Saracen Mountain Bike Reduced

TJ27

I'm talking about third party insurance here folks, rather than personal injury. So if I'm cycling down the road and bash into Alan Sugar in his Rolls Royce, it's my fault and I'm liable to pay for the damage. If it's my fault I'm liable to pay whether I'm insured or not. The same as if I bash into him driving my car in fact.

Now I could be wrong but it seems fairly unlikely to me that my household insurance is going to pay for the £5k damage to Sir Alan's Roller under such circumstances. My £35 CTC membership third party insurance will cover the £5k bill that he'll send me but would my household really cover it? I don't know.

Cadmus, what would you have done if the bike that pulled out on you didn't have any insurance, household or otherwise. Presumably the cyclist would have been personally liable for your injuries?

emmanuella

they are not cheap but their service is!!!
Three weeks ago I bought 2 bikes from https://www.discountbicycles.co.uk with the intention of using them on a specific biking trip. We were mislead as to when they would arrive and when we challenged the company accused of lying and told that we could have the bicycles on the date promised but only for an additional fee of £50.

Finally after almost a week one bike arrived, one did not, it was lost.

When a replacement was sent out its handlebars were bent.The discountbicycles.co.uk initially said that if we sent pictures they would immediately send a replacement. We immediately sent the pictures with no response from https://www.discountbicycles.co.uk. On recieving the pictures they refused to answer our emails and were not contactable for 3-4 days by phone.

Eventually they offered to send a new handle bar but we would have to get it fitted ourselves or bring the bicycle back to their shop ourselves to have it fitted. Neither of these options were fair and we still have a broken bike that cost close to £179.

According to the companies website all bicycles are tested to be safe and roadworthy. The bicycle that we received was not safe nor roadworthy. Add to this that instead of issuing a replacement bicycle the company instead claimed to send out a part (not yet arrived) that would have to be fitted by an unqualified person, ie. if we wanted out bicycle to be safe we would either have to take it back to the warehouse ourselves or take it to another bike shop to be fixed.

The initially lost bike was found and we brought this to TNT's attention ( the person who received it in error contacted us) . TNT said that they could have the lost bike to us by tuesday the 30th of September however Discount Bikes intervened telling TNT that they had already issued a replacement. A suitable has not to date been sent to us.

We now have an unsafe bike, no suitable replacement and it has been 3 weeks since our purchase. The company is uncontactable and does not answer out emails.

spuds_2

I would contact Trading Standards as this company is bound by the distance selling regs, Trade Descriptions Act etc. - you were within your rights to reject the bike if you wished. Use this site to find your local office:

http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/

This site has lots of consumer info:

http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/

You may wish to post about your experiences on the MSE Warnings board as it sounds like you have received a very poor standard of customer service.

twocoats

Hi folks,
I also started cycling to work again in June after an 11 year break, 29 miles each way was a bit too much, and it's great to be out and about again. Bought a really good bike (FUJI) secondhand from a man of 82 who had it like it came out of the wrapper. Started in shorts and t-shirt in the summer but now have all the gear from Aldi to see me through the winter.
. Cycling trousers, winter shirt, waterproof overshoes , waterproof and windproof gloves and a skullcap for under your helmet on chilly mornings for just under £27 can't be bad. Another good buy was a Hi-viz reflective vest from poundland, a lifesaver if ever there was one.
Experimenting with making my own nice and bright front light as seen on the Instructables website too.
I'm also thinking of taxing and insuring my car for 6 months of the year too. I've also lost about a stone and a half since the end of June too so it's all good so far.

twocoats

Hi all,
On a lighter note the only hazard I've encountered was drunken women trying to slap my a*se on the way past in their limo.

watchitm80

These seem like Billy Bargains

http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/14302/Saracen_Element_1_Bike_2008

http://www.bikes2udirect.com/B2342.html

Idiophreak

cadmus wrote: »

i have saved an absolute fortune , un clogged the roads

You obviously live somewhere with better cycle paths than we have round here...I assure you, as both a motorist and a cyclist, bikes have quite the opposite impact around here...can easily get a 2/3 mile tailback following one or two cyclists...

Anyway, just to second mattybach's suggestion re: the cyclescheme - can save a bunch of money that way...

Finally, for commute distances less than, say, 10 miles, a mountain bike should be quite adequate for most people...Sure, they'd get there a bit quicker on a road bike, or with slick tyres etc but if you want a bike for the week *and* the weekend (like the OP), I really reckon most people won't suffer that much just using a mountain bike for both...

(and, you'll find that the bulk of "normal" mountain bike tyres these days are designed with on-road use in mind to some extent - and have a good solid line around the middle of the tyre...)

purplelotus

watchitm80 wrote: »

These seem like Billy Bargains

http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/14302/Saracen_Element_1_Bike_2008

http://www.bikes2udirect.com/B2342.html

Has anyone used bikes2udirect? They do seem to have the cheapest ones around - my bf wants the saracen venturer 1 '08 (lightweight hybrid bike) and once I've found out from him what size frame he wants I'll get it unless someone squeaks first about service!

agent_orange_2

I use to know an old boy, who would cycle to work everyday, whatever the weather.
He was a bit on the frugal side (others said he was tight), during winter months he would cycle on the inside of other cyclists so he didn't have to turn his lights on

purplelotus

agent_orange wrote: »

I use to know an old boy, who would cycle to work everyday, whatever the weather.
He was a bit on the frugal side (others said he was tight), during winter months he would cycle on the inside of other cyclists so he didn't have to turn his lights on

I don't get it. I was trying to read it like a limerick but it didn't work.

Just wanted to add the bike came from bikes2udirect, I ordered it Friday, it arrived Wednesday, it went together easily (just add quick release front wheel, peddles and handlebar) and it was ready to go... and was the absolute cheapest I could find (so please don't now tell me it was available elsewhere for less!!!). Thoroughly recommended (oh and they were very helpful on the phone too, happy to discuss the merits and downfalls of similar bikes)