So how bad is a Big W bike, really?
- Rob74
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Re: So how bad is a Big W bike, really?
Postby Rob74 » Mon Aug 12, 2013 11:55 pm
Was riding home on my 1988 REPCO Olympic 12........past council cleanup & under the cover of darkness I spied a REPCO Torrent MTB......how bad could it be.....brought it home side saddle....
All I can say is they don't make REPCO's like they used to.
15.8kg on the Park Tools scales
Had thought the frame was Aluminium...No its steel
Steel cranks, steel seat pole, steel gooseneck, steel handlebars, steel nipples on the spokes
Pinned Alloy rims
Pressed steel Brake Arms & plastic brake levers....well they are utter rubbish
plastic body RD
plastic swing arm on FD
It says SHIMANO on the rear stay...but...it is truly CRAP.
this nunce wants $80 for one REPCO Torrent........,
I'm considering returning it tomorrow first thing before they notice it gone or try and book me for Kerb side littering on return .......side saddle of course, it is not fit for riding.
Rob,
- ldrcycles
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Re: So how bad is a Big W bike, really?
Postby ldrcycles » Tue Aug 13, 2013 10:56 am
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Re: So how bad is a Big W bike, really?
Postby ldrcycles » Thu Oct 31, 2013 11:46 am
Repco "Sumo" for $148.
http://www.bigw.com.au/sports-leisure/b ... ntain-bike#" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Place your bets people, how long do you reckon one of these would last?
(and no I won't be doing the testing, I don't like my chances of recovering even half the cost when I inevitably sell it )
- TMjpn
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Re: So how bad is a Big W bike, really?
Postby TMjpn » Thu Oct 31, 2013 4:28 pm
I'm waiting for a head to head review against the Southern Star Kodiac:ldrcycles wrote:Boy oh boy, now 29ers are getting REALLY cheap .
Repco "Sumo" for $148.
http://www.bigw.com.au/sports-leisure/b ... ntain-bike#" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Place your bets people, how long do you reckon one of these would last?
(and no I won't be doing the testing, I don't like my chances of recovering even half the cost when I inevitably sell it )
http://www.kmart.com.au/product/souther ... ack/115020
Or the 'premium' version of said Kodiac, if you will from a reputable tuner:
http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/inner-sy ... 1030671632
- ldrcycles
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Re: So how bad is a Big W bike, really?
Postby ldrcycles » Thu Oct 31, 2013 4:45 pm
Jennay's back.... That is one seriously unscrupulous individual .TMjpn wrote:
I'm waiting for a head to head review against the Southern Star Kodiac:
http://www.kmart.com.au/product/souther ... ack/115020
Or the 'premium' version of said Kodiac, if you will from a reputable tuner:
http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/inner-sy ... 1030671632
But that said, it's better than the one on the K Mart website, the forks are crooked as a dog's hind leg!
There's a schoolkid around my area who I see riding to school on his 24" Kodiak regularly, never a speck of dust or grime on it .
- Mulger bill
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Re: So how bad is a Big W bike, really?
Postby Mulger bill » Thu Oct 31, 2013 7:54 pm
Already 404'd. Shame, I've been pining for a little more lens flare in my lifeldrcycles wrote:Jennay's back.... That is one seriously unscrupulous individual
London Boy 29/12/2011
- mattwilkinson
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Re: So how bad is a Big W bike, really?
Postby mattwilkinson » Thu Oct 31, 2013 9:21 pm
http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/glen-ede ... 1029659642" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Loving the handlebar alignment there, But you can't miss that backwards fork!
EDIT: but wait there's more!
Someone please tell him before he kills himself
- ldrcycles
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Re: So how bad is a Big W bike, really?
Postby ldrcycles » Thu Oct 31, 2013 10:38 pm
- TMjpn
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Re: So how bad is a Big W bike, really?
Postby TMjpn » Fri Nov 01, 2013 1:06 am
Don't worry, there's 2 Shimáno bikes doing the rounds on gumtree being refreshed daily. One has no lens flare - in fact its a Daytime photograph with blurred people walking past. Jennay is still in business. I'm still looking out for them!!Mulger bill wrote:Already 404'd. Shame, I've been pining for a little more lens flare in my lifeldrcycles wrote:Jennay's back.... That is one seriously unscrupulous individual
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Re: So how bad is a Big W bike, really?
Postby Mulger bill » Fri Nov 01, 2013 8:21 pm
London Boy 29/12/2011
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- ldrcycles
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Re: So how bad is a Big W bike, really?
Postby ldrcycles » Wed Nov 20, 2013 8:41 pm
I was in the local Big W the other day and noticed hundreds, no thousands, of $78 Dunlop bikes stacked up all over the place. Luckily there was one assembled in the bike section that I could have a gander at. Honestly, for $78 I've seen worse, hell my own shopping bike is a lot worse!
Steel frame with huge forks so it weighs 10 tonne, the brake levers are very flexy plastic (though not the worst I've seen), the gripshifter actually felt and worked ok and everything else is standard BSO fare. I'm sorely tempted to buy one myself but I know it wouldn't get much use, and unlike the Repco Preset there is no way i'd be able to sell it .
The interesting thing about it though was the gearing, single chainring, just like SRAM XX1 . Only problem is the 6 speed freewheel would limit the range just a touch!
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Re: So how bad is a Big W bike, really?
Postby tekapo » Thu Nov 21, 2013 7:07 pm
- GeoffInBrisbane
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Re: So how bad is a Big W bike, really?
Postby GeoffInBrisbane » Wed Nov 27, 2013 1:48 pm
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Re: So how bad is a Big W bike, really?
Postby systema83 » Wed Nov 27, 2013 2:31 pm
http://shop.target.com.au/p/7-cm-cyclop ... e/51563585" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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- outnabike
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Re: So how bad is a Big W bike, really?
Postby outnabike » Wed Nov 27, 2013 5:28 pm
Hi TMjpn,
They are probably just photographing bikes in the street, and if they get an offer pinch them the next day. Oops I don't want to give them ideas.
- ldrcycles
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Re: So how bad is a Big W bike, really?
- ldrcycles
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Re: So how bad is a Big W bike, really?
Postby ldrcycles » Sun Dec 15, 2013 10:30 pm
http://www.bigw.com.au/sports-leisure/b ... ntain-bike" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Honestly at $250, no way. Those are some seriously spindly looking forks, I wouldn't volunteer to try out a handful of front brake on that thing .
In other news, there is a Repco Origami folding bike which looks ok for $150. I've got half a mind to get one .
- silentbutdeadly
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Re: So how bad is a Big W bike, really?
Postby silentbutdeadly » Sun Dec 15, 2013 10:49 pm
As for the Origami...do you really want to end up folded like the bike?
- Mulger bill
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Re: So how bad is a Big W bike, really?
Postby Mulger bill » Mon Dec 16, 2013 11:01 am
Where did the handlebars go?ldrcycles wrote:In other news, there is a Repco Origami folding bike which looks ok for $150. I've got half a mind to get one .
EDIT. The pic displays bigger here than there, you have to remove the stem...
London Boy 29/12/2011
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Re: So how bad is a Big W bike, really?
Postby lobstermash » Mon Dec 16, 2013 11:10 am
- ldrcycles
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Re: So how bad is a Big W bike, really?
Postby ldrcycles » Fri Dec 27, 2013 8:15 pm
I'm so lucky i'm married to a woman who knows how to handle a gun, because otherwise I would be in Big W spending money I don't have .
- ldrcycles
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Re: So how bad is a Big W bike, really?
Postby ldrcycles » Fri Feb 21, 2014 10:24 pm
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Re: So how bad is a Big W bike, really?
Postby phineas » Fri Feb 21, 2014 11:34 pm
About a month in, the gear shifter lever thing stopped displaying which gear she was in, so she just has to guess.
Handle bar grip wriggled it's way off not long after that.
Bits and pieces broken and loose all over the place.
Caved today and bought her a nice bike from my LBS. Her birthday is 2 months away but neither she nor I could put up with the Big W bike any longer!
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