I wouldn’t sell it to her. The bike the OP put together sounds great. If I’d put it together for someone and they wanted to take it to a bike shop for a valuation, well I’d get the feeling they thought I was trying to rip them off !! Game over at that point they can sort their own bike out.

I thought you paid bike mechanics in biscuits and ale, I didnt know you could suck them off aswell.

it is, as above, about managing expectations.
Whatever the motives (and I’m sure you did it because you wanted what’s best) – it was what *you* wanted to do, and persuaded her of that (possibly with some reluctance). She didn’t ask you to source, or source and build, second hand bike for that budget (whatever the benefits that we would see). Therein lies the problem.

You’re not married, are you ?? !!!!

You forgot to accessorise didn’t you ,you know with these wimmin its all about the accessories and co-ordination isn’t it 😉

Get it powder coated and sell it to her for a grand

Don’t sell it to her, it will be no end of trouble – it will always have something wrong with it that will be your fault.

^ this. Going by you old wanted post, if it is small, i reckon at that price itd be snapped up as a first full susser for someones son/daughter…reckon my son would love it

Everyone that works in an Edinburgh shop needs to be on the lookout for a girl getting a Canyon valued, then say it’s worth £250 tops 😀

I’d have told her to get stuffed right then and there, and let her go buy a BSO, then refused to fix it WHEN it broke.

Gary_C

Hoof, lad – HOOF !

Hoof= to drive through with the laces using maximum effort.

Did you fail to line the valves up with the logos?

Did she walked you back?……….. To the the friendzone .. Sounds like a classic friendzone tale to me.

Building a lady a very good value bike and offering your spare bike parts without a catch baffles me 😕

Well done for you doing it in good will… Doing it for a mate is ok but doing it for some lady is different matter

Kinda feel like she’s more than a ‘friend’

Let her buy a new bike then split this for parts and make a profit. Win – win!

I built my fiancee a great Orange Diva. She loves it….. because it’s purple.

Keep it and ride it yourself. If she’s sniffy about being presented with a decent bike you’ve built for her, then she’s not worth the hassle. The request to keep the bike but to get a second opinion would just about put the tin hat on it for me.

You have to trust me on this.

Keep her in the friend zone. If she asks your opinion on anything two-wheeled then point her in the direction of Halfords.

once and for all shes just a friend…nothing more – no desire for her to get anywhere outside of the friendszone! I simply did it to help out a pal wanting to get into biking. I’ve done it for a male mate before as well…only difference is he was delighted with what he got! (and thats a bike before anyone makes any smutty remarks :-))

Building a lady a very good value bike and offering your spare bike parts without a catch baffles me

Single mum with kids and part time job…she has limited funds and I have a big box full of 9 speed tat and 26 inch tyres that haven’t sold on here despite numerous adverts! Thought a clearout was a win win..

It sounds like she isn’t aware of the effort you’ve put into this, maybe as a newbie she expects something shiny for £400 (a considerable amount for a non-mtber). Go to Halfords with her, keep or sell the decent bike.

I can’t help thinking that if it were me, a reaction like that would earn a relegation from “Friend Zone” to “Acquaintance Zone” pretty sharpish.

Single mum? WITH KIDS?

I’m out.

She isn’t a friend, she thinks you are trying to swindle her. Let her get it valued or she will be convinced, then sell it to her or don’t but you will always know that she doesn’t trust you.

You expected her to be bowled over with the opportunity to get a bike with a Fox fork and SLX gears and she expected not to spend £400 on something built from bits found in the shed. And you were both disappointed.

Don’t be too hurt by her initial reaction. She’ll go off to a shop where they’ll tell her it’s ace (hopefully) and then you can both be happy.

At least if she’s not happy with your work now, you won’t be expected to repair her BSO when it falls over.

Spray the tyres with “back to black” spray shine the discs with wd40 its what she wants

Pics. Of bike!

Give her money back.

Sell bike parts or keep for youself.

Photo of her rack or it didn’t happen

you need more grip from the front because it brakes and steers. the rear can be thinner to roll faster.

tell her it’s a 1.5k bike if she bought it new.

then, if she wants offer to get it powdercoated (at her expense)

her taking it to a bike shop is a sign of low self esteem, not an insult toward you.

Be very selective with who you do favours! I have found through bitter experience the majority of people, with a few exceptions, take the pi$$, undervalue what you do and expect over and above. Never do free PC repairs for example, always seems to end with them assuming your free 24hr IT support/buying decision advisor from then on, unless thats what you want of course.

Whilst we, as STW’ers, see the value, £400 is a lot to someone who doesn’t know about bikes. In her mind, it’s not better than a new shiny BSO.

On the other hand, she sounds like a pain in the arse. Sell the bike on.

let her buy the BSO, then, as the parts start gradually droping-off, sell her (at a mark-up) the decent second hand parts you’ve accumulated.

or

If/when you go riding with her, take the canyon along to ride yourself. Then halfway around offer her a go on it, and ask her how it compares to the POS she’s just bought

It’s not the OP’s fault, but there’s a definite whiff of fedora-wearing in this thread…

That’s not a Fedora…

chestercopperpot +1

3 pages and still no bike pic?

You were expecting fawning gratitude, you got “let me check out what I’m spending money I don’t really have” and you’ve given her no choice or say in the deal, just presented her with a parts bin (nice though it is) special.

She knows she can get a brand new bike, now she probably feels obliged to take a bike she doesn’t “really” want, and feels bad as you’ve spend the money

So you taken a decision she wanted to make out of her hands…

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

You expected her to be bowled over with the opportunity to get a bike with a Fox fork and SLX gears and she expected not to spend £400 on something built from bits found in the shed. And you were both disappointed.

This basically.

I was thinking about this thread on the way in to work (how sad…) and it struck me as a great example of when people (mostly men) who know their stuff, get a bit over enthusiastic about helping people out and deliver what they see as “better” but not what the person wanted. I’ve done this with a whole host of things including bikes (I did not unlike what you did, the other person wanted a new bike), with camera’s (she wanted a good compact, she got a basic dSLR as it was “better”) and wine (she wanted a nice bottle of Champagne, she got a bottle of English sparkling wine, “nicer” but not Champagne).

Ultimately, someone will come out of this happy. There are 2 outcomes, 1 where she gets a bike she doesn’t want and 1 where you think she is ungrateful.

Call it a life lesson in the mysterious ways of women. Sell it on, make a profit and put it down to experience.

Sounds like the OP means the best, but if she’s not keen just use it or sell it yourself.

If she goes to a shop and buys a £400 bike it will be fine. It might be a bit crap vs what you’ve built BUT it will be her piece of crap. That’s the important bit.

I haven’t read all 3 pages but hoof her in the slats?

Pics of the bike or the kitten gets it.

It’s a class ic case of the OP wanting to be ‘Mr Fixit’ when all she really wanted was for him to empathize with her desire to buy a bike for £400.

Does she also suffer from Dry-Mouthedness ?

Watch these and learn :

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV37oPF95_s[/video]

and a saving response :

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNLFcG6IO-0[/video]