BSO

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abo

abo

Well-Known Member
Location
Stockton on Tees
Simba said:
LOL @ this thread. Why can't people read what others are saying. I have had cheap bikes in the past and they worked perfect, I have also had a BSO when my bike knowledge was very limited and it lasted me 2 weeks before it broke.

Cheap bike from halfords = good

Cheap bike from Asda = BSO
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Cheap bike from halfords: maybe BSO... See Trax bikes!!! My Apollo experience wasn't exactly fun but others seem fine with them
 
B

Bicycle

Guest
This thread has provided endless entertainment to those of us who care not what is or is not a BSO.

I love to hear the 'clump, clump, clump' of shovel on soil, as positions are strengthened and trenches dug deeper.

"Oh no! Someone disagrees with an entirely arbitrary view I hold. Bring up a mortar platoon and prepare to fight to the bloody end! The foe appear as illogically intransigent as I am!"


I have no opinion at all in this matter, but can't resist to the temptation to poke the wasps' nest with a stick when I sense intransigence in a thread...

... or snobbery for that matter.

I congratulate us all on wearing out the same tired arguments for days without budging an inch.

:biggrin:
 
benb

benb

Evidence based cyclist
Location
Epsom
Translation: I am a troll who enjoys provoking argument and conflict. ;)

Bicycle said:
This thread has provided endless entertainment to those of us who care not what is or is not a BSO.

I love to hear the 'clump, clump, clump' of shovel on soil, as positions are strengthened and trenches dug deeper.

"Oh no! Someone disagrees with an entirely arbitrary view I hold. Bring up a mortar platoon and prepare to fight to the bloody end! The foe appear as illogically intransigent as I am!"


I have no opinion at all in this matter, but can't resist to the temptation to poke the wasps' nest with a stick when I sense intransigence in a thread...

... or snobbery for that matter.

I congratulate us all on wearing out the same tired arguments for days without budging an inch.

:biggrin:
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A

Angelfishsolo

A Velocipedian
Location
Cwmbach, South Wales
stevetailor125 said:
That describes the hgv that almost wiped me out yesterday, shame he didn't spot the police traffic car behind him, he sure did when the blues and twos went on, the officers even smiled at me as I went past :biggrin:
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How I wish you had that on camera :biggrin:
 
summerdays

summerdays

Cycling in the sun
Location
Bristol
tyred said:
That is not a fault of the bike. If I have something that doesn't work, I fix it, or get someone else to fix it for me if I can't fix it myself. If someone continues to ride a bike with no brakes, that is the fault of the owner, not the bike.
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Last week I was asked to look at a friends kid's bike that the brake didn't work ... in the end we decided it was the pad (on her BSO), the mother tried to get it replaced at the weekend and apparently nobody (4 different bike shops) stocks brake pads that actually fit the bso disk brakes. If you can't actually get spares for the bike then that is a BSO.


tyred said:
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.
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The problem is with BSO's is that you try to maintain them and you can't get it to the point that it works properly and within a very very short while it is out of adjustment again. Whereas other better (not necessarily more expensive, just better) bikes can be adjusted properly and will remain adjusted for a reasonable amount of time.


Cubist said:
No, that deep seated hatred is part of the hatred of anyone who thinks it is acceptable to manufacture and sell something which does not do what is expected of it. If you want to label that as snobbery then you are very far wide of the mark.

For f*cks sake read the bits that so many of us have tried desperately hard to point out, that we do not deride cheap bikes, kids bikes or toy bikes, we deride poor quality ones that are sold as adult bikes.


I consider the sale of supermarket BSOs to be akin to fraud. If Decathlon and Halfords can knock out acceptable quality bikes for the £100 mark, then so can Tesco, Asda, Argos et al. That they continue to sell scrap like the "Rockface Vertigo" despite consumer programmes etc pointing out the dangers/shortfalls, and continue to assemble them incorrectly on their display, indicates their cynicism and lack of responsibility.
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Very well said - though I would say that kids bikes can be some of the worst BSO's around. For example the motorcycle shaped BSO.... it isn't even bike shaped, can't adjust the seat height and is so heavy it could flatten the poor child trying to ride it.
 
John the Monkey

John the Monkey

Frivolous Cyclist
Location
Crewe
Eh, each to their own.

If you like riding something with flexy plastic brake levers, wheels that don't stay true, and brake arms pressed out of (what looks to me) to be pretty thin sheet metal, have at it. I've not ridden one, but have worked on a few for friends & neighbours - Luckily decent-ish MTB/Trekking bits are reasonably priced, so where I can we'll change the levers & fit Deore or Acera V-brakes, which makes a fair difference. I've yet to be given a disc equipped one to sort out.

Somewhere back in the thread is a post about 80s/90s steel mtbs. Generally a different kettle of fish, ime (although I daresay there were cheap & nasty versions around at the time). The ones that have survived tend to be rugged bikes that make great beaters, commuters, pub bikes, load haulers, trailer pullers, xtracycle conversions, child seat bikes... you name it. I have a hybrid of similar vintage that I love to bits (although it's gone canti -> v brake, and has a wheel set I built up for it, bits replaced as they wore out, or as I fancied putting something nicer on the bike).

£50 for one of those is generally a bargain - £50 for an Asda or a Tesco "bike" won't be. But hey, it's your money.
 
OP
OP
rowan 46

rowan 46

Über Member
Location
birmingham
John the Monkey said:
Eh, each to their own.

If you like riding something with flexy plastic brake levers, wheels that don't stay true, and brake arms pressed out of (what looks to me) to be pretty thin sheet metal, have at it. I've not ridden one, but have worked on a few for friends & neighbours - Luckily decent-ish MTB/Trekking bits are reasonably priced, so where I can we'll change the levers & fit Deore or Acera V-brakes, which makes a fair difference. I've yet to be given a disc equipped one to sort out.

Somewhere back in the thread is a post about 80s/90s steel mtbs. Generally a different kettle of fish, ime (although I daresay there were cheap & nasty versions around at the time). The ones that have survived tend to be rugged bikes that make great beaters, commuters, pub bikes, load haulers, trailer pullers, xtracycle conversions, child seat bikes... you name it. I have a hybrid of similar vintage that I love to bits (although it's gone canti -> v brake, and has a wheel set I built up for it, bits replaced as they wore out, or as I fancied putting something nicer on the bike).

£50 for one of those is generally a bargain - £50 for an Asda or a Tesco "bike" won't be. But hey, it's your money.
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amen to that
 
apollo179

apollo179

Well-Known Member
Big supermarkets such as tesco and asda have largely become the default market for joe public to buy a wide range of there stuff from groceries to bicycles. They may stack em high and sell em cheap but personally I woudnt expect tescos or asda to sell shoddy bikes. Other shops maybe but i would expect better of asda and tesco.
 
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