I'm a biking amateur, but I've been wanting to upgrade and get more serious. Just recently, I was gifted a pretty new bike and I'm wanting to figure out how BSO it is so I can either upgrade it or get rid of it get a new, nicer bike.
What can I check to tell how much of this bike is cheap BSO material and how much will last?
I'm trying to create a part-by-part list so I can decide what's worth it to replace.
It used to be easier to tell BSOs from "real" bikes, but now the technology is changing so rapidly, and it's much harder.
On a bike older than about 20 years, one would first look at the frame, in two places:
These days the dropouts are still a tell, but not nearly as reliable as before. And frames are often made of materials other than steel, and even steel can now be welded, using a rapid-weld process originally developed for aluminum frames. (Though a good-quality lugged steel frame is still a thing of beauty.)
Other than the frame, the most obvious identifier of low quality is a one-piece crank. This was true 20 years ago and is still true.
Well, I'll take that back -- one more thing: Twist shifters are highly suspect. They are cheap and have an extraordinarily high failure rate. There presumably are some good quality twist shifters, but they're the exception.
Make that two more things: With a multi-speed bottom bracket, check the material used to make the chainrings. Very often BSOs have steel rather than aluminum chainrings. A better quality bike may have a steel "granny" ring, but the others would be aluminum.
Is the bottom-bracket a cartridge unit? (googling this should give you an idea of what one looks like) If it's not, you definitely have a BSO and you should install a cartridge bb.
Look at the hubs. What brand are they? If there is no brand marking on the hub body (or skewer) it's a bad sign. If this is the case, you should probably replace the whole wheel, because the rim likely isn't worth it's salt either.
I really haven't had problems with cheap shifters and brakes. Cheap derailleurs will work well as long as they're adjusted correctly, same with cheap rim brakes. If the brake pads wear out, change them for something nicer, but before then don't bother.
Are the cranks steel or aluminum? If they're steel, they will work, but changing them is a good idea.
I second DRH's point about 1-piece cranks, but bear in mind that there are many junk 3-piece cranksets too.
DRH made some good points about the frame, but IMO as long as you weigh less than 200lbs, a cheap frame will be okay if you're not riding on rough stuff.
Upgrading the frame is in the same vein as upgrading the cranks. You could stick with the BSO-grade stuff, but you'll enjoy the bike a lot more if you upgrade. Same deal with the tires, too. Cheap, heavy ones will work, but the bike will be faster and more comfy if you upgrade.
If your bike has full-suspension you should change the frame. Seriously, you don't want full-suspension on a cheap bike.
If your bike has a front suspension it may be worth upgrading. If the fork is a Suntour, I wouldn't upgrade, but if you're feeling rich, get a Rockshox.
If the bike has a horrible Zoom or similar fork, you should upgrade to at least a Suntour or install a rigid fork.
If your bike fails all of the quality tests I mentioned above, you are probably better off selling the bike than you are trying to upgrade the components.
Possibly one of the easiest way to look up if a bike is a BSO or not is google it or look at where it was bought from. Walmart/Target/Kmart/etc. means BSO.
The brand is also easy to tell. Most non-bso's in the US are made by Giant, Trek, Specialized, Cannondale. Some brands are a bit harder since they sell both BSO and non-BSO (e.g. Schwinn, which does their non-bso's under the name Schwinn Signature bikes).
