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Old September 2nd 04, 07:35 PM
Ambrose Nankivell
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writes:

On 02 Sep 2004 18:44:23 +0100, Ambrose Nankivell
wrote:

writes:

Can anyone say if any of these bikes are any good. They sell at
auction for 40-50 pounds. Sorry about the caps (cut and paste job).

24V A Peugeot 21 speed gents mountain bike with alloy wheels and
Shimano GS gears.

25v An Apollo gents Manic mountain bike with 18 speed Shimano gears
and alloy wheels.

29V Universal Rapid Reactor gents mountain cycle in black

31V A Shogun Trail Breaker gents mountain cycle in black.



These four don't have suspension and are thus worth the effort. Avoid
all the others like the plague.

thanks, what is so bad about suspension on a bike ?


Nothing, as long as it is designed with proper damping and machined to
very fine tolerances. Such constraints make it cost at least £400 for
the frame.

On cheap bikes, it still costs a fair bit of extra money, so the rest
of the bike's worse, but it bounces up and down when you ride it, and
then after it's worn a bit after about 200 miles use, it also sways
from side to side. This makes the bike hard to control. It also adds
lots of weight which makes the bike less responsive to ride
(particularly with the lack of control) and more work. If you buy one
of the rigid bikes, replacing the tyres is all you need to do to make
an acceptable bike for getting about on the road. Once you put
mudguards and a rack and lights on, then you've got something that's
useful for travelling most of the year. Total cost of upgrades, say
£60 if you're fortunate.

However, at this price, the brakes will be hard to adjust, and the
gears will stop shifting easily fairly quickly, also being hard to
adjust, too. Maintenance will easily cost £20 to sort them out, but
replacement bits can be bought £10 or £20 at a time and will improve
performance dramatically.

A
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