Bicycles at Costco (*** seeking advice ***)

Brian Wax wrote:

Get a decent hybrid as recommended. You will be glad. If you go very
the
wholesaler/retail trash, make sure the components are at the very
minimum
Shimano Sora. If you do not recognize the component names, DO NOT BUY
IT.
You will never find parts and no one will give you the time if you
need
service. When I worked in a bike shop, we would send these people
away
because we knew they would relate us to their bad experience.

Around here (Boston) you can get hybrids $200, or entry-level MTB with
front suspension for about $250. That would get you a solid bike.

If you want to scrimp, go mail order or dept store for accessories.
Bike shops get relatively low margins on bikes, the rest of the stuff
is really marked up.

Bill Baka wrote:

Tom Sherman wrote:

wrote:

Thank you, Bill, for replying. Well, I buy brand name skis because I am
a ski instructor. However, I really can not justify (to myself)
spending a bundle on a bike. If I were Lance Armstrong, I would. I
guess, I would not, because I would get a free bike in that case. :-)

I believe that dual suspended bike for $200 is not a bad deal. If I use
it lot and if I see that I need a better bike, I will buy a brand name
bike... maybe even from a local shop.



If you are planning on riding on the street or even non-technical
off-road, suspension is not needed. In addition, many cross-country
racers still ride hardtail mountain bikes due to their lighter weight
and lack of "pogo" from pedaling forces. The suspension components on
a $200 bicycle are not going to be of high enough quality for the
conditions that require full suspension, so they are best avoided.


One good hard hit on an off road ride will make you want a suspension
regardless of what kind. Last summer I was blasting my high rent Huffy
down a gravel road and hit a rock that was the lesser of two evils. I
managed to hop the front over it but the rear hit so hard it nearly
broke my sit bone. On that ONE occasion I really wished I had used a
suspension bike and not the Huffy.

If I were doing serious, high speed riding on rough surfaces, I would
want a full suspension bike with an adequately strong frame, hubs,
wheels, etc. and quality suspension. That can not be obtained for
anywhere near $200 (maybe if one were lucky at finding a leftover new
bike on closeout $1200 would do). For riding the occasional hiking trail
or dirt road, any decent road bike or hybrid with 28-mm+ wide tires
would do, and my inexpensive Trek 6000 hardtail mountain bike ($500 in
1999) is overkill.

Remember the original poster is intending to do casual riding, and
unlike Mr. Baka, may not be into endangering himself for adrenaline thrills.

I think even for casual riding, you would be better off getting an
entry-level hybrid from a competent bike shop that can assemble and
service it properly, and even more importantly obtain proper fit for
you. If you can stretch your budget to $300, you should be able to
find something. And $300 is less than 10% of the cost of the high end
Trek bicycles that Lance Armstrong races.

Again, do you all have a fear of doing your own wrenching? A few good
tools and the knowledge that you can fix your own bike gives most people
a good feeling.

$50.00 or even a garage sale salvage work for me as long as I get the
exercise I want. I think the new kid on the block should be considered
smart enough to make his own call on a bike. It isn't like buying a
house and working on a bike is far short of rocket science.

Mr. Baka has likely worked on his bikes enough to forget that even
fixing a flat tire can be intimidating to a newbie. A new $300 bike from
a decent shop is likely to require no maintenance other than
compensating for cable stretch and airing up the tires for several years
of normal use. Used bikes may have all sorts of issues that are not
trivial to an inexperience bicycle mechanic, and some even that are not
trivial to a competent shop (to judge by the questions asked on
rec.bicycles.tech).

Why would the "new kid on the block" be asking for this advice if he
felt fully competent in making "his own call"? I (and Zoot Katz, Arthur
Harris, Brian Wax, 'jj' and 'Gooserider') am merely trying to direct him
to something decent he will enjoy riding so he stay with cycling.

--
Tom Sherman - Earth (Downstate Illinois, North of Forgottonia)

Bill Baka wrote:

jj wrote:

If you're going to be riding downhill at 30mph at times, do you really
want
to put your life into the hands of a $150 dollar el-cheapo bike? ;-)

jj

You are actually scared of 30 MPH?
Snicker, giggle, snort, hah.
I needed that.
The new guy is in NASCAR territory.
30 MPH should be a good laugh for him too...

30-mph on a rough off-road section can be more than fast enough for all
but the most skilled riders, and a crash at that speed on certain
terrain will likely lead to serious injury.

I've gone down on a motorcycle at over 80 MPH with nary a scratch....

A statistical anomaly. I suggest to Mr. Baka that he deliberately crash
a motorcycle at 80-mph multiple times and report back the results to us
(or ask the coroner in advance to do it for him).

Either I am fearless or you guys are....you figure it out.

This question incorrectly frames an opinion as fact. The more likely
possibility is that Mr. Baka lacks a normal sense of self-preservation,
and has survived merely by chance when he has taken undue risks.

--
Tom Sherman - Earth (Downstate Illinois, North of Forgottonia)

That would not surprise me. It is the only way anybody can get decent
margins. I personally am a big Colnago fan. In the past, they would have
production runs and if you missed out that was too bad. You would have to
wait until next season. I am sure this is still the case with their steel
and carbon frames.

Sun, 20 Mar 2005 13:41:22 -0800, ,
bbaka wrote:


One good hard hit on an off road ride will make you want a suspension
regardless of what kind.

If it survives the first good hard hit, three more good hard hits are
will render that ersatz suspension toast and quite possibly dangerous.
I'll bet there's even a disclaimer tag on the bike saying it's not to
be ridden off-road.
--
zk

Sun, 20 Mar 2005 13:28:18 -0800, ,
bbaka wrote:

Do you have to jump the new guy and insult his intelligence? If you
don't know how to turn a wrench don't assume he doesn't. The whole
concept of a tune up for a bicycle makes me laugh at you, not him. I
true my own wheels, do you?

The first questions I asked were regarding _who_ is doing the
maintenance. The answer would not include *mart staff. Whether the OP
is doing his own maintenance is still unanswered. Whether he is
competent, confident, equipped or motivated is a crucial factor.

The initial tune-up ~ 200 miles after purchase is critical and
generally included in the purchase of a bike from a LBS. Often the
first year of servicing is part of the deal.

The first wheels I trued were on a discarded three-speed around 1970.
Since then I've built all but one pair of my own wheels.
Last July I took my bike in to have a fork leg realigned. I don't have
the proper tools. I could have used theirs at OCB! but my wrist was
still too sore and weak, after being smacked by a stunned scud jockey,
to have accomplished it. It's the first time I'd had a bike serviced
at any LBS since 1971 when I needed a frame straightened, fork,
handlebar and wheel replaced.
--
zk

Many of the name brand frames including Trek, Felt, Fischer, Lemond,
Raleigh
etc. are made in Taiwan. The brand name only provides the specs. and some
mfgturer fabricates the frame.

Brian,
You are 100% on the mark there since it is only the CEO and various suits
that have the rights to the name and the profits, and they will just find
the low bidder to make the bikes.

Categorically untrue. The "CEO and various suits" can make the decision
between higher and lower quality manufacturing, regardless of where that
manufacturing occurs. The very same plant that makes a garbage (or BSO as in
"bike shaped object") for one company might do a very nice machine for
another and I know for a fact at least one example of that.

A US-brand bike company looking for high quality out of an import factory
will actually send people to live there and work full-time in the plant.
Trek, for example, has several people doing exactly that, and I'm sure there
are other companies doing the same.

OR- you can just spec out of their (the foreign manufacturer's) catalog, and
you'll get the lowest-quality product they can get away with. They won't
add-in quality unless it's demanded. Just because they're capable of
building a quality product doesn't mean they will. And yes, they do actually
charge more for building a frame that's got tighter spec. Bikes are not as
generic as people think.

This is almost always the case with aluminum
frames. It is only when you get into the high end frames that you will
find
the made in USA and Italy.

But just because it's made in the USA (or Italy) doesn't mean it's quality.
Murray & Huffy used to manufacture in the US, and I daresay their product
improved when they went overseas. The company has to make a commitment to a
quality product to build a quality product. It's not enough just to build it
in the US, or Italy, or wherever.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com


"bbaka" wrote in message
...
Brian Wax wrote:
Hi Bill,

Many of the name brand frames including Trek, Felt, Fischer, Lemond,
Raleigh
etc. are made in Taiwan. The brand name only provides the specs. and some
mfgturer fabricates the frame.

Brian,
You are 100% on the mark there since it is only the CEO and various suits
that have the rights to the name and the profits, and they will just find
the low bidder to make the bikes.

This is almost always the case with aluminum
frames. It is only when you get into the high end frames that you will
find
the made in USA and Italy.

You are right about the durability of these frames. With the right
components, you could have a very reliable and sturdy ride.

I am glad somebody here has some sense. Avoid China at all costs, and put
on some good parts where they are needed. Both my Huffy and Mongoose have
been upgraded by me with my own tools and neither has killed me yet. The
cheap parts have been killed off and the frames are rock solid so I have
no complaints about my return on investment. Some people grab a beer to
relax, but I grab a wrench and start playing with my E-bay parts. Some
people pay others to get dirt under their fingernails, and some take pride
in what they have built on their own. Guess where I stand?
Bill Baka

wrote in message
oups.com...
Thank you, Bill, for replying. Well, I buy brand name skis because I am
a ski instructor. However, I really can not justify (to myself)
spending a bundle on a bike. If I were Lance Armstrong, I would. I
guess, I would not, because I would get a free bike in that case. :-)

I believe that dual suspended bike for $200 is not a bad deal. If I use
it lot and if I see that I need a better bike, I will buy a brand name
bike... maybe even from a local shop.

Cheers from sunny Louisiana!

Mario :-)

PS. I know, I know... Louisiana & mountain bike sounds like a true
oxymoron. No tunnels and hills around here...


No, ski instructor and Louisiana sounds like a oxymoron unless you are
talking water skiing.

"jj" wrote in message
The OP should also be aware that some brands have been sold off to other
companies and the 'brandname' is no longer the high quality you'd normally
expect.


Schwinn, Mongoose, Diamondback to name a few. Are there others? I know some
of the old Italian and French names are now made by Taiwanese or Chinese
makers---Motobecane, Masi, Torelli? But those tend to be higher end bikes,
right?

"bbaka" wrote in message
...
jj wrote:
If you're going to be riding downhill at 30mph at times, do you really
want
to put your life into the hands of a $150 dollar el-cheapo bike? ;-)

jj

You are actually scared of 30 MPH?
Snicker, giggle, snort, hah.
I needed that.
The new guy is in NASCAR territory.
30 MPH should be a good laugh for him too.
I've gone down on a motorcycle at over 80 MPH with nary a scratch.
Either I am fearless or you guys are....you figure it out.

30 on pavement in shorts and a jersey will still hurt. I know a man who had
his stem break and ended up seriously injuring his spleen in the crash.
Ouch.