Bike OK?

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

Quoted message said:

Am planning on getting this :-
http://www.edinburgh-bicycle.co.uk/catalogue/detail.cfm?ID=22630
for the eldest son's birthday I fully understand that at this price point
it is not going to be whoope-do, when he wants a decent bike he can pay
for it. Think (hope?) it is more of a low end bike than a high end BSO .

Edinburgh bikes get very good write-ups in the cycling press as being
exceptionally good value. Put it this way, if I had a choice of a bike from
Halfrauds or a bike from Edinburgh Bicycle, I'd go for the Edinburgh Bicycle
one with no hesitation whatsoever.

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

Quoted message said:

Am planning on getting this :-
http://www.edinburgh-bicycle.co.uk/catalogue/detail.cfm?ID=22630
for the eldest son's birthday I fully understand that at this price point
it is not going to be whoope-do, when he wants a decent bike he can pay
for it. Think (hope?) it is more of a low end bike than a high end BSO .

Can anyone see any gotchas or recommendations with this course?
--
www.cheesesoup.myby.co.uk

Hi, it may be worth a look here also for your sons bike.
http://www.islabikes.co.uk/

John

"wafflycat" <w*a*ff£y£cat*@£btco*nn£ect.com> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

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

Quoted message said:

Am planning on getting this :-
http://www.edinburgh-bicycle.co.uk/catalogue/detail.cfm?ID=22630
for the eldest son's birthday I fully understand that at this price point
it is not going to be whoope-do, when he wants a decent bike he can pay
for it. Think (hope?) it is more of a low end bike than a high end BSO .

Edinburgh bikes get very good write-ups in the cycling press as being
exceptionally good value. Put it this way, if I had a choice of a bike
from Halfrauds or a bike from Edinburgh Bicycle, I'd go for the Edinburgh
Bicycle one with no hesitation whatsoever.

Equally, the Carrera range of bikes from Halfords also get very good write
ups in the off road comics. Just as some folk find the quality of service
from Halfords not quite meeting their needs, I found that the staff in the
Leeds branch of the EBC to be less knowledgeable than I needed on my two
visits to them. For choice of bikes I'd go for the Carerra and for
knowledgeable service, my LBS, in my case Woodrups.

Either way, there is always some trade off in the quality/durability of the
components in the drive train and finishing kit when driving the price down
but I've never been disappointed with the Carrera bikes that I've purchased
from Halfords.

Give the Carrerra range a look. Currently they are selling £300 bikes for
£200 so there's a bargain to be had.

soup said:

Am planning on getting this :-
http://www.edinburgh-bicycle.co.uk/catalogue/detail.cfm?ID=22630
for the eldest son's birthday I fully understand that at this price
point it is not going to be whoope-do, when he wants a decent bike he
can pay for it. Think (hope?) it is more of a low end bike than a high
end BSO .

Can anyone see any gotchas or recommendations with this course?

Try to avoid the mistake of not taking him with you to select the bike and
get a proper fit. I know it's nice to surprise someone, but perhaps you
could go by the store on a pretense and test ride a couple then surprise
him with one of the choices.

Are you aware that this bike weighs 30lbs? That's about 5lbs heavier than a
Trek 7200fx (no heavy front suspension forks).

In article <[email hidden]>

soup said:

Am planning on getting this :-
http://www.edinburgh-bicycle.co.uk/catalogue/detail.cfm?ID=22630
for the eldest son's birthday I fully understand that at this price
point it is not going to be whoope-do, when he wants a decent bike he
can pay for it. Think (hope?) it is more of a low end bike than a high
end BSO .

Can anyone see any gotchas or recommendations with this course?

Wheels are a bit [censored], looks like they use a freewheel rather than a
cassette but at least they're alloy hubs. It would probably be better
with rigid forks than cheap suspension, but they seem rare these days
and at least they're not RST forks or no-names. Pedals/bars/rear mech
are all a bit cheesy, but they're easy and cheap to replace later.
I'm being over-critical - it probably won't fall apart in a hurry or put
him off cycling.

John said:

Hi, it may be worth a look here also for your sons bike.
http://www.islabikes.co.uk/

Thanks for that but he is 14 and 5'4" already

--
www.cheesesoup.myby.co.uk

Quoted message said:

Try to avoid the mistake of not taking him with you to select the bike and
get a proper fit. I know it's nice to surprise someone, but perhaps you
could go by the store on a pretense and test ride a couple then surprise
him with one of the choices.

Am taking him to get sized possibly Friday (half day) or Saturday, there
are something like 4 different frame sizes and I am not sure what would
be best for him. He knows all about what he is getting. It was him
that decided it was to be a straight bar front suspension job (I managed
to talk him out of getting rear suspension I have no intention of paying
lots of cash and rear suspension at this sort of price point would be
unenginered overweight cheese)not really happy about it having any
suspension but can't totally override what he wants..

Quoted message said:

Are you aware that this bike weighs 30lbs? That's about 5lbs heavier than a
Trek 7200fx (no heavy front suspension forks).

Wasn't aware of the weight but I don't think this will be a huge issue
for him

Thankfully I don't have to pedal it and I do not think he will be
travelling huge distances on it so hopefully the weight will not matter
to much

--
www.cheesesoup.myby.co.uk

On 25/10/2006 19:37, Rob Morley said,

Quoted message said:

and at least they're not RST forks or no-names.

Shush - I was going to put some RST forks on eBay shortly ;-)

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

In article <[email hidden]>

Paul Boyd said:

On 25/10/2006 19:37, Rob Morley said,

Quoted message said:

and at least they're not RST forks or no-names.

Shush - I was going to put some RST forks on eBay shortly ;-)

I've got some that need a new home too, but I don't think it's really
the right time of year to put bike stuff on eBay (apart from mudguards
and lights, obviously).

soup said:

Am planning on getting this :-
http://www.edinburgh-bicycle.co.uk/catalogue/detail.cfm?ID=22630
for the eldest son's birthday I fully understand that at this price
point it is not going to be whoope-do, when he wants a decent bike he
can pay for it. Think (hope?) it is more of a low end bike than a high
end BSO .

Can anyone see any gotchas or recommendations with this course?

Worth considering in that price range is the Giant Boulder 2007 for 200
quid. Similiar spec to the EBC bike but 8 speed cassette instead of 7
speed freewheel. Comes in sizes down to 14 inch frame. I got a Boulder
for my eldest son abut 6 years ago. My two other kids have grown into
it and used it since then.
Iain