Bicycles.

[bigpaul]

i have been thinking of taking up cycling again as a form of exercise.....i can either get my old cycle fixed up...it needs new tyres and new inner tubes, probably cost me about £50 plus the hassle of getting them fitted.....or ....i was offered a 1 year old ex hire bike(Claude Butler) for £130..... i've been looking at second hand bikes on ebay but their either too far away or too rusty, or both. has anyone noticed how sheeple(and their kids) dont look after their bikes? they just throw their bikes down on the drive or grass and let them go rusty??

[Timelord]

Yes, easy come, easy go. One reason they go rusty so easy is because all the cheap ones that don't get respected are made in China (**#"#*^ T**#S) and they are a bag of crap. Don't last 2 minutes which is another reason why they are discarded so readily and the steel will be made out of rusty mixed scrap... Whatever you do, don't buy one of those or even waste your time messing with a free one.. :-)

[bigpaul]

a free one? around here? you have got to be joking! no, they just leave them in the garden and let them go rusty!! plenty of "garden ornaments" round here-but no use to anyone!

[TOF]

Cheap way to get a good bike is to contact your local Police Station and ask what they do with recovered stolen bicycles. TOF jnr got a really good bike for £25! AND they security marked it for free.

[bigpaul]

thanks for all your comments. just been out and bought 2 Claud Butler Odessey hybrid bikes!

[Jan]

The Claud Butler sounds alright for £130, Just had mine serviced, two new tires and a handle bar raiser £85, (Note to self...change the bloody seat, I was walking round like John Wayne for about three day.
It's a must if you intend on riding a distance in a hurry

[bigpaul]

(11 May 2012, 20:55)Jan Wrote: The Claud Butler sounds alright for £130, Just had mine serviced, two new tires and a handle bar raiser £85, (Note to self...change the bloody seat, I was walking round like John Wayne for about three day.
It's a must if you intend on riding a distance in a hurry

in the end we paid £380 for 2 nearly new Claud Butler hybrid bikes....list price is £360 EACH! had to change the saddles cos the ones that come with it are HARD got a couple of "fat bum" seats, nice and comfortable, been out on the Tarka Trail between Torrington and Bideford this morning, nice fairly easy cycle with a bit of a gradient here and there, alongside the river.

[Tonka]

I got a good aluminium framed full suspension bike with disc breaks and blah etc. for £120. Because it was on offer. My Dad has just got a £400 bike for £220.. again because it was on offer. I think there are a lot of good new bikes available for peanuts out there if you look for the deals. My Dad is currently bike mental at the moment, so he knows all the best deals going. I'll ask him and post the links.
Bikes shouldn't rust up on you... however Chinese.. all you need is oil! Living by the sea I'm always getting my bikes soaked in salt water on beach rides. If you rinse and oil... less than five minutes worth... then not a spec of rust. Once I left it, and a couple of days later it had rusted solid!
And I swear that a £1300 is possibly 10% better than a £300 bike... at best. Pushbike prices seem to be like designer clothes labels.

But the Claude Butler sounds a good deal. I would recommend suspension forks though. They give you much more control and prevent arm numbing over rough ground. Rear suspension just adds weight and saps power. Well, that's my opinion anyway.

[Tonka]

Here we go. My cylcling mad father reckons this is the deal of the moment:

http://www.rutlandcycling.com/21615/Rale...-Bike.html

[bigpaul]

what we bought was 2 ex-hire bikes, 1 year old but probably only been used for 3 months, serviced EVERY time they went out and only used on a tarmac cycle trail.