I took a close look at a department store Schwinn a month ago,

http://search.bikelist.org/query.asp...MsgDate%5Ba%5D

Specifically, the $108 schwinn hybrid at Target. Unlike earlier
department store bikes that had obvious manufacturing compromises
(e.g. cheap soft steel brakes that bent every time they were used,
steel rims, lead-pipe frames, suicide extension levers), modern
dept. store bikes have closed a tremendous gap with bike shop bikes.

Although I don't own one, these bikes are probably not fun or
practical to work on or tune. They are designed to be manufactured
cheaply, used until the parts fail or go out of the adjustment, and
then thrown away. Don't expect to get it fixed cheaply at a normal
bike shop. Work on it yourself, if at all.

Here is the best summary about "where are the bodies buried" on the
cheaper department store bikes of today :

http://search.bikelist.org/getmsg.as...10411.2094.eml

With the US$ trading for 8 chinese yuan, and the average chinese
worker in the countryside earning $0.65 per hour, you may not see a
bike of this quality sold this cheaply another time for the rest of
your life.

If you buy, purchase the best model available, with all-aluminum parts.

- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA