BSO

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OP
OP
rowan 46

rowan 46

Über Member
Location
birmingham
Sonofpear said:
To be honest I think your taking it way too seriously.
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And I think you don't take it seriously enough. This is a term that is used on some forums (not so much here) to put down anybody who doesn't have kit they don't like. the fact that some people are joining this thread and saying is my bike a bso? suggests that it is not a sufficiently clear term. The attitude that it's the persons fault for being offended by it isn't helpful adds nothing to the debate which has been reasoned on both sides. If you don't care about it don't join the thread. if you do care say something useful
 
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Angelfishsolo

A Velocipedian
Location
Cwmbach, South Wales
A cheep bike does not have to be a BSO - Some great quality bikes for little money.
A BSO is always very cheep
A heavy bike does not have to be a BSO - Downhill MTB are extremely heavy.
A BSO is very heavy
A low spec'd bike is not necessarily a BSO - A £1500 titanium Van Nichols will have a mediocre group set on it Shimano LX for e.g.)
A BSO will be very low spec'd.

Bottom line nearly all BSO's are a nightmare to ride, stop and change gear on. For a little more money your riding experience will improve a 100 fold.
 
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Angelfishsolo

A Velocipedian
Location
Cwmbach, South Wales
Please keep in mind that this is a cycling forum. People here will find it hard to get excited about a £70 bike from Toys R Us but may well shower praise on a 1990's steel frame Kona or new Decathlon. All forums have initialisations and acronyms that need to be learned and understood (I spend weeks trying to work out what a port was on a photography forum before I realised it was a portfolio. To me a port is either a place where a ship docks or an accept point for a computer).

rowan 46 said:
And I think you don't take it seriously enough. This is a term that is used on some forums (not so much here) to put down anybody who doesn't have kit they don't like. the fact that some people are joining this thread and saying is my bike a bso? suggests that it is not a sufficiently clear term. The attitude that it's the persons fault for being offended by it isn't helpful adds nothing to the debate which has been reasoned on both sides. If you don't care about it don't join the thread. if you do care say something useful
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ian turner

ian turner

Guru
Location
Leicestershire
Try checking out some of the other TLAs.

Such as LBS.

On this forum they like to encourage you to use your LBS.
Small cycling shops that aren't part of a chain, don't sell groceries or cheap gold jewellery and will be a necessity
to those folks who have problems with the bikes they bought from non specialist stores lacking any repair facilities.

An LBS won't sell BSOs.
Don't argue that taking BSOs to be repaired by them helps support them. The sight of one coming into their shop probably depresses them.
 
abo

abo

Well-Known Member
Location
Stockton on Tees
Hip Priest said:
I ride a £180 Apollo, which some would call a BSO. I've had no problems with it so far, commute daily, and take longer rides on weekends. Therefore, to me, it isn't a BSO, just a cheap bike. Far from putting me off cycling, it's really helped me get into it, and I'm sure I'll upgrade to something a bit better before long.

It has to be said though - people on here aren't snobby. They've been very helpful to me.
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The guy who runs the charity draw for my local youth football team rides around the whole of Stockton, every week on an Apollo Vortice like you. We were chatting about it the last time he came around, he bought it because he had more expensive bike stolen while doing the round, ages ago so he bought a cheaper replacement for doing his round.

He says it has never missed a beat and to be fair, I've always seen him riding it. It does what he needs it to without breaking on a regular basis. It is not a BSO, and neither is yours.

My Apollo(s) broke down all the time, and were a pita to ride because you never knew whether you were going to get back home with the bike in one piece. Definately BSOs.
 
OP
OP
rowan 46

rowan 46

Über Member
Location
birmingham
al78 said:
A good motoring analogy can be found here.

There is a good article on the subject here
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An interesting article nothing that's not been said here. The point I am trying to make though is that the nomenclature is inaccurate and unhelpful. On the above article the apollo is described as a bso a person on this thread has not found it to be so. the replies in the article are as divided as here. I maintain that it is the name that is the problem. Everybody can agree on what is a crap and dangerous bike, but not everybody can seem to agree on what the ambiguous name bso means.
 
Hip Priest

Hip Priest

Veteran
Cheers man, yeah it seems reasonable bit of kit for the money. Maybe I got lucky and found a Halford's that can set up a bike well. Or maybe it's because there's no suspension or owt on it, so they haven't had to scrimp too much on components. All I know is that it'll do me for now!
 
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Angelfishsolo

A Velocipedian
Location
Cwmbach, South Wales
I may be wrong but you are the only one who seems to have an issue with the term. I don't recall it being discussed to this length before.
rowan 46 said:
An interesting article nothing that's not been said here. The point I am trying to make though is that the nomenclature is inaccurate and unhelpful. On the above article the apollo is described as a bso a person on this thread has not found it to be so. the replies in the article are as divided as here. I maintain that it is the name that is the problem. Everybody can agree on what is a crap and dangerous bike, but not everybody can seem to agree on what the ambiguous name bso means.
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summerdays

summerdays

Cycling in the sun
Location
Bristol
Across the board there are lots of different personal taste's in bikes - nobody is saying that one particular version of a bike is the perfect one. We use terms such as BSO which does mean different things to each of us - but it is a short word to give a quick impression. Have you a suggestion for an alternative word/expression that would offend you less but still having the same general meaning? Because there are bikes out there that deserve to be put in the dump or better still recycled.

I have also been in a LBS when a bike that I would class as a BSO was brought in and they refused to service it - saying it wasn't worth spending lots of money on which they explained politely to the customer.
 
N

Nebulous

Guru
Location
Aberdeen
rowan 46 said:
An interesting article nothing that's not been said here. The point I am trying to make though is that the nomenclature is inaccurate and unhelpful. On the above article the apollo is described as a bso a person on this thread has not found it to be so. the replies in the article are as divided as here. I maintain that it is the name that is the problem. Everybody can agree on what is a crap and dangerous bike, but not everybody can seem to agree on what the ambiguous name bso means.
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You are labouring the point and you aren't listening. You've had an experience you didn't like on another forum so you've came on here and gone on the attack about it. It is beginning to look suspiciously like a troll.

BSO is a loaded term. It will mean different things to different people. So do many other words that we use regularly. The problem isn't with the term, but with the value we imbue it with.
 
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