Some people are so xxxxxxx ungrateful…2nd hand bike content

Op, we will require resolution please. We NEED to know how this ends please.

Op, we will require resolution please. We NEED to know how this ends please.

I agree. So, does she have the bike now?

No more mr nice guy.
Keep the bike. Let her buy and ruin a halfords special and when she comes looking for the bike you built, agree to loan in exchange for a good long hard look at the rack whenever you want.
You keep ownership of the bike and end up with an enhanced w***bank.
Job jobbed.

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?

Well it reinforces that it’s full of pervy, lecherous men… Whether that’s what it should be about is something else altogether.

Edit: although I do find “hoof her in the slats” a funny expression! As much as anything for the topical reference.

I believe it was Shakespeare who came up with that expression in Romeo and Juliet. I might be wrong mind you.

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?

The latter 2 are a bit off for me, “kick her in the slats” is different and in the realm of “own him with bombers” so OK I reckon.

I’m not sure the etymology of a phrase makes any difference to whether it’s appropriate to use it in a discussion about building a bike for a friend?

Bit like saying that ‘own them with Bombers’, ‘wee in their shoes’ or referencing the death of baby robins condones violence?

Edit: as Lunge said!

The guy posting about the perception gap has it! I’ve never thought about it that way.

OP, I’d not sell her the bike. A firm, but gentle explanation that you’re worried she doesn’t trust you, and you don’t want the hassle of that should suffice.

Include directions to the nearest Halfords if you’re feeling generous.

Also, HHITS!

Edit for bitterness, because that’s a cracking bike she’s getting for the money. Cannot believe that’s what they cost now!

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

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.

You must be great fun in the pub waswaswas

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 plenty of looking for one the right size to fit your nice bike.

As for the photos…heres the bike during its building

black bike white forks. Probably looks better than most of my bikes and certainly better than my parts bin bike.

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:

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 new 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…