Is this good?

[vernon]

Hello,
I've just decided to ride from John oGroats to Lands End next summer to raise money for a charity and I've been looking for a bike. It's been 30 years since I last rode a bike and I know absolutely nothing about them. I also have very little money to spend on this adventure so I'm looking for something seconhand. I found this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Touring-cycle...ryZ33503QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
on ebay and would like to ask your advise as to whether or not this is a good buy and also what questions I should ask the seller.
Kathy.

The bike seems to be decent value for money. The frame is made of decent tubing and has a decent gear/brake set up which is new-ish.

The postal charge seems a tad high. I paid £25 to have a bike sent up from London.

See if the seller will include the panniers.

Now that you have decided to do a 1000 mile ride, have you considered what you are going to do to build up your fitness and stamina?.

Daily rides?
Distance?
Weekend tours?


I got away with 40 miles per week for a couple of months, a couple of weekend tours and four Audax rides ranging from 100km to 200km just before setting off.

Have you thought about the type of ride i.e.

• Camping or hostels/B&B?
• Unsupported on your own or with an accompanying support vehicle?
• Daily mileage?
• Rest days?
• Route?
• When exactly you aim to do the ride
• If you have a limited budget then camping is the cheapest option if you already have the camping gear.
• If you are doing it solo and getting to and from the extremities by train, book well in advance to get the cheapest fares. I manged to get my tickets for under £70. Booking in advance for John O'Groats is essential - there's limited capacity between Inverness and Thurso/Wick though there is a van service to supplement the two bikes per train capacity.
• Navigation? You or the support?

It will be a great adventure. I've done it both ways and enjoyed it immensely. There's no advantage in choosing LEJOG in preference to JOGLE despite the received wisdom that prevailing winds will be in your favour if you do LEJOG.

Go for it but don't forget to get the miles in first.

 

[vernon]

My opinion FWIW would be to think longer term than just the end to end thing. If you do that I bet you'll be hooked and looking to do longer tours more often as well, as such a quality bike is going to be a must & likely money well spent....also getting the thing set up right is crucial on a long ride....then again the ebay machine might just still have a lifetime of miles in it...dunno...but i suspect we get what we pay for in bikes just tas we do in other things.

For many LEJOG is just a thing to do before they die just as many folk train for a marathon then abandon jogging. The original poster has less to lose by buying a cheap bike . The 531 mixte framed bike will serve her well for LEJOG and many other rides afterwards. It's got quality brakes and gears and, unless the wheels are shot, very little appears to need attention. Even so a pair of wheels can be had for under £100. If she bought new kit and hated the experience then she'd take a big hit when selling the bike. Besides she said that she's got a limited budget.

I met a few riders on LEJOG and JOGLE who were not enjoying the experience - probably through setting an unrealistic daily mileage target and not having the miles in their legs. I bet they didn't continue with cycle touring.

FWIW my Dawes Galaxy was bought second hand unseen for under £200 and so far has seen me through LEJOG x 1.5, JOGLE, C2C x 3, W2W, Hadrians Cycle Route, Channel to the Med, and around 5,000km of Audax rides plus the odd weekend mini tour.

I've treated it to two new rear wheels - I'm v.porky and severely punish wheels especially when fully loaded for cycle camping, a set of brake blocks, one replacement chain ring and a couple of chains. CAn't complain at that.

 

[Kathy]

Thanks for all the replies and in particular to Vernon. I have thought of the logistics and plan to take 3 weeks over the trip. I will be cycling with my brother who has some experience in such adventures.
I will have a look at the bike but no firm decision until I have asked the questions!
I am reasonably fit, now need to get cycle fit and get a load of miles under my belt in preparation!
Cheers

 

[bonj2]

that bike AS A BIKE, I think it's a GWC.* Especially for doing john-o' groats to lands end.**
If you want something you can just get on and ride, without having to do anything to it and if you're not really interested in mechanics or messing with bikes or anything, then just get your arse down decathlon, they've got cheap but perfectly functional, good road bikes for under £200 and they'll have all (well, most of) the latest technology working straight out the box and probably be under 12kg.
It's got horizontal drop outs, which are an arse. I'll probably get shot down in flames for saying that, but I'm sorry they are. There's a reason proper drop-outs were invented, and that it's because they're better. With horizontal dropouts, there's more than one way in which the wheel can go in and it can go in wonky. Chances are it hasn't got QR skewers either, so make sure you take two big spanners with you in your puncture repair kit won't you.
It goes without saying it's an old OLD bike, so check the bottom bracket and hub bearings, as if it's just been stuck in a garage for years and is just suddenly finding itself the victim of a clearout they'll have turned to soap long ago. Also, check the chain isn't rusty - if the bike's not been used/maintained regularly it probably will be.
Also personally, I don't like the frame - it's steel and it's got a weird shape. There shouldn't be any need for two sets of seat stays.
So i wouldn't ride it, certainly not from JoG to LE.

HOWEVER. The seller's put STI shifters on it, this is obviously an upgrade - and it's pictured with a pannier. If the shifters are in good working order, and he's including the panniers and they're in good condition, then £125 isn't too bad just for these things alone.
Add to this the fact that the brakes, pannier rack, handlebars, pedals, wheels, saddle are almost certainly salvageable, and possibly salvageable are the tyres, chain, cassette, cranks (compatibility probably more of an issue than having seen better days), and mech(s).



*Genuine Work of Crapola.

** Also, have you considered doing LE to JoG, rather than the other way round? Apparently a lot of riders do it this way as cornwall has more unavoidable hills than scotland, so they go south to north to get them over with.

 

[Chuffy]

** Also, have you considered doing LE to JoG, rather than the other way round? Apparently a lot of riders do it this way as cornwall has more unavoidable hills than scotland, so they go south to north to get them over with.

It's to do with the prevailing winds Bonjy...

Bike looks tidy and it's got a certain, charm. I like that in a bike. I think I'd want a look at it first though. If you can allow £200 for possible repairs/replacements etc then you'll have a very tidy machine.

 

[vernon]

It's to do with the prevailing winds Bonjy...

Bike looks tidy and it's got a certain, charm. I like that in a bike. I think I'd want a look at it first though. If you can allow £200 for possible repairs/replacements etc then you'll have a very tidy machine.

Bonj manages to subtitute blind prejudice for reasoned argument based on experience.

The proposed bike will fit the bill and it has to be remembered that Dawes also used the mixte frame for its ladies touring bikes for a while. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with the design though some find it visually unappealing.

In all liklihood the components on the mixte bike will be of a superior quality to those on the Decathlon bike. I have a rear wheel bought from Decathlon in Dijon when my rear wheel failed on my Channel to the Med ride this summer. The wheel was a cheap as chips but the construction quality and anticipated durability leave a lot to be desired. It's the first bike wheel that I have owned where the holes for the spokes have been punched trough the inner second wall of the rim leaving the spokes being supported by a single wall. I'd be very wary of the £200 bike especially as one would have to consider buying a new set of gears to render it suitable for touring thus adding close to 50% of the initial purchase price. A 52/42 chain set and a 12/28 rear cassette that the £169 bike comes with is not a touring set up. The bike might not have the means of mounting a rack either. It also lacks mudguards. The weight of the bike isn't critically important. Surplus weigh only makes its presence felt on hills and although Devon and Cornwall are hilly none of the hills are insurmountable - I know, I've ridden them on a bike and a camping load considerably heavier than that which you are likely to take.

The mixte has the better gear range for the job and I'd not fret about the weight.

Horizontal drop outs are only a problem for the mechanically inept. There's no need for two large spanners to remove the wheels if they are not quick release. It's still possible to purchase dumb bell or 'dog bone' spanners to remove the wheels they cost peanuts and available from your local bike shop or Wilkinsons.

Gettiing back to the JOGLE ride - the transport logistics if travelling by train make this a much better choice because the northern extremities are poorly served by trains. There's only a couple of trains that leave Wick/Thurso each day. The first of which is around 06:00. It took around eleven hours to get back to Leeds. On the other hand, arrival at Wick or Thurso gives one sufficient time to pedal the 20 miles or so to JOG and pitch your tent.

Penzance on the other hand is well served by trains and connections to most parts of the country.

Arriving at JOG is a bigger anticlimax than arriving at LE.

 

[bonj2]

It's to do with the prevailing winds Bonjy...

Bike looks tidy and it's got a certain, charm. I like that in a bike. I think I'd want a look at it first though. If you can allow £200 for possible repairs/replacements etc then you'll have a very tidy machine.

The prevailing winds can blow in any direction. The wind on saturday for example is south westerly.

"it's got a certain, charm"
hmm, but that's nearly ALL it's got, sadly

In all liklihood the components on the mixte bike will be of a superior quality to those on the Decathlon bike. I have a rear wheel bought from Decathlon in Dijon when my rear wheel failed on my Channel to the Med ride this summer. The wheel was a cheap as chips but the construction quality and anticipated durability leave a lot to be desired. It's the first bike wheel that I have owned where the holes for the spokes have been punched trough the inner second wall of the rim leaving the spokes being supported by a single wall. I'd be very wary of the £200 bike especially as one would have to consider buying a new set of gears to render it suitable for touring thus adding close to 50% of the initial purchase price. A 52/42 chain set and a 12/28 rear cassette that the £169 bike comes with is not a touring set up. The bike might not have the means of mounting a rack either. It also lacks mudguards. The weight of the bike isn't critically important. Surplus weigh only makes its presence felt on hills and although Devon and Cornwall are hilly none of the hills are insurmountable - I know, I've ridden them on a bike and a camping load considerably heavier than that which you are likely to take.

The mixte has the better gear range for the job and I'd not fret about the weight.

you NEED new gears for touring?
absolute load of cobblers.
this one for instance, is £169 and is advertised as having a triple. Bet it's a damn sight lighter, aswell - it's aluminium rather than steel, and doesn't have a weird design with excess tubes where it doesn't shouldn't need them.

"The bike might not have the means of mounting a rack either"
yes, it MIGHT not. So make sure you don't check it out so you don't discover that it does. tit.

Horizontal drop outs are only a problem for the mechanically inept. There's no need for two large spanners to remove the wheels if they are not quick release. It's still possible to purchase dumb bell or 'dog bone' spanners to remove the wheels they cost peanuts and available from your local bike shop or Wilkinsons.

ok yep, fine. So make sure you never cycle too far from a wilko's so when the head breaks off your dog bone spanner you can always just pop in for a new one.

Gettiing back to the JOGLE ride - the transport logistics if travelling by train make this a much better choice because the northern extremities are poorly served by trains. There's only a couple of trains that leave Wick/Thurso each day. The first of which is around 06:00. It took around eleven hours to get back to Leeds. On the other hand, arrival at Wick or Thurso gives one sufficient time to pedal the 20 miles or so to JOG and pitch your tent.

Penzance on the other hand is well served by trains and connections to most parts of the country.

Arriving at JOG is a bigger anticlimax than arriving at LE.

hmm, can see the logic to most of that last bit, especially the last sentence. Beweare though that land's end itself isn't a public town as such, so much as a tourist attraction - when i went there as a kid you had to pay to get in. Don't think it's much, only a couple of quid probably but don't spend all your money on energy bars along the way and then not be able to complete the route 'cos some little hitler with a turnstile is standing in your way.

 

[Brock]

Bonj, the original poster specifies very limited money. The example you give is over 40 quid more expensive, even if she pays the 'buy it now' price and comes with no rack, guards or panniers. How much will decathlon charge on top for those?
I'd go for the Revell myself. Looks more comfortable for someone who isn't so used to cycling aswell.
You just don't like the frame do you?

 

[snorri]

The prevailing winds can blow in any direction. The wind on saturday for example is south westerly.

Bonj, explain the relationship between the prevailing wind in the UK and the wind on Saturday at an undisclosed location.

 

[Brock]

Yeah, and why would the head break off your dog bone spanner?

 

[bonj2]

What is it with you people?
I can't understand how people can claim to be a reliable resoure for beginners when they go mincing around paying flowery-eyed lip service to traditionalism and nostalgia the whole time. YOU might yearn for the old days, if so there's nothing wrong with that - but don't assume everone else is the same - it's not the introduction to cycling people want in today's modern times!
Admit it, with a bike that's decades old sold on ebay there's a very reasonable chance that the buyer will have to replace the entire drivetrain straight off. That isn't what someone on a budget needs, and they'll be stuck without anything to ride from john o goats to lands end on and a big repair bill to boot, but oh yes, at least they'll have satisfied your yearning for nostalgia, glad to see we've got our priorities sorted.

Bonj, the original poster specifies very limited money. The example you give is over 40 quid more expensive, even if she pays the 'buy it now' price and comes with no rack, guards or panniers. How much will decathlon charge on top for those?
I'd go for the Revell myself. Looks more comfortable for someone who isn't so used to cycling aswell.
You just don't like the frame do you?

I don't like the frame, no, you're right - but I don't see how you can justify recommending it to a beginner. But it's an OLD bike, a VERY OLD bike.
They want a bike that's going to last, not one that was probably rusting to buggery decades ago!

Bonj, explain the relationship between the prevailing wind in the UK and the wind on Saturday at an undisclosed location.

The wind's fairly random.
Explain what causes it to be fairly predictably more likely to be blowing from the north to south than south to north.

Yeah, and why would the head break off your dog bone spanner?

er... using it? there's a reason wilko's stuff is cheap you know. But if you want to guarantee to someone that it will never break on a tour, go ahead.

 

[Brock]

Take your Christmas hat off, it just looks silly now.

 

[summerdays]

Prevailing wind is the dominant wind direction in any location. In the UK its from the South West, thats not to say that the worst winds come from that direction but that is the normal wind direction. I'm trying to remember all the technical reasons but my head is bunged up with a cold, but the Jet Stream must be the reason. (Come on someone dig me out of this hole)

(And I don't want to take my hat off... I've still got my lights up at home)

 

[Brock]

Yours looks fine Summerdays, it's just bonj's that looks daft

 

[Chuffy]

What is it with you people?

What, offering reasonable advice? The bike is fine, but with the usual caveats about having a good look first applying, as always. As Andygates suggested, it's not very wise to buy a bike without pressing bum to saddle and, if you can, getting someone with a bit more experience to check it over.

I don't like the frame, no, you're right - but I don't see how you can justify recommending it to a beginner. But it's an OLD bike, a VERY OLD bike.
They want a bike that's going to last, not one that was probably rusting to buggery decades ago!

And as we all know, if you don't understand like something, that makes it wrong, doesn't it.
Why would a mixte frame not be suitable to someone new to cycling?
It's only 19 years old. The gears have been replaced and I'd bet the wheels have too. Why does the the thought of something being 'old' terrify you so much, were you molested by someone's granny as a child?

The wind's fairly random.
Explain what causes it to be fairly predictably more likely to be blowing from the north to south than south to north.

Here, this might help. It doesn't mean that the wind always blows from the South West, but if you want a tailwind (and you might on a ride of that length) then you are more likely to get one going in that direction.

Kathy, please don't be put off by the controversy on here. We love Bonj dearly (every village needs its idiot) but he does take a while to get his head round new and difficult concepts.
Please stick around, you'll get all the advice and support you need on here.