Fourty Bikes 540 review

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Zynster
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Location: West End, Brisbane

Fourty Bikes 540 review

Postby Zynster » Wed Oct 30, 2013 9:37 pm

The boy's new bike turned up yesterday. For a brief interlude I considered stashing it away for Christmas. But nah, Christmas came early this year. Needless to say both myself and the boy are stoked. The Fourty looks even nicer in the flesh. It's got quite a funky style. The matt black alloy frame is set off nicely with deep white rims and a white BMX style stem. All the parts feel like quality and look like they'll last awhile. The saddle is particularly nice.

The first oops came when the boy stood next to it. There is quite a large difference between the 20" and the 24". On his old bike (a BYK 350) the saddle was as high as it would go, and his knees were near his armpits. On the 540 I put the seat down as low as it would go and he still couldn't touch the ground. However, there was no stopping him, and this morning he decided he was riding it to school. After a few practice starts he got the hang of launching. Once he was going he was fine. Stopping involved jumping off a few times, but it didn't dampen his enthusiasm. I give him a week max and he'll be all over it.

As much as he wanted gears, he still can't figure them out. I'm so glad this bike has 3 speed hub gears and is not the 21 speed Avanti Blade. "What is 2 for again dad?".

Overall I'm very happy with the purchase, as is the boy. It was quite hard to get. The LBS who are supposed to be the stockist didn't have any stock, and didn't return calls. I ended up talking directly to Fourty Bikes through their Facebook page, and they put me onto their distributor. He not only tracked down the last 540 around (200km away), he picked it up and delivered it to my door. Awesome.

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Fausto Coppi Reparto Corse | Giant Farrago Cross

John Lewis
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Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2007 7:12 pm
Location: Albany. 400km South of Perth

Re: Fourty Bikes 540 review

Postby John Lewis » Thu Oct 31, 2013 12:33 am

One happy little camper there.
Nice bike.

John

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MattyK
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Location: Melbourne

Re: Fourty Bikes 540 review

Postby MattyK » Thu Oct 31, 2013 2:26 pm

Nice. What made you choose this over the alternatives? (obviously LBS support wasn't one of the reasons)

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Zynster
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Joined: Thu Oct 23, 2008 5:50 pm
Location: West End, Brisbane

Re: Fourty Bikes 540 review

Postby Zynster » Thu Oct 31, 2013 3:03 pm

LBS support wasn't an issue for me as I do my own mechanics anyway.

The criteria:
- light weight
- hub gears
- good brakes
- robust
- looks
- price

Only 2 bikes matched, the 540 and the ByK 450 (3 speed version). The 540 won on looks. The ByK 450 looks identical to his current 350 only bigger. It was also $70 dearer.

Runner ups were the Fuji Absolute 24 (which looks hot) and the Avanti Blade Jr. Both have derailleurs and skinny tires giving them more of a race focus. Both are more expensive too.

I think Fourty have gotten the balance just right. I only have two criticisms. Firstly I wish it had one of those little cages to protect the gears (might try to source an after market one), and secondly, worst branding ever!
Fausto Coppi Reparto Corse | Giant Farrago Cross

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MattyK
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Location: Melbourne

Re: Fourty Bikes 540 review

Postby MattyK » Thu Oct 31, 2013 4:24 pm

Yes that bell crank on the Shimano hub looks fragile hanging out there! The SRAM version is nicer.

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KGB
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Re: Fourty Bikes 540 review

Postby KGB » Thu Oct 01, 2015 6:15 pm

Thread mine.

What happened to forty bikes? A quick google brings up next to nada.
I'm thinking of a 24" bike for my wife to chase the kids around on. Ideally light and with internal hub gears.
Current leader is the Byk 540 but any other suggestions are welcome. I'm open to a custom build as well if anyone can recommend a frame. I reckon I could almost build the whole thing from my parts bins.
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Mububban
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Joined: Wed Feb 20, 2008 12:19 pm

Re: Fourty Bikes 540 review

Postby Mububban » Thu Oct 15, 2015 2:10 pm

I found the same thing earlier this year KGB, reviews sounded very positive but when I went to look for a stockist, I couldn't find anything. Maybe the brand folded? I ended up ordering two ByK bikes for the kids for Christmas.

Ah - a quick google just then found a voluntary insolvency notice on the ASIC website, published July this year. So it does look like they went bust unfortunately.
When you are driving your car, you are not stuck IN traffic - you ARE the traffic!!!

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