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

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:

Same age, women specific, arguably a “Lesser” spec – Asking £800

Similar spec, but with a dropper, three days to go already bids up to £700

not quite the same, Lesser spec and looks a fair bit more shagged out, Starting bids at £545

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.

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 think 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.

Hard call, when I first got into biking I bought a very shiny red hardrock pro for £450 in the Evans sale, too me it was expensive but it looked beautiful and worth it, at that time I didn’t really appreciate what went into bikes and would have picked the shiny new red bike any day over something second hand (prior to buying said red bike my spare money went on Karen Millen dresses, heels and makeup and yes I’m a girl 😀 ) now however I would pick the Canyon in the picture anyday, but only cause I now appreciate £450 doesn’t get you that much new… (my suntour fork seized within 2 months and the wheels lasted 4 months, it was quite the eye opening world of endless bike purchases…) If you can get her somewhere where she can ride the bike and compare it with a basic hardtail from a hire centre. That will hopefully show her it’s not all about looks!

prior to buying said red bike my spare money went on Karen Millen dresses, heels and makeup and yes I’m a girl

Ah!, for a mo there I wondered if you were Grayson Perry (and yes he is a mountain biker).

Cycling-is-the-perfect-sport-for-transvestites

Wow.

So you built her a bike, with “worn tyres and drivetrain”, because you thought you knew better than she did what she actually wanted. This is Extreme Mansplaining.

I hope she reads the derogatory and disrespectful things you’ve said about her on this thread. Some “friend”.

I’ve sold frames and parts to 2 friends, and ended up building their ‘new’ bike up for them, both of them now appreciate that they have a bike that actually fits them, and generally runs well. One mate (lazy sod) had a problem with rear mech, no sure what had happened, but I sorted it in 10 mins and he’s now over the moon with it, and will actually ride again after being on a bike way too small for about 3 years. He’s lazy as s**t, and won’t read up on anything, so I help him out, but it’s in my interest a bit, as I do get a bit bored of riding on my own from time to time, so am glad to have him along.

The other mate is more switched on, will ask advice, but will go to LBS before me, and doesn’t expect any freebies. He only used to commute on a shed, but we’ve now cobbled together a pretty reasonable bike, he was quicker than me on the descents (and the bike soaked it all up) at N-Y-A recently anyway, and my bike has cost FAR more than his 🙄

So, it doesn’t always end badly, and they’re good enough mates that if they moan about anything, I’ll just tell them to piss off and they won’t get offended!

Was in a fairly LBS today and saw numerous Spesh ladies hardtails for circa £450, but they had very average kit on them, and would be nowhere near as good as what the OP has built on proper trails.

I think you’re friend’s being a tad harsh, but I bet a bit of finesse with the bike you’ve built would have swung it the other way. Some new grips, a seatpost, headset spacers, wouldn’t cost much and might have swung it the other way, it still might. You could do all the above for £25, plus put those matching size tyres on, scrub them clean, and give the whole thing a good clean/shine. I bet she’d look differently at it then.

Looks like a nice bike to me. I’d be tempted to make you an offer but I’ve got enough bikes in my life.

OP. You don’t listen to her, she doesn’t like what you’ve done for her. Sounds like you’re already married! 😀

I would call a halt to it all and ask for the bike back. She’s not ‘friend’ enough to trust you and wants to get it valued, does she think that you’re ripping her off then?

Mixing friends and money rarely ends well.

Mah, spec looks over £400 and as long as drivetrain is running smoothly is it really going to be valued at under £400, I doubt it.

Seems a bit of an insult to take it to be valued though. Worst case flog it on here, sure you could recoup your losses.

(BTW did anyone do the “She’s go some Nerve” gag yet?)

This happens wherever hobby geeks and mainstream consumer culture collide. Women must get sick of it

“IPod you say, dear? Tsk. What you need is a Thorens turntable and custom tone arm, connected to this amp I’ll make for you using these old valves I’ve sourced from old Soviet military radios. What’s that? You can’t listen to it on the bus? Well screw you then, ungrateful, know-nothing little minx.”

“Camera you say, dear? Nikon Coolpix? Ha. You need this Leica M5 and an assortment of Zeiss lenses, each worth more than a family hatchback. What do you mean you don’t understand about f-stops and white balance and just want to take some snaps of the kids? Pah. I give up.”

Etc

🙄

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.

Yes and no. I wasn’t expecting anything back, I was just doing a favour for a friend. My only expectation was that she was going to use it for a bit and enjoy it as she apparently didn’t have the cash to buy a new one. What I wasn’t expecting was for the work to be for naught.

I suppose on the upside I should be happy that she’d been bitten by the buy sufficiently to find the cash for a half decent bike. Maybe my spannering was instrumental in that even, I don’t know. Just felt a bit like someone throwing away a gift.

“Camera you say, dear? Nikon Coolpix? Ha. You need this Leica M5 and an assortment of Zeiss lenses, each worth more than a family hatchback. What do you mean you don’t understand about f-stops and white balance and just want to take some snaps of the kids? Pah. I give up.”

Yeah, I made that mistake as well. Anyone want to buy a nice camera?

Hebdencyclist is pretty spot on..

Another thing to consider is that anyone with kids under the age of about 12 years old is gonna be familiar with the tv programme ‘grandpa in my pocket’.. To any of our non-cycling-obsessed acquaintances we are the Mr Liker-Biker character from the show..

Familiarise yourselves with the character, accept your fate and get on with your life

Hebdencyclist is spot on.

I got a lovely old Orbit ladies bike for my wife and excitedly elplained that not only was it handbuilt from Reynolds 531. Not just any old 531 though, not even 531cs but spanking gorgeous 531c!!

Could. Not. Care. Less. Wants the shiny one from Halfords. 🙂

Anyone want to buy a late eighties ladies frame made from lovely 531c?

What size frame and how much ?

Sadly coming around to the people take the p1ss idea. Did a bike fit for a mate, she didn’t believe me, paid 250 quid to get the exact same result from some guy who “works with Sky”. Obviously he’s so skilled he just chopped all the cables, so I agreed to re cable (full internal faff) and re tape the bike. Been a bit busy at work (as in 20 hour days), got her bike still in my work stand (and hasn’t paid me for cables etc), and she asks if she can just pop in with her other half’s bike as his gears are growling…

Scratch 2 off the will-work-for-beer list.

Go with her for thd valuation. Then when they say its worth over £400 and she decides she might like it after all, tell her she can, but for the value the bike shop placed on it.

Lady from the 80’s with nice frame you say?

tell her you are an expert on bicycles, whilst she knows nothing, wait for her to agree, then say there you go then, £400 please.

hebdencyclist – Member
This happens wherever hobby geeks and mainstream consumer culture collide. Women must get sick of it

“IPod you say, dear? Tsk. What you need is a Thorens turntable and custom tone arm, connected to this amp I’ll make for you using these old valves I’ve sourced from old Soviet military radios. What’s that? You can’t listen to it on the bus? Well screw you then, ungrateful, know-nothing little minx.”

“Camera you say, dear? Nikon Coolpix? Ha. You need this Leica M5 and an assortment of Zeiss lenses, each worth more than a family hatchback. What do you mean you don’t understand about f-stops and white balance and just want to take some snaps of the kids? Pah. I give up.”

Etc

I enjoyed this post

Anyone want to buy a late eighties ladies frame made from lovely 531c?

Yes. I absolutely do. Pics, c-to-c measurement, rear dropout spacing and price please 🙂

Will measure up in the morning for those interested in my frame. Are you looking to impress a lady friend?? 🙂

80 year old lady with a zimmer frame you say?

Are you looking to impress a lady friend??

Yes. I’m going to treat the project like some sort of test of my masculinity. Therefore, I will fail to adequately consult her, then build her a bike using a combination of cheap and worn-out parts in order to meet the “challenge” of building a bike to an arbitrary price point.

Then, when she is disappointed with the result, I’ll start a ranty, foul-mouthed thread on Singletrack World about it, wherein I’ll make several sexist and disrespectful comments about her.

Wow.

So you built her a bike, with “worn tyres and drivetrain”, because you thought you knew better than she did what she actually wanted. This is Extreme Mansplaining.

I hope she reads the derogatory and disrespectful things you’ve said about her on this thread. Some “friend”.

Firstly … i didn’t tell her to buy anything. She asked for my advice on buying a bike because she didn’t know what she wanted or what she should buy. You seem to have missed that part..

I offered my advice. She agreed to go wih my suggestion and at no point stipulated the bike had to be new. Indeeed she had already expressed an interest in a giant anthem i recently sold but it was to big for her.. She wasn’t forced into taking up the option i suggested, far from it. Obviously if she had said ‘i want something new and shiney’ i wouldn’t have gone to the time and expense of building her something up.

The tyres are worn as is the drivetrain, but still have many miles in them and work fine..given its a second hand bike i fail to see why this needs pointing out.

Secondly, what ‘ derogatory and disrespectful things’ have i said about her other than she knows nothing about bikes (which she doesnt) and shes being ungrateful…..its not me that has made the derogatory comments on this post (although i think anyone not entirely up their own arse can see that they were said in ‘humour’)

Then, when she is disappointed with the result, I’ll start a ranty, foul-mouthed thread on Singletrack World about it, wherein I’ll make several sexist and disrespectful comments about her.

I, for one, can’t wait! 🙂

Secondly, what ‘ derogatory and disrespectful things’ have i said about her other than she knows nothing about bikes (which she doesnt) and shes being ungrateful

There was a comment about boobs in there somewhere. HTH.

The tyres are worn as is the drivetrain

You made some big compromises in order to bring the bike in at a price point. You did not consult her on those compromises. And she wasn’t happy with them. I wouldn’t be happy with them.

Instead of being all hurt that she didn’t like your worn-out bike that she didn’t ask you to build, how about you just say to her “Yep. I thought I was doing you a favour, but I ended up building something you didn’t want. Sorry about that.”

Secondly, what ‘ derogatory and disrespectful things’ have i said about her

So you think that offering your opinion of her breasts on an internet forum should be taken as a compliment?

Or bragging about the opportunities you’ve had to shag her?

You don’t respect her.