Why are cheap bikes so hard to fix?

Just spent over half an hour fixing a puncture on the wife’s bike. Nexus hub with chain cover and bolted into horizontal slotted dropouts. Total pain adjusting brakes and gears again. And I couldn’t believe how heavy the wheel was.

Note to self. Supervise wife buying het own bike next time…

I seem to get all the ‘friends’ kids bikes to fix and they are Toys R Us specials. Had one this week. Was a £120 jobbie from somewhere. Almost pulled my back putting it in the stand. Where do you start with them? Set up by the shop, allegedly 🙄
At least the wheels went round after I had shimmed the very wobbly disc calipers, which was the main problem, but grip shift with galve cables and nasty routing round the rear suspension, wheel bearings stiff. Wife just always reminds me to ‘not say its a piece of $hit’
As for cheap rattly V brakes on some with plastic levers ……..aaarrgghhhhh

cos they is shit

^^^ That.

You shouldn’t need to adjust nexus gears

Bad workmen always blame their tools! They are bad machines

Can’t stand these BSO prices of shit. They should be banned.

Slip the tyre off with a lever and replace tube with a sausage tube. No need to remove anything else. Obviously check rim and tyre before doing so.

Getting a nexus wheel out of horizontal dropouts is a bit of a chore and with a chain cover I can imagine your frustration. Best to put some slime in the tube a fit a puncture resistant tyre. Nexus weighs a little more than all the stuff it replaces and need minimal maintenance, it’s just that the mass is all at the back. The only real issue I have found is that the hill climbing gears feel extra draggy.

Sausage tube ???

A tube that’s sausage shaped rather than full circle
Saves taking the wheel out

Sounds like a good idea.

My problem with them is that the designs for good stuff have been around for so long now that it can’t really cost much to use them. The design effort must have been paid for by now. Is it that because they are constantly trying to improve that they actually end up solving problems that aren’t there and make it worse?

You shouldn’t need to adjust nexus gears

not totally true – the little green line needs to be kept within it’s window…

I help at a bike club every weekend. Most of my time (as default ‘mechanic’) is spent trying not to swear at supermarket specials.
The main problem is that not many people mind if they spend £300 on a games console for their child.
However, if I dare mention that the Islabikes that work every week cost £300 then I’m looked at with a cross between pity and suspicion.

And the weight of them!!! Makes me weep on their behalf…

Cos they are…

The must be somebody somewhere that can make a cheap simple bike that doesn’t weigh a tonne – look at the number of choppers and burners still going strong (i know they weren’t light, maybe sacrifice a touch of that duarbility)

I do often wonder how come a for instance an XT mech is maybe 15% lighter than it’s 90’s equivalent – but a TY25 / SIS mech is still all pressed steel and just a heavy. Filter down would seem to be a myth.

When it comes to cheap bikes steel must be cheaper than thinking.

This is probably more than strong enough = add more steel
The alloy one is 5p more = add more steel
this plastic is awfully flimsy and brittle = add more steel

Nexus hub with chain cover

Not really a “cheap” bike then is it – although probably still vastly over built for a crash it would never encounter

The must be somebody somewhere that can make a cheap simple bike that doesn’t weigh a tonne – look at the number of choppers and burners still going strong (i know they weren’t light, maybe sacrifice a touch of that duarbility)

They weren’t cheap 😉

I’ve got a 1954 Raleigh price list on my shop wall. Adjusted for inflation, the average kids bike is about £350, and average adult bikes are £500-600.

Plus they didn’t blow most of the budget on stupid stuff like disc brakes and suspension.

Bikes ought to be sold with a quality rating like the environmental ratings on new cars and household appliances.

I had the same conversation with my old boy when I told him that I had bought 2 islabikes for my daughters. He nearly dropped when I told him the price.” Could but a car for that” he said. But they work day in day out, never a glitch. Everything down to the cable routing is spot on, and they’re light.

My kids train every Saturday morning with the Johnstone Jets team and never fails to amaze me some of the hunks of junk that some kids are riding on. Would be as well sending them out to ride with an anvil!

Globalti – great idea. The amount of garage space taken up by this junk or the recycling costs would be a good indicator for a rating. Easy to identify for wives to buy…

In the shop, if I am confronted by a awkward rear wheel setup and a puncture… So are talking:
Drum brake
Chain guard
Mudguard on Axle
Rack on axle etc
Sturmey hub gears
Electric bikes

It takes an hour to get all that off and on again…. So it way cheaper for the customer to whip out the valve and pump slime into the tube. Try that on the wife’s bike next time.