Cycling Plus test of the Unipack

Another cheaper method is to simply removed the gears and shorten the chain, instant singlespeed;

half and half, ive got a good raleigh racer, but no back wheel at all and only an odd sized buckled front with no tyres, also twin ring cranks and no bars.

ive been mooching for parts and even doing it cheap is almost the price of a unipack, plus my mates seen the creates and fancys one for his 3 mile a day commute to work n back n reckons if we got 2 wed be able to get a bit more cash off them

im just in the position where i need something built and ready to go n drop some weight after being laid up from a massive bike smash for the last few years, plus it means i can swop wheels between bikes when i fancy some low gearing and im only left to grab a set of bars

he just wants new and built and cheap, plus im thinking if i can learn it all on a bike im not too arsed about, when i get a better one ( mongoose, fuji track or pista kinda money) ill be less likely to bugger something

im just trying to find out as much info as poss before hand, if i get one could do a rolling report on here, ive seen so much conflicting advice tho, some say gash and to be fair the first lot where from the pics ive seen, others say sound, and a few of you guys say ok if you rebuild it before use

has no one on here got one of the recent ones like cycling + tested ?
comments would help, if its going to be a waste if cash n just collapse id rather know now than after we get a pair

As for the unipack, he said it best;

Mend a Bike in Fulham were selling them, and i had a right go at them, but then the mechanic said hang on,** if its put together with some care, the wheels trued, and a decent bb and headset installed**, then for your average joe it was a way better option at 200 quid than what you wold get from Halfords. Also i think the Creates are a (small) step up in quality from the original unipack

He had a point.

I still stand by my original comment about getting a road bike (note - complete, not with bits missing like your Raleigh Racer) and shorten the chain to a singlespeed though.

Halford used to have the Carrera Subway Zero at £200, but it look like they're not in their website anymore, worth checking out local halfords I suppose?

i saw them think theyre nasty, they stopped doing them now.
i dotn want single speed thats a defo, tried it and didnt really get on with it
plus ive been reading about rehab for knee injurys and fixed is recommended to help, and im so unfit i dont think ill be giving the bike much abuse for a while

i know wot your saying about the racer, id like to get the raleigh going but when i can get a bike already done for similar money with potentially better wheels its a hard one
plus i think my mates defo going for one, if we get some cahs off for a pair its less than sorting the racer out

thi is why im after as much info as possible

The Carrera is actually a great value for money, the downside is that being Halford, it'll likely to fall apart given how poorly the mechanic put it together there.

you can ride the Carrera as a fixed wheel bicycle too, it got a 'flip flop' hubs, one side is freewheel, the other's fixed.

im not into it at all
the shape of it is nasty and im defo not into halfrauds bikes, never had a good experience with one yet
i quite like the creates, nice shape to them, ok colours, okish spec for a dirt cheap bike
ive spent more on mtbs with lower grade parts in the past
if money was no problem id be straight out for the mongoose, i rode on n thought it was really nice, apart from the orange cranks, i dont mind the wheels, but i cant justify the other 150

ok i got let down by some tool on my cbr so im hanging onto it and im going to gather bits for my raleigh, but my mates still going for one of these, so ill do a rolling report on it n see how it fares up
when i can

let me do that for you:

"it has fallen apart"

hahaha, i think he'll give it a fair chance tbh, hes top spanner at bmw bikes so itll be put together properly and maintained, then people will get a real idea of what it needs n just how poo they are

hes top spanner at bmw bikes

I'm picturing Top Gun, but with monkey wrenches. Do they also play beach volleyball?

hahaha, i think he'll give it a fair chance tbh, hes top spanner at bmw bikes so itll be put together properly and maintained, then people will get a real idea of what it needs n just how poo they are

surely he can afford to not get a bso.

they might do, i dont know, there all odd in bmw lol
BSO ?
he could afford anything he wants but hes cheap, even drives a fiat lol

B.ike S.haped O.bject

lol

cool forks

cool forks

I'm digging the saddle angle aswell

B.ike S.haped O.bject

Barspin?

No, that's the by now already classic ASDA bike with the fork put on the wrong way around:

http://bicycleshapedobject.wordpress.com/2009/07/28/even-in-asda-stores-they-are-set-up-dangerously/

An instant classic.

Ruffstuff - Try this
http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebwPNLqrymode.a4p?f%5FProductID=10815&f%5FSupersetQRY=C416&f%5FSortOrderID=1&f%5Fbct=c012372c012370

ill link him to that, i got let down selling one of my motorbikes so im uber poor as usual, going to work out what im missing n get begging on here to build the raleigh ;-)

There are a couple of unipacks in the bike park at work and there's stuff wrong with them that just should not go wrong with a bike - things like the pedal cages being made of such cheap thin aluminium that they have bent out of shape simply by being ridden.

However, they seem to have learned some lessons...
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/12/create-bikes-v20-the-cheap-fixed-gear-grows-up/

B.ike S.haped O.bject

Floella Benjamin has let herself go a bit......