BSO

[lukesdad]

Assembly issues are not only apparent at supermarkets well known supposedly top suppliers are also guilty of howlers to !

 

[lukesdad]

....rendering the expensive bike not fit for purpose ! Not the fault of the bike either.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Assembly issues are not only apparent at supermarkets well known supposedly top suppliers are also guilty of howlers to !

I am sure that is the case. You might assume that the buyers of such bikes would have a greater knowledge of the machine and therefore recognise there was an issue. Maybe I am wrong and there are £3000+ bikes being ridden around with back to front forks and defunct brakes?

 

[Angelfishsolo]

....rendering the expensive bike not fit for purpose ! Not the fault of the bike either.

An inanimate object can never be at fault. The manufacture may be at fault......

 

[abo]

That is just diabolical. The bike and the fact it has been put together incorrectly.

Oh I don't know, it's ideal for a nipper to fly about on, drop, bang into things etc. while learning. My daughter learned to ride on a 'Hello Kitty' bike which cost £25 lol, she's now on a sub-bmx thing that my eldest used to ride and she flies around on it. It has been bulletproof; the BB could use a strip and rebuild now though, but we've had it ages.

The backwards forks however...

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Oh I don't know, it's ideal for a nipper to fly about on, drop, bang into things etc. while learning. My daughter learned to ride on a 'Hello Kitty' bike which cost £25 lol, she's now on a sub-bmx thing that my eldest used to ride and she flies around on it. It has been bulletproof; the BB could use a strip and rebuild now though, but we've had it ages.

The backwards forks however...

Yes OK I was a little harsh on the bike itself

 

[tyred]

But, once again, you appear to be missing the point that Summerdays, I and Angel are making, (or have tried to make in the sea of apparently selective illiteracy) and that is that the brakes on Tesco bikes are not particularly good quality. They have to be assembled by the buyer. The buyers are, by any argument, not likely to be particularly good bike mechanics (the argument, if I have to spell this out, is that they wouldn't be buying boxed supermarket bikes if they were), and so the initial assembly and adjustment is less likely to be good.

The brakes then go out of adjustment as the cable stretches with use, the blocks wear and the wheel goes out of true because the owner is convinced by the design that it is suitable for jumping off kerbs etc etc. The owner (or his parent) does not have the experience to maintain them properly. The poor build quality with poor components simply compounds this issue.

I see it from the point of view that the bikes are fitted with brakes. If the brakes are adjusted correctly, they do the intended job of stopping the bike. If the owner doesn't maintain the brakes in working order, that is not the fault of the bike, manufacturer or retailer but the fault of the owner. If you don't maintain expensive Campag brakes, they will not work as intended either.


I own an old MTB which falls into this category and it has plastic cantilever brakes. They work perfectly well because I maintain them. If I didn't, they probably wouldn't work but that is true of most things in life.

 

[lukesdad]

I am sure that is the case. You might assume that the buyers of such bikes would have a greater knowledge of the machine and therefore recognise there was an issue. Maybe I am wrong and there are £3000+ bikes being ridden around with back to front forks and defunct brakes?

Not so much the wrong way. Loose cranks incorrect or badly adjusted pivot bolts cassettes with wrong spacers etc. Would you know the correct sequence for campag spacers ? I didnt first time id used campag took me 3 weeks to work out it wasnt a incorrectly adjusted Mech.

Im yet to find evidence that any brakes adjusted correctly do not work. Do any of you ? Not opinion but hard evidence.

 

[apollo179]

If you disconnect the brakes on any bike and ride it you are crazy. If you follow a set of instructions provided with a self assembly bike and the brakes still do not work it is a BSO.

As for the car anaolgy is you would class a car as bad for having non functional brakes I have a reasonable car I would like to sell you.

Yes - so are purely assemby related faults legitimate cause for bso status or not.
Maybe - assembly fault = temporary bso certificate.
Intrinsic design faults = permanent (non recindable) bso certificate.
Thanks but ill pass on the car.

 

[abo]

I wonder if there's a cheese forum, where connosieurs discuss the merits of cheap mass-market cheeses (Dairlylea, Laughing Cow) and whether they should be classed as Cheese-Shaped-Objects, or whether that term should be reserved only for Cheese Strings, which are in fact made from old bicycles.

I live to give:

cheeseforum.org

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Not so much the wrong way. Loose cranks incorrect or badly adjusted pivot bolts cassettes with wrong spacers etc. Would you know the correct sequence for campag spacers ? I didnt first time id used campag took me 3 weeks to work out it wasnt a incorrectly adjusted Mech.

Im yet to find evidence that any brakes adjusted correctly do not work. Do any of you ? Not opinion but hard evidence.

I take your point about the high end bikes. I am very surprised but I take your point.

As for evidence that correctly adjusted brakes do not work - No. The point is that as the bikes are self assembly the term "correctly" will vary for person to person based on their experience and ability. I doubt that anyone will feel the need to take a bike bought from one shop to another shop to be checked over.

 

[blockend]

Poor brakes are not the preserve of cheapo bikes. Cantilevers that do little more than make a suitable noise can be found on £1k machines. I have plastic '98 Mirage levers on a 531 frame and the braking is simply stunning.
Decathlon aren't a supermarket but they've sold £69 hybrids with a full guarantee, service, lights and accessories backed up by a comprehensive workshop.

I still think BSO is a lazy term.

 

[abo]

Yes OK I was a little harsh on the bike itself

I did feel a bit sorry for it sat there on the shelf by itself, unloved and badly assembled

 

[Angelfishsolo]

I did feel a bit sorry for it sat there on the shelf by itself, unloved and badly assembled

I'm welling up

 

[apollo179]

My definition for BSO would be.
Not fit for purpose , excluding human error assembly related faults.