What's the cheapest Bike Shaped Object you've ever bought?

[Juan Kog]

I've only bought one bike that I would define as a BSO and it shouldn't have been a BSO but it was definitely a "lemon". It was a Dawes Chilliwack bought in 1997 for about £280 new. It had "Gripshift 7 x 3" transferred on the seat stays but came with Shimano Tourney SIS trigger/thumb shifters; it also had "aero tubing" stickers but round tubes. But that wasn't what made it a BSO. The (threaded) headset would not remain tight no matter how much I torqued the locknut up - it always worked loose and had to be tightened at least once each ride - I worked in a factory at the time and whilst there, I cut a couple of mini spanners from some gauge steel to carry with me. I could never ride it no-handed and if I took my weight off/loosened my grip on the bars, it would shimmy. The original bottom bracket gave up after 6 months. I never did get to the bottom of the problem but when bits started to need replacing, I salvaged what I could off it and got rid of it. It's a shame because it did look like a nice bike after I had put mudguards, Marathons and a rear rack onto it. I did manage to get about 16 years of sporadic use out of it though, including four years of short ride commuting. Photo taken about a year before retiring it permanently.
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Like you I had a new bike with a threaded headset that refused to remain adjusted. Also not a BSO , a Nigel Dean 531c frame . After trying to sort it myself and carrying headset spanner’s on every ride , I admitted defeat and took it to a recommend bike mechanic . I watched while he dismantled the headset and announced “ the frame has not been faced . So he then proceeded to set up the facing/ cutting tool and take off what seemed an alarming amount of metal . He then fitted a new Headset. End of my wobbly headset problem.
[EDIT] If any one is reading this and thinking why didn’t he take it back to the LBS where he bought it .
To put it politely the shop manager and I had issues.
1 He tried to palm me off with a bike that was smaller and lower spec than I had ordered , he got a bit shouty When I refused to accept the bike.
2 I opted to have mudguards fitted by the shop. I lived in a small flat with limited bike fettling room .They didn’t cut the stays . I did that myself.
3 when I took it for for its 6 week service,( I know what was I thinking) it was returned with non indexing gears ,brakes rubbing and there answer to the headset problem was to just tighten it up.

 

[freiston]

Like you I had a new bike with a threaded headset that refused to remain adjusted. Also not a BSO , a Nigel Dean 531c frame . After trying to sort it myself and carrying headset spanner’s on every ride , I admitted defeat and took it to a recommend bike mechanic . I watched while he dismantled the headset and announced “ the frame has not been faced . So he then proceeded to set up the facing/ cutting tool and take off what seemed an alarming amount of metal . He then fitted a new Headset. End of my wobbly headset problem.

Facing, as well as bent forks, misaligned head tube etc. had crossed my mind but with the resources available to me to resolve any of those issues plus the cost and also the cost of everything else that was requiring attention with the bike, I decided that the time and money would be best put to a replacement - especially as what I really wanted all along was a decent touring bike and finally had the means to buy one (I didn't have the funds when I bought the Chilliwack). I tried to give the Chilliwack away but no-one (that I knew) wanted it.

 

[Jody]

Where's Skippy when you need him?

 

[icowden]

I have a little bike tool shaped like a bicycle - I think it was £4.99

 

[Gunk]

This one was £15, all I had to do was clean it and replace a LH shifter for £7.50 and it’s a runner, my son uses it.

 

[Threevok]

Apollo Outrage - a steel Y Frame monster. Bought it on sale at Hafords for £95.

I still have the rear triangle of it, which I use as a wheel truer sometimes

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Where's Skippy when you need him?

Sounds like I dodged a bullet there! I've been lucky with headset and BB threads even on the cheapest low end bikes I've acquired. I paid £8 for my own lugged Reynolds steel Dawes MTB, and I can assure you it certainly isn't a BSO.

 

[Somevets]

£12 for Mt first real BSO I bought was non descript, heavy steel, hack from a police auction in 1984. Oh and how I rode it. Until it fell apart....

 

[LardAbove]

£35 for a rather neat, unmolested Dawes Kingpin [folder= I live in a flat!]... Just 'dropped it' onto BMX rims/fatties.
Like a new bike... My bum votes 'Yess!', after hard 500A's.

LardAbove 🚴

 

[Randomnerd]

£25 from Bulmers of York. (I don't think they are allowed to sell bikes any more)

It was a Raleigh and must have been a reasonable quality 5-speed once. Not 531 or anything as good as that.

I removed the broken derailleur and used it as a single-speed commuter (not fixed) for a year or two. Once I put a derailleur back on it to do a century ride in the Wolds and later a wheel with a 3-speed SA hub was built for it. It was occasionally repainted with black hammerite when the rust started to show but was otherwise manintenance-free. Eventually the steel chain-ring teeth became so worn it was impossible to keep it going any longer and I sadly took it to the skip

Bulmer’s was a “no questions asked”, “bring-it-round-the-back” establishment in my youth, allegedly. Our resident tea-leaf even palmed my school‘s Music Room record player there one afternoon: they took the Elswick three- speed he used to wheel it across town. Allegedly. Halcyon days.