killsurfcity

anyone ever seen these?
https://tinyurl.com/bq9hv
just from the price i'd assume they're crap, but i'm curious if anyone has any actual experience with them. i like the simplicity of it, and of course the low price. not sure if i'd buy something like this even if it was quality, as it's not my style, but i thought i'd ask anyway.

James H Haury

For 78 dollars it might not be a bad deal.It could be a good bike to convert to a fixed wheel.The seatpost is only 12 inches long though. Modifications may have to be done. I.E , Smaller diameter higher pressure tires an alloy crank etc.

killsurfcity

yeah, i was thinking about if you modded it all up... could be pretty nice. i think it really depends on the strength/quality of the frame. esp if you plan on making a fixed gear out of it.

d_D

Since the end of the swingarm looks crimped instead of proper dropouts I expect the whole thing is just as bad as the similar priced full size bikes.

Working link - https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=7190189765

v1nce

Well i gotta give my usual answer.. 'You can't polish a Turd' and it sure looks turdy. Many of the components (cheapest plastic brake levers, heaviest cheapest steel cranks, awfull saddle etc) on it give it away as low quality and will give you trouble rapidly. This reminds me of Branman's thread on the Z bike. Save your cash man, bikes like these are a money pit. By the time you have replaced all the components that suck (pretty much all) something crucial like the frame or suspension fails and your back to square one. Addiotionally the drive system is very odd and it still remains to be seen whether it can be replaced by a standard one, once it wears out.. Something decent second hand is the ticket. Someone just found a Bridgestone folder for 2 Dollars.. Salvation Army, Thrift stores, Yard/garage sales, i think those are the places to find a good deal. E-Bay is unlikely to yield anything worth the money especially new at this type of price...

killsurfcity

yeah, i was just curious. i don't really like the style of the bike anyway. i'm holding out for a decent vintage folder, but the waiting is killing me . especially since i just missed out on a raleigh folder frame only ebay auction, that ended with a buy it now of $50! it was 2 hours from where i live too!

v1nce

Ho hum i stand corrected on the E-bay thing. Just keep at it and i am sure you will get something ace! Here in NL we have this invaluable site called veilingkijker.nl

It is basically a Meta Auction site search engine. Or in English: it seeks for you terms in E-bay as well as like 4 or 5 other famous/big auction sites. I am sure there is something similair in US, it got me the best deals this site. It even shows short description and pictures of every item which saves heaps of time... I am sure if you get something good it will be worth the wait!! I get happier and happier with my Twenty every week. The more research i do and the more i cycle on it the more i learn i could scarcely get anything better. I really like Brompton's, BF's, Swifts, Downtubes etc etc. But none of them so far match what i got when i take into consideration Performance, cost, as well as fold/versatility and possible theft.

BTW the way was that Raleigh frame a Twenty? All the other Raleigh folders frames are ok, but don't compare from what i heard.

Good Luck!

v1nce

Argh,.. to be in England. Over the past weeks i have seen Raleigh Twenties every week there selling for amounts like 0,50, or 3 or 8 or 30 pounds!!!

0,50 Pence?!! With 3 speed Sturmey Archer?! I am sure if if you mailed him offering 10 pounds it is yours,.. but how to ship it...

https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RALEIGH-R20-ST...QQcmdZViewItem

https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RALEIGH-STOWAW...ayphotohosting

Christ almighty the "expensive" (19,99 pounds) one looks like it was just bought in a store Brand new! Dynohub?!

I am really beginning to think that considering Us prices it might be worth buying an ultra cheap one have and have the seller ship it. I don't know shipping prices but...

killsurfcity

v1nce,
The frame was a raleigh twenty. crazy huh? it was totally a "never gonna happen again" scenario. the seller listed the item, asked people not to bid until he had a proper description, then he edited his post with a description and a $49.99 BIN! some lucky bastard jumped faster than i could.
as for shipping UK ebay auctions, i actually contacted both of those sellers, and about 4 more about doing exactly that. i got positive responses from all of them as well. this just may work if i can get the details straightened out. BTW that purple one is absolutely gorgeous. something about that makes me want to get pink anodized hutch BMX hubs for it. now i'm just talkin crazy!!!

killsurfcity

side note: are there ANY U-frame folders that are worth considering? just wondering if i have any other options. also, what about this?: https://tinyurl.com/86hu4
it looks like a pretty sturdy frame, and it's in great condition.

v1nce

@ Kill. Hmm, interesting bike that other option. It does look in good condition but i wonder are only the components Alu (good) or also the Frame Alu (NOT good IMO). Also although it looks a decent to good bike i very much doubt it could match the Twenty in terms of strength/stiffness (square tube that isn't supported by an additional triangle, lesser hinge unlike the Twenty) and although the Alu components are not bad they are rather old/less good than newer ones so i'd personally would want to replace them anyway. Also the joining of tubes don't look so hot, the fork you'd prob. want to replace in any case (spindly and prob. unstable) etc.

But it is not a bad bike! Let me stress that. Just think the Twenty is better/a sure thing.

As for U frames, IMHO,.. No.... I have never seen one really worth considering. That is have never seen one so good that it could get even get near a Twenty or be worth pumping a lot of cash into. Of course i don't know all the models/brands made, but i think it is just a flawed design. Cheap to produce (meant as a very occasional ride) but will always give you lots of flex (absorb energy) and is likely to fail completely with sustained/heavy/daily use.

I think your best bet is either an English near Mint Twenty (if you want to ride "as is" with three gears) or an older/cheaper Twenty that you are going to modify. Yeah and that one Twenty is almost a work of art, i'd be terrified to leave that one outside though!!

Nice one for trying to have it shipped! Again you have choices. A complete/mint (= heavy/large bike) to save on upgrades but splurge on postage. Or,.. a bare and taken apart frame to have a much smaller postage package which you will then need to 'pimp'.

Please let me know how the UK twenty thing works out (postage, time etc)! These bikes are all over the place there and cheap. Hope it is viable for more US people to get one send over.

killsurfcity

v1nce, you echoes my feelings/suspicions on both the posted folder and the u-frames exactly. i just had to ask (i was hoping i was wrong ).
i'm going to pursue the british ebay thing as far as i can. if i have success, i will definitely post the results. thanks!

v1nce

No prob.

v1nce

The most ideal of all situations is to find someone to sell you the Twenty in UK and then find someone (possibly the seller) that happens to be travelling from UK to US. That would be kick ass.

jasong

You know all auctions begin this way, don't you? To avoid paying extra for high listing prices, they might start them at $0.00. The initial start price has no relationship with the final price.

v1nce

Sure sure, i know that but i have found that the auctions allow you to contact someone (some auctions sites even list a direct phone nr and/or e-mail). Then if you contact them and offer them a decent amount (in this case not too much cash at all, since these bikes are considered almost worthless in the UK from what Britons have told me) you can snag up the bike cheap. Apparantly quite a few Britons still have a Twenty lying around their garage (they were THE biggest selling bike there for many years a long time ago) often when they sell them they want rid of it quick. They don't want to have it sitting on the internet for ages to maximise the offers since the offers in the UK for these bikes are almost never very high. (supply/demand..)