Making the Most out of a Repco BigW Bike for my Girl Friend
Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2012 12:51 pm
Hey all,
I went to Big W as I was keen on checking out that $98 Fixie bike and ended up buying a $98 Mountain bike for my girl friend.
She was super keen to get started and didn't want to spend much. I contacted a "certain" bike store and asked what their cheapest bike was and why I was buying one. The cheapest they offered was $300. I called another store in this franchise and was told that their cheapest was $149.
The thing that really bugged me (and its happened before) is that the first place told me "there was bikes under $300 but they aren't worth it" and I emphasised that my girl friend may end up riding the bike once or twice and just wanted to try it out. I understand they may have been trying to help but i was clear with my intentions. What bugs me is that they sell these "cheap" bikes but end up bagging the crap out of them. If it was a corporate decision to stock the cheap bikes, and someone wanted to buy one then they should help the customer. I told him I knew they were cheap bikes but I still wanted one.
I ended up getting a Big W Repco Haven for my Girl Friend to enjoy getting into cycling, if she ends up liking it we can upgrade later down the track.
My main issues with the bike have been in relation to the shifters on it. They feel pretty horrendous. It uses those mountain bike twist shifters and they are very tight. I was going to change them to the click up/down shifters.
Has anyone else had experience with this end of the market? Apart from overall product quality (the rear deraileur looks pretty aweful lol), are there build quality issues that I should be weary of? She won't be taking it off any jumps or anything like that. I have that feeling the forks will break or the frame will crack.
The bike did have certain quality standard authority's sign off on it and the bikes were locally made in Adelaide.
Here it is:
http://www.bigw.com.au/sports-leisure/b ... ntain-bike" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I went to Big W as I was keen on checking out that $98 Fixie bike and ended up buying a $98 Mountain bike for my girl friend.
She was super keen to get started and didn't want to spend much. I contacted a "certain" bike store and asked what their cheapest bike was and why I was buying one. The cheapest they offered was $300. I called another store in this franchise and was told that their cheapest was $149.
The thing that really bugged me (and its happened before) is that the first place told me "there was bikes under $300 but they aren't worth it" and I emphasised that my girl friend may end up riding the bike once or twice and just wanted to try it out. I understand they may have been trying to help but i was clear with my intentions. What bugs me is that they sell these "cheap" bikes but end up bagging the crap out of them. If it was a corporate decision to stock the cheap bikes, and someone wanted to buy one then they should help the customer. I told him I knew they were cheap bikes but I still wanted one.
I ended up getting a Big W Repco Haven for my Girl Friend to enjoy getting into cycling, if she ends up liking it we can upgrade later down the track.
My main issues with the bike have been in relation to the shifters on it. They feel pretty horrendous. It uses those mountain bike twist shifters and they are very tight. I was going to change them to the click up/down shifters.
Has anyone else had experience with this end of the market? Apart from overall product quality (the rear deraileur looks pretty aweful lol), are there build quality issues that I should be weary of? She won't be taking it off any jumps or anything like that. I have that feeling the forks will break or the frame will crack.
The bike did have certain quality standard authority's sign off on it and the bikes were locally made in Adelaide.
Here it is:
http://www.bigw.com.au/sports-leisure/b ... ntain-bike" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;