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#11
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Concerning the maintenance requirements of a bicycle, it's a mystery to
me why more cyclists don't take the chore upon themselves. A. It requires fine motor skills B. It requires patience C. It's not fun D. Actually, it's downright BORING. Boring, boring, boring. E. It takes up valuable time that could be spent reading posts on Usenet. I hope this clears up the mystery for you. -- Warm Regards, Claire Petersky please substitute yahoo for mousepotato to reply Home of the meditative cyclist: http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/ See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky |
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#12
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But the one thing I noticed, people who actually ride department store
bikes on this group have little problems with them. There are basically three types that ride these bikes: 1. People who buy and never ever ride. 2. People who buy and ride the **** out of them commuting. 3. People (teenage boys) who buy and ride the **** out of them doing things the bikes were never intended to do. We get lots of #3. #2 come in once in a long time. #1 come in to have their bikes fixed after sitting for a couple of years, usually scoffing at the cost of repair. And then proceed to never ride them again. So generally, I'd agree. -- Phil, Squid-in-Training |
#13
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"Luke" wrote in message
... Concerning the maintenance requirements of a bicycle, it's a mystery to me why more cyclists don't take the chore upon themselves. Adjusting derailleurs and brakes; chain, chainring and cassette replacement; trueing wheels; adjusting cones; etc.; these can be accomplished with a minimal investment in tools and learning. A beauty of the bicycle is its sympathy to the backyard mechanic. Time and money are limited resources. Sometimes one resource is more limited than another. I don't change the oil in my car any more, either. |
#14
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On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 14:26:14 -0500, PSB wrote:
Did the 20.6 miles today including a several 100 feet climb within a mile and some dirt roads. Bike performed almost perfectly. Gears shifted without any problems, brakes worked outstanding. Bike rode real quiet except for the 26x1.9 tires humming on the road. $15 for a pair of slicks will take care of that. Your wrists and shoulders will thank you if you ride very far. Bike seemed faster on the dirt roads than the paved roads but probably just my perception. The bike has a front suspension fork but I really don't see the point in it on this bike. Only minor problem was the end of the front derailleur cable stuck out a little bit and kept hitting the pedals making the annoying (click, click, click sound each time the pedal hit). Corrected by taking a taking a trash bag twisty and connecting the cable to the frame. Might have to adjust the seat angle slightly. Be aware that while the Schwinn's seat tends to have a better clamp that the ones used on many Roadmasters, these still tend not to grip well if undertightened. Carry a wrench for the through-bolt on the clamp for the first few rides, and check the tightness after the first ride even if it seems OK. This bike performed great in my opinion on this first ride. Maybe I got a lemon for the Roadmaster Mt Fury as someone else had good reports on it. I'll report after I reach 100 miles on it. My rash prediction: it will do just fine. -- Typoes are a feature, not a bug. Some gardening required to reply via email. Words processed in a facility that contains nuts. |
#15
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PSB Wrote: Gooserider wrote: My $300 Ibex Corrida is about a hundred times more well built and performs better than a $150 Wal - Schwinn. So I assume you have owned a Schwinn from Walmart for quite some time then to make such a statement? I didn't think so. We'll see if my Schwinn holds up to the test of time. Maybe it won't. I'll keep posting reports on the progress just like others have on their store bought bikes. http://www.ibexbikes.com/Stacks/Series_Corrida.html Shows your bike to be a road bike. While you would kick my ass on a paved road, let's take your bike vs my bike on a dirt sandy road here in South Carolina. You won't make it half a mile. See, I bought my bike for the roads I ride on. A road bike don't cut it. But the one thing I noticed, people who actually ride department store bikes on this group have little problems with them. Carl Fogel, Ron Hardin among others. Nor do they spend $100's of dollars each year at the LBS for tune ups, truings, etc. like many of the roadies who ride high priced bikes do. I have owned and run several thousand miles on several huffys and good/bad schwinns. For what they are they are decent. They are still heavy, poorly engineered for anything but low build cost. Oftentimes they are victim of poor asembly from the store, so I used to have a special department-store-bike tune up package. Gimme 20 and an hour and I have it up to its potential. The problem is, that is the most potential it will have. Mongoose and Schwinn at least allow some options(like real deraileur mounts, 1-1/8" head tubes, etc.) SO far as the fancy bikes residing in the LBS, I believe it is driven by the mindset that makes a person(including myself) buy such higher priced machines. The strive to perfection. I personally have had a shop tweak bikes a total of 3 times for me, since I rather do it and have the tools, but almost all of the larger LBS offer 6 months to a year of free tune up for any reason service. They tell people to bring them back for any questions because they want to preserve the perfection feel. I will not insult the sub-300 dollar bikes aside to say one analogy. Equate a Dept store bike to a Hyundai car. No matter how good the warranty claim, it is still a car of the same lesser quality. Some swear by them, but more hate them. Equate a Bike Shop bike to say a Porche(roadie) or a Hummer(MTB). Do they break? Yes. Do they suffer inadequacies? Yes. As many? No. -- Conniebiker |
#16
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On Thu, 6 Jan 2005 13:49:42 +1100, Cyclist14
wrote: :-)Cheapo Bikes do not get as hard a use as high end road bikes Huh? and also for a High-end bike to be lightwieght you must sacrifice some durability. Could you explain what durability has to be sacrificed? I guess it would help to know what you consider a high-end bike and what you consider lightweight. Cheapo bikes also have everything made of steel and rejected tubing and they wiegh a ton and a half. If you want a good , reliable bike don't go below $300.00 anything below that number is junk. Rejected tubing? And where did you come up with the $300 amount? Including Huffys Cyclist 14 Is 14 your age? Life is Good! Jeff |
#17
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On Thu, 06 Jan 2005 01:21:22 GMT, "Robert Haston"
wrote: Once upon a time, Schwinn bikes were incredibly durable and low maintenance. You couldn't break them. We mountain biked the hilly trails east of Kansas City long before mountain biking was officially invented. My friends Sears or Huffy bikes were always falling apart. But like so many products before, labels that meant quality over many decades can be turned into big profits by slapping them onto junk. [rest snipped] Was it just my imagination, or was there a complete lack of actual "sad story" in that post? A near-rant, yes, but nothing in the way of current factual narrative. -- Typoes are a feature, not a bug. Some gardening required to reply via email. Words processed in a facility that contains nuts. |
#18
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In article ,
PSB writes: Bought this bike from Walmart when I returned the Roadmaster Mountain Fury. Checked Schwinn Sidewinder out at Walmart before buying. NO problems noted and yes, I checked the pedals this time. Took it home, adjusted the seat, added $9 Schwinn cyclometer from Walmart and my GPS mount for the Garmin Etrex Legend. Pumped tires to 65psi. Bike weighs a ton and is a few pounds heavier than the Roadmaster Mountain Fury. But I did not buy this bike to ride in pelotons, I bought it to commute and for exercise. Well, I hope you get loads of enjoyment out of it. That's the main thing. cheers, & good rides, Tom -- -- Nothing is safe from me. Above address is just a spam midden. I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca |
#19
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Robert Haston wrote:
Saddest yet are these rules are applied in spades to kids bikes, because they spend even less on a bike the kid will outgrow. So kids learn the myth from early childhood. That's why you see parents hauling their little kids in their cars to the park, where they drive around little electric cars. Argh, I want to scream when I see these idiot parents with those stupid cars. Yet explaining to a parent why they shouldn't buy that $50 bike at Target or Wal-Mart bike, and should spend $150 at a bike shop, is fricking impossible! And sure as sh-t, since you (or I) are considered the free bike repair person for an extended family, we'll be called upon to try to get that $50 Target or Wal-Mart bike on the road. Now I should state that Costco is selling some decent bikes, not for $50, but for around $150; the assembly sucks, but the components are equivalent to the low end $250 bike shop bikes. |
#20
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On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 21:24:21 -0500, PSB wrote:
Ron Hardin has more miles on his Huffys. I also know many roadies who reguarly spend 100's a year just on maintenance of their $2,000 bikes. In fact, if these expensive bikes were so unbreakable, LBS'es would be out of business by the droves as repairs fuel the LBS, not bike sales. I know the LBS in my area has a week long wait to repair bicycles and nearly all of them are non-department store bikes. Sure seems to be a lot of high ends bikes that need fixing doesn't it? I am so glad you are an exception to the rule about high end bicycles. And for purposes of comparison, I will note that a whole lot of the price-leader name-brand lbs bikes today are using precisely the same level of componentry that is present on the higher-level Mall-Wart bikes. My daughter's Trek 800 is equipped with kit very little different from the Mongoose that it's generally locked to...and the two bikes show no real difference in their performance and durability, though the seat on the Goose was judged adequate when received as opposed to the Trek's being found most unworthy. (Of course, seats are so wildly subjective that this is a silly point to bring up.) -- Typoes are a feature, not a bug. Some gardening required to reply via email. Words processed in a facility that contains nuts. |
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