[I know that it's standard practice to photograph bicycles from the right side, so as to display the drivetrain components. However, in light of last week's election results, I thought we could "take a turn to the left" for a bit. -David]This is the Origin8 Cykel. Origin8 is a house brand for J&B Importers, distributor of wide repute and many warehouses. It's a steel framed 3-speed bike with modern styling. I have it on good authority that it's "super-comfortable and fun to ride!" It comes in a step-through (aka "women's" or "girls'") frame also.
Best thing about it: any shop in the country can get you one. Broadway Bike School sells 'em for $500.
In the DC area, Silver Cycles had the standard and step-through models in stock and ready to go.
8 comments:
I purchased this bike and it was junk. It was as if the makers did not really design this bike for commuting as much as put together an aesthetic of a bike for commuting. Some of the most notable problems: the spokes kept popping,the geometry seemed off for carrying anything in the rear (terrible front wobble if anything was packed in my rear panniers),the chain began to stretch relatively soon after purchase. If that wasn't bad enough: it came with a SRAM T3 hub on the rear which malfunctioned on my commute home, in heavy traffic (I know that SRAM is reputable and that component failure can not blamed on the bike maker--it just was the final straw for me). I thought this bike would be a decent commuter bike to buy on a budget. It was a nightmare, not just a bad machine but a DANGEROUS one.
i like your blog ....
I agreet that this bike is junk. I had mine ordered up, and when it came in, I was greatly dissapointed. I had the same trouble with the spokes and rear hub. The stock brakes were awful and very dangerous. This bike is definately a lemmon. Be warned
the front dose has a crazy wobble at faster speeds. chip the paint with your fingernail. I had to change out so many part because they were dangerous. bla
I bought this bike from Iron City Bikes in Pittsburgh and have been happy with it so far. No problems whatsoever with spokes, hub, brakes or any of the stuff that's been complained about above. It's a fun ride, and for $400 bucks, worth it.
By the way, I only use it to commute to school 3 or 4 days a week, so I'm not putting a ton of wear on it.
For crying out loud, a bike that cheap means you spend $40 getting the wheels hand-trued.
Shitty brakes can have pads replaced for $20, another thing to be expected to make a cheap bike usable.
Geometry sounds bad, but I hate panniers, and probably use a front basket iof the trail was low.
The Spectro T3 should be okay.
Chain stretch that soon sounds like wheel slippage. That in itself would cause the hub shifter to malfunction. A quickly loose chain is a sure sign to check out the rear wheel.
I have built several of these. We no longer sell them because they are junk.
I like mine. I put in about 50 miles a week on it. The chain gets loose quick though and re-gearing is a bit difficult if you don't know how. I paid about $300 for it. It goes wicked fast though, it's fun to blow past hipsters on fixed gears.
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