a review of all those bikes would be interesting, take em all up and down a mountain a few times and see how they do.

Not a reasonable test, since the design of the one shown clearly indicates that it's not meant for such use.

They actually quite decent - no silly suspension, v-brakes, just nice and simple.

If it gets people out doing exercise it can only be a good thing. They also banned aspartame from all their own products which is good

A good suggestion would be a workshop on basic bread and butter bike maintenance at the stores to get the family learning how to keep this being a long-term thing.

I'm sure Asda will have some cycling specific clothing range to follow and hopefully a good area to leave then locked up.

Maybe extra discount if you get a ticket from the bike lock up area to prove you cycled in? Or maybe a free bottle of water or something.

I always think it's wrong for such retailers to sell them as 'mountain' bikes.

'Mountain-style' would be a little more accurate.

There is the tricky legal issue of someone buying one of these, thinking it will get them up/down a trail, and getting seriously hurt as a result.

The Sale of Goods Act would protect the consumer in this respect, as the bike would have to be fit for the purpose for which it was intended.

Thankfully, I doubt that the target audience of these bikes know of the trails that us MTB'ers frequent. But, there's always the risk of 'little Johnny' being bought one and getting up to some tricks in the local woods that it just can't handle.

The thing I'm most pleased about is that these are honest, old-skool MTB's. They haven't been dressed up to look like a full-susser, with the resulting pedal-bob you often seen on such bikes around town.

As a device for getting people out and on a bike, I suppose they must be applauded. But, from memory, these bikes are sold boxed, and only part-assembled. I remember speaking to the owner of my LBS and he gets a fair few people bringing such bikes in for assembly. At £10/hr, it certainly adds to the TCO.

Only £10/hr? Could you give me the address of your LBS?

I could! ;-)

They try to keep it low for such people, as otherwise it's hard to justify why labour costs are 30-50% of the value of the bike. Besides, rarely do they take the full hour to build.

These ultra-cheap bikes are sort of loss-leaders for LBS's (I say 'sort of', as it's not the LBS selling the bike). Get the consumer hooked, and coming back for parts+shop work. Then a year later, convince them to buy something a little more *proper*. Sorted.

I seem to get through spokes like you wouldn't believe on my oem Stumpy FSR rear wheel (now on my Rockhopper). They charge me £5 to replace & true, with free check 1mth later. And now are starting to throw in the 2nd spoke free!!

Think it's time I binned that rim.

My only concern is that if these bikes are so heavy and hard to ride that they have the opposite effect from that intended we'll end up with fewer rather than more new converts.

There was a £70 'mountain bike' in my local Co-op a while ago and it was incredibly heavy. I live in a hilly area and it wouldn't encourage new users to ride more.

Hopefully these are reasonable bikes that will do what Asda claims. If so, it can only be good.

Geoff

At least they wont get nicked!

Outside my local supermarket, there is an abandoned apollo bike, cable locked through the frame, front wheel gone. But the rest of the bike is still there, even after four weeks. Nobody will bother to take the back wheel, the forks, the drivechain. It's not worth the hassle or the risk of getting caught.

I have to get me some of those ASDA stickers for my town bike. I've already covered the XT/hope logs in duct tape, and am planning a bit of insulating pipe for the frame to make it look cheesier. But something that was proud to say ASDA, that would be even better.

Doesn't sounds that cheap! You can get a similar BSO for about £50 or less if you look around

I've seen cheaper bikes on TV shopping channels

as said, these bikes will be sold in boxes. most shops will charge around £35-40 p/h for build ups and being that these are at the cheaper end of the scale, they will take longer to build up anyway.

i think if asda is to have any chance of doing this properly they should have them assembled on the premises by properly trained members of staff.

The idea is fundamentally a good one. However the vast majority of people who buy a new, cheap bike are non riders looking to start riding again.

They start out on a few rides and give up. their bikes then gather dust in the shed and eventually end up in the skip. For those looking to dip their toe into cycling it is important to note that they need to be led by the hand and supported. Asda could also produce brochures and maps of safe (and flat) places to ride or links on their website. Most people give up before they realise how much fun it could be.

They look a pile of poo, bu to the layman of course, an absolute bargain!

Glad to see none of the utterly useless suspension we often see on budget bikes these days. At least with these 4 bikes you know the limited budget has not been wasted.

'I always think it's wrong for such retailers to sell them as 'mountain' bikes.'

Why? Halfords business model is based around such claims!

+1 for no susp'n

-1 for 18-speed

Any weight saving on a bike like this would be platinum. 10-12 spd would be plenty.

Hope my LBS can cash in, by the way. Anything to keep him in business.

I want one!

Looks like a reasonably sensible bike for £70, would maybe consider one as a bike I could leave in town - wouldn't be too upset if it got nicked.

The article describes them as mountainbikes, but ASDA's website does not.

asdascheaperthantescos.

supermarketshite

lessthantheweeklyshoppingfoodbill

they'll be crap, but at least it gets people out riding. even if its only for 5 minutes before the freewheel gives up...

its good that there arent any of that cheap pogo-stick shit on it and crappy mech discs. a proper old school stylee bike!

Looking at the picture these look cery similar to the Coventry Eagle (rebranded British Eagle) bike that my daughter rides (handed down via 3 cousins. Significantly lighter than many over complicated so called suspension mountain bikes. She flies around on it, much faster than her heavier previous Raleigh.

In terms of use on mountains, the important need is good brakes and I suspect the V brakes work better than the old style low profile cantis that were standard issue on 'prope' mountain bikes not so long ago. The spec is not that far of my 1990 Kona Lavadome which has seen serious off road duty no suspension required! The tubing will be softer and more likely to bend in a big stack but if it gets people encouraged enough to ride vigorously enough to risk a big stack- job done they will be hooked by the thrill.

I've just spent £70 on a saddle!