Dirt Cheap commuting.

$400 Wiggle Road bike last for 5,000kms of sunny riding?

Poll ended at Sun Jan 29, 2017 6:35 pm

No Way those cheap parts will fail
0
No votes
Possibly
3
30%
She will be right
5
50%
Go for it
2
20%
 
Total votes: 10
fpstroy
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Dirt Cheap commuting.

Postby fpstroy » Sun Jan 22, 2017 6:35 pm

http://www.this link is broken.au/wiggle-road/

Has anyone done any decent KMs on one of these cheap road bikes?

Would it make 5,000 - 7,000 kms a year of sunny riding?

How do the running costs compare?

Was thinking of just taking the cheap bike for all the sunny commuting and keeping the older expensive CX bike with wider tyres on it for wet weather, and gravel rides. Once the budget bike has done a year or 2 swap it out for another one with bare minimal servicing etc.

If I look in my box of shame, there is some decent training tyres, and spds to get it up and running.

Kind of feel like its safer leaving a budget bike at work too.. We have already had one bike stolen despite having an underground lockup car park.

Was contemplating a single speed, but the commute is probably little too far.

koshari
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Re: Dirt Cheap commuting.

Postby koshari » Sun Jan 22, 2017 7:10 pm

Cant see why it wouldnt. In fact it would prolly last longer than one with dura ace. Steel wears slower than ally and the like.
7/8 speed chains are wider and have more meat on them.

Heavier wheels with more spokes are less likely to go out of true.

Having said that i would at minimum go 8 speed. There was a claris equipped roadee in aldi recently thst was better value than that wiggle bike.
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ironhanglider
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Re: Dirt Cheap commuting.

Postby ironhanglider » Sun Jan 22, 2017 10:36 pm

I have an Aldi road bike. I got it for mostly the same reasons mentioned. At the price I won't cry if it gets horribly bent or stolen. As for wear...

YMMV! I am almost 90kg, and I ride along the Waverley Rail Trail, and the Gardiner's Ck trail. The WRT in particular is bumpy with some steep bits. I am also an all-weather commuter, and rain riding is about 10x the wear rate of dry IME. As a result I'd expect my wear rate is worse than most.

My first chain lasted less than 1000km. (KMC Z chain stock)
My current chain I am about to replace tonight at 3000km. (a better but still cheap KMC chain)
My first spoke broke at 2000km, and I rebuilt the wheel at 2,500km after the 5th spoke broke. (I have a supply of spokes and can build wheels). The wheel has done 2,500km since the rebuild (same hub and rim) with no issues. (I suspect the original spokes were provided by the lower bidder).
The rear tyre lasted 1500km. (1000km to the first puncture)
I have replaced the front brake pads at 4,500km and the rear will follow suit soon. I'd eventually like to get some good pads because the stock ones are underwhelming. The replacements aren't much better, but they have been hanging around for >10 years so have likely dried out.
The rest of the parts continue to work just fine.

Ultimately the plan (after the next chain wears out) is to upgrade to 10spd. Partly because the cassette will probably be ready to be replaced then, but mostly because my other bikes are 10spd and I'd like to be able to just stick another wheel in if I find a flat tyre in the morning.

I'm upgrading my wife's bike to 7spd, so that I can use the Claris brifters on her bike.


Cheers,

Cameron

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DavidS
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Re: Dirt Cheap commuting.

Postby DavidS » Sun Jan 22, 2017 11:17 pm

I reckon it will be fine. I bought a far more expensive flat bar and managed to break 26 of the 32 spokes in around 15,000KMs so I'm not sure it is the price that matters.

It should be ok. A hell of a lot of bikes are bought and never do many KMs so they never really get tested. For $500 I figure you would be fine.

DS
Allegro T1, Auren Swift :)

Gerry.M
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Re: Dirt Cheap commuting.

Postby Gerry.M » Mon Jan 23, 2017 7:48 am

I did a similar thing around 3 years ago, bought a Flat Bar road bike from Cell for $350 for commuting. 8sp 2300 group set. I fitted bits from my previous bike, spds, rack, tyres etc
So far it's done a little over 12,000ks and in that time I've changed tyres, brake pads, a cable, a chain and cassette all which are very cheap.

Like others I've replaced a number of spokes on the rear wheel and it developed an annoying tick in the hub after a few thousand ks. Luckily I managed to score some free second hand wheels which have been in service for the last 2yrs. I've recently gone back to the original wheels but the tick is worse than ever so I think the hub is cactus.

So now I'm tossing up whether to get a new rear wheel or a new commuter.
The original plan was to only keep this for bike for 2yrs and so far it's done nearly twice that.

The wiggle bike looks good for the price, but I'm guessing like most cheap bikes the wheels will be the weakest link.

2wheels_mond
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Re: Dirt Cheap commuting.

Postby 2wheels_mond » Mon Jan 23, 2017 8:07 am

Also keep in mind that Wiggle charge around $200 for postage for a full bike, which makes it look very average price-wise in comparison to say, some of the Cell, Reid or Bicycles Online (Polygon) offerings.

For example, this from Cell gets you 10 speed Tiagra for $749:

http://www.this link is broken/Totem-Rapid-Elite

Or from Bicycles Online a Polygon with 9 speed Sora for $800:

https://www.bicyclesonline.com.au/polyg ... -road-bike

Both of which are quite a step up from the Wiggle bike, once you factor in postage costs.

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bychosis
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Re: Dirt Cheap commuting.

Postby bychosis » Mon Jan 23, 2017 8:07 am

Why not throw your $400 at a second hand ride? My commuter is a mid 90s steel roadie with cheap modern wheels from another bike and an hour or two of servicing. Cost me around $250 all up I'd guess including a couple of sets of tyres.
bychosis (bahy-koh-sis): A mental disorder of delusions indicating impaired contact with a reality of no bicycles.

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singlespeedscott
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Re: Dirt Cheap commuting.

Postby singlespeedscott » Mon Jan 23, 2017 8:39 am

bychosis wrote:Why not throw your $400 at a second hand ride? My commuter is a mid 90s steel roadie with cheap modern wheels from another bike and an hour or two of servicing. Cost me around $250 all up I'd guess including a couple of sets of tyres.
This is your cheapest and best option imo. Search well and you will get a bike with better quality parts that with a bit of luck will have clearance for larger tyres and mud guards.

That's what I have for my commuter and it's going strong.
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tez001
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Location: Sydney

Re: Dirt Cheap commuting.

Postby tez001 » Mon Jan 23, 2017 11:24 am

Second hand, or Polygon (bicycles online) current have some ex-demo bikes for sale in that lower price range too

koshari
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Re: Dirt Cheap commuting.

Postby koshari » Mon Jan 23, 2017 11:36 am

singlespeedscott wrote:
bychosis wrote:Why not throw your $400 at a second hand ride? My commuter is a mid 90s steel roadie with cheap modern wheels from another bike and an hour or two of servicing. Cost me around $250 all up I'd guess including a couple of sets of tyres.
This is your cheapest and best option imo. Search well and you will get a bike with better quality parts that with a bit of luck will have clearance for larger tyres and mud guards.

That's what I have for my commuter and it's going strong.
I reckon SSS and bychosis are on the money here. I love my steel vintage roadees but tire clearance can be an issue with a couple of them not accepting anything greater than 25mm tires.

Dont discount the old giant crx range as well if you would consider a semi vintage ally commuter. Plenty of the around for 200-250. I have a couple in my stable. One has been converted with drop bars and a compact crank and makes a great poor mans gravel grinder with clearance for up to 35mm tires. Plenty of room for fenders and they come with front and rear pannier mounts.
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caneye
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Re: Dirt Cheap commuting.

Postby caneye » Mon Jan 23, 2017 3:19 pm

singlespeedscott wrote:
This is your cheapest and best option imo. Search well and you will get a bike with better quality parts that with a bit of luck will have clearance for larger tyres and mud guards.

That's what I have for my commuter and it's going strong.
+1
that's how i got my flatbar commuter.
cost me $500. probably overpaid too .. lol.

after a yr or 2, i changed the wheels to a set of Fulcrum 7s <-- inexpensive and bomb-proof.
bought a set of Topeak rack + a set of almost-new Schwalbe Marathon Plus, both off gumtree at less than 1/2 price.
pannier from aliexpress.
fenders .. had to get them new cos they're hard to come by. mine is a plastic one that's a bodgy job.
altogether extra ~$100.

i've done almost 6000kms on it. i started commuting with another dropbar bike (N+1) and the flat bar became the wet-bike (it has since taken on its 3rd role as the wife's weekend bike) ..

koshari
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Re: Dirt Cheap commuting.

Postby koshari » Mon Jan 23, 2017 5:24 pm

also the ongoing costs for such commuters are very cheap as well in 8 speed,

smash up an RD, 30 bucks delivered and your back on the road with an RD-M360,
aftermarket 11-32 cassettes, $15 delivered, throw in a couple of chains at $10 bucks ea.
taco a rim? get a set of a donor bike for 60 or 70 bucks,

drop bar shifters are about the only thing that is a little exxy but if your happy with thumb up shifting rather than paddle there are always a pair of sora 2300s not to far away for around 50 bucks.
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fpstroy
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Re: Dirt Cheap commuting.

Postby fpstroy » Tue Jan 24, 2017 8:40 am

Thanks everyone for the replies. Sounds like a lot of people have been having problems with wheels/spokes after a few thousand kms.

I'm going back to bike store yet again with the current CX commuter on the weekend, and will get them to look at some of the issues making me consider one of these cheaper bikes mainly a lot of noise from the wheels, and crank when climbing.

I'll see what the quote is and if its close to the $400 for one of these cheap-ass bikes I might just buy one and put on some 2nd hand wheels, spds that I already have.

I feel like the rim breaks and an 8 speed would be cheaper to maintain in the future.

ironhanglider
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Re: Dirt Cheap commuting.

Postby ironhanglider » Tue Jan 24, 2017 10:23 pm

fpstroy wrote:Thanks everyone for the replies. Sounds like a lot of people have been having problems with wheels/spokes after a few thousand kms.

I'm going back to bike store yet again with the current CX commuter on the weekend, and will get them to look at some of the issues making me consider one of these cheaper bikes mainly a lot of noise from the wheels, and crank when climbing.

I'll see what the quote is and if its close to the $400 for one of these cheap-ass bikes I might just buy one and put on some 2nd hand wheels, spds that I already have.

I feel like the rim breaks and an 8 speed would be cheaper to maintain in the future.
Once the rim breaks you need to replace it.

Noise might be easily solved... or not. There are many threads in "The Shed" about noises.

Cheers,

Cameron

splash_dad
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Re: Dirt Cheap commuting.

Postby splash_dad » Sun Jul 23, 2017 11:23 pm

For many months I used to commute on a couple of supermarket bicycles (talking sub $100 types). Generally mountain type of bikes. Had no issues with any of them in terms of breakages with the exception of 1 rear derailleur when a stick flicked up and smashed it. Chunky tyres meant no punctures and I used to always think that every fortnight I could buy a new one with the amount of petrol I saved.

The downsides, really heavy and slow, gear changes were a bit clunky. No road warrior cred. Would not recommend for long commutes.

The upside, the money you save you can buy a new one as often as you need to. No need to worry if it gets stolen apart from how to get home. Often can find parts in the hard rubbish collections.

fpstroy
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Re: Dirt Cheap commuting.

Postby fpstroy » Mon Jul 24, 2017 5:18 pm

splash_dad wrote:For many months I used to commute on a couple of supermarket bicycles (talking sub $100 types). Generally mountain type of bikes. Had no issues with any of them in terms of breakages with the exception of 1 rear derailleur when a stick flicked up and smashed it. Chunky tyres meant no punctures and I used to always think that every fortnight I could buy a new one with the amount of petrol I saved.

The downsides, really heavy and slow, gear changes were a bit clunky. No road warrior cred. Would not recommend for long commutes.

The upside, the money you save you can buy a new one as often as you need to. No need to worry if it gets stolen apart from how to get home. Often can find parts in the hard rubbish collections.
You bumped a very old thread!

I should update I've continued to use the CX bike after getting it serviced by the www.therapidwrench.melbourne which was a really good service, but have learnt to do a lot more of it myself since. (Changing chains, cassetes etc)

I couldn't agree more that cheap supermarket bikes are fine for the occasional short trip.

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