Bikes for nephews

[Chadvdw67]

Hey guys, I am wanting to help my nephews get some better bikes, they are currently riding those crappy "Gotcha" bikes from Makro, they are just really terrible bikes, they spend more time being repaired than ridden.

 

So I was thinking of trying to piece together two bikes for them, build them together with the boys so they, and I, can learn about some bicycle mechanics and setup etc.

 

Would it be worth while doing that? Or is the cost going to go well over just getting some decent used bikes? Bare in mind we(I) dont have much of a budget to do this.

Edited October 9, 2019 by Chadvdw67

[tinmug]

Old 26" bikes with pretty good mechanical bits here in the Classifieds can be found for bargain prices. 

[Chingy182]

Hey guys, I am wanting to help my nephews get some better bikes

 

 

Do you by any chance work on an oil rig? 

[Chadvdw67]

Do you by any chance work on an oil rig?

???????????????? No, I promise I dont

[RobertWhitehead]

I have done this exercise many times before and yes, it can be done on the cheap if you have some parts lying around as a jumping off point. 

 

You have two forces driving this conundrum: 

• Money
• Time

If you have little money you'll have to sacrifice lots of time to get a bargain on the parts you need.

If you have lots of money you can get things without expending too much time. 

 

So the risk you face by not having a lot of Randela's is that it may take too long and you and your nephews may loose interest and the project will grind to a halt. 

 

My suggestion will be to see what can be salvaged from the existing bikes and then take it one bike at a time. This will be the budget friendly option. Also look at the discussion forum there's a thread called: "I may need something you no longer need" (or something along those lines) & then try to get some parts someone no longer have a purpose for. You'll be surprised what some people want to get rid of but just don't have the energy to list it  . https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/175316-the-i-need-something-you-might-throw-away-thread/ - Edit: Link added

 

Also - if you go the "build route" rather than the "buy route" you run the risk of over spending on one or two items to complete the build and then end up being better off just buying outright 

Edited October 9, 2019 by RobertWhitehead

[Super Sywurm]

Do you by any chance work on an oil rig? 

I wanted to ask this question!!!

[Longbarn Killer]

ChrisF............did something similar for his God Child and turned him into a bit of celebrity on the Hub in the process.

 

You'll find some interesting info on ChrisF's post.

 

It's probably more cost effective to buy a complete used bike, but it is more fun to build one.

[Cois]

OP Where are you located?  That might be a start.  

[Wayne pudding Mol]

Do you by any chance work on an oil rig? 

so it wasn't just me - only reason I opened this thread was to read of latest scam.  Disappointingly someone needs actual advice

[The Ouzo]

nobody asked how old the nephews are ?

That will determine the size of the bike too.

[Chadvdw67]

I have done this exercise many times before and yes, it can be done on the cheap if you have some parts lying around as a jumping off point.

 

You have two forces driving this conundrum:

• Money
• Time

If you have little money you'll have to sacrifice lots of time to get a bargain on the parts you need.

If you have lots of money you can get things without expending too much time.

 

So the risk you face by not having a lot of Randela's is that it may take too long and you and your nephews may loose interest and the project will grind to a halt.

 

My suggestion will be to see what can be salvaged from the existing bikes and then take it one bike at a time. This will be the budget friendly option. Also look at the discussion forum there's a thread called: "I may need something you no longer need" (or something along those lines) & then try to get some parts someone no longer have a purpose for. You'll be surprised what some people want to get rid of but just don't have the energy to list it . https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/175316-the-i-need-something-you-might-throw-away-thread/ - Edit: Link added

 

Also - if you go the "build route" rather than the "buy route" you run the risk of over spending on one or two items to complete the build and then end up being better off just buying outright

Dont really want to swap part onto the new bike, because once my nephews have the "new" bikes, I want to give the old to 2 friends of theirs who dont have bikes.

 

I will give that thread a shot and see what comes up.

 

Thanks for the input

[Chadvdw67]

ChrisF............did something similar for his God Child and turned him into a bit of celebrity on the Hub in the process.

 

You'll find some interesting info on ChrisF's post.

 

It's probably more cost effective to buy a complete used bike, but it is more fun to build one.

I have seen that thread, which is one of the reasons I would like to build bikes with my nephews, it wont be anywhere near as fancy as that bike though

[Chadvdw67]

OP Where are you located? That might be a start.

In Gauteng, Germiston.

[Chadvdw67]

so it wasn't just me - only reason I opened this thread was to read of latest scam. Disappointingly someone needs actual advice

Sorry to disappoint you ????????

[Chadvdw67]

nobody asked how old the nephews are ?

That will determine the size of the bike too.

Hah, you have me on that one, I think 10 and 13

[RobertWhitehead]

I have enough parts that will probably make up 65% of a bike don't mind teaching a bit either