Originally Posted by
trestlehed
Yes this. Department store bikes are mostly made in China with heavy steel frames and the CHEAPEST components available.
Years ago I was in my LBS (local bike shop) and a guy comes in with a beat up Dept. store bike and wants it repaired. The bike shop guy takes one look at the bike and tells the guy that they don't work on those bikes because they are cheaply made and are of such poor quality that any repair won't last. He then told him his best bet was to throw that bike in the dumpster behind the shop, then come back inside and start looking at "real bikes" on the shop floor. The guy who brought in the Dept. store bike got mad and said "What a scam" and walked out.
The moral of the story is: You get what you pay for.
I don't mean to be argumentative or disrespectful, but that story doesn't really prove anything. I'm not saying department store bikes are the cats meow and that a more expensive bike isn't worth it. But I am saying it might just depend on how much you ride it and what you want to do with it. I've ridden every day this summer on a cheap bike. Mind you, all small jaunts under 2 miles. But that's my point. We ride as a family around our subdivision and I don't really think an expensive bike is needed. You can see what bikes we ride on my info.
The Murray was a free bike at the end of the neighbors driveway when they were moving and cleaing out and the Schwinn Hurricane was a 15 dollar FB ad bike. That one needed tires and 1 inner tube and the seat was uncomfy. The murray needed two inner tubes and the seat was bad on that one. The bike I started riding this year was the Del Mar that was about 8 years old. It got some use when my wife rode it when she first bought it, then it sat for a long time. Well both my daughter and I cleaned it up in May and started riding it every day. I just had to adjust the rear wheel wobble on it but I got it pretty good. It got pretty wobbly.
We bought my wifes bike for 80 on Craigs List (Schwinn Sanctuary). And it was only a few years old and didn't need anything but some lube and cleaning and I adjusted the brakes.
We don't have any extra money in the budget for anything better. And they have brought us some fun rides so far. But, that being said, will I want better bikes down the road? Probably. But I'm not sure if I really think any of the ones we have are all that bad at all. Maybe I'd be able to tell the difference. But as I said, we're just going for nice rides to get some fresh air and a little bit of exercise. So they work. Everyone's needs are different. If I was commuting 5 miles plus every day I'd want a better bike.
But that being said, I got to thinking about something. If a bike is heavy, does that mean it has more momentum once it's moving? I would think a heavier bike might be harder to get going but the weight might make it coast longer. I suppose that would depend more on if the heavier bike had as good of components to keep it rolling as a lighter bike..... But isn't there an equation that would prove something with more mass will tend to retain it's energy once moving? I don't know, science was never my strong suit....... So I could be wrong.
