Unipack / Create / Sports Direct singlespeed track bikes?

cough cough

24th April 2008 #1 nimhbus

      **Unipack Courier Bike £199** 

get yours before your friends do!

http://unipackuk.co.uk/track-bikes_roadcourier.html

Date reading FAIL.

;-)

fair enough.
but back then i had no idea it was made by unipack, searching 'cheap ebay bike' and other variants was no help

Unipacks certainly get one from a to b, which is all a bicycle needs to do, but are they all being put together by people who are proper bicycle mechanics? No one seems to buy them from proper bicycle shops.

No they aren't all put togother by proper bicycle mechanics but the simple singlespeed style of them makes them much more suitable for being put togother by amateurs. Plus after all, bikes from halfords and argos etc wont be put ogother by a trained cycle mechanic either and there's a lot more to go wrong on those bikes.

It seems to me that the creates are put together better than Unipacks - it also as MV has said massively depends who puts them together - an LBS shop i know bought 2 creates (£80 each from manafacturer,not branded create) stuck in a new BB and Sram Chain,trued the wheels, and then sold them for 200 - they said that the quality was no better worse with those mods than any other bike at the price.

The original Unipac is a complete POS though

They are better than Akon.

Everything is better than Akon. Except walnuts.

bikes from halfords and argos etc wont be put ogother by a trained cycle mechanic either.

Which is why there are so many bikes knocking about with their front forks on backwards.

i brought one of these over a year ago as i didnt want my giant tcr to get knicked popping to the shops or leaving it outside work/pubs.. i have ridden it pretty much every week about 65 miles a week and nothing has gone wrong with it, replaced the saddle thats about it.. my general opinion is:

1. its realllly realllly heavy.
   
2. parts are cheap but pretty sturdy.
   
3. wheels are crap, tubes are constantly leaking.
   
4. makes a racket when you freewheel.
   
5. front wheel nuts magically unscrew.
   
6. angles are a little funny.
   
   

but overall its served its purpose of not having my nice bike stolen, got me to work, ive been building its replacement for a while now but untill then ill keep riding it.

... or forget the gears and grow some more meat on your legs.

who the fuck is akon?

Which is why there are so many bikes knocking about with their front forks on backwards.

+1

who the fuck is akon?

He's a dark chap with a large boat.

I've seen your legs reeen. They'd hardly feed a family of four, would they?

Thats bad! i'd go straight to chapel cycles and make a noise so every person who entered that shop were aware they sold bikes unfit for the road.. wonder how long they would hold out before they re-imbursed you and thought twice about selling those shit heaps

It's harsh to say people should know better as bikes are expensive and a lot or people don't know what to look for - we do rely on staff to give us sound advice... thank good we have this place :)

i got my refund, but the word DOES need to get around...
there defo nt worth it

I would imagine those unipacks are from china & costing him about $50

get the trek sorted. then spend the rest on booze and clunge mags.

+1 on fixing the trek
-1 on the mags (there's better shit on the net)

For free too, therefore more money for booze :D

I don't know why people even defend these bikes, if they're so incredibly bad..!
I mean, saying "Yeah, it's great bike! Mine's all original except the BB, crankset, wheels, seat, chain and bars..but it's on the heavy part though.." doesn't really mean it's a good bike..

For 200£ you can get a great bike if you can just use a set of normal tools. Get a cheap old pug (like, 20£ probably), keep everything but the cranks and wheels. Use the rest on second hand cranks and wheels, and you have a bike that'll actually hold together. I mean, even if it's a Pug, it's still survived 20-30 years when you buy it, and that's gotta count for something!

I've gotta admit, I bought one of these and it does exactly as it says on the tin.
It's a good bike to start with, but then when bits start breaking and your friends tell you what you could have got with 200 quid, you realize what a bummer you made.
I regret it, I know I made a mistake and maybe I should have made a better effort with my first bike but hey, learn from your mistakes right?
Now can anyone point me towards a nice 60cm+ frame please?

A friend of mine has just been given a fixed bike that looks suspiciously like a Unipack, with some fairly low-grade components, and it's clearly not put together very well, either. No branding on the bike at all except that it's distributed by 'Jazzco'. I couldn't find that name at all when I searched the forum just now. Google only brings up jazz music-related things and a reference to this web-site ...

http://www.the-jazz.co.cc/

... which doesn't seem to exist any more but has this text associated with it in Google (no cached version available): 'Offers mountain, road, street, racing, recumbent, freestyle, and BMX bicycles'

Is Jazzco a known Unipack distributor, or is this likely to be a different kind of bike?

^hard to say by 'low grade components' alone. some giveaways are spoke pattern and only 24 of them, different bearing config front/rear (front cup and cone, rear encapsuled pressed in bearings) crank set, plastic break lever clamps to name some without pics. do yuo have a snapshot to post oliver?

glad i asked here before buying one... maybe someone can post an ad on gumtree witht he pic of th ebike explaining why it's shit?

GREAT idea man!!!

^hard to say by 'low grade components' alone. some giveaways are spoke pattern and only 24 of them, different bearing config front/rear (front cup and cone, rear encapsuled pressed in bearings) crank set, plastic break lever clamps to name some without pics. do yuo have a snapshot to post oliver?

Thanks, reeen. No, I don't, I'm afraid. Come to think of it, the most distinguishing feature I saw was the frame number across the front of the head tube. Does that ring any bells? I can try to get a picture, of course, but it might be a few days.

the frame number, yes of course, well observed. genuine unipac/create and as of now jazzco bike as it seems.
... recommend to change the brakes and chain, will'ya?!

the frame number, yes of course, well observed. genuine unipac/create and as of now jazzco bike as it seems.
... recommend to change the brakes and chain, will'ya?!

OK, thanks, reeen. I have advised him to sell it altogether, but he was given it as a present, so upgrading chain and brakes is probably a good intermediate step (he does have a few other bikes, so no worries there, although no other fixed). Both seemed crap when I test rode it around for a moment. I've told him that he's likely to spend a lot more money on components than it's worth, but as he doesn't actually intend to use it, it may be a moot point ...

Is it odd that no-one seems to have heard of jazzco as a distributor yet, or is it normal for lots of little companies to spring up as Unipack distributors?

so was anything ever done about the Great Unipack Test? Is there another thread i'm missing?

that'll be el'squirre. his charge plug got a pow coat and now unipaks in white look a lot like his ;)

i got mine as new but second hand and really cheap as the previous owner got it as a present, got loughed at by his friends and wanted it gone. so my bike runs smooth now after:

• new pedals and chain right away, don't even ask why or i'll kick you! wellgo bmx pedals, kmc coloured chain in strong (parker, a 12er)
  
• BB came loose after 2! mi and even locktite was to weak to keep it together, on standard shimano since 20mi
  
• brakes bent under emergency load, both! don't believe it? i'll show u! get proper new calipers asap! (beefy shimano 450)
  
• spokes changed and wheel rebuild. spokes are too long in them, you cant put tension on them running out of thread due to their softness and length. sapim double butted 1 mil shorter and 4pint of ale rebuild session and i got reasonably round-ish but quite straight wheels for 24 spokes, 1650 mi on them, never trued since
  
• stem - get a new one right away, the alu is soft and the threads for the clamp bolts are most likely fucked before or during install
  
• brake levers are a joke, plastic clamp, burn'em!
  
• tires are not puncture or pothole proof, buckeled mine, rode it through the rubber at the hump and blowout, got sorted changing them both right away
  
• head set ran noisy after a rain runs, regrease checkup revealed loose balls in the grease and buckled bearing cage + visible wear on the races after just 500mi -> cheap FSA from halfords, sorted that one
  
• finally the crank set, alwas been super unraound, slackchain->tootight->superslack->tootight, chainringbolts came of on a descent, takoed my chainwheel, replaced it with "BLB suginos" whot a difference man, now power comes out at the end actually not just noisy wobble noodle bents .
  
  

... i forgot, when i got the BB from magic bikes, they noticed slack on my rear wheel axle and gave it a tad with axle spanners (front and rear) for free to be save, thanx for that, super service there.

the list of parts actually left on it is shorter than the replacement list! and just of lately it runs smooth and i make my miles ... its is not of überstrength at all and far from light but comfy/agile and with my new gearing well fast.

excuse me if i made you feel uncomfortable reading all this but they really are dangerous. but i quite like my bike NOW, i learned so much by fixing every possible thing one could have a problem with on a bike by mostly myself and the knowledge accumulated in this forum and of course sheldon. i'm looking forward to put a nice bike together the way i want it right from the start.

ps. if you see me, you'll notice the helmet with the rising sun homage, say hi and/or try race me :P

Hi reeem,

just wondering...how much did all the parts cost?