Foffa Bikes

I totally understand what you're getting it Hamatt, for what it's worth. There are some bizarre double standards on here. Oh well.

Wow: A ****real ****"bargain"

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/single-speed-track-fixed-gear-bike_W0QQitemZ320471161044QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Bikes_GL?hash=item4a9d91d8d4

^ must have been ill on the day of the 'putting a saddle on straight' class when doing their cycle tech training?
Top tip, start level and go from there. And wherever you go to I can't imagine it ending up pointing down by 15 degrees!

Msut know what he is doing: Cytech certificated!

I'm Cytech qualified and I wouldn't let myself work on my own bike:-)

I have a Blue Peter badge. Does that qualify me to build and sell crap bikes?

I have a Gold swimming certificate. This should be fine, right?

i have a legoland driving licence

look like overpriced mutton being sold as lamb but still looking like mutton.

I have a Blue Peter badge. Does that qualify me to build and sell crap bikes?

No, but you can get in Chesington (world of Adventures) on the cheap.

Leave him alone.

This Lo Pro is extremely good value:

http://foffabikes.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/07.jpg

Wow: A ****real ****"bargain"

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/single-speed-track-fixed-gear-bike_W0QQitemZ320471161044QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Bikes_GL?hash=item4a9d91d8d4

"Gorgeous Baby Blue Fixie". That will surely go for 600 gn's.

Most of their saddles are on like that. Is it a trend?

i'm kind of with hammat on this. the kind of people who are gonna buy these want a bike they can ride to work now and then, and maybe to the park on the weekend. very very few of them are going to take them to cambridge or for circuits of richmond park. the bikes are cheap as fuck (in price and materials), so as long as they're mechanically sound and not stolen, it's sort of win-win.

^ agreed
That said they're all completely fugly.

Nah, they're crap. They're just trying to run a business that is totally uncompetitive and basically daft. I bet loads of people on here would love to while away their days salvaging and polishing up old frames and bits, building bikes that represent value and a half decent profit. But its damn near impossible. We live in the real world and these guys don't.

They cannot compete. Ed's OTP comparison shows it, as does a quick glance at what's in our beloved classifieds right now. Okay, slightly unfair, its got no brake at mo, but it was the first one I came to. Compare specs.

LFGSS geyser's Complete Bike - looking for £400

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2678/4187469075_b78bda7009.jpg
Components
Iceni Blank track frame, 56cm c-t. Fitted with Cane Creek S2 headset and Miche BB
Charge Knife titanium saddle on FSA seatpost with Token clamp.
Deda Pista bars with Truvative Hussefelt stem
Miche Primato Cranks (165mm) with 48t Goldtec Chainring and Shimano 520 SPDS
Mavic Open Sport Rims (32h) on Suzue ProMax hubs With Conti GP4000S tyres.

**Foffa **Raleigh for £380 (medium)
*Steel **powder-coated *frame, Sakae steel crankset, 46t – 16t gearing, Schwalbe puncture proof racing tires,
Weinmann lightweight alloy rims laced to Quando (front)/Formula (rear) hubs
http://foffabikes.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/051.jpg

I think again people are missing the point. By the testimonials on here, and in this thread, they're not made very well and fall apart.
They have a niche market in that there are plenty of people who want a 'cool looking' bike that's ready built, but it seems for what they are, they're ripping people off and won't last. This is what people object to. Tarnishing the good name of the fixie skidder.

i'm kind of with hammat on this. the kind of people who are gonna buy these want a bike they can ride to work now and then, and maybe to the park on the weekend. very very few of them are going to take them to cambridge or for circuits of richmond park. the bikes are cheap as fuck (in price and materials), so as long as they're mechanically sound and not stolen, it's sort of win-win.

But they are not "cheap as fuck" are they? £170-£250 would be fairly cheap, but these are nearly £400. The frames are powdercoated skip finds and the parts are either old or lowest quality. He seems to be continually trying to justify the price.

Coventry Eagle powder coated steel 55cm frame (£120+)
Sakae steel 46t crankset (£30)
Dicta 16t free wheel sprocket (£12)
KMC single speed chain (£13)
Tange bottom bracket (£20)
Schwalbe Blizzard puncture proof racing tires (£40)
Schwalbe inner tubes (£10)
Weinmann lightweight alloy rims laced to Quando (front)/Formula (rear) hubs (£100)
Weinmann vintage calipers (£10)
Tech3 2 finger brake levers (£15)
Ventura racing saddle (£20)
bullbars + tape (£30)
SR vintage 1 piece stem (£5)
metal pedals included (£10)

The components alone are worth over £430 and that's excluding the labour.

Ok, so lets enter the real world for a moment:

Coventry Eagle powder coated steel 55cm frame (£40 for paint job frame likely "cost"£20 so £60)
Sakae steel 46t crankset (utter trash, equivalent or better available at £20)
Dicta 16t free wheel sprocket (just googled £7)
KMC single speed chain (£5)
Tange bottom bracket (£15)
Schwalbe Blizzard puncture proof racing tires (£20)
Schwalbe inner tubes (£7)
Weinmann lightweight alloy rims laced to Quando (front)/Formula (rear) hubs (benefit of the doubt, except better wheels can be built for £80 from retail parts £100)
Weinmann vintage calipers (£10)
Tech3 2 finger brake levers (£15)
Ventura racing saddle (£10)
bullbars + tape (£20)
SR vintage 1 piece stem (£5)
metal pedals included (£10)

So that's around £300 for the "components" at retail price, as a bike shop I assume he's getting the new stuff at trade (around 50%) and the second hand stuff (a lot of it is) for very little or free. so cost of around £150-£170 the "labour" involved in making this kind of bike up, even if you build the wheels yourself, is no more than 1/2 to 3/4 of a day £100? so a price of £250 + vat* seems around what they should be asking, wether you think that's fair for the bikes in question is up to you.

A professional shop run by "experts" like this in London's trendy London must surely have trade accounts and be vat registered?

I'm with RPM they are a complete rip off over inflated in price, maybe this person is an out of work estate agent.

dont know why people are getting so worked up.
if they want to pay it, dont know what/ who they are buying from then let them carry on.
the whole re- interest in fg has been pushing prices up for track stuff for ages anyway so most of the damage has been done as far as I can make out.

I think again people are missing the point. By the testimonials on here, and in this thread, they're not made very well and fall apart.
They have a niche market in that there are plenty of people who want a 'cool looking' bike that's ready built, but it seems for what they are, they're ripping people off and won't last. This is what people object to. Tarnishing the good name of the fixie skidder.

i wouldnt trust her, she says she's a graphic designer

dont know why people are getting so worked up.
if they want to pay it, dont know what/ who they are buying from then let them carry on.

This is the kind of argument dodgy roofers or vacuum cleaner sales men use when ripping off old grannies. "If these people don't know anything about xyz then that's their own fault we can charge what we like."

true,
but are these guys old ladies? they want to be 'cool'
more fool them.

i wouldnt trust her, she says she's a graphic designer

ERM?! Fury.
*not angry.

true,
but are these guys old ladies? they want to be 'cool'
more fool them.

No they are not old ladies but that does not make it exceptable to rip people off, because you a not a old lady do you think it's exceptable if you get ripped off? If you get in a taxi in a strange town and the taxi driver charges you £10 minimum fee when really it's a £5 minimum does that make it ok because you are a stranger?

They may not be wanting to be cool, but just want a bike and this guy is taking advantage, he is being a rip off merchant.

i wouldnt trust her, she says she's a graphic designer

Ha!

This one's gonna run and run.

Wayno's actually a traffic cop: I could see him in leathers on a 1100cc BMW ... hehe