Rant about bike snobbery.

[pecosdave]

This post is in response to what I see mostly on Yahoo! answers. I'm known to make really good answers to questions there and to troll a bit. I have to make lots of good answers so the trolled ones have more meaning

Comments

Indeed.

[iptv_tech]

Even at that, a lot of the bikes in department stores any more are the exact same bikes you get in a bike shop, the only difference being whether the guy who assembled it actually knows how a bike works or if he put the thing together in between stocking the soda shelf and assembling a tv stand.

Re: Indeed.

[pecosdave]

Usually not exactly the same, but the differences are usually bolt on parts. If you ride a department store bike and actually replace the parts as they go bad you'll eventually wind up with a shop bike, more or less without a single huge hit to the wallet. Of course the parts that come to mind as going bad are better these days. In the 1980's most department store pedals fell apart and kids were left pedaling on the axle of the pedal itself. I don't know of them being made like that any more. When I was a teen it was the derailleurs that screwed up. My mom's Wal-Mart Schwinn and my folding bikes both have Shimano derailleurs on them, which even multi-thousand dollar bikes tend to have, and they're not the special Wal-Mart version, they're the same ones that are on many shop bikes (but not the same as the multi-thousand ones). Indeed, mom's Wal-Mart Schwinn is a good looking bike with decent parts all over it. Are the one's at the actual Schwinn shop better? Probably, but I haven't found a single part on her bike that I

Agreed.

[iptv_tech]

I've never had a problem even with derailers... All the bikes I ever had, I was able to pass along to someone else

Re: Agreed.

[pecosdave]

This right here is what I was talking about!

Seriously, on sale this thing costs more than some reasonably decent department store adult bikes. Unless your last name is Duggar that "investment" will never pay off, and for them it only counts when you get grandkids involved.

You would have a hard time convincing me that was actually better than this. Sure for an adult bike it makes a difference, especially as time goes on, but how long is any one kid going to ride a 12" bike?

Not long.

[iptv_tech]

A year, tops.

Most girls would prefer the barbie bike anyways.

Unrelated side-note.. The first link you made takes my current browser tab to the bikebarn website, every time. The second link you posted opens a new tab to the amazon site, every time. Why would one link use the current tab and another open a new one?

Re: Not long.

[pecosdave]

perhaps a redirect follows on one of the sites? I didn't do anything different.

Re: Not long.

[iptv_tech]

Testing...
Testing...
Testing...
Testing...

One of them has a www and the other doesn't. Also, when I copy the link from the the that opens in a new tab, it copies a bunch of LJ redirect stuff that was obviously added for you and not by you.

[edit..]

Yeah that had the same result. WEIRD.

[iptv_tech]

yep, I'm aware your post is a year old and I too am guilty of trolling bike forums and reading what the Lycra set Nazi's have to say about Department Store Bikes

[pecosdave]

Good luck to you!

A year later I still hold my same opinions, if you're going to bike seriously get a serious bike, if you're going to just play a little a department store bike is fine.

I find your story interesting to say the least. Having grown up on department store bikes I know putting work into them is a must (just like shop bikes) but they're certainly better than the credit they get. My mom still rides her department store Schwinn and I couldn't see changing her to anything else considering her sunny weekend cruising riding style.

One nice thing about department store bikes, I could buy a new one for less than it cost to build a wheel for one of my other bikes.