'Cheap' bikes you've loved

Yeah, probably my cheapest but most ridden bike is my Calibre Dune fatbike.

I bought it used for a bit past £300 maybe 5 or 6 years ago and have changed a few things, but it's still an amazing bike for the money.
It makes the tame local riding I have a lot more enjoyable.

Just a brilliant bike.

Genesis I/O. Cost £300. Rode it for years, everywhere. Fantastic. Sold it for £300.

Apollo Vortice BMX. Best £70 I’ve ever spent.

Also a Calibre Dune! Though, uh, I may have changed a few parts that may add up to quite a bit more than the whole bike cost, it is still officially cheap.

Built a very cheap orange crush a couple of years ago. Absolutely adore it. It can do 95% of what the alpine can for about 15% of the cost. It’s bewitchingly good.

I rescued an old claud butler from a mate’s back garden many years ago. Put a new cassette, mech and chain on it and used it as my London hack when I lived there. Must have put 10000 miles on that thing in 18 months. Wish I still had it and the commute that made me so fit.

First bike ever, beyond the Raleigh Chipper i had as a little kid.
I cannot remember exactly the model. It was either an 88 or later courier.

I got it off the brother of the bike shop manager and came complete with white Onza porcupine tyres*. Thumbies etc

* Threw these out. Silly me 😆

One I've got now , Onza Jackpot , quality steel HT 150mm Revs , Reverb ( one that works !) 1 x 10 Deore brakes £699 ! 👍

My problem has always been any cheap, bike I but turns into an expensive Christmas tree of upgrades covered in anodised baubles.

It's quite the feeling in the Winter slip knowing your whole bike cost less than a motor on my Orbea Rise , should have taken it on the Mendips yesterday 🙄😔

Genny, my lovely red and white Genesis Equilibrium 2011. Bought for £300 off a work mate. Lovely bike that got me back doing some decent road rides (204km longest) , with a long cage and 11-42 cassette fitted, after years of illness.

I’m not sure it counts as “cheap”, mainly because it was new and a touch over 600 quid, but my Malt2 has been the best value bike I have ever bought. It’s over 12 years old now, has had a large number of bit replaced, but is my go to bike for commuting. Before that it was the bike I took to work on bridleway, before that I used to do Cannock on it and other local trails.

It keeps going, it keeps making me smile.

My only bike cost £700 and I ride it 4 times a week all year around. I don't have a garageful of expensive bikes, I just like riding simple bikes and ride very often.

Carrera Fury... it was the bike that really got me into bikes. I loved that thing... bought it when we moved a bit rural and started riding for £350 i think, used, which we all thought was insane...

Little did we know, we'd now spend 10X that 😀

Bought a cube hardtail frame from @ton for £50 with seatpost, saddle, stem and bars and was amazed how well it ride. Had a box of left over spares so had to build another bike.

Only changed the frame when the new scandal was launched at £150 plus £20 shipping.

Now that bike has a rigid carbon fork and deore 10 speed. Probably cost around £700 to build including new hand built (by me) wheels. It's the bike I use the most and enjoy riding the most. It's simple, robust and capable.

Charge plug.
Awesome alloy wee beastie that shifted me from MTB to more "adventure/gravel" style riding.
Took a lot of punishment.
Bought it off gumtree right at the start of lockdown before covid tax became a thing. Replaced a shocking specialized Tricross that tried to kill me most outings due to appauling mini canti brakes. Cost less than the tricross too.

2003 Trek 4900. Bought it new in 2003 for £350-400 i think. Used it for 20 years continuously as the goto bike. Did exactly what it said on the tin.

To be fair, the only thing not replaced was the frame and handlebars for new over the years - but same level as came off.
Back in January it went to bike heaven. The BB threads failed on the frame and wouldnt hold the BB cups.

Love my Pinnacle Ramin rigid bike, frame and fork cost me 100 quid new. When it arrived the fork had gouged the paint off the chain stay in the box, I complained and got £30 back.
Built it up with a cheep Superstar wheelset, spare 10 speed drivetrain and other parts box spares.
I commute on it, do long XC rides, used it for the Moors 100 last year and another bikepacking weekender.

Current:
Boardman ADV 8.9 gravel bike purchased used with shagged parts for £250, fixed up at a cost of about £350 (new transmission, calipers, wheels & tyres) and it's a brilliant bike. Is £600ish "cheap" enough?

Past:
Saracen Zen 2011 hardtail frame, bought secondhand as a stopgap after all my bikes were nicked. Built up with spares that didn't get nicked. It was light, comfy and quite aggressive for the time (66deg head angle). Might have kept it for years if 29in wheels hadn't come onto my radar shortly after.

On-one 456.
Second hand frame, second hand forks, wheels from superstar with mega discount.
Had it 10 years and without a doubt the best value bike I've had.
It gets kept on the ship i work on now, so anytime we get in port it gets to go exploring

£300 On-One Inbred SS about 15 years ago - one of the original horizontal dropout, rim brake only frames but with nice parts (Pace RC31s, 180mm Race Face cranks for loads of leverage etc). First ride I did on it was Cut Gate and it instantly cemented its place in my heart. Had a Cotic Soul at the same time (gears and big forks) and rode the Inbred as much, if not more. Such a good bike...

Btwin Tilt 100 single speed steel folding bike. Upgraded to fixed wheel with longer seat post, Elite Ti saddle, drop bars and V drop brake levers, and marathon plus tyres I had lying around. Owed me about £225 all in.

Decathlon bikes are good bikes. At every price point.

Well my entire bike history and general build philosophy generally relies on 'cheap' frames as they often give incredible value. I do add nice parts to them, but they are often 'old' but good (think XTR M988 brakes, SLX M665 chainset, XT 1x10).

On-One Parkwood - rode brilliantly and very versatile
Sonder Camino Al - current frameset was actually shop soiled so discounted to £190. Great riding and super versatile bike.
Rock Lobster 853 - got an end of line one for £170 on sale in 2004, rode it non-stop for 7 years and it was lovely.

All my bikes have been good value when I bought them, or at least that is what I've told myself at the time 😅

I bought a PlanetX London Road frameset in 2015 which has done all sorts of trails and trips, under many different build guises. It was only £130. I keep think about replacing it now, but I honestly don't see anything they could do what it does any better.

2 stand out for me;
- Whyte Whitechapel R7; first hybrid bike. Just blew me away how comfortable it was and how much speed it would carry. Opened up long journeys for me. Bought & sold for £175.
- Whyte 529 V1; bought as a cheap HT hack to lock-up and not care about but turned into one of the best HTs I've ever had. Replaced every component bar the frame and it was the perfect blend for me of weight, geometry & comfort. Sold for a SolarisMax which was awful in comparison. I did a few thousand miles on it and had some of my best rides and adventures on that thing. Still regret selling it.

Seems it is not just me then! I think i want a cheap 29er hardtail to add to my collection - money no object I'd like a Solaris or Sirius, but I can't justify the cost on top of my relatively new full suss. Some good inspiration above!

Ex-hire Genesis Altitude from the old Hub bike shop at GT. I only wandered over to pick up a set of their cheap SPDs from the basket but came away with a full bike...

Also, a very used Glory DH for £600 to have a dabble in DH. That thing was bombproof and gave more smiles (and arse-puckering moments) than any other bike I've owned:

Dolan Precursa - used to commute daily on it year round and it was indestructible and cheap and so much fun. Took a car driven by a moron to finish it off but the frame is in the shed waiting for resurrection.

On One Big Dog

This below.

It was about £350 in the early 90's.

I recently re-painted it the colour below - started out as marbled grey, then had it dark blue for about 20 years, now gunmetal (rattle can job).

Early 90's Diamond Back Ascent EX. Used daily on the commute (guards and rack fitted currently) and it's done Snowdon, dented a few cars, crashed etc and not broke. It's over 30 years old. Chainset is newer and I upgraded the Canti's and rear mech to 'period' XT many years ago. It's had many sets of wheels !!

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Canyon Strive CF 7.0. Mate got a new bike and I said I'd buy the strive off him for my son, he said just give us £400 for it. I then sold my sons Sonder Transmitter for £600! Its a friken awesome bike!!

As my son gets bigger I might end up seeing if the (small) strive fits me and he can use my (medium) Reactor.

Pinnacle Arkose X

Bought it for £400 secondhand about 4 years ago (but it had clearly not been ridden)

Put about 5000km on it so far, maybe more. To be fair, I've also spent about £700 on it now with new wheels, bars and post plus drivetrain bits and obvs tyres but its been a superb bike for commuting, gravel and going to the shop!

The 'other' bargain was a BMC Fourstroke from a mate - unfortunately it's XS and doesn't fit me, so MrsF has it. SLX and XT drivechain, full suspension and a Reverb, £300 !

456 Evo that I bought off here 10 years ago.  Loved that bike, shame some scrote nicked it after a couple of years or I dare say I'd still have it.

Sonder Transmitter that I build up from ebay specials and my parts bin. Was an absolute hoot to ride. Still regret stripping it and selling.

i had a commencal meta4 2005 that i bought for £100. it was rad. i did so much stupid stuff on it - jumps, drops, etc. and the sdw in a day. it was the perfect south downs bike.

i cracked it in 2 places though. i still have it just on the off chance i learn to weld aluminium.

Cheap i guess will be subjective but found the receipt to my Onone Scandal 29er v2 when moving house...£219 for the frame back in 2011. Still my go-to bike most rides, certainly in the winter months.

Seatstays & chainstays are pretty pencil (maybe more boardmarker) thin where they converge at dropouts compared to other alloy frames... genuinely surprised how it's still going but it is and i have no intention moving it on whereas my FS bikes come & go. Certainly doesn't owe me anything & I think I've got my monies worth many times over

Probably the sliding drop-out 26er inbred. It was run as geared hardtail, singlespeed hardtail, rigid singlespeed, rigid geared trailer tow-bike. I raced it, surprisingly podiumed with it once (humble brag!) and generally had a really good time with it. Then finally I moved to bigger wheels and gave it to a mate. It's still going strong despite the rust and battered appearance. Still on the original headset too, an orbit extreme pro. Yeah, great bike and good memories.

Another vote for the Calibre Dune here. Although it is that heavily modified that it slowly morphed into a highly specced Canyon Dude. It was the gateway to fat bikes though and I still love riding it.

Kona Rove DL - cost me 420 Euro in August second hand, but in showroom condition. Its been a great winter bike with 2000km trouble free since October.

My first generation Specialized Langster, 2006:

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Cost £400 retail, I got it at trade for about £280.
It's now coming up to 17 years old, it's done over 80,000 miles including dozens of century rides and 2 double centuries. Used it for commuting, training, a winter road bike, even done a few crit races on it - it really upsets people when you can finish mid-pack in a bike worth less than the wheels of every other bike there!

Admittedly the only original stuff on it is frame, forks, bar, stem and seatpost - everything else has been changed sometimes many times! But it all just works, it's great fun to ride, quick and easy to clean up. And I've deliberately kept it reasonably cheap, there's nothing particularly bling on there, no carbon.

Another Charge Plug 3 for me (bought when Wiggle were selling them discounted).
It was bought as a winter bike but I kept on riding it most of the year and only brought out the 'nice' bike on the sunniest / smooth road days.
[Stealth Add.... I do need to clear the bike store so if anyone wants to pick it up Skipton, North Yorkshire I would sell it for not many £...I'd like to think it has a couple more years in it]

I love an FB marketplace bargain. Got this for £275 in December - Boardman URB with an Alfine 8. Put new tyres on and changed the grips, and now its a great commuter.

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My other favourite cheap bike was an On-one Inbred 29er rigid. Sold it and replaced with a Solaris, which I never liked as much!

Must have cost me around £500 in 1997? The only original parts are the frame and top tube silicone cable sleeves though

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Paid £250 for the frame and a bit for new drivetrain, pinched the rest off my 2006? Enduro

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My other bike cost £5.5k

Mrs_OAB's little Liv Invite is a doozy. Many happy days on it. Currently for sale:

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We also had a few cracking small kids bikes which were built up from second hand parts, back in the day many from retrobike and STW classifieds, which we then used and sold for basically what they cost us: This Trek was ace for examnple...
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