Originally Posted by
Koyote
I wouldn't take cigarettes, K-Pop downloads, or Bud Light if they were all being given away for free; does that mean that they are poor values?
This is what you have failed to understand through this entire ridiculous thread: what you or I would purchase, or what we even think constitutes a good value, is irrelevant. Enough people are buying such bikes that manufacturers keep producing them. That's how a market system works.
By the way: as has already been pointed out several times in this thread, the typical person who's looking at a 00 townie bike doesn't even know the difference between a freewheel and a freehub. Don't believe me? Ask your non-cyclist friends about it - you'll be met with blank stares. So, why$7 would customers care about something if they don't even know what they would be caring about?
People don't know what they don't know. That is why Wal Mart continues to sell poor quality bikes at less than $200.
Imagine for a second the frustration of a newbie who goes out and buys a Wal Mart bike, finds out he or she wasted his money. A month 6 months, or a year later, goes to a bike shop and plunks down $500, $600 or even $700 on a bike he or she thinks is a premium product because of the relatively high price compared to the big box store bike. And because it is assembled hopefully by a competent mechanic and supported by the brand, and the store, it works ok for awhile. Until that person finds the entry level components just don't stay in tune all that well, or the person runs into problems with the wheels, or freewheel. Comes back and finds out that maybe they should have bought a bike with a freehub, even though they didn't even know what a freehub was. (I sure didn't when I started). So, how much for a freehub? Well, you can't just get a new freehub, you need a new wheel. And cassette. And maybe a new shifter. And since you are replacing all that stuff, you probably also need a new chain.
This has to be very frustrating for the person who just wants something that works, works well, and won't need to be replaced or upgraded for many years.