Significantly Cheaper Bicycles

alastair

There's a decent enough bike toolkit shows up a couple of times a year at Lidl. Certainly good enough quality for initial bike assembly. Any missing tools or lubricants etc are equally available from the NI bike retailers. Nothing wrong with paying that bit extra for buying locally - assuming you've a decent LBS, but it's equally true that the savings to be made by buying up north (either bikes or components) are considerable, and outweigh the potential pitfalls of what is an essentially pretty straightforward assembly process. No need for scaremongering.

kona

keithclancy wrote: »

Ireland is cheaper than the Netherlands for bikes.

Do the dutch buy alot of new bikes? I dont think they do, they repair what they have....

kona

alastair wrote: »

There's a decent enough bike toolkit shows up a couple of times a year at Lidl. Certainly good enough quality for initial bike assembly. Any missing tools or lubricants etc are equally available from the NI bike retailers. Nothing wrong with paying that bit extra for buying locally - assuming you've a decent LBS, but it's equally true that the savings to be made by buying up north (either bikes or components) are considerable, and outweigh the potential pitfalls of what is an essentially pretty straightforward assembly process. No need for scaremongering.

Yes its straight forward, but the majority of people cannot do it. Whats scarey is that they then take these bikes into traffic. Or the kids ride them.

You can say what you want, everybody has their own skill levels, from what I can see the MAJORITY or people just cannot assemble a bike to a safe standard. Obviously some are competant, but saying its easy isnt right because your misleading people.

Sure you can buy a tool set from Lidl, You can order parts from NI....but is it worth the hassle? You may find you have ordered these parts and you cant assemble the bike?

There are savings to be made......not alot mind you from the OP post, youd swear e200 will get you a XTC1 and change:rolleyes:

There is a reason why there are qualifications for bike mechanics and courses, They are simple machines, but they are only simple if you know what to do. Saying its easy after assembling a bike thats 80% pre assembled is rediculous, you can barley even get a feel for it.

Some bikes come in various stages of assembly, some bikes have different parts and need specialist tools. Making generalised statements is stupid because in some cases your misleading people.

Its like saying Ive changed to oil on my fiesta, sure Ill do it on my mates Ferrari, its the same.

rubadub

Some online shops will sell a bike assembled & testede, I know www.wiggle.co.uk do so I presume others do. I have assembled a few online and had no trouble with them, I have them to a mate of mine who is an experienced bike mechanic for a once over and he saw no problem with them.

The other option is to buy the bike and pay for it to be assembled by a bike shop here, I am surprised more do not advertise this as a service. No doubt some bike shops will cut their nose off to spite their face and refuse to assemble it, just like some PC shop might refuse to fit components you bought elsewhere, but their loss, the bike is bought now if they want no money let them bite their nose off. There are big savings to be had, not only on VAT but the fact the dealers here can be paying more wholesale than a price a foreign shop could sell at, i.e. the RRP is often a lot higher. My mechanic mate bought a bike direct from an agent here at cost price and another mate got the exact same model from the UK for less.

alastair

Buying a toolkit? - It's worth the hassle if you've any interest in maintaining your own bike without the need to continually return to a bike shop (convenience and cost come into play here). It's not for everyone, but it's the best route to keeping your bike in a good, safe, and reliable condition. Why not start at the outset?

And changing the oil in a ferrari is no more difficult than a fiesta. Once you've established which grade to use, it's much the same deal.

mp3kid

kona wrote: »

Its like saying Ive changed to oil on my fiesta, sure Ill do it on my mates Ferrari, its the same.

it's essentially the same, yes

taung

rubadub wrote: »

The other option is to buy the bike and pay for it to be assembled by a bike shop here, I am surprised more do not advertise this as a service. No doubt some bike shops will cut their nose off to spite their face and refuse to assemble it, just like some PC shop might refuse to fit components you bought elsewhere, but their loss, the bike is bought now if they want no money let them bite their nose off.

Great business idea! There's a good few guys making money out of assembling IKEA furniture thesedays. I guess a significant number of people don't want the hassle of assembling relatively minor things.

rubadub wrote: »

There are big savings to be had, not only on VAT but the fact the dealers here can be paying more wholesale than a price a foreign shop could sell at, i.e. the RRP is often a lot higher. My mechanic mate bought a bike direct from an agent here at cost price and another mate got the exact same model from the UK for less.

Something is definitely wrong with the bike business in Ireland; middlemen seem to be taking nice margins as well. Do most bike shops get stock from UK, even if the main distribution centres are not in the UK e.g. GIANT's main European distribution/warehouse is in Rotterdam, I believe.

kona

mp3kid wrote: »

it's essentially the same, yes

LOL

kona

alastair wrote: »

Buying a toolkit? - It's worth the hassle if you've any interest in maintaining your own bike without the need to continually return to a bike shop (convenience and cost come into play here). It's not for everyone, but it's the best route to keeping your bike in a good, safe, and reliable condition. Why not start at the outset?

And changing the oil in a ferrari is no more difficult than a fiesta. Once you've established which grade to use, it's much the same deal.

What if the ferrari is dry sumped? What if you have to remove parts to get to the filter?

?


Also If your gunna buy a tool kit with a view to using it more than once, youd be better off investing in quaslity tools as opposed to Lidl.

kona

Q. How do I do an oil change on a 575? Is there any special way of doing it?
Tiny

A. Without a Work Shop Manual you are wasting your time. Take the lower tray off, remove the 2 filters and retorque new ones, drain the sump and the tank. Fill with proper amount of oil start warm to correct temperature and top off oil tank. You should take this car to someone that knows how to do this job. The dif/trans also needscto be serviced and brakes flushed. Good luck.

Hope you find this helpful,

Frank Maderi
Wide World of Cars
Spring Valley, New York
E-mail franklin1111@aol.com


Ya the same as the fiesta:rolleyes:

alastair

kona wrote: »

Q. How do I do an oil change on a 575? Is there any special way of doing it?
Tiny

A. Without a Work Shop Manual you are wasting your time. Take the lower tray off, remove the 2 filters and retorque new ones, drain the sump and the tank. Fill with proper amount of oil start warm to correct temperature and top off oil tank. You should take this car to someone that knows how to do this job. The dif/trans also needscto be serviced and brakes flushed. Good luck.

Hope you find this helpful,


Ya the same as the fiesta:rolleyes:

Ehh - aside from removing a tray to access the sump (and a second filter to replace), this is the same process as for the Fiesta. The tranny and brakes are a red herring - nowt to do with changing the oil..

keithclancy

kona wrote: »

Do the dutch buy alot of new bikes? I dont think they do, they repair what they have....

Yup they do, as a tourist you'd mainly see the old rust buckets parked up in the city.

This is because the Dutch have a bike they can afford to get stolen and a good bike for weekend rides.

A good new bike in the Netherlands you'd expect pay 400 - 600 euros.

You wouldn't spend more than 40 euros on your ****e bike for the city.

kona

keithclancy wrote: »

Yup they do, as a tourist you'd mainly see the old rust buckets parked up in the city.

This is because the Dutch have a bike they can afford to get stolen and a good bike for weekend rides.

A good new bike in the Netherlands you'd expect pay 400 - 600 euros.

You wouldn't spend more than 40 euros on your ****e bike for the city.

Strange because a decent bike here is 4-600 euro? A good bike 6 - 1000 and a great bike 1000+

kona

alastair wrote: »

Ehh - aside from removing a tray to access the sump (and a second filter to replace), this is the same process as for the Fiesta. The tranny and brakes are a red herring - nowt to do with changing the oil..

Obviously it does considering that its related to the question.

I could describe removing a engine in 3 lines. Always easier than it actually is. I can guarantee you a oil change on a ferrari is alot more involved than on a fiesta.

The process is obviously the same. Its removing bits to get at the filters, its having the correct tools (not the aul screwdriver through filter and turn), its knowing that there maybe etra parts needed.

Im just saying that people on this thread are incorrectly portraying bikes to come all the same way and are all as easy to assemble. They are not.

Then again, arguing with people in bargain alerts is akin to smashing your head off a wall...pointless as you are always correct no matter what.

LFC5Times

So are these cheap bikes any good does anybody know? Ta

Harrybelafonte

kona wrote: »

Obviously it does considering that its related to the question.

I could describe removing a engine in 3 lines. Always easier than it actually is. I can guarantee you a oil change on a ferrari is alot more involved than on a fiesta.

The process is obviously the same. Its removing bits to get at the filters, its having the correct tools (not the aul screwdriver through filter and turn), its knowing that there maybe etra parts needed.

Im just saying that people on this thread are incorrectly portraying bikes to come all the same way and are all as easy to assemble. They are not.

Then again, arguing with people in bargain alerts is akin to smashing your head off a wall...pointless as you are always correct no matter what.

Ferrari and fiesta similar but not same

1. Viscosity
2. Quantity of oil
3. Torque requirements for replacing plug.