A new wave of RBSOs?

[Woofage]

Road bike shaped objects. A type of BSO but with a "thin" frame and drop bars.

I passed a road bike in town today, chained to a lamp post. From a distance it looked to have Campagnolo levers so it seemed odd that a decent bike would be treated such. However, as I walked past I noticed the dodgy welding on the (aluminium, I assume) frame and the levers weren't Ergos but brake-only. Where are the gear shifters? thought I. On top of the bars - Gripshift style . Sorry, can't remember the brand.

Has the recent increase in the popularity of road cycling ushered a new "racer" for the 21st Century?

[Kim]

I spotted a bike with gripshifters on drop bars in a bike rack somewhere recently, but didn't get a chance for a proper look.  It looked like a hack bike, so I assumed they were either a clever ergonomic botch or whatever was lying around in the spare parts box.

We've had BSO fixies for a while now, haven't we?  Stands to reason they'd start appearing in road bike form.

[mcshroom]

Argos and Tesco have been selling RBSOs like these for a couple years.

Note on the description "Gears - Shifters: Y"

[andygates]

Aye, they're always for sale, but don't always sell.  "Racers" have been fairly low volume for decades.  They'll be hard pressed to get stock in time for Christmas, I think. 

[uphillbothways]

There are a fair few bottom-end road bikes out there with gripshifts, as they're pretty much the cheapest possible indexed shifter due to the lack of machined metal parts.

Shimano introduced the A050 groupset a couple of years ago, as a road-bike equivalent of Tourney or Altus - a combination of thumbie shifters to be mounted on the tops, a 7sp 14-28 screw-on freewheel and a 52/39 double crankset. It's easy to be sniffy about the cheap kit, but it honestly shifts better than Record did 20 years ago. The trickle-down of Shimano technology is a powerful force. Looking at rear mechs for example, you get oversized and skeletonized jockey wheels and forged parallelogram linkages on all but the very cheapest Tourney mech. Of course you get more pressed steel parts and a bit more weight with the cheap stuff, but it's fundamentally decent kit.

I honestly think that these cheap road bikes might be a good thing for cycling. These RBSOs show few of the most glaring faults of the classic BSO, like un-damped suspension or plastic brake levers. A traditional road frame made from gas-pipe will be heavy, but it won't be spectacularly awful to ride, as a cheap full-susser would be. Probably the only serious worry I'd have would be the quality of the BB and headset, and the spoke tensioning. Those Tesco bikes look fairly nasty, but there are a lot of similarly-priced bikes that I'd be happy to use as an everyday hack - the Diamondback Equipe and Viking Giro D'Italia spring to mind. Both under £200, both under 12kg. You'd certainly get much better value second-hand, but they're basically alright bikes.

It's now basically impossible to buy a properly bad new car, as pretty much everything on the market is OK to drive and reasonably reliable. The same thing is happening in the motorbike business, with even anonymous Chinese brands making decent bikes. I get the feeling that we're slowly moving towards that in the bicycle business - reasonably-priced bikes of adequate quality will eventually crowd out the crap.

[Kim]

I honestly think that these cheap road bikes might be a good thing for cycling. These RBSOs show few of the most glaring faults of the classic BSO, like un-damped suspension or plastic brake levers. A traditional road frame made from gas-pipe will be heavy, but it won't be spectacularly awful to ride, as a cheap full-susser would be.

Bloody good point.  A trend away from bouncy suspension and knobbly tyres can only be a good thing for the average goes-from-A-to-B-and-is-faster-than-walking BSOist.

[Exit Stage Left]

It's not the bikes that present the problem, it's the dealers. A gap has opened up between the supermarkets and 'boutique' shops. Halfords fill some of that gap, but they are in major centres, not in the small towns. I'm about a mile from Hewitt's, a mile and a half from Ribble and two miles from Merlin here, so not typical. The nearest 'middle of the road' dealer is Broadgate Cycles.
Bike dealers use to be all over the place, and you bought from the nearest, unless you wanted specialist mail order stuff which was advertised in Cycling Weekly. The web has disrupted the market, but a resurgence might favour local bike shops.

[uphillbothways]

It's not the bikes that present the problem, it's the dealers. A gap has opened up between the supermarkets and 'boutique' shops. Halfords fill some of that gap, but they are in major centres, not in the small towns.

The basic problem is that there's no money in selling good bikes. I've argued this point many times in many fora, but I'll restate it, because it's vital:

A bike shop cannot survive by selling good bikes to ordinary riders. The economics are simply impossible. The gross margin on most bikes is about 35%. For an internet boxshifter this is a tidy margin indeed, but for a specialist retailer with high staffing it barely covers the cost of sales. For most retailers, selling bikes is purely a break-even proposition. In effect, the bikes are a loss-leader to get people in the door to buy clothing and accessories, where their real profits are made.

So far so uninteresting, but the implications of this to cycling are absolutely vast. It means that a customer who buys a normal bicycle with platform pedals and rides it in ordinary clothes has no economic value whatsoever to a local retailer. There is literally no reason to encourage them through the doors, because they're never going to contribute to the bottom line. They might as well not exist.

The effects on the bike business are obvious. Magazines and retailers have a pressing need to convince people that they can't just buy a bike and ride it without loads of extra gubbins. The easiest way to do that is to sell novices on the idea that they'll get to work much quicker on the same sort of bike they see on telly. The saddle is hard and uncomfortable if you ride slowly, but if you ride quickly you boil up, and you get builder's bum if you put your hands on the hoods. If it rains you get striped with mud, but the bike won't take mudguards. So you go back to the shop, and they sell you two pairs of bibshorts, two jerseys and a waterproof, which requires no mechanic's time or post-sales service and has a 45-55% gross margin. Hence the Tour de Commute riders in full lycra, hence all the people who believe that they can't ride to work unless they have showers and changing facilities, hence just 2% of journeys being made by bike.

Britain's success in racing is both the greatest opportunity and the greatest threat to a sustainable cycling future.

[teethgrinder]

It's not the bikes that present the problem, it's the dealers. A gap has opened up between the supermarkets and 'boutique' shops. Halfords fill some of that gap, but they are in major centres, not in the small towns.

The basic problem is that there's no money in selling good bikes. I've argued this point many times in many fora, but I'll restate it, because it's vital:

A bike shop cannot survive by selling good bikes to ordinary riders. The economics are simply impossible. The gross margin on most bikes is about 35%. For an internet boxshifter this is a tidy margin indeed, but for a specialist retailer with high staffing it barely covers the cost of sales. For most retailers, selling bikes is purely a break-even proposition. In effect, the bikes are a loss-leader to get people in the door to buy clothing and accessories, where their real profits are made.

So far so uninteresting, but the implications of this to cycling are absolutely vast. It means that a customer who buys a normal bicycle with platform pedals and rides it in ordinary clothes has no economic value whatsoever to a local retailer. There is literally no reason to encourage them through the doors, because they're never going to contribute to the bottom line. They might as well not exist.

The effects on the bike business are obvious. Magazines and retailers have a pressing need to convince people that they can't just buy a bike and ride it without loads of extra gubbins. The easiest way to do that is to sell novices on the idea that they'll get to work much quicker on the same sort of bike they see on telly. The saddle is hard and uncomfortable if you ride slowly, but if you ride quickly you boil up, and you get builder's bum if you put your hands on the hoods. If it rains you get striped with mud, but the bike won't take mudguards. So you go back to the shop, and they sell you two pairs of bibshorts, two jerseys and a waterproof, which requires no mechanic's time or post-sales service and has a 45-55% gross margin. Hence the Tour de Commute riders in full lycra, hence all the people who believe that they can't ride to work unless they have showers and changing facilities, hence just 2% of journeys being made by bike.

Britain's success in racing is both the greatest opportunity and the greatest threat to a sustainable cycling future.

That all makes good sense and as Awful says, most income for bike shops is usualy repairs.
But
These cheap BSOs ridden by people who know very little about cycling are hard work to use and much slower than a road bike. There's a big difference between my road bike and my titanium mountain bike and I have mine set up well and am a much fitter cyclist than anyone who hardly ever cycles. I'm convinced that people who ride BSOs that are badly set up are put off using their bikes more often because they are such hard work. At least a RBSO will give people a better idea of how easy cycling can be. The end result being that the more people ride their bikes, the more money they will spend on bikes. If you cycle regularly a RBSO won't last very long and you'll need something more capable to do the miles.
I wonder how many here went straight into cycling by buying all the kit straight away? I started on a single speed roadster when I was 11, which my dad added gears to for a long (40-50 mile) ride, then a Halfords sports bike, then saved up my paperound money for a 531 framed bike and joined the CTC etc.

[Rig of Jarkness]

There is no such thing as a 'Bicycle Shaped Object'.  A bike is a bike.  Every journey made by a bike, of whatever spec, is a good thing.

[Jaded]

The gross margin on most bikes is about 35%. For an internet boxshifter this is a tidy margin indeed, but for a specialist retailer with high staffing it barely covers the cost of sales. For most retailers, selling bikes is purely a break-even proposition.

Everyone should remember this when they buy stuff online. It's like buying a house in a lovely village with a pub and a post office (because that's why lovely villages have) then never using either. It's a choice thing; but be careful what you wish for.

[rogerzilla]

There is no such thing as a 'Bicycle Shaped Object'.  A bike is a bike.  Every journey made by a bike, of whatever spec, is a good thing.

This is true, but most of these bikes are destined for landfill in a very short time because they are too heavy/unreliable/dysfunctional.  They also don't stand up to any kind of serious use because the bearings are unsealed and everything rusts.

Since even good bikes (except Bromptons) depreciate so fast, a secondhand mid-range bike is about the same price as the RBSO and a much better option.

[Cudzoziemiec]

The existence, or resurgence, of these bikes is like the late 70s or early 80s, before mountain bikes took off. Except that now it's easier to buy a bike (of whatever shape) than ever, because you can pick it up with the baked beans. This is both good and bad for all the reasons discussed.

There is no such thing as a 'Bicycle Shaped Object'.  A bike is a bike.  Every journey made by a bike, of whatever spec, is a good thing.

This is true, but most of these bikes are destined for landfill in a very short time because they are too heavy/unreliable/dysfunctional.  They also don't stand up to any kind of serious use because the bearings are unsealed and everything rusts.

The same was true of many of the "racers" which students have spent the last few years unearthing from dad's shed to ride to college and trendy bods have been fixifying. And before that it was true of big, heavy roadsters with rod brakes, and so on. Some will last long enough to be used again.

[TimC]

I bought a cheap Halfords Chinese-made 'racer' back in the mid '80s. I didn't ride a great deal, but I looked after it and it lasted me until 2004 when cycling became more of an interest. I also had a Universal steel 'mtb' which made it to 20 years before it was reCycled and taken to Africa for another life. BSOs can do the job, if they're given a little bit of TLC. Poor maintenance will kill a Colnago as easily as it will a Tesco bike.

[ian]

There's an occasional cheap racer with grip-shifters parked outside my local pool. That's been around for a while. It's very clean and looks well cared for. Compared to my oily crud-monkey.

Cheap bikes are a bit of a odd area. The problem with picking up something second-hand is that you need to know what you are looking for, and it takes effort. So people with few pennies buy from the supermarket or down the market (half the kids on the local south London estates seem to be riding badly maintained £500+ bikes which I am sure were legitimately sold on by their original owners). Proper bike shops tend to be scary to the uninitiated (a process I expect involves lycra and a trip to 'the back room' à la Pulp Fiction). They might be great if you know bikes. There does seem to be a market for the mid-range – certainly in London with Evans, Cycle Surgery and the like, which cater to the marginally ignorant (like me) with money to spend (trust me, the two are complementary).

It does create an impression that you need a budget of £500+ and a public willingness to sheath yourself in a lycra condom, rather than just a bike. Of course, the supermarket BSOs can be terrible to ride, I feel the pain of the occasional chap I see grinding up Mount Crystal Palace on a full-suspension Apollo, it looks like he's trying to a pedal a mattress stuffed with lead springs. There just doesn't seem a niche for good, cheap bikes (for the reasons mentioned upthread).

That said, I've been an on-off utility cyclist for years. Back as a student in Edinburgh I'd rattle my second-hand Raleigh Arena over the bridges every day. I got back into cycling a few years ago with a £130 Saracen Rufftrax. I'd moved house, was still putting off getting a UK driving licence and my US one had run out, and walking to the local pool was a 30 minute trek, so it seemed like a good solution. I'd not planned to ride it more than that. I still have the bike as my main commuting machine, and it now does a hundred or so miles a week. It's heavy but robust and fears no potholes. It's actually very comfortable to ride, I've even rode it all the way home (London) from the south coast several times. I do have two more expensive bikes (a Ridgeback Hybrid and Giant SCR thing) which are very nice, but for everyday stuff, I grab the Saracen and just ride.

[TimC]

Cycling Active have, this month, tested a number of cheap road bikes. Best of the lot for value was the £299 Decathlon B'Twin Triban 3 - an aluminium framed, triple Shimano 2300-equipped (with STIs) little beauty.

[uphillbothways]

Cycling Active have, this month, tested a number of cheap road bikes. Best of the lot for value was the £299 Decathlon B'Twin Triban 3 - an aluminium framed, triple Shimano 2300-equipped (with STIs) little beauty.

Decathlon are liable to be a transforming influence on the British bike market, and the outdoor goods market in general. I understand that it's theoretically possible to build a bike of that quality (with a carbon fork!) and sell it for £299, if you're really efficient and have massive buying power and you're clever about spec, but I'm still baffled by how they manage it in practice.

Decathlon just seem to be all-around good eggs, in a way that seems slightly odd for a multinational behemoth. The low-end bikes are definitely built down to a price, but they seem resolute in not selling crap. Their £150 hybrids come with a decent set of LED lights, for instance, because Decathlon know that buyers of their very cheapest bikes are those most likely to ride without lights. £230 gets you a machine with Altus, a rack, full mudguards and a Shimano dynohub, or a full-susser with a proper 4-pivot linkage.

I can imagine worse things than Decathlon dominating the UK market, as they do in France.

[TimC]

Yes, they're certainly giving an excellent range of choices to that end of the market (I forgot to include that the Triban 3 had a carbon/alloy fork). Hopefully they'll start to make some headway and force the other big names to start upping their game in the up-to-£700 ranges. A trickle-up rather than down for a change!

[SteveC]

MrsC once offered me the chance to look round a branch of Decathalon when we were in France.
I declined on th grounds that I'd probably want to buy a new bike and we'd never get it home.
Maybe that was a mistake...

S

[Bledlow]

I think Decathlon is having an influence on more than just the cycling market. It's certainly having an effect there: the bike parking in central Reading seems to be full of B Twin bikes nowadays, & quite a few people I know have some of their bike clothing or accessories - including me. I have an £11 mini bar bag. But I also suspect the local branch was a factor in the decline of the local Millets & Blacks branches. It not only undercuts them, but the attitude of the staff seems to be better.

I reckon Evans & any LBS selling mostly above Decathlon's price range will be OK, but JD Sports & the like could be in danger.

Mrs B now has Decathlon running shoes & shorts. We have some Decathlon fleeces & thermals. The price/quality ratio is excellent.

One of the Reading CTC regulars now has a Decathlon bike, & is happy with it.

[mcshroom]

I agree about Decathlon - now can I have one within 3hrs of my house please?

[mattc]

I think Decathlon is having an influence on more than just the cycling market. It's certainly having an effect there: the bike parking in central Reading seems to be full of B Twin bikes nowadays, & quite a few people I know have some of their bike clothing or accessories - including me. I have an £11 mini bar bag. But I also suspect the local branch was a factor in the decline of the local Millets & Blacks branches. It not only undercuts them, but the attitude of the staff seems to be better.

I reckon Evans & any LBS selling mostly above Decathlon's price range will be OK, but JD Sports & the like could be in danger.

Mrs B now has Decathlon running shoes & shorts. We have some Decathlon fleeces & thermals. The price/quality ratio is excellent.

Some of their cheap stuff is cheap tat - but probably no worse than other brands. And I don't know whether they have any more instore expertise than Evans.

I do worry that there is a downside to this: I would rather have a Blacks in every High St than 20 Decathlons in out-of-town retail parks. I'm assuming that Decathlon are the bigger company => bigger buying power => lower prices.
Although if Decathlon gear is consistently better value than Blacks ... well, it's an old dilemma, isn't it? Well, as old as Tescos, anyway ...

One of the Reading CTC regulars now has a Decathlon bike, & is happy with it.

I believe Zigzag (of YACF) rode the York arrow (so at least 360km overnight) on one of their 8sp Hybrid things. He's a pretty decent rider, but it shows they are comfortable! [I hope zigzag will correct me if I've misIDed him ... ]

[Cudzoziemiec]

Decathlon in the UK seem to be relying more on internet sales than physical shops. When they opened up in Poland in 2007 they very quickly built a large chain of shops. I suppose this reflects a general difference in shopping patterns. I've only been to their stores in Poland and India (where the law doesn't allow them to operate on a retail basis) and agree that their staff, prices and most of their products are rather good.

[mcshroom]

Decathlon in the UK seem to be relying more on internet sales than physical shops. When they opened up in Poland in 2007 they very quickly built a large chain of shops. I suppose this reflects a general difference in shopping patterns. I've only been to their stores in Poland and India (where the law doesn't allow them to operate on a retail basis) and agree that their staff, prices and most of their products are rather good.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Foreign ownership is not allowed in retail in India. Companies like Decathlon and Tesco operate as cash and carrys, selling only to other businesses (theoretically).