First ride review: Schwinn Sidewinder from Walmart 20.6 mile ride. - Page 4 - Cycling Mob: Road Cycling, Mountain Biking and More

01-05-2005, 08:03 PM

In article <2g1Dd.14597$[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]>, PSB
<[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> 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.
>

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.

> 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?
>

Everything breaks, be it worth $20 or $2000. Perhaps, those that invest
greater sums in bicycles are more particular about their upkeep: All
those expensive two wheelers cluttering up your LBS may reflect the
fastidiousness and priorities of their owners rather than the true
states of disrepair of their bicycles.

luke

01-05-2005, 08:03 PM

In article <2g1Dd.14597$[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]>, PSB
<[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> 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.
>

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.

> 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?
>

Everything breaks, be it worth $20 or $2000. Perhaps, those that invest
greater sums in bicycles are more particular about their upkeep: All
those expensive two wheelers cluttering up your LBS may reflect the
fastidiousness and priorities of their owners rather than the true
states of disrepair of their bicycles.

luke

01-05-2005, 08:03 PM

In article <2g1Dd.14597$[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]>, PSB
<[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> 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.
>

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.

> 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?
>

Everything breaks, be it worth $20 or $2000. Perhaps, those that invest
greater sums in bicycles are more particular about their upkeep: All
those expensive two wheelers cluttering up your LBS may reflect the
fastidiousness and priorities of their owners rather than the true
states of disrepair of their bicycles.

luke

01-05-2005, 08:13 PM

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.

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

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.

01-05-2005, 08:13 PM

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.

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

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.

01-05-2005, 08:13 PM

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.

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

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.

01-05-2005, 08:13 PM

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.

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

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.

01-05-2005, 08:37 PM

> 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:
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
Personal page: [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
See the books I've set free at: [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

01-05-2005, 08:37 PM

> 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:
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
Personal page: [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
See the books I've set free at: [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

01-05-2005, 08:37 PM

> 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:
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
Personal page: [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
See the books I've set free at: [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]