Schwinn vs Huffy

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

On Tue, 28 Dec 2004 19:34:03 -0600, Tom Sherman
wrote:

Mike Jacoubowsky/Chain Reaction Bicycles wrote:

Bandwith is cheap, sorry. Look for a decent used bike. You could probably
find one for nearly free at a garage sale or thrift shop that would be far
better than the Huffy or Schwinn from a department store. If you have the
skills to properly assemble a bike, you can probably easily deal with a used
bike, and recognize a real gem that's there for the taking.

I know someone who purchased a lugged steel frame Trek with near perfect
paint for $10 at a yard sale.

A few months ago, I grabbed a group of five bikes for the total sum of
about $60 at the city auction; the lot included a Miyata Elevation
1000 that needed just a chain and cassette replaced due to wear. Of
the other four, two were absolute scrap. Those two were a mid-60s
drop-frame Schwinn tourer with tires rotted off, and a badly
ethno-engineered Huffy with a 24" rear wheel and a tireless EA3 front
wheel on a 559-wheel frame with a complete lack of brakes, shifters
and seat. The remaining two were reasonably servicable
department-store-level bikes in almost immediately useful condition; a
Pacific mtb with a missing dust guard on one front wheel bearing, and
a Roadmaster Mt Fury (alas, in the 24" size) with the most creatively
obliterated set of brake calipers I have ever seen. The front
caliper's arms were devoid of pads and had been twisted in between the
fork legs (I should mention that the fork had been turned around
backwards) as though the brakes had been suddenly applied while the
bike was being towed at high speeds with an overload aboard. Given
the presence of a trick-bike footpeg on the rear axle, that may be
exactly what was being done. There was also an impressive amount of
chain slap damage to the chainstay paint. Despite the apparent abuse,
however, with the substitution of some less twisted calipers from Le
Carton Du Junque, it became a useful bike which presently awaits a
suitable rider.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
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On Tue, 28 Dec 2004 19:42:41 -0500, PSB wrote:

Ron Hardin wrote:
I generally get 6 years before that happens, and the current one
looks to be going strong for more years yet.

I was hoping you would ring in Ron.

The thing about the Huffy I was looking at has knobby tires. The Schwinn
didn't have knobbies.

What do you recommend Ron, knobbies or slicks?

For commuting? Slicks! Your wrists, elbows and shoulders will thank
you for the reduced vibration.

Note, however, that a pair of slicks for a 26" bike can be had for
about $15 (maybe less) at Mall-Wart, and they're not hard to install
on whatever you buy. A slick-tired Mt Fury could be concocted for
well under $100, even after sales tax.
--
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"PSB" wrote in message
...

So which would you recommend?

Murray or C. Itoh.

Learning toward one or the other for buying a new dept store bicycle. I
know what to look for when it comes to assembling them. The bike is
going to be used as a commuter. The Huffy's are about 30 dollars cheaper
and both have Shamino gears. Just curious if I should spend the 30 bucks
more for a Schwinn or not.

I always thought Schwinns were overpriced personally.

If you are going to reply that I should buy
from an LBS, save your bandwidth.

So which would you recommend?

So which would you recommend?

Murray or C. Itoh.

What's wrong with American Flyer?

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

On Tue, 28 Dec 2004 23:46:35 -0500, "Joe Haggadah"
wrote:


"PSB" wrote in message
...

So which would you recommend?

Murray or C. Itoh.

Itoh printers are easier to find than Itoh bikes in the US...and when
was the last time you saw a Murray bike available new? ISTR that
Murray sold off its bike division to one of the borgs a while back.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
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On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 08:00:29 GMT, "Mike Jacoubowsky"
wrote:

So which would you recommend?

Murray or C. Itoh.

What's wrong with American Flyer?

If you can get the rust off, and if the rims aren't full of termites,
nothing. But a JC Higgins is probably a better value.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
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I basically agree with this article.

If you want cheap - then buy the cheapest. If you want something suitable
for commuting then start looking at more than the two cheap bicycles you
indicate. When i go to garage and other sales i see so many cheap bikes -
and then when i ask why they did not use the bikes the folks say the bike
did not fit, it did not work properly, it did not...

Cheap bikes might be OK for a spin around the block but that is IT!!

Get a used bike with good components. Who cares if it does not have the
latest in gadgetry?? I bought a 20 year old Peugeot at a garage sale and
with several adjustments to the seat and front bars it will be great for
commuting. It would be better to have fenders on it, but for $20 I guess I
can get fenders and still be farther ahead than buying a new bike similar
to what you are looking at.

Think outside the box and look at a quality used bike that will be much
more suitable for your needs as compared to the 2 new ones you are enamored
with...

wrote:

Neither. As commuters, they would probably do OK. But they are cheap
junk, and possibly like throwing money away. If you search in this
newsgroup for "Carl Fogel" "Roadmaster" and "Fury", you will find the
saga of a cheap dept. store bike.

You /should/ buy from your LBS. But not a new bike. A used one. A
decent, well-maintained, used bike can cost only a bit more than a new
dept. store bike-shaped toy, and is likely to have better components.
This means that you might get more life out of your used bike than you
would out of a new bike-shaped toy from some *Mart.

Locally, the LBSs have quite a bit of used inventory that they are
willing to make deals on because in our corner of North America, it's
winter, and bikes don't sell well here in the winter.
Good luck.

HAND,

E.P.

:
: And isn't there something noble about giving a bike like that a new lease
on
: life? But I'm beginning to suspect this is a troll, given the recent
remark
: from the original poster regarding knobby vs slick tires for a "commute"
: bike.
:
: --Mike Jacoubowsky
:
I agree: it's a troll. He wanted to start a flame war, that's all.

Pat in TX