[Closed] Some people are so xxxxxxx ungrateful...2nd hand bike content

Needs pics, and not of the bike before we can advise you of the correct course of action 😉

A convoluted and expensive fail to get a donald duck ?

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I'd say both parties are being reasonable.

You've built her a very nice bike that is astonishing value and will be much better than what she had in mind.

But she wanted a new MTB and you've not got her one, you've got her a parts bin special, albeit a very nice on.

Both of you are correct, but neither will be happy.

steel4real hits nail on head

ha ha....typical useful STW response!..nah shes not too shabby but not for me, had the opportunity a few times :-)..cracking rack however.

I think lunge has it - the bike she had in her head isn't what you've delivered albeit that you've done a good job.

People think £400 is top of the range so any imperfection is going to cause raised eye brows.

point of note note...she knew it was going to be second hand...she just didn't expect it to have any marks on it for some reason...????

her comments about the tyre sizes left me shaking my head in disbelief..

Wow that's super shity of her. Sounds like a fantastic build. The tyre thing is nuts....

[quote=tpbiker ]ha ha....typical useful STW response!..nah shes not too shabby but not for me, had the opportunity a few times :-)..cracking rack however.

pics?

Different brand tyres front and back? I wouldn't have it either.

Just keep it. She's under the impression that you've done it to make a few bob in the deal, whilst you were under the impression that you were doing her a massive favour. (Whatever your motives 😉 ) obviously you haven't made clear just how much personal effort you've gone to, or she's one of those pretty girls that are used to getting men to do everything for them all the time for the price of a smile and fluttered eyelashes. Either way, keep it or sell it to someone who'll appreciate it...

I'm with her on the tyres thing though, lol

Sounds like her expectations weren't managed - not that that's your fault - but it pays to be clear with these things with friends/family when doing "favours".

pics of rack please - Blackburn of Tubus?

Itemise the cost of parts and how many hours labour etc and total it all up with labour charged at £40ph and see how she likes it.
Just paint the f'ing thing pink and she'll love it. 🙄

is she fit?

2/10 for the rant. Failure to overuse punctuation, no random capitalisation, coherent argument and perfect spelling. It's a generous 2.

Al 😀

She doesnt understand bikes.
She understands colours, shapes and shinyness.

The colours and symmetry dont compute in her head with her vision of what a bike should look like.

Return her money and flog the bike - presumably you'll get at least that much back. Then go on and on about how much profit you made

Course, the bike shop may well tell her that she's got a bargin, in which case you might get yer oats after all 😀

You (and a lot of us I expect) fail to understand she probably doesn't much give a shit about how it performs. Hence the problem with its image.

she hasn't even paid for the bike yet! She gets paid at the end of the month..

I am a mug...i don't even want to nail her so a good deed for nothing....

lesson learned...

Given I won't really miss the money I'm almost hoping the bike shop tell her shed be better with something new...just to see what piece of shit she walks way with..

I'd happily keep it for myself as I'm looking for a nice 120mm trail bike...but its a bit on the small side for me.

I'll give you £500.
You can spend the other £100 on Moonpig "a massive rack does not excuse douchebaggery" cards to her.

Definitely need pics (of the bike that is).

You've built her a mountain bike when all she wanted was a nice bike.

Will she be flinging it down rocky descents, or trundling canal towpaths? If the latter then I'm afraid you've read her wrong and wasted your time when a shiny new bike from Decathlon would have been better.

...and as for odd tyres - you need your head looking at!!! 😉

I'll give you £401? I dont have a nice rack though.

Edit, beaten to it...

she wants it for glentress and the pentlands, both of which shes been to before.

As for the tyres, I said if shes that bothered about them I have 2 highrollers in my cupboard she can have, Horrible heavy draggy things which I deliberately didn't give her as shes slow enough as it is...but at least they look the same!

From experience women dont compute second hand or logic, let her toddle down to halfords and be spoken to by a man who persuades her to buy a cheap bike that will put her off cycling for good.

she wants it for glentress and the pentlands, both of which shes been to before.

That's runied a few of the theories by the "experts on women and what they want" 😆

I don't want it but I have several racks, some nice. I have a BNIB Tubus thingumybob that needs a boik to complete the ensemble and a 30 year old Blackburn from when they were good and made in the USofA oh and some other ones that have boiks attached.

Is confused. What is a douche bag? Is it a bit like a rack bag?

From experience women dont compute second hand or logic

🙄

Could get more interesting if she trades it in or sells it to the bike shop.

OP - Tell her she's welcome to get it valued, no problem at all - and she's also welcome to pay you the price the bike shop suggests it's worth.

😉

Is confused. What is a douche bag?

Google it...

Given I won't really miss the money I'm almost hoping the bike shop tell her shed be better with something new...just to see what piece of shit she walks way with..

You're really not getting this are you? If the bike shop gives her a bike which is a) new and b) pretty then it's better than the heap you're offering*

*in her eyes - woman logic

Don't sell it to her, it will be no end of trouble - it will always have something wrong with it that will be your fault.

Let her spend her 400 on something new and smash it up at glentress. Lend her this one whilst she gets the other one fixed, but don't sell it to her unless she begs you to.

tomhoward - Member
Is confused. What is a douche bag?
Google it...

Nah I suspect it's some silly Yankee affectation spouted by faux 'Mericans who've been brainwashed...

Don't sell it to her, it will be no end of trouble - it will always have something wrong with it that will be your fault.

Sage-like advice.

I'd let her take it to the shop, allow them to tell her she's got a bargain and then tell her to piss off down to Halfords.

Nah I suspect it's some silly Yankee affectation spouted by faux 'Mericans who've been brainwashed...

😆

It's the new "asshat".

.

Not saying that's necessarily the case but the more the OP writes (though others are pushing him), the less sympathetic he becomes.

eh? What you on about? Did you read the context at all before coming to that assumption? I suggested she buy second, she agreed, then I offered to source and build the bike, donating lots of spare kit for free. I should also say I showed her a link to the frame and forks she was getting...

Where have I suggested 'god like effort'? All I've stated was that I think its fair to say I've done her a favour, for which I'll likely be £400 quid out of pocket (in the short term at least).

I wouldn't sell it to her. The bike the OP put together sounds great. If I'd put it together for someone and they wanted to take it to a bike shop for a valuation, well I'd get the feeling they thought I was trying to rip them off !! Game over at that point they can sort their own bike out.

I thought you paid bike mechanics in biscuits and ale, I didnt know you could suck them off aswell.

it is, as above, about managing expectations.
Whatever the motives (and I'm sure you did it because you wanted what's best) - it was what *you* wanted to do, and persuaded her of that (possibly with some reluctance). She didn't ask you to source, or source and build, second hand bike for that budget (whatever the benefits that we would see). Therein lies the problem.

You're not married, are you ?? !!!!

You forgot to accessorise didn't you ,you know with these wimmin its all about the accessories and co-ordination isn't it 😉

Get it powder coated and sell it to her for a grand

Don't sell it to her, it will be no end of trouble - it will always have something wrong with it that will be your fault.

^ this. Going by you old wanted post, if it is small, i reckon at that price itd be snapped up as a first full susser for someones son/daughter...reckon my son would love it

Everyone that works in an Edinburgh shop needs to be on the lookout for a girl getting a Canyon valued, then say it's worth £250 tops 😀

I'd have told her to get stuffed right then and there, and let her go buy a BSO, then refused to fix it WHEN it broke.

Gary_C

Hoof= to drive through with the laces using maximum effort.

Did you fail to line the valves up with the logos?

Did she walked you back?........... To the the friendzone .. Sounds like a classic friendzone tale to me.

Building a lady a very good value bike and offering your spare bike parts without a catch baffles me 😕

Well done for you doing it in good will... Doing it for a mate is ok but doing it for some lady is different matter

Kinda feel like she's more than a 'friend'

Let her buy a new bike then split this for parts and make a profit. Win - win!

I built my fiancee a great Orange Diva. She loves it..... because it's purple.

Keep it and ride it yourself. If she's sniffy about being presented with a decent bike you've built for her, then she's not worth the hassle. The request to keep the bike but to get a second opinion would just about put the tin hat on it for me.

You have to trust me on this.

Keep her in the friend zone. If she asks your opinion on anything two-wheeled then point her in the direction of Halfords.

once and for all shes just a friend...nothing more - no desire for her to get anywhere outside of the friendszone! I simply did it to help out a pal wanting to get into biking. I've done it for a male mate before as well...only difference is he was delighted with what he got! (and thats a bike before anyone makes any smutty remarks :-))

Building a lady a very good value bike and offering your spare bike parts without a catch baffles me

Single mum with kids and part time job...she has limited funds and I have a big box full of 9 speed tat and 26 inch tyres that haven't sold on here despite numerous adverts! Thought a clearout was a win win..

It sounds like she isn't aware of the effort you've put into this, maybe as a newbie she expects something shiny for £400 (a considerable amount for a non-mtber). Go to Halfords with her, keep or sell the decent bike.

I can't help thinking that if it were me, a reaction like that would earn a relegation from "Friend Zone" to "Acquaintance Zone" pretty sharpish.

Single mum? WITH KIDS?

I'm out.

She isn't a friend, she thinks you are trying to swindle her. Let her get it valued or she will be convinced, then sell it to her or don't but you will always know that she doesn't trust you.

You expected her to be bowled over with the opportunity to get a bike with a Fox fork and SLX gears and she expected not to spend £400 on something built from bits found in the shed. And you were both disappointed.

Don't be too hurt by her initial reaction. She'll go off to a shop where they'll tell her it's ace (hopefully) and then you can both be happy.

At least if she's not happy with your work now, you won't be expected to repair her BSO when it falls over.

Spray the tyres with "back to black" spray shine the discs with wd40 its what she wants

Pics. Of bike!

Give her money back.

Sell bike parts or keep for youself.

Photo of her rack or it didn't happen

you need more grip from the front because it brakes and steers. the rear can be thinner to roll faster.

tell her it's a 1.5k bike if she bought it new.

then, if she wants offer to get it powdercoated (at her expense)

her taking it to a bike shop is a sign of low self esteem, not an insult toward you.

Be very selective with who you do favours! I have found through bitter experience the majority of people, with a few exceptions, take the pi$$, undervalue what you do and expect over and above. Never do free PC repairs for example, always seems to end with them assuming your free 24hr IT support/buying decision advisor from then on, unless thats what you want of course.

Whilst we, as STW'ers, see the value, £400 is a lot to someone who doesn't know about bikes. In her mind, it's not better than a new shiny BSO.

On the other hand, she sounds like a pain in the arse. Sell the bike on.

let her buy the BSO, then, as the parts start gradually droping-off, sell her (at a mark-up) the decent second hand parts you've accumulated.

or

If/when you go riding with her, take the canyon along to ride yourself. Then halfway around offer her a go on it, and ask her how it compares to the POS she's just bought

It's not the OP's fault, but there's a definite whiff of fedora-wearing in this thread...

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That's not a Fedora...

chestercopperpot +1

3 pages and still no bike pic?

You were expecting fawning gratitude, you got "let me check out what I'm spending money I don't really have" and you've given her no choice or say in the deal, just presented her with a parts bin (nice though it is) special.

She knows she can get a brand new bike, now she probably feels obliged to take a bike she doesn't "really" want, and feels bad as you've spend the money

So you taken a decision she wanted to make out of her hands...

What you should have done is offered the choice, and accepted her decision

You expected her to be bowled over with the opportunity to get a bike with a Fox fork and SLX gears and she expected not to spend £400 on something built from bits found in the shed. And you were both disappointed.

This basically.

I was thinking about this thread on the way in to work (how sad...) and it struck me as a great example of when people (mostly men) who know their stuff, get a bit over enthusiastic about helping people out and deliver what they see as "better" but not what the person wanted. I've done this with a whole host of things including bikes (I did not unlike what you did, the other person wanted a new bike), with camera's (she wanted a good compact, she got a basic dSLR as it was "better") and wine (she wanted a nice bottle of Champagne, she got a bottle of English sparkling wine, "nicer" but not Champagne).

Ultimately, someone will come out of this happy. There are 2 outcomes, 1 where she gets a bike she doesn't want and 1 where you think she is ungrateful.

Call it a life lesson in the mysterious ways of women. Sell it on, make a profit and put it down to experience.

Sounds like the OP means the best, but if she's not keen just use it or sell it yourself.

If she goes to a shop and buys a £400 bike it will be fine. It might be a bit crap vs what you've built BUT it will be her piece of crap. That's the important bit.

I haven't read all 3 pages but hoof her in the slats?

Pics of the bike or the kitten gets it.

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It's a class ic case of the OP wanting to be 'Mr Fixit' when all she really wanted was for him to empathize with her desire to buy a bike for £400.

Does she also suffer from Dry-Mouthedness ?

Watch these and learn :

and a saving response :