bike as who knows how hard someones had to work to buy it only to have it taken by a theiving cunt. :annoyed:

[BertRoot]

ahhh.... a fellow century listener !!!

Lol it used to be on Red Rose all the bleeding time till it stopped me listening to commercial radio. It was a good big gaff last time I went when I think I bought some tyres and I know a few who have succesfully got cheap bikes there.

[Shambles]

ahhh.... a fellow century listener !!!

And RockFM too :|

On yer bike.
On yer bike.
Get down to charnock richard cycles.
On yer bike.

[foxy11]

I been half looking for a while, looking to spend about the same as Shangrula and using it for the same reasons, when you find something mate let me know .

Wanting to save petrol and get a bit of exercise

[whatnow]

I been half looking for a while, looking to spend about the same as Shangrula and using it for the same reasons, when you find something mate let me know .

Wanting to save petrol and get a bit of exercise

Still havn't found anything yet.

I went out on my deathtrap the other day and the chain snapped...

fixed it all up and went back out today and the whole thing felt sketchy as fook. I have a feeling the whole mechanics of the bike are gonna give in at any point (no wonder it was given to me for free?!). I don't feel comfortable riding it anymore so I think I've had my last go on it now...which is a bit gutting really.

My new plan of action is to hunt down a good bike deal from somewhere and sell my PSP on ebay to pay for it.

I would love to fix my bike but I'm just throwing too much money at it.


/the hunt is back on