What is it that makes a BSO a BSO and not a Bike? Can a BSO be elevated to Bike status with upgraded components?Is the term BSO throw around too liberally to even be taken seriously anymore?
>>2076485From my experience BSOs mostly just referred to shit like Walmart specials that used plastic cranks and pot metal chains that were basically just meant to last a year at most. I think the term kind of fell out of favor when companies like Walmart finally started offering somewhat competent shitbikes
>>2076486I feel like people will call those bikes BSO just because they're from Walmart despite being equipped with real groupsets from shimano or microshift and being fully serviceable and upgradeable bikes.
>>2076486There was a time way back when a year would be considered very optimistic for a generic store bike, really bad examples broke on the first ride
>>2076485Below bottom tier quality components. Infamously bad/dangerous designs, like the pacific bikes dual suspension frames that got recalled multiple times for failure, plastic wheels , or MTB designs with exploding elastomer forks.Combine this with Walmart employee level assembly with things like backward forks, and it's a recipe for disaster. >Can a BSO be elevated to Bike status with upgraded components?Rarely. BSOs tend to have weird, non standard parts or fucked up fit so that standard components will not fit. It's consistently better to go with a used actual bike, or a low end mail order complete. Frames are not that expensive to begin with.
>>2076485BSO imitate whatever shape or style is cool at the time, (.eg a Trek Y Series Mountain Bike)(motocross bike)(ten speed roadbike)(Harley Davidson WLA)but skimp on quality and function. mostly they are 70 to 100% over weight, and made of weak materials in every part.>upgraded components?most of the time this is not possable, BSO uses cheap obsolete parts that real OEMs gave up on decades ago.best you can hope for is to franken bike some mid rage MTB and BMX parts onto the bike.it will still be way too heavy and have weird unproportional.>BSO throw around too liberallyyes, people are jaded. they dont know how good things are, and how much worse they can get.
The modern shartmart pacific cycle BSOs are all pretty much using mtb BB and caliper mounts making them easy to upgrade.
>>2076487they do. anything that isn't a 12,500$ track bike with proprietary everything hand-fitted to you by some dude with a fake australian accent is a "BSO"
>>2076511Even on those, with ass quality and quality control. Why bother over used or better mail order? There's no good reason to ever aim below Microshift and Suntour except in the most desperate financial situation.>>2076515>>2076487Sure, people will use it unfairly, but a quick check of the physical stock at the local walmart and target, and I'm seeing completely unambiguous BSOs. 130 for a "Shimano equipped" huffy with elastomer suspension fork. Pic related for 200.
Would a northrock xc29 fall into BSO territory or is it an ok entry level MTB? It comes with a freewheel so right there it's loses points straight away but but everything else on it seems alright. It is a QR frame and not bolt through and weighs a ton because of the suntour fork but apart from that it seems pretty ok to me.
>>2076523It's low, but not BSO tier. 20 year old tech. Bottom end Shimano. Comparable with lower but not rock bottom mail order. I'd be wary of Costco assembly. If you have no used market, it's not a bad choice, but don't overspend. Also, don't try to upgrade too hard. 7x3 will not give you good options. Save up for a better bike. See also the Suntour exchange program if you ride real offroad and need a fork upgrade.This is like the "shimano, but not bso" that anon talked about earlier. Frame: all-aluminum 6061, • Fork: SR Suntour XCE 73.6 cm (29 in.), preload, 80 mm travel• Headset: sealed integrated threadless• Crank: Shimano FC-TY501, 42/34/24T• Bottom bracket: sealed cartridge• Rear derailleur: Shimano Altus M310• Shifter: Shimano Altus EF-500 rapid-fire (21 speeds)• Cogset: Shimano (14-34T) • Chain: KMC-HV500• Brakes: Tektro mechanical dual disc• Brake levers: Shimano Altus EF-500 integrated with shifter• Front hub: 32H alloy with quick-release• Rear hub: 32H alloy with quick-release• Spokes: stainless-steel• Rims: alloy double wall• Tires: Maxxis mountain, 73.6 cm x 5.6 cm (29 in. x 2.2 in.)
>>2076525I feel what limits me more is the rear wheel than the 3x7. I was thinking of just getting an AliExpress 1x chainring and finding a used deore 10-11 speed but with a rear freewheel I need to also replace the whole rear wheel.
>>2076526The two are directly related. If you're thinking of drivetrain upgrades start from a different bike.This is fine enough as an entry level XC that coudl double as a shitty hybrid.
>>2076548I got one for free. I think I'll just fix it up and sell it
