What's made you smile today?

[HughJarsse]

When I say normal bike I mean just the cheapest ones with no suspension etc, pretty much just the most basic bikes you can buy, I take the same approach with bikes as I do cars, less is more

I'm the same, the less 'technical wizardry' involved, the less lightly it is to go wrong, and when it does, it's usually cheaper and easier to fix then the 'high tech models!!

 

[The Panda Nut]

I'm the same, the less 'technical wizardry' involved, the less lightly it is to go wrong, and when it does, it's usually cheaper and easier to fix then the 'high tech models!!

My bike must be 22 years old more or less to the day. Its a beach bums bike. Youn sit REALLY high up. Cost about £350. My lad then 18 took teh forst one and rode it to destruction. He strtched the chain and bemnt both wheels when it was new, then took it to uni and wrecked the forks running into a car that pulled out in front of him.. Lastly it was knicked in Manchester. That was the only decent insurance claim I ever made. We still had a receipt and a new equivalent was provided. The twin which I have has probably only clocked up 500 miles. Ive just put new tyres on and will ride it once I have concluded my building projects.

Biggest smile is my Mrs got her family inheritance today so we are not broke again. Its amazing once there is some money costs decrease quite a lot as you can buy better quality and not pay interest. Its still a bit of a sad day though. We can afford to go buy more medicines and old folks health remedies for a few months.....

 

[StevenRB45]

I picked up a bit of a bargain on Friday. I often trawl Facebook marketplace for bargains and this was definitely a bargain
View attachment 464130
I’ve wanted a road bike for a while for a bit of road going exercise. This Boardman comp road bike with disc brakes Shimano gears, alloy frame and carbon fibre shocks was a mere £70

About £750 cheaper than the equivalent new bike.
I’ve ordered some clipless pedals for it so looking forward to getting out and about on it when they arrive.

Looking at it gives a similar feel to my old Carrera (another Halfords brand) downhill bike in that you've got a lot of fancy looking bits but possibly not the greatest quality.

Can't complain for 70 quid obviously but let's say I'd not be surprised if you were to take off the tyres and find the inside of the wheels so roughly drilled that the edges of the spoke holes cut your inner tubes but the rubber thats meant to stop it happening not sitting properly due the the shape of the rim.

That and I seem to remember getting pads for the cable operated discs was a mission even 10 years ago. They were like standard bike calipers in every dimension but needed a cutout on the rear of the pad to fit...which wasn't obvious without opening the packaging to turn them over.

Not so bad on the standard break something then buy a better one downhill bike process as the frame was like a battle cruiser but I broke most things attached to it at least once surprisingly easily.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

You've been conned, the engine is missing.

I’m getting fat so I need some engineless exercise lol

I would have called the old bill but anyone that lives in Surrey will know how useless, lazy & incompetent Surrey Police actually are so I couldn't be asked with the hassle, the bike was never seen again & I replaced it with a normal bike.

I mean even with the best police in the world you can see how that conversation would go “so let me get this correct sir, you left your bike unlocked by the bins and you’re upset someone took it”

That looks like a very smart buy! It also looks little used so double whammy.

It’s been well used but also well looked after. It’s had new wheels which alone are probably worth considerably more than I paid for it. I am going to have to get some new brake pads and probably a new main chain ring on the front as the teeth are a bit worn.

Other than that, it’s perfectly usable and you’d struggle to buy an alloy frame with carbon forks for the price I paid let alone a whole bike

 

[The Panda Nut]

I’m getting fat so I need some engineless exercise lol


I mean even with the best police in the world you can see how that conversation would go “so let me get this correct sir, you left your bike unlocked by the bins and you’re upset someone took it”


It’s been well used but also well looked after. It’s had new wheels which alone are probably worth considerably more than I paid for it. I am going to have to get some new brake pads and probably a new main chain ring on the front as the teeth are a bit worn.

Other than that, it’s perfectly usable and you’d struggle to buy an alloy frame with carbon forks for the price I paid let alone a whole bike

Narfk branded bike for a Narfk buoy! Love it! Com to think about it why are Pandas not being made in Norfolk. All the b est stuff is made in Norfolk. Anyone intrested in a new Panda? Ive just had a business idea.....

 

[FiatMatt94]

I mean even with the best police in the world you can see how that conversation would go “so let me get this correct sir, you left your bike unlocked by the bins and you’re upset someone took it”

That was one of the reasons I didn't bother with it at the time as I had a feeling that's how the conversation would go

 

[bugsymike]

That was one of the reasons I didn't bother with it at the time as I had a feeling that's how the conversation would go

Perhaps if you had reported the crime and said "my badge number is???"

 

[FiatMatt94]

They would have definitely pulled their finger out

 

[bugsymike]

They would have definitely pulled their finger out

I recall down here several years ago I read in the local paper that a retired police officer driver was annoyed by another motorist and reported him for possibly being under the influence, by the time the motorist had pulled up at his home there were several police cars waiting for him, he was breathalyzed which was negative and complained, in the end I think the other guy was reprimanded!!!

 

[FiatMatt94]

I recall down here several years ago I read in the local paper that a retired police officer driver was annoyed by another motorist and reported him for possibly being under the influence, by the time the motorist had pulled up at his home there were several police cars waiting for him, he was breathalyzed which was negative and complained, in the end I think the other guy was reprimanded!!!

This reminds of one of our old neighbours when I was really young in the late 90's & for some reason he didn't like my dad, my dad had a 131 Sport at the time, the same one he's having rebuilt now. A police officer pulled up one day as the neighbour had told them that the 131 was untaxed, my dad knew it was him & the officer goes to my dad "your cars taxed" & my dad went "I know it is", so the officer told my dad that the neighbour had reported him for no tax & where we lived it was all flats & the road went round in a loop, the neighbour had a motorbike underneath a tarp parked on the road so my dad said to the officer " well you know that mines taxed, that bike of his over there isn't so the officer went " right I'm having him, I'll teach him to waste my time" the officer threw the book at him & in the end he got done for wasting police time, no tax, no MOT & no insurance

 

[bugsymike]

This reminds of one of our old neighbours when I was really young in the late 90's & for some reason he didn't like my dad, my dad had a 131 Sport at the time, the same one he's having rebuilt now. A police officer pulled up one day as the neighbour had told them that the 131 was untaxed, my dad knew it was him & the officer goes to my dad "your cars taxed" & my dad went "I know it is", so the officer told my dad that the neighbour had reported him for no tax & where we lived it was all flats & the road went round in a loop, the neighbour had a motorbike underneath a tarp parked on the road so my dad said to the officer " well you know that mines taxed, that bike of his over there isn't so the officer went " right I'm having him, I'll teach him to waste my time" the officer threw the book at him & in the end he got done for wasting police time, no tax, no MOT & no insurance

In the 1980s I went out on a breakdown in a tatty looking Mazda pickup, passing a female police officer as I pulled into the customers drive.
In those days the tax disc had to be on the windscreen, she ran breathlessly up and asked, "is that your vehicle , I said no, she said it's got no tax, I agreed." The look of disappointment on her face when I pointed out it was on Trade Plates was hilarious.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

Looking at it gives a similar feel to my old Carrera (another Halfords brand) downhill bike in that you've got a lot of fancy looking bits but possibly not the greatest quality.

Now this I can’t disagree with more.

I really rate Boardman bikes they are really well made and definitely not a budget quality.

This bike was getting on for £1000 new and the current equivalent is £875. As stated this is an alloy frame with carbon forks all shimano gear and not the “sis” variety. The disc brakes are cable operated but this seems to be quite normal on road bikes as a mountain bike at the same price would be fitted with hydraulic disc brakes, my Boardman mountain bike was fitted with some nice SRAM hydraulic disc brake at a £550 price point. I will probably upgrade them at some point but they’re pretty costly for road bikes. I can’t see how they would need any special cables they seem to be a pretty standard brake cable pads are fairly generic also being shared with several other makes and models.

If you look closely at the frame you can see it’s all very smoothly welded and uses CNCd parts such as where the rear wheel attaches.

If anything the downside of Boardman is they do spend a lot on the frame and they can cut corners and use lower spec parts such as the crank being a budget part

 

[StevenRB45]

Now this I can’t disagree with more.

I really rate Boardman bikes they are really well made and definitely not a budget quality.

This bike was getting on for £1000 new and the current equivalent is £875. As stated this is an alloy frame with carbon forks all shimano gear and not the “sis” variety. The disc brakes are cable operated but this seems to be quite normal on road bikes as a mountain bike at the same price would be fitted with hydraulic disc brakes, my Boardman mountain bike was fitted with some nice SRAM hydraulic disc brake at a £550 price point. I will probably upgrade them at some point but they’re pretty costly for road bikes. I can’t see how they would need any special cables they seem to be a pretty standard brake cable pads are fairly generic also being shared with several other makes and models.

If you look closely at the frame you can see it’s all very smoothly welded and uses CNCd parts such as where the rear wheel attaches.

If anything the downside of Boardman is they do spend a lot on the frame and they can cut corners and use lower spec parts such as the crank being a budget part

Depends I mean the Carrera was picked up when a new model came out it was about at least a 500-600 quid bike in 2006 but last year's model.

In theory everything was good brands..it still broke fairly readily.

After I'd replaced the wheels, forks, brakes and gears it was a good bike...in the same way as triggers broom was a nice broom. As stated I had no complaints with the battle cruiser build of the frame. If memory serves it had a sacrificial mounting above the derailleur...so when you binned it and ripped it off it didn't bend the frame first bike I had with that.

You're probably unlikely to be doing any drop offs on it though. The reason I mention the cable brakes is before you buy new pads remove the old and check if they have a recess on the rear but otherwise look exactly like every other pad on sale. If so your new ones will also need that...and hopefully the 1st rather than 8th shop you try will have them. Of course it may be despite looking very similar to the brake set up on the Carrera they are indeed a different pad anyway.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

After I'd replaced the wheels, forks, brakes and gears it was a good bike...in the same way as triggers broom was a nice broom.

yeah not my experience with Boardman at all. The brakes on a mountain bike are not going to be the same on a road bike and 2006 brakes are not going to be anything like current brakes.

I just pulled the back pads nothing special about them at all. These are seyre-c calipers from TRP which I understand are pretty reasonable quality. I’ll still upgrade them to hydraulic at some point but there is no hurry to. The pads are £6 on Amazon and fit a variety of bikes.

Boardman do tend to fit a cheap crank this one has an “FSA” crank but everything else is Shimano Sora bearing in mind anything more fancy than that is going to be multiple £1000s

If the frame is good then you can over time upgrade as things fail.
I’m going to upgrade the brakes I still have the old SRAM brakes off my mountain bike, which I upgraded to 4piston calliper (SRAM G2) but the old 2 pot calipers would not fit a road bike without adaptors. I’ll probably use some shimano 105 stuff to upgrade this bike.

Oh and the previous owner had just upgraded the wheels for more than the cost I paid for the whole bike so I’m not worried about the wheels.

Old MTB caliper


Current road disc brake


Current road pads on both sides, nothing weird or special about them

 

[StevenRB45]

Reading it did seem most of the pain points may have been addressed.

Also I'm not going to say I just pootled the Carrera to the shops...this was the bike in which I snapped 2 or possibly 3 rear axles and bent 2 derailleurs. So to say one little older lady owner was a bit strong and I've still got it. Although it was better than the GT I had prior which I gave up on after the crank sheared on a climb.

Main point was maybe just give it a once over and replace any budget bits...as the Halfords bikes tend to have good brands but lower end versions of stuff unless the original price was eye watering.

Pads wise this was my issue...note identical to every pad ever..except the little dent.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

I think most modern pads have the hole through the tab to secure the pads in place a little bit like brembo disc brakes have the pins to secure the pads.

Sometimes it’s a split pin and sometimes it’s a better quality screw/bolt but either way they have something to stop the pads dropping out by means of something going though the pad backing.

I’m going to guess that £500 in 2005/6 was probably a fairly decent bike back then, these days a £500 bike can be more towards the bottom of the range but that being said you would not find cable calipers on a £500 mountain bike these days. Even shifters and gears can be hydraulic and I have a hydraulic seat dropper on my mountain bike as well, so things have moved on a lot.

This road bike doesn’t need to be anything fancy, I don’t need a £8k push bike, but alloy frame carbon forks, some semi decent shimano gear and a new set of wheels make this an absolute bargain at £70, and most of the reason it was so cheap is it was an older gent selling it, who had already bought its replacement, wasn’t using it and thought with it being a few years old it probably wasn’t worth much.

 

[FiatMatt94]

In the 1980s I went out on a breakdown in a tatty looking Mazda pickup, passing a female police officer as I pulled into the customers drive.
In those days the tax disc had to be on the windscreen, she ran breathlessly up and asked, "is that your vehicle , I said no, she said it's got no tax, I agreed." The look of disappointment on her face when I pointed out it was on Trade Plates was hilarious.

I remember my first 2-3 years of driving you still had to have a tax disc, I always thought it was a bit of a backwards step when they did away with them. Most of the time when I was younger my cars were never taxed quite often a few months overdue & the most effective thing to do was to get a small amount of petrol on a rag & clean the residue off the windscreen where the tax disc had been, I used to get pulled over quite a lot when I was younger & not one of those officers ever look at the windscreen so I always got away with it you were always more likely to get caught with the expired tax disc still in the windscreen, my dad's best mate had a Fiat Croma Turbo & he got chased by the boys in blue, got to 135mph & got away from them only for them to catch up with him at the level crossing when the barriers were down it was only after they were there with him for an hour & a half that one of them looked at the clean windscreen & realised there was no tax disc

 

[bugsymike]

I remember my first 2-3 years of driving you still had to have a tax disc, I always thought it was a bit of a backwards step when they did away with them. Most of the time when I was younger my cars were never taxed quite often a few months overdue & the most effective thing to do was to get a small amount of petrol on a rag & clean the residue off the windscreen where the tax disc had been, I used to get pulled over quite a lot when I was younger & not one of those officers ever look at the windscreen so I always got away with it you were always more likely to get caught with the expired tax disc still in the windscreen, my dad's best mate had a Fiat Croma Turbo & he got chased by the boys in blue, got to 135mph & got away from them only for them to catch up with him at the level crossing when the barriers were down it was only after they were there with him for an hour & a half that one of them looked at the clean windscreen & realised there was no tax disc

Gone are the old days when a round Guiness label was good enough for a quick inspection.

 

[FiatMatt94]

Gone are the old days when a round Guiness label was good enough for a quick inspection.

& the "tax in post" like Del Boy

 

[StevenRB45]

I think most modern pads have the hole through the tab to secure the pads in place a little bit like brembo disc brakes have the pins to secure the pads.

Sometimes it’s a split pin and sometimes it’s a better quality screw/bolt but either way they have something to stop the pads dropping out by means of something going though the pad backing.

I’m going to guess that £500 in 2005/6 was probably a fairly decent bike back then, these days a £500 bike can be more towards the bottom of the range but that being said you would not find cable calipers on a £500 mountain bike these days. Even shifters and gears can be hydraulic and I have a hydraulic seat dropper on my mountain bike as well, so things have moved on a lot.

This road bike doesn’t need to be anything fancy, I don’t need a £8k push bike, but alloy frame carbon forks, some semi decent shimano gear and a new set of wheels make this an absolute bargain at £70, and most of the reason it was so cheap is it was an older gent selling it, who had already bought its replacement, wasn’t using it and thought with it being a few years old it probably wasn’t worth much.

Well adjusted for inflation...it's about a grands worth of bike now, although a full house downhill rig would have been 2.5k upwards even at the time.

The pads were just magnetic the purpose of the bump was a window through the backing plate. Basically if you could see through your pad you needed another. But the adjusters also used it for clearance so even wound fully back a pad without it wouldn't fit flush. At the time hydraulic set ups were available but more than I was going to be paying it was one of the aforementioned cost cutting measures on detail parts.

Having said all of this I'm sure for a bit of riding round it'll be fine given it's if you're attempting to land a doubles on it something has gone horribly wrong.