2005 GVBR bikes .. urghhh

[Bleve]

I was working in at my LBS on the w'end and a couple of the 2005 GVBR
bikes came in to be "fixed". My golly ... I know they're cheap ... but
they are -nasty-. The front derailier is made of tinfoil, I'm sure ...
If these things last 500km I'd be amazed. You can't get them to change
gears nicely, it's just not possible with the flex in the parts.
Instant pub bikes or dumpster-fodder. Urghhh. The paint job on them
is probably the best part - at least they used paint! Are there any
hills on the GVBR this year?

I can't help but think that promoting them as a bike to do the GVBR on
is a dis-incentive to ride it - they won't go the distance. They're
probably worse than k-mart shitters. Giving them to someone as a pub
bike is about the only use for them, IMO.

 

[Stuart Lamble]

On 2005-11-20, Bleve <[email protected]> wrote:
> I was working in at my LBS on the w'end and a couple of the 2005 GVBR
> bikes came in to be "fixed". My golly ... I know they're cheap ... but
> they are -nasty-. The front derailier is made of tinfoil, I'm sure ...
> If these things last 500km I'd be amazed.

Hm. Possible worthy conversion to a single speed or fixie for a quick
trip to the train station, perhaps? (ie: what's the frame and wheel set
like? Oh, and the cranks, too ... the pedals are less significant.)

--
My Usenet From: address now expires after two weeks. If you email me, and
the mail bounces, try changing the bit before the "@" to "usenet".

 

[Bleve]

Stuart Lamble wrote:
> On 2005-11-20, Bleve <[email protected]> wrote:
> > I was working in at my LBS on the w'end and a couple of the 2005 GVBR
> > bikes came in to be "fixed". My golly ... I know they're cheap ... but
> > they are -nasty-. The front derailier is made of tinfoil, I'm sure ...
> > If these things last 500km I'd be amazed.
>
> Hm. Possible worthy conversion to a single speed or fixie for a quick
> trip to the train station, perhaps? (ie: what's the frame and wheel set
> like? Oh, and the cranks, too ... the pedals are less significant.)

I didn't look that closely - I was assembling MTBs on Sunday, not
actually fixing these ... things... I'm sure you could do something
with the frame, but the components ... no.

 

[cfsmtb]

I didn't look that closely - I was assembling MTBs on Sunday, not
actually fixing these ... things... I'm sure you could do something
with the frame, but the components ... no.

The frame is salvageable, a friend has swapped over a new gruppo & wheelset on his & it makes a acceptable tourer, um, er, pub bike. Still, why not go for quality & not quantity, like 1000 OCR's or a meduim entry level roadie?

 

[Marx SS]

On the weekend I was in Port Melbourne at a friend house off Graham St. His place was built in the 1920s-30s & he was smashing up the concrete out the back. Seems that in those days they used old gates & bed heads as concrete re-enforcement. I asked him if he had come up with any bike frames, but I suppose the GVBR wasn’t around back then……

 

[SteveA]

On the weekend I was in Port Melbourne at a friend house off Graham St. His place was built in the 1920s-30s & he was smashing up the concrete out the back. Seems that in those days they used old gates & bed heads as concrete re-enforcement. I asked him if he had come up with any bike frames, but I suppose the GVBR wasn’t around back then……

...not around back then, but if he is renovating and needs to pour a new slab, the GVBR bike could form the basis of his new reo for the modern slab.

SteveA

 

[smartie]

So you mean the 3 i have on display in my lounge room are not going to appreciate in value from what i paid for them?

There goes my lack of investment sense again.

 

[Duncan]

"Bleve" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> I was working in at my LBS on the w'end and a couple of the 2005 GVBR
> bikes came in to be "fixed". My golly ... I know they're cheap ... but
> they are -nasty-. The front derailier is made of tinfoil, I'm sure ...
> If these things last 500km I'd be amazed. You can't get them to change
> gears nicely, it's just not possible with the flex in the parts.
> Instant pub bikes or dumpster-fodder. Urghhh. The paint job on them
> is probably the best part - at least they used paint! Are there any
> hills on the GVBR this year?
>
> I can't help but think that promoting them as a bike to do the GVBR on
> is a dis-incentive to ride it - they won't go the distance. They're
> probably worse than k-mart shitters. Giving them to someone as a pub
> bike is about the only use for them, IMO.

A friend of mine did a state MTB round on one the other weekend. Entered
SportB thinking it wouldn't survive more than 3 laps. Over the first two
laps he blitzed sportB, passed all the masters and was halfway through the
sportA pack before he tacoed the rear wheel.