For my own amusement

This has probably been done many times before, but I'm going to do a
"break-even or bust!" experiment with a sub-$100 Big-W commuter bike.

Here's the home page of the attempt, if you're the type who enjoys
watching other people doing odd things for no apparent reason:

http://www.smallsolar.org/BTH/budgetbike/index.htm

Hopefully I'll be able to do the first commuting run on Friday, my
right knee suffered pretty badly during Saturday's experiment with
downhill skiing. :-(


BTH
(PS: No, I am NOT seeking sponsorship. My wife would probably be
pleased to receive a few messages of sympathy though).

On Jun 25, 5:18 pm, BT Humble wrote:
This has probably been done many times before, but I'm going to do a
"break-even or bust!" experiment with a sub-$100 Big-W commuter bike.

Here's the home page of the attempt, if you're the type who enjoys
watching other people doing odd things for no apparent reason:

http://www.smallsolar.org/BTH/budgetbike/index.htm

Hopefully I'll be able to do the first commuting run on Friday, my
right knee suffered pretty badly during Saturday's experiment with
downhill skiing. :-(

BTH
(PS: No, I am NOT seeking sponsorship. My wife would probably be
pleased to receive a few messages of sympathy though).

Interesting. It will be interesting to see how the $$ add up. Will you
do the same on a $5k bike in the name of research as well?

Brendo

"BT Humble" wrote in message
ups.com...
This has probably been done many times before, but I'm going to do a
"break-even or bust!" experiment with a sub-$100 Big-W commuter bike.

Here's the home page of the attempt, if you're the type who enjoys
watching other people doing odd things for no apparent reason:


Did you see the guys at one of the 24hr races a couple of years ago. Two
teams of four mates in each team (from memory) bought bikes from K-mart or
Toys R Us for the race and had them sitting at the start line still in the
box. The first guy from each team had to assemble the bike (using only a
shifter) before then starting the race. From memory they were both dodgy
looking dual suspension mtbs but I think they made it through the
race........great concept......**** funny!!!

Too bad you don't live in Melbourne......it is $9.20 per day for a zone 1 +
2 rail ticket......bike would pay for itself in a couple of weeks. Even
better if I drive in.....it is about 18km or so each way which is probably 2
litres of petrol (about $5 all up) and it is $6 per day for on street
parking. How can anyone afford not to ride???

All you have to do is replace the parts as they wear out with decent ones
and if you can manage to crack the frame and break the forks one day you
might end up with a nice ride........sorta like Grandpa's Axe.

Good luck and hope you are back on the bike soon.

Gags

On Mon, 25 Jun 2007 02:18:54 -0700, BT Humble wrote:

This has probably been done many times before, but I'm going to do a
"break-even or bust!" experiment with a sub-$100 Big-W commuter bike.

How far are you going? Canberra has the advantage that it can be
relatively flat (though also relatively unflat!), which reduces the peak
load on bits. I'm also assuming you've got a bit of knowledge regarding
basic set up and maintenance which will improve the longevity of
components. Still, a worthy experiment.

But I got 18 months commuting out of $8, so I'm happy with my
inherited/bodged singlespeed. (It's still going, but I'm probably going to
be going a bit further afield so it'll be demoted to station bike duties).

--
Dave Hughes |
We're standing there pounding a dead parrot on the counter, and the
management response is to frantically swap in new counters to see if
that fixes the problem. --Peter Gutmann 18/06/1998

I put a similar idea to the BV forum a few months back. $$++ from an
unrelated bike accident, and looking at those plastic levers, I've
re-thought the idea... I'd be really pi**ed if my obituary read "He
died doing what he loved, on a Kmart bike"

Keep us updated on the decomposition process!


--
gplama

gplama Wrote:
Keep us updated on the decomposition process!

More like metal fatigue issues and/or catastrophic failure.


--
cfsmtb

"BT Humble" wrote in message
ups.com...
This has probably been done many times before, but I'm going to do a
"break-even or bust!" experiment with a sub-$100 Big-W commuter bike.

Here's the home page of the attempt, if you're the type who enjoys
watching other people doing odd things for no apparent reason:

http://www.smallsolar.org/BTH/budgetbike/index.htm

Hopefully I'll be able to do the first commuting run on Friday, my
right knee suffered pretty badly during Saturday's experiment with
downhill skiing. :-(


BTH
(PS: No, I am NOT seeking sponsorship. My wife would probably be
pleased to receive a few messages of sympathy though).

Definitely needs a Rohloff and and Schlumpf. You'll increase the value of
the bike forty-fold!

Hmmmm, If I buy myself a $10 junk frame from the dump, maybe we could have a
"pimp my **** bike" contest

Brendo wrote:
On Jun 25, 5:18 pm,BTHumble wrote:
(PS: No, I am NOT seeking sponsorship. My wife would probably be
pleased to receive a few messages of sympathy though).

Interesting. It will be interesting to see how the $$ add up. Will you
do the same on a $5k bike in the name of research as well?

Heh! OK, for *that* one I'd be looking for sponsorship! ;-)


BTH

Tex wrote:
Hmmmm, If I buy myself a $10 junk frame from the dump, maybe we could have a
"pimp my **** bike" contest

LED valve caps would be a good start! ;-)


BTH

Dave wrote:
How far are you going? Canberra has the advantage that it can be
relatively flat (though also relatively unflat!), which reduces the peak
load on bits. I'm also assuming you've got a bit of knowledge regarding
basic set up and maintenance which will improve the longevity of
components. Still, a worthy experiment.

16km each way. Not much by some standards, but good enough for me.

But I got 18 months commuting out of $8, so I'm happy with my
inherited/bodged singlespeed. (It's still going, but I'm probably going to
be going a bit further afield so it'll be demoted to station bike duties).

Hmm. You fixie people are a bit weird in my book, but then the
feeling is probably mutual. ;-)


BTH