Pub / canal bike bought today

[steve50]

One crisp twenty pound note bought me this today, I needed something more suited to the canal towpaths than my roadbike as some of the towpaths locally are just gravel and some are just hardcore due to the flood damage back in December last year. So I saw this advertised on gumtree locally and i had a quick look and bought it. New brake and gear cables required possibly a new chain too and I can then enjoy rides with Andrew away from the busy roads.
Incidentally the mtb weighs about 20kg but I will just be riding it on the flat towpaths so not such a big issue.

 

[Roadrider48]

One crisp twenty pound note bought me this today, I needed something more suited to the canal towpaths than my roadbike as some of the towpaths locally are just gravel and some are just hardcore due to the flood damage back in December last year. So I saw this advertised on gumtree locally and i had a quick look and bought it. New brake and gear cables required possibly a new chain too and I can then enjoy rides with Andrew away from the busy roads.
Incidentally the mtb weighs about 20kg but I will just be riding it on the flat towpaths so not such a big issue.
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Matching colour scheme aswell....Like it!

 

[steve50]

Matching colour scheme aswell....Like it!

I hadn't noticed that but your right

 

[raleighnut]

One crisp twenty pound note bought me this today, I needed something more suited to the canal towpaths than my roadbike as some of the towpaths locally are just gravel and some are just hardcore due to the flood damage back in December last year. So I saw this advertised on gumtree locally and i had a quick look and bought it. New brake and gear cables required possibly a new chain too and I can then enjoy rides with Andrew away from the busy roads.
Incidentally the mtb weighs about 20kg but I will just be riding it on the flat towpaths so not such a big issue.
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I've got a similar bike, got given it, rebuilt a few bits (£50's worth) rode it about half a dozen times and then it got stuck in the shed.

 

[steve50]

I've got a similar bike, got given it, rebuilt a few bits (£50's worth) rode it about half a dozen times and then it got stuck in the shed.

I don't think there's much chance of that happening, Andrew pesters me daily to go bike riding.

 

[raleighnut]

I don't think there's much chance of that happening, Andrew pesters me daily to go bike riding.

I just always found that I'd another bike in the shed I'd rather ride.

BTW if you ever come across an old Raleigh rigid MTB (something like the 'Mustang' or the 'Outlander') that's salvageable buy that and do it up, it'll knock spots off the 'double bouncer' and be twice as tough............................Good fun too.

 

[newfhouse]

BTW if you ever come across an old Raleigh rigid MTB (something like the 'Mustang' or the 'Outlander') that's salvageable buy that and do it up, it'll knock spots off the 'double bouncer' and be twice as tough............................Good fun too.

Just so, tough as old boots. Here's my old Raleigh Sabre on the C2C a couple of years ago. It's still in service as a town/shopping bike.

 

[MichaelW2]

I'm sure it will get you to the pub and back but a full suspension BSO is not ideal. The non sus old MTB like the Raleigh Sabre is a better choice. I sometimes cruise car boot sales looking for decent older non-sus bikes for friends to buy. You can pick up something quite nice for £20-30 if you are lucky.

 

[stiffknees]

excuse my ignorance but "a full suspension BSO is not ideal"

why not?

reason I ask is that I also want ride a towpath to a pub, but my rs is still hurting after my last effort. Towpath of the Kennet and Avon is dire in places, watching for the ground floor hazards, holes, ridges,falling down edges, dog turds and so on is ok until the brambles hit you in the face

to show how dumb I am whats a BOS?
I'm using a nr 30yr old Townsend for that ride.

20quid sounds ok for this skinflint.

 

[MichaelW2]

Full suspension, when done well on a quality MTB is fine, but it is a standard feature on £99.00 MTB wannabe bikes and just can't be done well for that price. The dynamics of suspension, how it responds to bumps of different frequency, are just not addressed. Moving parts add wear, failure points and maintenance. The bike weighs close to 40lbs, roughly double that of an aluminium framed, steel fork non-suspension bike, which makes it a bit of a beast off road. Lightweight bikes are more agile and handle better. A gadget show test of budget MTBs showed that the non-suspension Decathalon Rockrider MTB handled better than it's full suspension rivals. Fat tyres are your suspension.
A BSO is a bicycle-shaped object. You buy them new for under £100 from discount stores. They leave the Chinese factory gate for less than half that. They use the lowest grade of anything available (hi tensile steel, and plenty of it). One step up in budget to £125 is a big jump in quality.

Like I said, it will get you to the pub and back so it works as a pub bike. People commute on them, I have even met people touring on one and I helped fix it with a pair of pliers and a rock. They just lack the fun factor of something more agile.

 

[steve50]

It is what it is, for £20 it will suit me fine for pootling along the canal towpaths most of which are pretty dire round here.

 

[stiffknees]

"A BSO is a bicycle-shaped object" ah, thanks, thats a new one on me, but I like it.

any old thing which makes life a bit easier and gets me riding more is a bonus,the clue why is in the name,stiffknees.

I don't ride on the roads anymore, too dangerous for me esp at weekends in this land of weekenders and 4x4s and too many hills, every way out of my house is up, very up.

as for "fun factor of something more agile" I did have something in mind, but she insist I'm too old.....

 

[John the Monkey]

BTW if you ever come across an old Raleigh rigid MTB (something like the 'Mustang' or the 'Outlander') that's salvageable buy that and do it up, it'll knock spots off the 'double bouncer' and be twice as tough............................Good fun too.

The '90s Pioneer hybrids are terrific bikes (and cheap, generally) too.

 

[stiffknees]

yebbut, I'm 70yrs old, knackered, short winded with bad knees, I need to get out on a bike more to keep things moving; the technicalities are secondary.

rigid bikes on rough towpaths bugger my joints, esp wrists and elbows. I am not going cross country riding. [do they still do cyclocross? or is it now mountain bikes]

I like the idea of getting out on a bike again, I was keen rider in my youth, but now I am a long way from that.

 

[John the Monkey]

yebbut, I'm 70yrs old, knackered, short winded with bad knees, I need to get out on a bike more to keep things moving; the technicalities are secondary.

rigid bikes on rough towpaths bugger my joints, esp wrists and elbows. I am not going cross country riding. [do they still do cyclocross? or is it now mountain bikes]

I like the idea of getting out on a bike again, I was keen rider in my youth, but now I am a long way from that.

If it does what you want it to do, it's a good bike. Keep on rolling!

BTW, in case anyone's interested, there's a small hymn of praise to the rigid steel mtb in Rivendell Reader #41 http://cyclofiend.com/Images/pdf/RR41_web.pdf (p18).

Almost every mid-to-high end CrMo steel mountain bike made between 1983 and 1989 will, even in fifty years, continue being a mountain bike or a city bike, or a tourer or commuter or a magnificent grocery hauler, or whatever else you want to convert it to.