i'm saying that $150 doesn't get you a bike worth having, and it shouldn't

lol, a sucker, that's what is born every minute

Therefore the title of this thread. ;-)

The silly thing is, the bike really costs $250 or so.

Other than the weight and geometry I don't really hate that bike. For $150 I'd get it too. Sheit. That's only slightly more than you'd pay for a cheap cheap wheelset.

Use it for bike polo. I am sure that frame is indestructible. If I could get bikes like that for $150, I'd buy 4 and donate them to my polo crew as community bikes.

i thought the draft lite ran at around 400 bux, mabe that is last years bike because i thought the drafts were two-tone this year.

handy note, SE = BMX & dirt fun as per the PK ripper, but not much else

with all the janky movement needed for bike polo i would not bet on those cranks or wheels look at the videos on youtube and wathcing some people play, they lean and twist all kinds of ways trying to reach the ball...

he isn't a sucker for buying that bike. OP just needs to take it for what it is. To be honest I don't really understand the OP. he seems knowledgeable on bikes but his posts are reading like this to me: i knew i was buying an inexpensive entry level bike and after riding it I discovered it's just that. what gives?

nobody got duped here. your cheap bike is a cheap bike. you knew that.

Of course the bike is gonna beat up. But so will a $400 bike, frankly. At least this frame is bombproof.

If you go on CL to look for an old Univega or something to play polo on, it's gonna run you about $100 anyhow. Less at a garage sale, but I don't really go to those. I'd rather get one of these $150 Drafts and not have to worry about doing a conversion and getting new wheels. Cheaper and less hassle for a bike that'll get beat up anyhow.

I am here ;-) There's no need to talk about me in third person. I appreciate you think I know something about bikes.

I bought a cheap bike, expecting a cheap bike. In a large part this thread has been me pondering my options with said cheap bike. I bought the bike with two plans in mind.

First, I've not owned a single speed bike since I was... 12. Unless you want to count my moped. (which uses a standard bicycle freewheel! Heck it's even a peugeot) I wanted to try it out again. If I didn't like it, selling it and breaking even wouldn't be a difficult task.

Second was to make a commuter out of it. I've had my "cheap" road bike hurt while at work more than once. (I say cheap, but at this point my Dawes LT1000, has $700 invested in it.) The singlespeed experience is fun. But I'm a retentive sonofa, if I keep the bike, at minimum the bars and crank need to go.

I think I'd like to try fixed. That means $30-60 on a new hub, and getting to learn wheelbuilding. I think that might be fun anyway.

My big mistake here, was thinking that this thing had a normal bottom bracket. That right there, had I known, would have been a dealbreaker. That's my poor choice.

All of that said, there's nothing dangerous on the bike. And almost as importantly, there's nothing "special" on the bike, so it can be maintained. Unlike a lot of wallmart specials, with crazy things like stamped pot-metal brake levers and brake perches. Or riveted on cable guides.

Dude, hook me up with these for $150. I think it's a steal.

They're $179 but I used my points to buy it. So it came out to $154 after tax.

Exactly. Looks like a good ride for the money.

So, provided that i'm keeping the bike. The bottom bracket has to go. I know I can buy an adapter to make the american bottom bracket take a euro BB. what size euro BB would I need to keep the chainline right?

Or, what options would I have with say...square taper american BB's?

This all sounds way too convoluted. Sell it and go bikes direct.

I really really dont suggest going the adapter method. I picked one of these up a few months ago, along with a converter, and threw it all together on a fixed wheel. it worked great for a while, but over time the bb came loose, and the adapter didnt allow enough clearance for a proper wrenching. I took it off and threw in an american-sized BMX BB i grabbed for about 20 bucks somewhere on the internet, and it worked like a charm. great for a beater, because the thing really IS indestructible. No rack mounts make its utilitarian capabilities pretty limited, but its still a worth while buy, especially at less than marked price.

Garth, that was a haiku.

Like Gorzo said, get a decent BMX crank on ebay and be done.

Though I'd link this before I bought it.....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...lenotsupported


If i'm lucky, the bike iwll sell this weekend. As of monday it's going to be mine if nobody buys it.

I guess you can't beat the price.

Sold the bike today. :-) Looks like it's going to spend a happy life as a barhopper in the city. May it live a long and happy life. I'm quite happy with the money I got for it.