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Choosing between 2 bikes

Old 01-23-23, 12:39 PM
  #26  
Trakhak
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Originally Posted by urbanknight
There’s pics of the bikes? They’re not showing up on my end (work filter?).

But I see your point, and no I didn’t have the joy of working on bikes that long ago.
That "joy" should be in quotation marks, believe me. Not that the European entry-level bikes were all that bad, once you got used to their quirks. Like the fact that the cable-securing nut in the straddle wire carrier of a Balilla center-pull brake was made of pot metal---you just had to learn that the difference between too loose and a snapped bolt was less than a quarter-turn of the wrench.

At least those bikes came partially assembled. And what joy when they started coming in with the handlebars taped! The Treks that our shop started carrying in 1979, on the other hand, were shipped with the frame and fork in one box and the headset and everything else in a second box.

Trek kept that up until 1983 or so, at which point they began shipping them mostly assembled. Ironically, we picked up Cannondale bikes that year. Yep---frame and fork in one box, components in the other.
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Old 01-23-23, 05:27 PM
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Lombard
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Originally Posted by urbanknight
I spent years as a shop mechanic and also flip bikes on occasion. So while your little anecdote is nice and all, you’re missing a few things.

Some people (like you) take good care of their bikes. Others leave them outside in the backyard to collect rust, which makes components stop working or at least work less. Low end bike owners are more likely to be the latter type.

Low end bikes are harder to adjust, even when brand new. That gives less room for wear and tweaks to make them become unserviceable.

But none of what you said disagrees with me. If the bike has been taken care of, it’s worth a good amount. If it has been neglected, it could be junk by now. This is not to say the components are junk from the factory, but they are lower quality and generally owned by less dedicated riders. I have owned such bikes and they ran fine, albeit with more careful maintenance.
FWIW, my first "adult bike" was a hybrid - a 2002 Cannondale Silk Adventure 400. It had some Deore components and also some cheaper components. I rode the heck out of it and the BB was shot at 4K miles. Square taper BB's are fairly cheap and the shop that serviced it told me that's where they sneak cheap components on hybrid bikes - where you can't see them! That BB only had a teflon cartridge. The one he replaced it with had a steel bearing.
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