[Closed] Some people are so xxxxxxx ungrateful...2nd hand bike content

What you should have done is offered the choice, and accepted her decision

But she did have a choice. I told her I could buy her a better second hand bike (that originally cost approx £1800) which would be far better than a halfords special. She agreed that this was the way to go. I made it quite clear I would have to buy the bike first and it wasn't an option for her to see it first...my only consession was if it didn't fit she wouldn't need to buy it from me (which it does)

As for the photos...heres the bike during its building..has an xt rear mech now fitted rather than the one shown

[img] [/img]

You must be great fun in the pub waswaswas 😯

wrecker - Member

No more mr nice guy.
Keep the bike. Let her buy and ruin a halfords special

To be honest - a mate of mine bought a £400 Diamondback from Go Outdoors and yes it was a bit heavy, the tyres were rubbish and the chain snapped multiple times before I got him a KMC replacement but it was actually a pretty decent bike to ride. A perfectly good starter bike - he even managed to get round the MBR at CyB without dying!

My Wife bought herself a Spesh Myka Sport for £450 down from £550 & that's a brilliant bike.

Perhaps the OP should offer to go with her to some shops and recommend a new bike that fits in her budget.
As already said - she probably doesn't care about the nuances between a Fox fork and a cheap X-Fusion or whether an SLX rear mech will shift more reliably than an Acera.
She probably expected something shiny in a colour that she liked; one of the reasons my Wife chose the bike she did was because it had butterflies on the frame..... 😀 which to be honest, is probably just as legitimate a reason as does it have Deore or SLX.....

EDIT - pic added - that looks like a great bike to me, but I can see why she might be a bit underwhelmed. But, as the OP says - it sounds like he told her what she should expect.
I'd just chalk it up to experience and not bother next time around.

[i]You must be great fun in the pub waswaswas[/i]

We're not in a pub are we?

It's a public bike forum read by all sorts of different people, not a bunch of blokes in a noisy pub.

It looks a bit second hand.

That bike looks the tits. Does she still not want it?

The tyres are different sizes. Are you trying to mug us off?

Pfft no dropper... I'm out. 😀

That's an amazing bike for £400, the fork would cost more than that new!

If she isn't prepared to give you 400 quid for it then tell her to jog on. Personally as soon as she mentioned getting a "second opinion" I'd have just left it there.

There are many slings and arrows that I'm willing to suffer but someone besmirching my abilities as a bike builder would not be tolerated!

Put it down to experience and move on. Go to [i]plenty of[/i] looking for one the right size to fit your nice bike.

As for the photos...heres the bike during its building

I can see the point about expectations tho. Might have been an idea to keep your friend in the loop about what you were getting, email her pics of the frame forks and wheels you were thinking of getting etc, would also bypass the trust issue if she saw the adverts for the bits.

A bloke at work is interested in getting a bike, I have almost enough parts to build up a bike for him. Was tempted, I haven't bothered so far and this thread has put me off even more.

edit how about getting her to ride that bike to the local halfords so she can then car park test a halfords' £400 model, I reckon she may quickly realise the difference.

Black bike and white forks.. Its like an extreme racial conflict ready to blow up.

Colours aside great bike

It's a great looking bike, but it's not what she want's is it?

Seemingly not, but she was consulted first and agreed to it (albeit with persuasion) so could be seen to be slightly off.

I can empathise. She's spending what is to her a big sum of money on a bike and wants something shiny and new to show for it. You just hear "£400" and think "entry level", and so provide a 'better' bike.

I reckon the red lock on's were the deal breaker.
Should have gone for green to match the frame.

It's a great bike, I'd ride it, and would be stoked on that for £400. What size is it btw? I know a guy after a bike in that range.

But yeh, it's not what she wanted ey.

This is the reason people buy Kia's and such cars new rather than getting a 2 year old, much more reliable make from Germany or Japan that'll be worth a lot more when sold 4 years later...

These things have always ended badly for me.

Built a riding buddies bike, used some new parts from garage stock (cassette/ chain etc).
Said I didn't want paying and to buy me a pint.
Eyebrows raised when he wrote the cheque to cover the new parts detailing right down to the last 65p (£??.65).
Can't even remember getting the pint, if I did I bought one back.

Built a riding buddies bike, used some new parts from garage stock (cassette/ chain etc).
Said I didn't want paying and to buy me a pint.
Eyebrows raised when he wrote the cheque to cover the new parts detailing right down to the last 65p (£??.65).
Can't even remember getting the pint, if I did I bought one back.

So you said you didn't want paying, but were upset you weren't paid? That's virtually woman logic right there.

That's a very nice looking piece of kit.

Assuming that you haven't punted her off your acquaintances list by now (as I'd have done), then you have two possibilities open to you:

1) Keep the bike for yourself. It's ace, has Fox suspension and you've built it with your choice components

2) Take her out for a ride at a trail centre and hire her an approx £400 Halfords (or equivalent) special. After a lap of the course, swap bikes and let her loose on the Canyon and ask her what she thinks.

She can always get a second opinion on the trails, I daresay she'll get a lot of admiring glances on the Canyon.

Being a serial bike tart..

I think I'm with the lady on this one. The bike just looks a bit - meh - to my tarty-bike inclined eyes.

SOOOOOO much BLAAAAACK.

And black and white forks, which just emphasise the endless BLAAACKNESS even more.

Plus, the red lock-ons look off.

As an ensemble, despite having some really good kit on it, it looks heavy and tired.

In all, yes, if I was new to biking and considered spending my first ever £400 on an MTB, I'd probably want something more exciting looking. It's a bike that is too utilitarian looking to look like you could have fun on it, or even desire to want it. I'd want to feel excited about my new bike, which I think would be difficult to manage with that build on looks alone.

Even if, to any one who knows anything about bikes, it really is a cracking bike for the money.

Appearances can be deceptive, I think it's all in the presentation and minor details. You can easily make a second hand bike look pretty much brand new. There are so many mint parts out there for sale by people who don't really ride bikes. Brand new tyres are probably the best start (looks plus the new tyre smell), then making sure nothing looks worn (I see the cranks are) and giving everything a deep clean so its spotless (Hope Sh1t Shifter is good at that).

I agree with the sentiment dmorts, but the bike was built on an absolute shoestring, in fact once I'd bought all the extras I needed after the frame forks and wheels (saddle, bb, brakes, rotors, bars cables etc) its actually cost me more than 400 quid, and thats not taking into account I gave her lots of stuff for free (tyres, tubes, full drivetrain).

yes the drivetrain is worn, the tyres are a bit scruffy as are the grips, but its all perfectly functional and as clean as it was ever going to get! Wasn't prepared to lose even more money making it look nice for her by spending 50 quid on new rubber, buying a non marked seatpost and fitting fresh grips.

Anyhow, lets see what she says. If she doesn't want it then its her loss and i'm sure I could sell it on, but as others have pointed out I won't be keen on helping her fix her BSO when it falls apart the first time she takes it off road!

Maybe she was after a hardtail and you have offered something softer.

So come on tpbiker, is she getting it valued?

What's the timeframe on our next instalment here?

yep...by the weekend! Will update when I know!

TBH, just the fact she's getting it valued is an insult and a vote of no confidence. I'd be pissed off.

BSO when it falls apart the first time she takes it off road!

It won't be a BSO for £400. It'll be perfectly decent, if a bit heavy with basic forks and kit on it. You can get this for £400 in a size small off Paul's Cycles:

[img] [/img]

Branded fork that works
Shimno Alivio gears (they work well)
Shimano hydraulic brakes

It won't be a BSO for £400. It'll be perfectly decent, if a bit heavy with basic forks and kit on it.

if she had a slight clue then thats what she may get. But she doesn't, so she'll end up with something from halfords that hasn't been massively reduced, and probably with rear suspension as thats what she claimed she wanted...

trust me on this one...she showed me pics of a few bikes and asked what i thought....they werent pretty.

Oh, tricky.... I can see why you are miffed but can also see her point too. That's a bikers bike - a bike you'd cobble together for yourself to get you back out if your previous bike got stolen and you only had £400 in the world. It's got the shabby chic appeal of a worn bit of hardwood furniture but she was after sparkly Ikea value.

You'll never do this again, but if you do I reckon it's vital the 'customer' is involved in buying all the main components. If you'd just made a tiny bit more of a priority of the aesthetics (white forks with that frame, weird coloured lockons and ahead spacer, scuffed cranks) you'd have had a different reaction.

Feel for you and her TBH.

You shouldn't have built it, she shouldn't have let you. With Hindsight, you should have been the "expert" she could turn to once she'd chosen a couple of bikes, and let you guide her decision. It's what I did in when I was in your shoes, and offered to do the same thing, my friend at least had the wit to say what she actually wanted. ( a [u]new[/u] bike)

TBH she sounds a bit like my missus, the least important things will put her off and once she's taken against something that's it, there's no talking her round.

It'll be interesting to hear what value the LBS put against it, as well as how they field the dissimilar tyres question. Do they know her/you?
Is she going to take it out for a ride at all before getting it valued?

I'd imagine they'd have to say it's worth a bit more than £400 surely?

If she's not going to take it, just flog it on, pocket the takings and let her buy a new bike, should she ask you about sourcing/fitting upgrades or help with a new bike at a later date, remind her of this whole sorry episode, the rather good build she passed up for stupid reasons, and politely tell her to buy her bikes from a shop with all the mark-ups that entails as you just don't want the hassle again...

Valued? It's your bike. Tell her to sod off. I wouldn't submit to something I'd put together as a favour being valued to prove I wasn't ripping them off so she can deign to accept it if the valuation by some miracle coincides with £400.

Let her go and buy her bike and let her get on with her biking. No upside for you sunshine.

A quick ebay search turns up some rough equivalents:

[url= http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Canyon-Nerve-XC-7-0W-26-Mountain-Bike-/151692244151?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item23518ff4b7 ]Same age, women specific, arguably a "Lesser" spec - Asking £800[/url]

[url= http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Canyon-Mountain-Bike-/181755178534?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2a5173ee26 ]Similar spec, but with a dropper, three days to go already bids up to £700[/url]

[url= http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Canyon-Bike-/181753149771?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2a5154f94b ]not quite the same, Lesser spec and looks a fair bit more shagged out, Starting bids at £545[/url]

Now ebay ain't a great place to pick up a bargain anymore but based on the above I'd say any estimate below ~£650 would be taking the piss a bit really...

Same age, women specific, arguably a "Lesser" spec - Asking £800

To be fair £800 is the BIN price - might go for a bit less. And it's more of a looker than the OPs creation.

[img] [/img]

I'm not doubting the value of what the OP has produced but (along with others) can see it does not have the new bike kerb appeal some hardly used 2nd hand bikes can have.

This has been a £400 lesson on the difference between Want and Need.

Or more specifically what you [i]think[/i] she needs is not at all what she wanted.

wwaswas - Member
Is it just me who finds the whole 'kick her in the slats', 'get a blow job' and 'look at her chest' a bit unnecessary and not really what stw should be about?

Not just you. That kind of **** is grim and sad.

^^me too! There's no need.

But she's missing a trick and is very rude. If someone had offered me that bike 3 years ago when I got into mtb I'd have bitten their hand off. Save it for someone who will appreciate it.

Sorry to hear the lady doesn't like the bike.

Perhaps if you show her how it looked new she'll realise it doesn't look that different.

http://www.bikezona.com/bicicletas/canyon-nerve-xc-8-0-w/11335/

But it sounds like she just wants a shiny new bike even if it isn't as good a bike as the Canyon 🙁

If she takes it to somewhere like Evans to be valued they are going to say it is worth £10, but why not spend £400 on this entry level piece of crap whilst you are here...

First of all, there is no point in falling out with her about it. It is not worth loosing a friend over. It won't do any good for either of you.

Second, what you should do is empathize with her. Tell her you understand she doesn't like the look of the bike. Tell her it is no big deal, she doesn't need to buy it. Let her off the hook.

If she is worried about the value of it, walk her through the costs. Let her know how much it would be new.

After you get over that, offer to let her have a shot of the bike anyway, and offer to go to any bike shops with her to help give any advice you can.

You need to let go. You built the bike up because you enjoy doing that. She is having second thoughts because she doesn't know about the worth, or doesn't want a scruffy bike, or both. Take it on the chin and be Mr super good guy. You'll feel better for it.

Tell her to keep her £400 and buy pots and pans instead where she belongs 😆

She might just ride it once a month and 3 months later it will go/keep it the shed for eternity.. Tell tale sign "wants shiny tesco value bike"

Actually reminds me of what my 12 year old said when I presented him with his fab new bike (bought of STW) - "We'll change those gear shifters won't we?". (He likes the shifters now)

Adults shouldn't act like an ungrateful child.

These things have always ended badly for me.

A friend of my OH was gifted what could, generously, be described as a BSO. I took it away and spent a whole day fettling it; scrubbing away years of surface rust, lubing the moving bits and nipping up the non-moving bits, getting the gears to change in under a week, etc. It was a lot of work, but quite the transformation.

Fortnight later, she'd disposed of it and gone and bought a new one. Yeah, thanks for that.

I feel your pain. Couple of years ago I offered to give a friend's bike a 'makeover'. Scoured online to get new bits at the best prices for him, donated a few free bits from my spares box, and built it all up for free.

Since then any problems he gets with the bike are my fault, despite the fact they're actually due to total lack of maintenance on his part. Worse, he expects them fixed for free and to his timetable - basically treating me like a free bike shop.

Don't ride with him any more.

I won't make the same mistake again, but it's a shame it's taken the loss of a friend for me to learn my lesson.

Adults shouldn't act like an ungrateful child.

Yeh, good luck with that 🙂

Fortnight later, she'd disposed of it and gone and bought a new one. Yeah, thanks for that.

Again, you can't do these things and expect ANYTHING back. You were expecting she was eternally grateful to you, and coveted the bike for years, thinking off you every time she rode it. She was expecting you to spend 15 minutes squirting a can of WD40 at it.

Manage the expectations. Don't do favors and expect anything in return, except perhaps grief.

You need to bow out gracefully, sharpish. By the sounds of what you're saying, she'll also probably begrudge you / blame you for every little thing that goes amiss with it for the next few years.

EDIT: Yep, I've had the same experience as Perthmtb. Not fallen out over it, but mate has burnt his bridges when it comes to repair, maintenance and parts for his bike, he can take it to the LBS.

I have a positive story for you.

My GF (newish relationship at this point) got knocked off her bike last year, upon collecting said bike from the shop who looked after it while she went to hospital, I discovered what a sorry state it was in. So, new brakes, front wheel, set of XT cranks (sq Taper), new front fork (DMR Jumpfork!), all cables , cassette and jockey wheels. It looks fn awful tbh but she came home the other night and said "that bike never felt so good, even when it was new!"

GF thinks the "friend" in the OP is out of order FWIW.