anyone got a Makro card? please settle an argument.

MartinM said:

Have spent much of the day trying to convince a colleague that he
shouldn't buy an £80 full-sus MTB from makro. His main reasons for
buying it seem to be a. he can ride it on the pavement (have spent much
of the day hitting head against wall over this as well) b. It has an
RRP of £200. If anyone happens to see it please could they confirm
that it is actually worth £40 not £200?
TIA
(the makro website is very secretive)

You could always give him the URL to this topic and he'll see all the
mean comments from us. 🙂

As far as I'm concerned his approach is the best way not to start
cycling. He may as well burn £80 cash instead. I would also tell him
that riding on the pavement is not only illegal and stupid, but it's
more dangerous than riding on the road.

"MartinM" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Have spent much of the day trying to convince a colleague that he
shouldn't buy an £80 full-sus MTB from makro. His main reasons for
buying it seem to be a. he can ride it on the pavement (have spent much
of the day hitting head against wall over this as well) b. It has an
RRP of £200. If anyone happens to see it please could they confirm
that it is actually worth £40 not £200?
TIA
(the makro website is very secretive)

Well, if he rides on the pavement, he's breaking the law - period. Point him
to the relevant bit of the Highway Code.

http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/03.htm#45

"54: You MUST NOT cycle on a pavement. Do not leave your cycle where it
would endanger or obstruct road users or pedestrians, for example, lying on
the pavement. Use cycle parking facilities where provided.
Laws HA 1835 sect 72 & R(S)A sect 129"

I haven't seen the particular bike he refers to, but the last time I was in
a Makro and saw the bikes for sale, they were, IMO, Complete [censored]. The
usual supermarket [censored], made of lead, components of cheese. I wouldn't want
to touch one with a bargepole.

Cheers, helen s

LSMike said:

MartinM said:

Have spent much of the day trying to convince a colleague that he
shouldn't buy an £80 full-sus MTB from makro. His main reasons for
buying it seem to be a. he can ride it on the pavement (have spent much
of the day hitting head against wall over this as well) b. It has an
RRP of £200. If anyone happens to see it please could they confirm
that it is actually worth £40 not £200?
TIA
(the makro website is very secretive)

You could always give him the URL to this topic and he'll see all the
mean comments from us. 🙂

As far as I'm concerned his approach is the best way not to start
cycling. He may as well burn £80 cash instead. I would also tell him
that riding on the pavement is not only illegal and stupid, but it's
more dangerous than riding on the road.

That's exactly what I said; I also pointed him at £4-500 road bikes in
the cyclesurgery catalogue but he seemed more interested in getting a
bargain, even though he would absolutely hate the thing after two
weeks. It's called an excell ?BTW (yeah right famous make that one)

BTW I called in at Cycle King on the way home just on the off chance or
getting a scratched Raleigh in the sale, what's all that about? a
veritable gas pipe emporium, they did have a few top end road bikes but
never heard of the makes and certainly not paying £6-800 for one. You
can't see the bikes for bikes; has anyone ever used them?

wafflycat said:

http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/03.htm#45
"54: You MUST NOT cycle on a pavement.

I suspect they're going to have to change that sometime pretty soon.
It's hard to explain why it doesn't apply to pavements where the
council have painted a hieroglyphic bike down the way a bit. How do
you tell that this particular bit of hard surfacing not designed for
the purpose, separated from the roadway by a kerb, etc, is not
actually a pavement, even though last week (say) it was actually a
pavement and it is now physically identical in every way to then.

Make a good pub quiz question though - photo round - which of these is
the odd one out [picture of pavement] [picture of pavement] [picture
of not pavement] [picture of pavement].

regards, Ian SMith
--
|\ /| no .sig
|o o|
|/ \|

Ian Smith said:

wafflycat said:

http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/03.htm#45
"54: You MUST NOT cycle on a pavement.

I suspect they're going to have to change that sometime pretty soon.
It's hard to explain why it doesn't apply to pavements where the
council have painted a hieroglyphic bike down the way a bit. How do
you tell that this particular bit of hard surfacing not designed for
the purpose, separated from the roadway by a kerb, etc, is not
actually a pavement, even though last week (say) it was actually a
pavement and it is now physically identical in every way to then.

Make a good pub quiz question though - photo round - which of these is
the odd one out [picture of pavement] [picture of pavement] [picture
of not pavement] [picture of pavement].

Since moving to the Isle of Thanet, I've never seen so many pavement
cyclists. Obviously de rigeur round here. They're scared off the roads by
the motorists. Which is odd; as a youngster I couldn't wait to start cycling
on the road, and have never looked back. I grew up in Dorset, but round here
the motorists are no worse and no more in abundance.

MartinM said:

Have spent much of the day trying to convince a colleague that he
shouldn't buy an £80 full-sus MTB from makro. His main reasons for
buying it seem to be a. he can ride it on the pavement (have spent much
of the day hitting head against wall over this as well) b. It has an
RRP of £200. If anyone happens to see it please could they confirm
that it is actually worth £40 not £200?
TIA
(the makro website is very secretive)

If he buys it make sure he puts the fork on backwards etc for the full
experience 😉

--
---
Marten Gerritsen

INFOapestaartjeM-GINEERINGpuntNL
www.m-gineering.nl

in message <[email hidden]>,

MartinM (') said:

LSMike said:

MartinM said:

Have spent much of the day trying to convince a colleague that he
shouldn't buy an £80 full-sus MTB from makro. His main reasons for
buying it seem to be a. he can ride it on the pavement (have spent
much of the day hitting head against wall over this as well) b. It
has an RRP of £200. If anyone happens to see it please could they
confirm that it is actually worth £40 not £200?
TIA
(the makro website is very secretive)

You could always give him the URL to this topic and he'll see all the
mean comments from us. 🙂

As far as I'm concerned his approach is the best way not to start
cycling. He may as well burn £80 cash instead. I would also tell him
that riding on the pavement is not only illegal and stupid, but it's
more dangerous than riding on the road.

That's exactly what I said; I also pointed him at £4-500 road bikes in
the cyclesurgery catalogue but he seemed more interested in getting a
bargain, even though he would absolutely hate the thing after two
weeks. It's called an excell ?BTW (yeah right famous make that one)

Would he have bought a Lada in the pre-Glasnost days? If not, why not?
'Cheap' isn't a bargain unless it's also fit-for-purpose. Buying 20Kg of
roughly bike shaped scrap metal from Makro may be cheaper than buying a
bike, but if what you want was a bike you've just wasted your money.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

to err is human, to lisp divine
;; attributed to Kim Philby, oddly enough.

.. If anyone happens to see it please could they confirm

Quoted message said:

that it is actually worth £40 not £200?
TIA
(the makro website is very secretive)

Having a makro card and very little else to do I popped down to my
local one.
Now I know I'm biased because I work for them but he's better buying a
H*lf*ds bike and at least if he bought it from a decent store he'd get
a service out of us. The Excell I'd avoid and we have had one in store
for repair a week after it was bought from Makro who refused to take it
back claiming it had broken because it had been ridden. 'Nuff said.

TrailRat said:

. If anyone happens to see it please could they confirm

Quoted message said:

that it is actually worth £40 not £200?
TIA
(the makro website is very secretive)

Having a makro card and very little else to do I popped down to my
local one.
Now I know I'm biased because I work for them but he's better buying a
H*lf*ds bike and at least if he bought it from a decent store he'd get
a service out of us. The Excell I'd avoid and we have had one in store
for repair a week after it was bought from Makro who refused to take it
back claiming it had broken because it had been ridden. 'Nuff said.

Thanks, that should convince him. A bit like a Black and Decker
"Professional" drill I bought which I used to put my central heating in
with, when it died shortly after they refused to repair it as it had
been used professionally
(I wish)

MartinM said:

Have spent much of the day trying to convince a colleague that he
shouldn't buy an £80 full-sus MTB from makro. His main reasons for
buying it seem to be a. he can ride it on the pavement (have spent much
of the day hitting head against wall over this as well) b. It has an
RRP of £200. If anyone happens to see it please could they confirm
that it is actually worth £40 not £200?
TIA
(the makro website is very secretive)

I have seen these 'bikes' last time I was in Makro. If anybody has ever
paid £200 for one they need their head examining. Or possibly replacing.
What's this about cycling on the pavement? Didn't know there were
special bikes for it!
Jo

Simon Brooke said:

in message <[email hidden]>,

MartinM (') said:

LSMike said:

MartinM wrote:
> Have spent much of the day trying to convince a colleague that he
> shouldn't buy an £80 full-sus MTB from makro. His main reasons for
> buying it seem to be a. he can ride it on the pavement (have spent
> much of the day hitting head against wall over this as well) b. It
> has an RRP of £200. If anyone happens to see it please could they
> confirm that it is actually worth £40 not £200?
> TIA
> (the makro website is very secretive)

You could always give him the URL to this topic and he'll see all the
mean comments from us. 🙂

As far as I'm concerned his approach is the best way not to start
cycling. He may as well burn £80 cash instead. I would also tell him
that riding on the pavement is not only illegal and stupid, but it's
more dangerous than riding on the road.

That's exactly what I said; I also pointed him at £4-500 road bikes in
the cyclesurgery catalogue but he seemed more interested in getting a
bargain, even though he would absolutely hate the thing after two
weeks. It's called an excell ?BTW (yeah right famous make that one)

Would he have bought a Lada in the pre-Glasnost days? If not, why not?
'Cheap' isn't a bargain unless it's also fit-for-purpose. Buying 20Kg of
roughly bike shaped scrap metal from Makro may be cheaper than buying a
bike, but if what you want was a bike you've just wasted your money.

this takes me back to my 13th birthday (my son has just had his); I was
taken to my grandfather's shed to be shown... a racing bike!, and it
had the name Martino on the side. I absolutely loved it at the time. It
of course turned out to be a heap of Grattan catalogue rubbish that
ended up costing more in repairs than a new one (whilst school friends
rode past on Claud Butlers for not much more). But it got me into
cycling.

MartinM said:

this takes me back to my 13th birthday (my son has just had his); I was
taken to my grandfather's shed to be shown... a racing bike!, and it had
the name Martino on the side. I absolutely loved it at the time. It of
course turned out to be a heap of Grattan catalogue rubbish that ended up
costing more in repairs than a new one (whilst school friends rode past on
Claud Butlers for not much more). But it got me into cycling.

At 11 I was still riding the "fairy-cycle" I'd learned to ride on at
probably 8. By then I had graduated from Cubs to Scouts, and the
scoutmaster took pity on me and gave me a worn out 5-speed bike. Over the
next 6 years (an age at the time) that got upgraded though a succession of
frames, crashes and components until it was a pretty good touring bike
with a decent frame, and mainly topline bits and nothing whatsoever left
of the original.

My friends called it the "Tatting Special", but I had a better bike after
all that than any of them did.

Mike

Mike Causer said:

My friends called it the "Tatting Special", but I had a better bike after
all that than any of them did.

by the time I got a better bike all my friends had graduated to mopeds
and motorbikes; if I had spent all the dosh I've wasted on piston
rings/rectifiers/replacement indicators on cycling bits ;-)

In message
<[email hidden]>, Mike
Causer <[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

At 11 I was still riding the "fairy-cycle" I'd learned to ride on at
probably 8. By then I had graduated from Cubs to Scouts, and the
scoutmaster took pity on me and gave me a worn out 5-speed bike. Over the
next 6 years (an age at the time) that got upgraded though a succession of
frames, crashes and components until it was a pretty good touring bike
with a decent frame, and mainly topline bits and nothing whatsoever left
of the original.

About the same age I was give a 'beast' of a bike which was come about
in very dubious circumstances by my uncle. It was a sit-up-and-beg
Raleigh with hub brakes, old leather saddle (ouch) and SA 3-speed hub.
I didn't care what it looked like, it got me out of the house and into
the New Forest and FREE!

Despite it being made from cast iron (!) I loved it and even added
drop-handlebars for that go-faster look. My first puncture was
'repaired' by sticking a patch over the hole in the tyre (well, no-one
had told me there was an inner tube!). As for the brakes, well all I
can say is that I am lucky to be alive... when wet they just faded to
absolutely zero!

But I wouldn't be without all those happy memories of sunny days cycling
all around Hampshire (as it was called then); they were the foundation
of a long (50 years) and continuing pleasure.

--
Chris

TrailRat said:

. If anyone happens to see it please could they confirm

Quoted message said:

that it is actually worth £40 not £200?
TIA
(the makro website is very secretive)

Having a makro card and very little else to do I popped down to my
local one.
Now I know I'm biased because I work for them but he's better buying a
H*lf*ds bike and at least if he bought it from a decent store he'd get
a service out of us.

do halfords service bikes bought from elsewhere now? 🙂

Sorry.

igmc
james

MartinM said:

BTW I called in at Cycle King on the way home just on the off chance or
getting a scratched Raleigh in the sale, what's all that about? a
veritable gas pipe emporium, they did have a few top end road bikes but
never heard of the makes and certainly not paying £6-800 for one. You
can't see the bikes for bikes; has anyone ever used them?

I bought a GT Arette (hybrid, no suspension) for £200 some years ago.
The dynamo light wiring was made of extruded cheese, and I've chosen to
replace some of the other parts, but overall I think it's been good value.
There is a lot of overweight bouncy stuff to look through for the
occasional last-years-model reasonable bike though.

(Having said that, I once bought one of their massively overweight (but
non-bouncy) things at a police auction (for £5, I think, but maybe it
was £15 - it did have a large dent in the downtube) planning to
use some of the parts to convert a road bike to flat bars to make handling
the weight of a child seat easier, and my wife said she would happily ride
it as it was, and resisted an upgrade for years.)

Jo said:

Quoted message said:

I have seen these 'bikes' last time I was in Makro. If anybody has ever
paid £200 for one they need their head examining. Or possibly replacing.
What's this about cycling on the pavement? Didn't know there were
special bikes for it!
Jo

To be fair - I actually bought a Makro bike for 200 quid back in 1998.
It was a decent bike. MTB with no sus at all, Alivio groupset, alloy
wheels etc. I rode a double century on it. Shown here:

http://www.simonmason.karoo.net/shed.jpg

The current fashion downhill style Y-frame bikes are pretty awful
though.

--
Simon M.

Quoted message said:

Jo said:

Quoted message said:

I have seen these 'bikes' last time I was in Makro. If anybody has
ever paid £200 for one they need their head examining. Or possibly
replacing. What's this about cycling on the pavement? Didn't know
there were special bikes for it!
Jo

To be fair - I actually bought a Makro bike for 200 quid back in 1998.
It was a decent bike. MTB with no sus at all, Alivio groupset, alloy
wheels etc. I rode a double century on it. Shown here:

http://www.simonmason.karoo.net/shed.jpg

Yes, but what does it look like when it's inside your kitchen? 🙂

I remember your double centuries well. I was jealous then and I'm jealous
now.

--
Ambrose

Quoted message said:

Jo said:

Quoted message said:

I have seen these 'bikes' last time I was in Makro. If anybody has ever
paid £200 for one they need their head examining. Or possibly replacing.
What's this about cycling on the pavement? Didn't know there were
special bikes for it!
Jo

To be fair - I actually bought a Makro bike for 200 quid back in 1998.
It was a decent bike. MTB with no sus at all, Alivio groupset, alloy
wheels etc. I rode a double century on it.

yebbut it actually cost 200 rather than 80; I would expect a half
decent MTB for 200 (that's what my first one cost). When they say RRP
they should have to prove that it has been sold at the price elsewhere.
It's like the £1.99 sunglasses that have printed £14.99 price tags.