Great Vic Bike Ride bikes

I just found two Great Victorian Bike Ride MTBs thrown out on a
suburban Melbourne nature-strip. One is intact, whilst the second
lacks a seat and handlebars. Got one home by holding the bars with my
right hand while riding my racer. Had to travel about 2 kilometres or
so. Jumped in my son's car and picked up the other. They are green in
colour with Great Victorian Bike Ride in black text. Does anyone know
if they are good quality? Probably made in China and probably not much
good. Anyone?

Kmart low end types - Dunlop, Huffy, etc

Will get you from A to B - but don't use them for serious off road
stuff


mugwump wrote:
I just found two Great Victorian Bike Ride MTBs thrown out on a
suburban Melbourne nature-strip. One is intact, whilst the second
lacks a seat and handlebars. Got one home by holding the bars with my
right hand while riding my racer. Had to travel about 2 kilometres or
so. Jumped in my son's car and picked up the other. They are green in
colour with Great Victorian Bike Ride in black text. Does anyone know
if they are good quality? Probably made in China and probably not much
good. Anyone?

mugwump Wrote:
I just found two Great Victorian Bike Ride MTBs thrown out on a
suburban Melbourne nature-strip. One is intact, whilst the second
lacks a seat and handlebars. Got one home by holding the bars with my
right hand while riding my racer. Had to travel about 2 kilometres or
so. Jumped in my son's car and picked up the other. They are green in
colour with Great Victorian Bike Ride in black text. Does anyone know
if they are good quality? Probably made in China and probably not much
good. Anyone?

They come highly recommended by Tim C.


--
jazmo

On 2006-09-27, jazmo (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
mugwump Wrote:
I just found two Great Victorian Bike Ride MTBs thrown out on a
suburban Melbourne nature-strip. One is intact, whilst the second
lacks a seat and handlebars. Got one home by holding the bars with my
right hand while riding my racer. Had to travel about 2 kilometres or
so. Jumped in my son's car and picked up the other. They are green in
colour with Great Victorian Bike Ride in black text. Does anyone know
if they are good quality? Probably made in China and probably not much
good. Anyone?

They come highly recommended by Tim C.

You may be exagerating

They're adequate. My 1 year old was much better than my 10 year old
"MTB" from a bike chain, but that's hardly a fair comparison. The
wheels are shieß though. Once a spoke or three die, throw the wheel
out.

--
TimC
"How should I know if it works? That's what beta testers are for. I only
coded it." (Attributed to Linus Torvalds, somewhere in a posting)

mugwump wrote:
I just found two Great Victorian Bike Ride MTBs thrown out on a
suburban Melbourne nature-strip. One is intact, whilst the second
lacks a seat and handlebars. Got one home by holding the bars with my
right hand while riding my racer. Had to travel about 2 kilometres or
so. Jumped in my son's car and picked up the other. They are green in
colour with Great Victorian Bike Ride in black text. Does anyone know
if they are good quality? Probably made in China and probably not much
good. Anyone?

It depends on what you want to use them for. They're *really* cheap,
the gears are ... ordinary ... and the wheels etc ... urgh. But, if
you want a bike to take to the pub/shops etc, they're fine. I don't
think I'd want to ride too far on one, but as a ute? No worries ...

mugwump wrote:
I just found two Great Victorian Bike Ride MTBs thrown out on a
suburban Melbourne nature-strip. One is intact, whilst the second
lacks a seat and handlebars. Got one home by holding the bars with my
right hand while riding my racer. Had to travel about 2 kilometres or
so. Jumped in my son's car and picked up the other. They are green in
colour with Great Victorian Bike Ride in black text. Does anyone know
if they are good quality? Probably made in China and probably not much
good. Anyone?

Pub bike.

On Wed, 27 Sep 2006 14:48:30 +1000, "mugwump" wrote:

I got one of the bikes working today and it goes okay. However, when
I'm freewheeling (not pedalling) the derailer arm keeps catching
somehow and moves forward then springs back again (if you know what I
mean). Any suggestions how I can fix this? TIA

--
Frank

Drop DACKS to reply
mugwump wrote in message
news
On Wed, 27 Sep 2006 14:48:30 +1000, "mugwump" wrote:

I got one of the bikes working today and it goes okay. However, when
I'm freewheeling (not pedalling) the derailer arm keeps catching
somehow and moves forward then springs back again (if you know what I
mean). Any suggestions how I can fix this? TIA

It's not gently catching on a spoke is it? Sound odd that it happens when
freewheeling...

me

mugwump wrote in message
news
On Wed, 27 Sep 2006 14:48:30 +1000, "mugwump" wrote:

I got one of the bikes working today and it goes okay. However, when
I'm freewheeling (not pedalling) the derailer arm keeps catching
somehow and moves forward then springs back again (if you know what I
mean). Any suggestions how I can fix this? TIA

Sounds like something is stopping the freewheel from "freewheeling". So its
spins with the wheel and unwinds the chain from the derailier, making it
move forward. It could be the plastic spoke shield is loose(1) or just the
bearings a little gummed up, it may free up over time or just need a few
drops of oil in the freewheel.

(1) the shield snapped on my bike once and I had to ride about 2km home
pedaling all the time like a fixy with 150mm of extra chain. was interesting
to see just how often you stop pedaling without even thinking about it. I
just cut mine off, but you have to make sure that it doesn't over shift into
the spokes or you may rip the derailer off.

Slightly OT but as you may be aware the bike is not "free" this year but
comes at a nominal cost of $80.

I heard that the entries are coming in very slowly this year, about
1,800 as of about two weeks ago.

Mike


--
coppershark