Schwinn vs Huffy

On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 13:45:12 -0800, LioNiNoiL_a t_Y a h 0 0_d 0 t_c 0 m
wrote:

Learning toward one or the other for buying a new dept store bicycle.

Buy a much better used bike for the same amount of money, out of the
local newpaper ads.

A couple months ago I bought a Haro MTB for $30 at a flea market. Rusted but
hardly riden. Some clean up and lubrication and it runs great. You won't beat
that deal at a department store.

Ron

(Tom Keats) wrote:

Knobbies do make a pleasing 'buzz' on asphalt.

"Pleasing"? In the same way that rough pavement can be "pleasing" I
guess...

Sure, they'll
slow ya down and (heaven forbid) allow other riders to pass ya
sometimes. But if you don't care, it doesn't matter. And there
may be some shortcut scenarios where knobbies come in handy.
Even in urban environs.

While knobbies are nice when/if you find yourself navigating a section
of loose dirt/gravel, they're a serious disadvantage everywhere else.
To me the biggest drawback is the sketchy handling that most knobbies
produce in a corner. I've had some knobbies that were "exciting" in
any real paved cornering situation - they'd squirm and slip - not a
lot of fun. Plus, they wear out VERY fast on the road.

There are some "inverted knobby" tires that are reasonable compromises
though - a solid center bead that allows fairly low rolling
resistance, with enough deep grooves and inside-out tread features to
keep you upright in the loose stuff. They're not really the best
choice for on or off-road, but not bad at either.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $695 ti frame

Tom Keats wrote in part:

Knobbies do make a pleasing 'buzz' on asphalt. Sure, they'll
slow ya down and (heaven forbid) allow other riders to pass ya
sometimes. But if you don't care, it doesn't matter. And there
may be some shortcut scenarios where knobbies come in handy.
Even in urban environs.

They're great in the snow, too.

R

R15757 wrote:
Tom Keats wrote in part:


Knobbies do make a pleasing 'buzz' on asphalt. Sure, they'll
slow ya down and (heaven forbid) allow other riders to pass ya
sometimes. But if you don't care, it doesn't matter. And there
may be some shortcut scenarios where knobbies come in handy.
Even in urban environs.


They're great in the snow, too.

R

For my Huffy I just put on 26" x 1.75" semi slick road tires and go.
My Mongoose has the full sized knobbies, 26 x 2.25 and I can't tell
that much of a difference, unless I get to some bad potholed pavement,
or a dirt short cut. Even then there is not much difference. Try that
on my Schwinn with the 700s and it would be a sure pinch flat or some
very delicate riding, which is not my style. I hate having the tires
tell me that I can't take a slightly rough shortcut. And I am with
you on the buzz the knobbies give at about 15-25 MPH (tailwind). Just
don't do any sharp turns or you will find out the shortcomings of
knobbies. The knobs kind of buckle under cornering stress and lose
traction, where the semi slick 1.75" don't. I haven't gotten that
radical with the 700s yet but I suspect they would rather go straight.

In article ,
RonSonic writes:
On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 13:45:12 -0800, LioNiNoiL_a t_Y a h 0 0_d 0 t_c 0 m
wrote:

Learning toward one or the other for buying a new dept store bicycle.

Buy a much better used bike for the same amount of money, out of the
local newpaper ads.

A couple months ago I bought a Haro MTB for $30 at a flea market. Rusted but
hardly riden. Some clean up and lubrication and it runs great.

Good score.

You won't beat
that deal at a department store.

I've noticed most $100-$200 department store bikes
have hi-tens steel frames. Ugh. What's worse is
the poor-grade steel componentry (usually painted
black,) where alu-alloy would be, on a 'good' bike.
Like handlebars & stems welded together into one
piece. And in the course of my scavenger hunts,
I've noticed more than a few discards where the
welded joins had dramatically failed. Department
store bikes get thrown away a lot.


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 16:55:11 -0800, (Tom Keats) wrote:

In article ,
RonSonic writes:
On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 13:45:12 -0800, LioNiNoiL_a t_Y a h 0 0_d 0 t_c 0 m
wrote:

Learning toward one or the other for buying a new dept store bicycle.

Buy a much better used bike for the same amount of money, out of the
local newpaper ads.

A couple months ago I bought a Haro MTB for $30 at a flea market. Rusted but
hardly riden. Some clean up and lubrication and it runs great.

Good score.

You won't beat
that deal at a department store.

I've noticed most $100-$200 department store bikes
have hi-tens steel frames. Ugh. What's worse is
the poor-grade steel componentry (usually painted
black,) where alu-alloy would be, on a 'good' bike.
Like handlebars & stems welded together into one
piece. And in the course of my scavenger hunts,
I've noticed more than a few discards where the
welded joins had dramatically failed. Department
store bikes get thrown away a lot.

They've gotten better, or at least the screws don't strip as bad as they used
to. Still I considered the time scouting pawn shops and flea markets to avoid
buying a department store bike worthwhile. If I hadn't landed that, I would've
gone back to the Trek that one pawn shop had at $125.

Ron

Wed, 29 Dec 2004 22:21:44 -0600,
1104469329.d6779435e1f34b7cbf420aaa488b9023@teran ews,
"Mike Kruger" wrote:

A Muzi left his web site link, and I wandered over to his
photo of the day.
http://www.yellowjersey.org/daily.html

It's quite the winter cycling photo!

(because this may not be the picture at some later point, I
will describe it: an upside-down iron is substituted for the
saddle. The iron is connected to an auto battery, which is
where the rack trunk would be on my bike.)

I trust it still has a "wool" setting for the retrogroovies.
--
zk

In article ,
Mark Hickey writes:
(Tom Keats) wrote:

Knobbies do make a pleasing 'buzz' on asphalt.

"Pleasing"? In the same way that rough pavement can be "pleasing" I
guess...

Well, it's really not the same at all. It's a steady, smooth
biofeedback thing. You're cruisin' along and you hear that
steady, uninterrupted buzz going, and you just know you've got
your mojo working.

Sure, they'll
slow ya down and (heaven forbid) allow other riders to pass ya
sometimes. But if you don't care, it doesn't matter. And there
may be some shortcut scenarios where knobbies come in handy.
Even in urban environs.

While knobbies are nice when/if you find yourself navigating a section
of loose dirt/gravel, they're a serious disadvantage everywhere else.
To me the biggest drawback is the sketchy handling that most knobbies
produce in a corner. I've had some knobbies that were "exciting" in
any real paved cornering situation - they'd squirm and slip - not a
lot of fun. Plus, they wear out VERY fast on the road.

Don't get me wrong; I'm not advocating consistently using
knobbies on paved streets & roads. I much prefer slicks
for my kind of riding, myself. But many if not most of the
bikes I see around town are stock, right-off-the-display-floor
MTB sales units, with the same placeholder tires, pedals and
saddles they were displayed with. And their riders seem to get
by okay with them, even though they are mostly disadvantageous.

I guess a lot of folks just want a ready-to-ride bike,
without having to phutz around with a bunch of stuff.
I get the impression the OP might be of that mindset.
But he can read this whole discussion and make of it
what he will.


cheers, & Happy New Year,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

In article ,
(Tom Keats) wrote:

In article ,
Ryan Cousineau writes:

But slicks are soo much nicer to ride on! And better cornering grip. And
better wet-pavement grip.

I agree so much, I opt for slicks, myself. All I'm saying is
knobbies aren't totally unusable on pavement.

Yes, but I think that, as you would agree, that a great number of urban
cyclists rolling around on knobby tires would be best served by swapping
them for slicks.

I have a set of Tioga City Slickers, which are
pretty cheap, available at MEC, and they even have gumwalls to satisfy
the purists. The tread is a minimalist road pattern.

I finally parted ways with my Cheng Shins, after 8-10K kilometers.
I went looking for a new pair of the same, but ended up instead
with IRC Metros, from The Bike Doctor. $11.69 each. They at least
look similar to the Cheng Shins.

Mm. Good tire recommendation.

About
the only urban surface a knobby can traverse that a slick cannot is a
muddy slope long enough that you can't just power through by
accelerating before you hit the hill. That's a pretty rare thing, even
when making shortcuts.

IME knobbies traverse wet, grassy fields better than slicks,
which can go kind of sidewindery. But there might be the
matter of divots.

Better, but by no means impossible. I have a funny story about this: I
have 700C-23mm tires on my commuter, and the first and last part of my
commute is across my lawn. The homeward leg ends with me riding up a 2'
high steep grass slope from the sidewalk to the lawn. This section
requires some discretion, as a careless attempt to ride up it at a
less-than-square angle and with power to the pedals saw the bike slide
out from under me. On the upside, when it's wet enough for that to be an
issue, the ground is also soft enough to do this without harm to cyclist
or mount.

Not that I'm recommending this,
--
Ryan Cousineau, http://www.wiredcola.com
Verus de parvis; verus de magnis.

:
: They've gotten better, or at least the screws don't strip as bad as they
used
: to. Still I considered the time scouting pawn shops and flea markets to
avoid
: buying a department store bike worthwhile. If I hadn't landed that, I
would've
: gone back to the Trek that one pawn shop had at $125.
:
: Ron

A friend who used to work at a pawn shop told me they put things up for sale
at 4 times what they have in it. Your bike for $125 was really a $31 bike.
You could have bargained down for it quite a bit in all likelihood. Even if
you offered $62 that would give them a 100% profit!

Pat in TX
: