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ASDA Cheapest Bike is Apparently UK’s Worst Bicycle, Too

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British Eagle Verona womens bike at £70 from ASDA direct

It pains me to write this article.  On the surface, ASDA should be applauded for attempting to make bicycles available to the masses by using their buying power to offer a bike at an extremely affordable price.  They launched their Pedal Power initiative to great fanfare in June during Bike Week.  ASDA President and CEO Andy Bond even went on a 1,000 mile bike ride to raise money for cycling-related charities and groups.

Here’s the problem:  The bike (yep, I know, what else did we expect) apparently sucks. Dubbed the British Eagle, it’s a £70 bike made with the cheapest parts available.  Helen Pidd, a cyclist and writer for The Guardian, rode one for a while and summarized the experience thusly: “It was horrible to ride…This is the real downer with cheap bikes: they put you off cycling.”

I would argue that non-cyclists just looking for a mode of transportation wouldn’t be quite so persnickety about riding an 18kg bike around, but certainly when the parts simply don’t shift, roll or stop like they’re supposed to, too many of these bikes will end up in dumpsters or landfills…and the Pedal Power dream remains just that.

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uglyyeti
uglyyeti
15 years ago

It’s kind of startling to see that there’s an industrialized nation that could really benefit from an infiltration of Huffys. £70 = $115 USD. Much better options abound at Wallyworld – and without the plastic brakes. It’s good to see that we are world leaders in superior quality crappy bike availability.

Julie
Julie
15 years ago

ASDA is the UK version of Wallyworld so who would expect anything else?

craig
15 years ago

Its a real trade off sometimes between cost and quality, obviously we all know the more you spend the better the bike, however not everyone can commit to spending lots of money on a bicycle, especially if its something you may not enjoy or continue. No matter how bad the bike I think its worth applauding them for getting a bike that the masses can afford.

Who knows many people may continue with the sport and then everyone is a winner

Ben
Ben
13 years ago

You are calling UK’s worst bike based on the review of 1 person? Why not give it a run and a first-hand report for some credibility, eh? It retails for 70 quid, means it’s must be made for like a tenner…..That kind of money won’t even buy a decent chainring!

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