Green Cruizer Brands...made in Chinese
 

These folders are incredibly inexpensive. Anyone have any experience with any of the models on this website. I'm considering getting a 20" wheel model.

http://www.green-cruiser.com/soloroc...ding-bike.html

Thanks!

any one of these would be better than any "green cruiser":

http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/bra/bik/3536703586.html

http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/tor/bid/3597741647.html

http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/tor/bik/3651766470.html

only if the OP like to work on bikes. Thare is a lot of work and some $ needed to make them good riders. If the OP want to do this and have the knowledge and space I agree, but it is not something most peopel would do.

I think I`d go for number one, the red one :)

me too ;)

Hi,

Its looks decent enough for the money, and is very a different
ball game to a vintage bike for about the same money that
would likely need a lot of work to restore it to its original
working condition, and even more money, time and expense
to get them to go and stop properly by modern standards.

Still it is a generic bike made to a particular spec with lots
of brand badges added, that no doubt are easily removed.

Carefully look at the bits you get and don't get. E.g. for
that bike they mention "level 1" components. Generally
"level 1" is steel and "level 2" is alloy. Generally for an
alloy framebike you want "level 2" bits, not just the
seatpost, even though the forks are often still steel.

I really can't understand why somebody would think a 40
year old $100 Hungarian made bike that probably needs
a complete rebuild would be a better buy for a new user.

rgds, sreten.

Had a Hungarian made 3 speed folder 30 years ago.
Recently aquired a budget 6 speed chinese folder.

Both needed some adjustment and tweaking.
A 40 year old bike would need a lot more.

did you guys even look at the adverts? one of those bikes is being sold by a bike shop and is fully tuned up and under warranty... the raleigh twenty looks like its in great condition..

sorry, but i can never understand why someone would spend 2-300 on a new folding bike only to have to spend another hundred (now youre at the 400 price point) on upgrades and still be stuck with the z-grade frame and hinge components. its nonsensical. i could never, in good conscience, recommend that to anyone. the only reason i can think that you would, is because misery loves company...

Hi,

Only one of them that I can see, and not the one recommended.

One look at the chain of the twenty indicates it needs work.

I wouldn't trust the brakes of any of them.

rgds, sreten.

No problem. Smallwheeler and I can do the tuneup just as good as any bikeshop, and that way we get to choose the colour of the chain and and and.....

Why should the bikeshops have all the fun?

with pleasure ... ;););)

Hi,

Well its beyond me how people can recommend a used
bike over a new one without having any real clue as to
the state of wear of the bike, and what needs servicing.

Warranties can be utterly useless depending on terms.

Why must those bikes be better than anything you can
now buy new ? (even though I remember the folder I had
years ago more fondly than my current bike, then I was
very fit, I doubt I'd like it now, in timewarped condition.)

rgds, sreten.

i wasnt suggesting that in ALL circumstances a used bike will be better than a new cheapie bike. OF COURSE it depends on condition. it is a fact, however, that a bike like a raleigh twenty was robustly built compared to today's cheapies. thats why they are still around and serviceable 40+ years later (and incidentally, why so many people love them). can you imagine a "green cruiser" being around in even 10 years?

Hi,

That is hardly the point given the original post, and the fact your
into doing up old folders essentially irrelevant and thus pointless
foisting your opinion of what would be a "good" bike on someone
who wants to buy a working bike, not buy a restoration project.

Why are you recommending a possible world of pain to someone
who probably knows not very much about bicycles ? And not
addressing the fundamental question originally asked ?

Which is - is this a good bike for the money, if not, what is ?

rgds, sreten.

you sir, are a humorless curmudgeon.

Hi,

Since getting back into biking I've noticed a lot of "cheap" bicycles
that are still going - not in the best condition - but probably in
completely original condition - they are at least as resilient as any
basic British or American bike that is not maintained, probably more.

The idea that my cheap bike won't last very long, when every component on
it allthough cheap is better or the same than any made 30 years ago is just
ridiculous. (30 year old components for cheap bikes of course.)

The idea that you can survive making poor components to be sold to gullible
westerners given the scale of the global bike market doesn't make any sense.

(Of course you can sell them poor designs, very different matter.)

The basic components are all sound and will last at least as long as older stuff.

rgds, sreten.

The Twenty has a nice frame, comparitively, the rest ....

There is every reason to assume a modern basic properly maintained
bike will last as long as the old ones, but also every reason to assume
a cheap basic bike will not be maintained properly if at all in the West.

they only need to sell you one... ;)

Hi, not really a business case for tooling investment, rgds, sreten.

best advice: test ride a variety of bikes..

or spend some more money and get a real deal:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dahon-Mu-XL-...item1c30b52773

Why is this thread full of stuff about vintage folders? As I can attest as the owner of an old Peugeot, and current Dahon Speed TR and Speed UNO; the relationship between those old European folders and the OP's question is non-existent.

the relationship between a speed TR and a "green cruiser" is also non-existent..

Which is why I didn't tell him "forget that that Green thing, get a TR"..

the point of my original suggestion was twofold:

1. the cheap junkie bike that he was contemplating spending 200 on was in no way worth the money.

2. its possible to find something interesting locally on craigslist or at a LBS.


i dont understand why that's so difficult to grasp.

ive owned a raleigh twenty and i've also had the displeasure of owning a "citizen tokyo" which is comparable to the "green cruiser". the raleigh twenty was superior to that piece of garbage in every possible way. that experience is what i base my opinion and advice to others on.

What's difficult to grasp is why you keep responding to the OP's question with answers that have nothing to do with it. A $600 Dahon? That's triple the price of the bike he asked about. If he wanted to spend 600 on a folder, I doubt he would be asking about the $200 one.

You have no experience with the "green cruiser" - which is what he asked about - and keep directing him to completely different bikes. I fail to see how this is helpful.

steering him away from a z-grade bike WAS my intention. i think the fewer of us who actually have an experience with a "green crusier" the better off we'll all be.

i know the dahon was out of the price range, but i just happened to see it and thought it was a good deal.

@sreten and Joe Remi
First of all, you are not the OP so it is not really importent if you are happy with the advice we give. Secondly, where is all the anger (and all the time you spend expressing it here) comming from? Any idea why Smallwheeler and I are the only peopel responding? Peopel ask and ask and ask, without taking the time to read first. If they did they would find that unless you know what you are doing, and unless you can do some wrenching there is no way to get a fairly good bike for next to nothing!

Most peopel are cheap when buying bikes. Often it may be better to buy nothing instead of buying cheap. If you have no money and really need a folder then looking for a used better quality bike is the best you can do. The money spent on a cheap one can be totally wasted.

If you have no money and no food you may have to start growing food. If you have no money and no folder you may have to start learning, unless you can trade favours. Ask any LBS if they are willing to take in a no name cheapo bike and tune it to work well, and what it would cost.

We have been watching sreten (kicking and screaming) learning that "better tyres are better- and the best is to buy them on sale". The experience has been like watching somebody trying to take a XL christmas tree the wrong way (top first) trough the dor. Could you plse learn more quietly about the rest of the bike?

I learned from my mother that "Empty drums make a lot of noice". I think I`ll change my profile.

I reject your admonition to hush up. The gentleman asked for people who may have experience with that folder to talk about it. All he got was advice to buy a 40-year-old bike with obsolete parts specs, or a $600 Dahon. I see nothing helpful in that.

An this is not proof it is bad advice.

I have no experience with the Green Cruiser but I do have experience with various inexpensive "fold-in-half" bikes and at such a low price point the main concern is the hinge. Aluminum does not make for a good hinge if it's poorly designed and executed, meaning it doesn't have interlocking surfaces on either side of the hinge for a tight fit and no bronze bushings for the hinge pin (a steel pin will quickly wear out an aluminum hinge). Unfortunately this has been the case with a lot of inexpensive folders that I've seen. Some even came from the factory with sloppy hinge pin fit so no matter how tight the clamp was adjusted there was still quite a bit of play in the frame. I've found that cheap steel "fold-in-half" frames have stronger and more wear resistant hinges than their aluminum counterparts.

My advice when considering inexpensive folding bikes is to be very leery of aluminum frames and to only buy one that people have actual experience riding for a period of time. I have a KHS Mocha (6061 aluminum) that has a very large hinge, far stouter than most in it's price range and after less than a year it wore out and I had to fix it, something that entailed machining and welding skills. However my Citizen Miami's hinge (steel frame) shows no signs of wear and has absolutely no play in it even without the clamp being cinched down and it's been folded and unfolded several hundred times in a little less than a year.

Since, like every other poster on the thread, I too have no absolutely no experience of the Solorock 20", I feel qualified to weigh in ;)

At the price I'd risk it. It doesn't look like a lemon. Not sure I'd trust it to hold up to 150 km a week commuting in all weathers year in year out, but then nobody ever used ye olde Eastern Bloc folders for that either. Today's fold better, have a lot more alloy and good brakes. You may be pleasantly surprised. Always a good winter/rain/pub/concert bike if and when you move on.

That vintage Road King, admittedly, looks quite lovely.