avidone1

I have really enjoyed surfing this alt forum. Some of the creations are wonders to behold. I never felt the need the comment but this post hits close to home.
I retired to Florida ten years ago. As a avid fisherman I spent a lot of time outdoors and was in pretty good shape. I thought about a bicycle for little cruises around the neighborhood.
So I went to Walmart and bought a Schwinn mountain bike....why a mountain bike when i live in place where the only hill is the nearest highway overpass?
Because it looked cool. I rode that bike regularly for a couple of years untill it basically fell apart (I knew nothing about maintenance)
Anyway, it was that 89 dollar Schwinn that got me into cycling. If there were no cheap 'big box' store bikes I never would have gotten started.

TownieRig

@JohnHood Costco is a big box store but in a business week article they called it the Nieman Marcus of big box stores though I am in the engineering/manufacturing industry specifically for home appliances and when my company is contracted to build a model for Costco it most always calls for cheaper specs. I'll give you an example, I was contacted by TTI industries the owners of Hoover, Dirt Devel, Royal and Oreck vacuums. They wanted to sell Oreck vacuums out of the dealer network and in Costco so they came to me on how to take the machine and have it look identical, work as well, yet be cheaper to manufacture and if you brought the vacuum to a dealer they would know it was a Costco model and they didn't have to honor a free service because the Model No. would end in C for Costco. So I reverse engineered the product and swapped the copper 35' cord for a 35' aluminum cord. I took the motor and made it a copper free since copper in mass numbers is expensive, bottom line we used a lower grade of everything and instead of a product that would last for 16-20 years if maintained would surely break after extensive use in a much shorter time. This ultimately hurt the Oreck name and the dealers were furious so they pulled it but I deal with fortune 500 companies like GE and when they are going to sell in Costco or Walmart or Target the same model with the exception of an added C is competely different than one you would buy at a store like Sears even or your local appliance store.

I hate that my favorite bike maker Mongoose is owned by Pacific Cycles and they destroyed the name of a once fantastic product. My favorite bike all time is my Mongoose IBOC Pro mountain bike my dad bought me at Brands Bike store and since my dad passed and that was the last major item he bought me I've kept it pristine (I think). It was a 1994 Mongoose so it was prior to the sale of the company I'll put pics below. This is what wikipedia says and it's so true, it's crazy though to have someone with a Mongoose from Walmart say to me hey I got a Mongoose too when he or she really just has an outsourced POS. Mongoose sells essentially two lines of bicycles. One is a line of discount bikes offered through mass-merchandisers like Walmart, Toys "R" Us andTarget. The other featured on their website, are higher-end models sold through specialty bicycle shops. "Higher end" = a reliable bike that will last and is put together correctly.

Though I'll admit I had to buy my 4 year old son a bike and he wanted Ninja Turtles so I bought the bike for a whopping 89 dollars which is cheaper than my pedals but I did not have them assemble it. I actually fought with my wife because she said let them do it they are professionals! I said WHAT the guy who stocks the store shelves is going to do it and I'm not having my son ride it. So I put it together and since I'm friendly with my local bike store actually brought it there to make sure it was perfect and safe. Everytime my son rides with me I check his bike even though we only do a mile and a half.

Just my two cents

Flying Merkel

I justed found a Pacific-Schwinn women's beach cruiser in the alley. Great looking bike with the pink paint job and springer fork. It's a 7 speed. A friend wants a bike to tow a doggy trailer, it's perfect for her. It only has a bad quality V-brake on the rear, no front brake. Everything is flimsy and frustrating to work on. The Schwinn has barely been used but the rims are way out of true, the brake non-functioning and the 24 gauge steel chainguard is trashed beyond repair. The fenders are rusted out beyond hope. This is a 4 year old bike with minimal use. If it was the only bike I'd ever seen I wouldn't get another one. It looks good from a distance. Might just throw it back in the alley

Philphine

i'm pretty sure i have that same bike. picked it up in a thrift store for about $15. haven't tried to do anything with it, but it will probaly be a cut up project. i figure if at least the springer's good it'll be worth it.

Mickey2

This thread was brought back to life a week and a half ago. I always liked nicely lugged frames and light builds, but I never went for very expensive, minimal weight or carbon fiber. I had this old bike from 1954 I fixed up, it was the heaviest bike ever, large 28" wheels (40-635 tires), 3 speed Sturmey hub, and I loved rinding on it. It was built at a time when welded steel frames was considered good quality and I don't think it was cheaply built. The bike had been used a lot, parts was still fine and working, little to no rust, traces of pittin in the chrome here and there, aluminum fenders. I remember how surpised I was at how little I had to work to keep a nice speed when it was up and running. I spent hours riding on it and it was a joy. After the initial repairs and restoration there were little maintanance, I think a bike at the time was almost considered a life time investment if you wanted it to be. Steel doesn't have to mean low quality or cheap parts, but these days lighter frames neither expensive nor difficult to get hands on. I know the low quality heavy framed bikes sold these says, parts rust after a few rides in the rain, hard to maintain parts, etc. Many old welded steel frame bikes are of a very different quality.

Mr fattsworth

"But I would like to question such conclusions within another context and perhaps salvage or re-establish a legitimacy for such bicycles in the eyes of the public. If you are aware of exactly why you want a bike and how you intend to put it to use, there is no reason for such bicycles to be eternally avoided. They have a place"

Yes indeed these bikes do have a place - probably nearer to the scrap pile than anywhere else - apart from maybe the odd 'good part' for those who are interested in more about bicycles.
Reliability is a big plus - unfortunately not very consistent with your average modern day knockabout bike.

Mickey2

Except for a few Dutch classic type bikes I haven't seen a single welded steel frame bike worth any money or time spent on them. Parts aren't nice, or even acceptable. I don't know why, because for not that much more added to the price there are acceptable bikes. If you use the bike for a bit of exercice and fresh air combined with errands and short trips in and out of town the extra weight of the frame isn't that much a disadvantage. Everyday longer commutes is something else. It's odd how very low end some bikes can be, and why on earth do shops take them in? It's not really the weight of the frame that makes them unacceptable, it's the quality of the rest of the bike, or even the frame some times.

The worst case I have seen was a very low price offer for a boys bike, around 12 years old. It looked very cool, lots of gears, very cool design on the frame, surprisingly with suspention in frame and fork. It weight more than my 1954 3 speed with roadster type frame. I know parents doesn't always have the money to spend, but **** was so unfair for all parts involved. Bad brakes, bad gears, trouble with suspension fork. Parts showed rust within months, I think the paint even started to flake off. The bike was in for repair several times at the local bike shop when I was there. At one time the parents was a bit angry with the boy for not taking care of his bike. So unfair!

plumberroy

Department store bikes have went down hill from when I was young . In the seventies the huffy, Murray, Ross, and Roadmaster sold in department stores my have been heavy but we beat the crap out of them and they kept going . I still have a Huffy 3 speed just because it takes me back to a simpler time. I went over 15 bikes our local church took to needy families even new bikes from the big box stores needed work

As far as moving on to better bikes I have a Custom Surly L.H.T. and a steamroller I rode this to the store tonight

sometimes old clunkers are fun
By the way would this bike fit in this forum? 0ld roadmaster frame, Araya rm-17 rims, suntuor hubs single speeded with pvc pipe spacers, dropbars off my steamroller Origin8 brake levers, basket someone in the family bought and didn't like Seatpost rack my daughter bought and never used All this was from my parts box only thing bought was brakepads

7up

If only I could be a kid again riding my red Tyler with baseball cards lined up and down the front fork and seat stays.

Rollfast

It's NOT like you can't go get a coaster hub wheel for it at the LBS or elsewhere. It would occur to a lot of folks.

One test ride would be enough to tell you what was good or bad to you...why I always recommend hands on and a test ride.

RickEdmonds

I saw that Bikemanforu for episode and the Sole bike. Having a front brake as the only bike with a freewheeling back hub for novice riders is indeed very dangerous. Sole knows their novice hipster market, yet misses in their product's safety.