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BSO's......not necessarily all that bad

Posted: 20 Mar 2014, 6:26pm
by Vantage
So today my girlfriend, her dad and I drove to Decathlon to buy her a bike. She'd been talking about getting one ever since we met 6 months ago so I've been gently nudging her to go through with it ever since. Her last bike some 10+ years ago was a rust bitten hunk of junk and had pretty much put her off cycling for good unsurprisingly.
She was all set to buy a full suspension mountain bike complete with a snazzy paint job for the bargain price of £109.99 when I promptly told her that would be over my dead body and explained why.
Today's wonder machine was had for £180, a decathlon original 3. Not quite super bike status but better than utter pile of ****. The shop assistant offered her the next model up for £30 more boasting it had a gel saddle, an alloy frame and bouncy forks and stating that the gel saddle alone was worth £29! Wow! Those forks must be awesome! She took one look at me, noted my expression and politely declined this super offer.
The three of us agreed that eventually she'll need a rack and panniers and a stand. She and her dad went to look those over and I offered to go get the spare inner tubes which despite me not checking were clearly 700 x 40c. Pam asked if I had the right size and I told her I knew what I was doing before pointing out the clear as a bell 26 x 1.75 markings on the tyre. After watching her dad almost die laughing and recovering from the thump on the shoulder she gave me I trundled off to get the right size tubes :D
Upon getting home and looking it over for her, she took it for a spin round the block to get used to the gears and make sure we'd set it up right then the pair of us took a ride to asda for some shopping. 2-3 miles maybe and despite cold horrible weather, she had a smile a mile wide the whole way :)
She's been talking about cycling to work a few nights a week, rides with the kids and her dad and me and generally seems happy with her new bike.
A good day all round methinks :)

Re: BSO's......not necessarily all that bad

Posted: 20 Mar 2014, 9:57pm
by LollyKat
Well done - may she have many happy hours on it! :)

Re: BSO's......not necessarily all that bad

Posted: 21 Mar 2014, 9:39am
by karlt
A £180 Decathlon bike is not a BSO. A £75 Dunlop full suss from Sports Direct is a BSO. Sometimes with the forks on back to front at no added cost.

Re: BSO's......not necessarily all that bad

Posted: 21 Mar 2014, 10:26am
by al_yrpal
Decathlons bikes are excellent. They don't sell BSOs as far as I know. They sell so many all over Europe their prices are way lower than brands where you are paying for oodles of marketing, not quality components.

Al

Re: BSO's......not necessarily all that bad

Posted: 21 Mar 2014, 7:42pm
by Vantage
I have to admit, hi-tensile steel frame aside, the components on it don't appear to be too bad. The nice big tyres look far more comfy than mine :)

Re: BSO's......not necessarily all that bad

Posted: 24 Mar 2014, 4:24pm
by John Holiday
Good move! Glad we have another cyclist in our midst,who thanks to sensible advice, might just be encouraged to keep riding!