Originally Posted by
mstateglfr
Ha ha huh??
Big box stores selling bikes is fine, i am not going to focus on that.
Claiming quality bikes are too expensive is complete garbage.
It's simply priority and preference as to how money is spent.
Instead of an iPhone that costs $900, spend $550 on a very capable hybrid and spend the rest on a less expensive but still very capable smart phone.
Instead of a car with $350/month payments, buy a level down and spend $300/month. Use that $600 saved in a year for a very capable hybrid.
Etc
Etc
Etc
How everyone spends their money is completely up to them and I am not suggesting anyone is spending their money wrong.
But I do see opportunity after opportunity for someone to spend a bit less in one area to get something else in another area, if they chose to. It must be important enough for them to want to do that though.
I think this misses a huge point -- spending $600 on a bike that the kid is going to outgrow in a year or two is a tough sell when a $150 or less bike is available. One of the things that have changed in the past few decades is the declining number of children per household. It was easier to convince parents to spend a bit more when they knew that the bike would be a hand-me-down to the next kid. That's a lot less likely to be a factor in a one or two kid family, especially if you differentiate between girls and boys bikes.
Schwinn's strategy for kids bikes during the baby boom was to put a great emphasis on durability to justify the higher price. Because of the above, that just can't work anymore, one kid will get enough use of a less durable bike.