??? about incredibly loud breaks

wrote in message
...

I bought a cheap bike at WalMart today. It was about $60.

I seriously can't imagine how they can produce and sell a bike for $60 and
still make a profit. Granted they make millions of them and they use
Chinese slave labor....but still.

The last time I replaced the tires on my MTB - not expensive tires either -
it cost me $50 for the tires and new tubes.

Just yesterday I went to my LBS to order a replacement casette, chain and
crank set...nearly $150. And these are by no means high end parts.

Cheto

wrote in message
...
I bought a cheap bike at WalMart today.
etc.

What everyone else said, plus this:

It's entirely likely there's something truly fundamentally wrong with the
way the bike was assembled and the brakes installed. Like the pads are
missing, or the brakes are on the wrong side of the fork, or the fork is
backwards, or something else so stupid you probably won't believe it when
you learn what it is. Aside from their innate compromises, *mart bikes are
often assembled by people with no prior experience or training in the task.

Go to one of the sites mentioned, parktool or sheldonbrown, and carefully
compare the photographs of properly-installed brakes to your brakes.

Then think about what else might have been botched in the assembly of your
bike, and ask yourself if it's still a bargain if it's so dangerous you're
afraid to ride it.

RichC

"Cheto" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
...

I bought a cheap bike at WalMart today. It was about $60.

I seriously can't imagine how they can produce and sell a bike for $60 and
still make a profit.

They have "full suspension" bikes for that much. Granted, the 'suspension'
is little more than a spring, but to the uninitiated, they look the part.

Pete

That is bull, the best way is to spray some WS-40 on them, just a lite shot.


"Mitch Haley" wrote in message
...
The two main ways of getting rid of brake noise are
getting rid of free play in the brakes and adjusting them
so that the edge of the brake shoe closest to the front
of the bike contacts the rim first.

Grab a brake shoe and try to move it front to back, is
the brake tight, or is it sloppy? Getting rid of that
slop is the first step, but it may not be possible
with a two dollar brake on a sixty dollar bike.

Mitch.

Hear! Hear!

A friend bought one last year and about a week later the chain caught
a little in the front der. and wrapped it around the frame. I bust
out laughing when I looked at it - the assembler had padded it with a
piece of cardboard. Apparently this was so it wouldnt scartch the
paint job, but maybe to take up some slack, but it kept the der. from
holding tight.

The repair was 2/3rds the original price - you pays your money and you
takes your chances.


Of course don't be surprised if something else 'brakes'! ;-D

You might want to consider this a warning, though, that the fates are
telling you to 'get thee to a real bike shop' and buy something that will
last, typically, with the end of the year sales, at around $200-300 bucks.

-B









You could "blueprint it" better than the idiot who assembled it instead of
riding it that way...unless...you're an idiot?

On Sat, 9 Oct 2004 21:51:26 -0500, "Peedlerr"
wrote in message :

That is bull, the best way is to spray some WS-40 on them, just a lite shot.

LOL! Yes, that keeps them quiet alright. Just as long as you don't
want to stop or anything :-D

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University