Blue Denali

Did you go to the link mmach, I am talking about costomer service at some of these bike shops. ( someone in an earlier post said that the reason to buy at LBS is you get better customer service.) (some shops offer worse or the same)

I took the front wheel of my wife's new Denali in to get it trued, and recieved great customer service at a different shop. The owner of the shop even asked me to bring the bike in so he could check the whole thing.. really great experience. So maybe I was wrong to say most are bad at custermer service.

Blue Denali

Wife's New Denali wow its nice...

MMACH 5

Yes, I did go to the link. But in the post with that link, you asked, "Why would I buy something from people that don't care."

Thus, my question about Wal-Mart employees caring, (since this is where the greatest portion of Denalis are purchased from).

Blue Denali

Other bikes

lambo_vt

Those setups look funky... are you comfortable like that?

Blue Denali

How do you mean? is there a better way to set them up?

My son let the seats down so he could ride them ..he is about 1" to short for them.

tjspiel

I'm very familiar with bottom of the barrel Peugeots from the 70's. My wife bought one at garage sale for $50 because she wanted a road bike to use in her first triathlon but didn't want to spend much money.
It had a plastic simplex derailleur and steel wheels just like your bike. I replaced the wheels with alloy ones and made some other changes. So she ended up racing on 30+ year old bike. It worked just fine. She later got a better bike and I sold the Peugeot for $150.

The bike I had in 1978 was a Huffy Sante Fe. I have no idea what happened to it. In 1988 after being out of college for a year I bought my own Peugeot which I owned for 20 years and sold this spring for $270.

Going back to 1978 again one of my brother's had a low end Fuji. That bike is still in the family and was also raced in a triathlon back in 2006. My other brother had Peugeot of his own back in the 70's. He didn't drive until he was in his 30's so that bike was his main transportation. He now lives on an island in the Pacific and still rides that same Peugeot to work.

So no, you don't need a modern high end racing bike in order to start competing. What I will say though is that even your bottom of the barrel Peugeot was a better bike than my old Huffy. So just in my own family we have examples of 3 old Peugeots and one old Fuji still in service to this day. The Huffy's we had (and there were several) have long since met their demise.

I don't really know where the Denali fits from a quality and longevity standpoint but I'm guessing it's closer to a Huffy than to a low end Peugeot. And I think that's what's missing in today's market. The major brands no longer make something equivalent to a low end Peugeot road bike.

Blue Denali

I disagree I think the Denali is a good bit better..than a huffy

East Hill

Indeed.

And the Denali is possibly just such a bike.

CigTech, it's good to see you back. I enjoyed your first thread very much.

East Hill

Blue Denali

Well maybe huffy is a good bike.

1984 & 1988 - Summer Olympics
United States athletes riding Huffy bicycles combine to win one bronze, two silver and two gold medals.



It did not say Peugeot.

tjspiel

Those olympic bikes were badged as Huffys but they weren't made by Huffy.

I will say that the Huffys of the 70s were better than the Huffys of today, but they were still considered a notch below a low end bike that you'd get from a bike shop. Maybe that was just snobbery too.

I also don't think many bike buyers are too concerned about whether a bike is going to last 30 years or not but to me it's telling that in cases were my family spent the extra money to get a bike from a shop, the bikes have lasted quite a awhile and are still around.

I thought my Sante Fe was great and that it looked really cool when I first got it but I knew it didn't compare to my brother's Peugeot or my other brother's Fuji. Nevertheless it did what I asked of it and I don't recall having a lot of trouble with it. I took care of my stuff. My younger brother on the other hand went through a few Huffy 10 speeds in a pretty short period of time.

Blue Denali

What kind of bikes were they? and why would huffy make such a claim? If they wern't thier bikes.
I am courious. (I read those facts on the huffy web site) where did you get yours?

DVC45

Serotta made the bikes for them.

Exit.

I have an extended analogy for this issue. Bear with me.

Consider the price of the most expensive automobiles produced on a large scale: something in the area of $200k. There are cars more expensive than this, but they are made in extremely limited numbers, and thus don't really fall under the category of large scale production vehicles.

Now, consider the price of a bike in the same echelon; you're looking at about $10k. Again, much more expensive bikes exist, but in severely limited quantities.

This gives us a price factor of 20x when comparing market values of cars versus bicycles. If we apply this to mid-range vehicles, let's say $30k for a mid-range vehicle. Apply the factor of 20 to this, and the mid-range bicycle comes in at about $1500. Sounds about right, right?

Now consider a bike that, brand new, costs $150. You're looking at the equivalent of a car that sells for $3000 off the showroom floor. Does that sound like a car in which you could be confident of the quality? Of course not!

The only reason bikes this low-end exist is because, unlike cars, bicycles are not necessarily a mode of transport; they can also simply be toys. Therefore it's safe to conclude that the price of the cheapest production automobile (about $10k), divided by our factor of twenty ($500), gives us the price of the cheapest production bicycle which would be suitable for use as a primary method of transportation. Any bike under that $500 mark can be assumed to be designed for use as a toy.

mawtangent

I'm not a great fan of the Denali. I own one of the 57 cm blue ones, it functions, it doesn't fit me great, and I don't have great confidence in it. I have no problem riding it 18+ miles, but I have other (admittedly modest) bikes that I would choose for, say, a 100 mile trip. One of these is the Dawes Lighting Sport I bought new from an ebay seller, the other is an '86 Schwinn Traveler that I bought used from an ebay seller.

That being said, the frame (as Cigtech pointed out) seems sturdy and straight. He got almost 15 thousand mile on his old blue Denali I believe. The old (blue Denali) thread presented the commuter as averaging around 2500 miles a year (10 miles a day, 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year)...Cigtech's miles would equal 6 years of average commuting, so, from a purely financial standpoint, even with above average maintainence/repairs on parts, this bike could work out well for someone wanting to ride inexpensively. I believe the key to success is to understand that time and/or money is going to have to be spent in order to keep a regularly-ridden bike functioning properly. Someone who "gets into" cycling begins to understands this and even enjoys (maybe too much) spending money on their bikes. A new cyclist might cringe at every unexpected (to them) added expense that they encounter after their initial purchase. In time the newbie will understand that taking care of the bike takes care of him.

When I look at any bike and think about the real areas of stress on the frame/components (and think about my own experiences) I have these thoughts: The real stress is in the bottom bracket area, chain, and rear hub/cassette area. The handlebars/stem, "headset", front wheel/hub, seat/seatpost, spokes/rims, brakes, pedals, seem, with just a little maintainence, to go on and on for a long time.

If I started with a Denali that fit me and then had just the drivetrain parts replaced with reputable mid-level parts, then that would go a long way toward me having full confidence in one of these bikes. It would still be considered heavy for a road bike (29 lbs doesn't bother me personally though) and it would still have the (to me) funky gear-shifting (and that's coming form someone who mostly uses stem-shifters).

I can see merit from the side that will say just start with a better bike, but on the other hand I can see the side of someone who wants to get into roadbike/commuting cheap and see how it goes. I would tell the cheap (cheap like me) person to not be surprised if they end up spending (in the first year or two) a couple hundred dollars extra that they didn't initially expect to spend in order to get things right.

Metzinger

Handlebar angle is alarming. Bars are tilted forward. Looks dangerous, if not impossible, to ride with hands on the hoods. Not a huge issue if you're always riding in the drops.
Look at some photos of other road bikes to see what I mean.

reueladhikari

Exit I really like your Car analogy. The problem is that most people with a decent & stable source of income would not use a bicycle as their primary mode of transport, at least here in Australia. When I tell a motorcar dependent person that $2,000 on a good quality bike is a good investment I get those incredulous smiles!

sonatageek

I would have trouble classifying any bike under $500 as a 'toy'. My experience with older bikes has been even those that were $200 (from the 80's or 90's) were pretty solid, if only a little bit heavier than their pricier siblings. The lower end bike shop bikes are in the $250-350 range, and I would suspect are just fine.

Exit.

$200 bikes from craigslist =/= bikes with an MSRP of $200.

tjspiel

I'm probably beating a dead horse but Canyon Eagle's Peugeot that he bought new in 1978 for $85 would cost him around $277 today. Almost twice as much as a $139 Denali but still much cheaper than even a low end road bike (with STIs) from Bike's Direct.

Part of that I suppose is just bike fashion. Road bikes don't sell in the volumes today that they did in the 70's so it would be hard to price one that low. That and the shifters are so much more complex.

I don't remember what my 70's Huffy 10 speed cost but I'll bet it's more in line with the current price of a Denali. I'll bet you could have put 6,000 miles on that to if you had wanted. Reliability is more than just being able to handle a lot of miles though. Time and exposure to the elements take their toll too.

Robert C

apples / oranges

Robert C

I have an extended analogy for this issue. Bear with me.

Consider the price of the most expensive automobiles produced on a large scale: something in the area of $200k. There are cars more expensive than this, but they are made in extremely limited numbers, and thus don't really fall under the category of large scale production vehicles.

Now, consider the price of wrist watch in the same echelon; you're looking at about $10k. Again, much more expensive wrist watches exist, but in severely limited quantities.

This gives us a price factor of 20x when comparing market values of cars versus wristwatches. If we apply this to mid-range vehicles, let's say $30k for a mid-range vehicle. Apply the factor of 20 to this, and the mid-range wristwatch comes in at about $1500. Sounds about right, right?

Now consider a wristwatch that, brand new, costs $150. You're looking at the equivalent of a car that sells for $3000 off the showroom floor. Does that sound like a car in which you could be confident of the quality? Of course not!

The only reason wristwatches this low-end exist is because, unlike cars, wristwatches are not necessarily a mechanical, or electro-mechanical, device that allow checking the time; they can also simply be toys. Therefore it's safe to conclude that the price of the cheapest production automobile (about $10k), divided by our factor of twenty ($500), gives us the price of the cheapest production wristwatch which would be suitable for use as a primary method of checking the time. Any wristwatch under that $500 mark can be assumed to be designed for use as a toy.

reueladhikari

This analogy game is going well! Lets do another one with $200K cars vs $100K audiophile stereo systems!

squirtdad

Why do that? if you mean, buy a Denali and immediately upgrade. In general replacing parts is more expensive than buying the bike with the parts on it to start with. That is why some people buy a bikesdirect bike and then strip the parts for a different frame?

rowedave76

I suspect if they sold the Tata Nano in America for the $2500 they charge in India, that there would be a line around the dealers buildings for people waiting to buy one. Some things simply cost way too much money in America.