|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#11
|
|||
|
|||
Walmart bike good enough?
On Sep 4, 2:50 pm, wrote:
I have recently got into biking and have started commuting to work 12 miles each way a twice a week. My bike is some heavy walmart'ish bike, 18-speed mountain bike, shimano gears. Honestly I have no issues with it, as it is tuned up correctly. However, all the websites say to avoid these bikes, why? I suppose if I spend $300+ I'll get a 10 pound lighter bike, but what difference is that going to make? The weight of the rider dominates the mass of the system, so a 10 lb bike weight reduction should only make you go 5-10% faster? So what are the real benefits of expensive bikes? For riding on the road, you will want to set any suspension to hard or locked to improve your speed. Also, one upgrade you may want to do immediately is Inverted Tread Tires. This will smooth your ride and give you about 2mph faster speed. |
Ads |
#12
|
|||
|
|||
Walmart bike good enough?
|
#13
|
|||
|
|||
Walmart bike good enough?
Ron Hardin wrote:
:: I do 8,000 miles a year on a Huffy and it's perfectly fine. Do you have a link to the specific model? Do you spend a lot of time on maintenance to keep it going? How many miles do you have on it? |
#14
|
|||
|
|||
Walmart bike good enough?
On Sep 5, 7:48 am, "Roger Zoul" wrote:
wrote: :: I have recently got into biking and have started commuting to work 12 :: miles each way a twice a week. My bike is some heavy walmart'ish :: bike, 18-speed mountain bike, shimano gears. Honestly I have no :: issues with it, as it is tuned up correctly. :: :: However, all the websites say to avoid these bikes, why? I suppose if :: I spend $300+ I'll get a 10 pound lighter bike, but what difference :: is that going to make? The weight of the rider dominates the mass of :: the system, so a 10 lb bike weight reduction should only make you go :: 5-10% faster? :: :: So what are the real benefits of expensive bikes? Why don't you continue to ride your bike and see how much adjustment & tweaking you have to do over time, while reporting back here. If it gets you a year without too much hassle, then that will be interesting info for us. If not, then you will have validated the claims of others here (which might be helpful info to have) and then you can move to another bike. OTOH, I'd hate to hear of you stranded 12 miles from home, so please have some backup means of getting home. Take your cell phone! Without saying anything bad about Walmart bikes, I'd like to make the suggestion that for commuting a mountain bike might not be the best choice. I switched from a road bike to a hybrid many years ago for use as a commuter in NYC. Eric |
#15
|
|||
|
|||
Walmart bike good enough?
bluezfolk wrote:
:: On Sep 5, 7:48 am, "Roger Zoul" wrote: ::: wrote: ::: ::::: I have recently got into biking and have started commuting to ::::: work 12 miles each way a twice a week. My bike is some heavy ::::: walmart'ish bike, 18-speed mountain bike, shimano gears. Honestly ::::: I have no issues with it, as it is tuned up correctly. ::::: ::::: However, all the websites say to avoid these bikes, why? I ::::: suppose if I spend $300+ I'll get a 10 pound lighter bike, but ::::: what difference is that going to make? The weight of the rider ::::: dominates the mass of the system, so a 10 lb bike weight ::::: reduction should only make you go 5-10% faster? ::::: ::::: So what are the real benefits of expensive bikes? ::: ::: Why don't you continue to ride your bike and see how much ::: adjustment & tweaking you have to do over time, while reporting ::: back here. If it gets you a year without too much hassle, then ::: that will be interesting info for us. If not, then you will have ::: validated the claims of others here (which might be helpful info to ::: have) and then you can move to another bike. OTOH, I'd hate to ::: hear of you stranded 12 miles from home, so please have some backup ::: means of getting home. Take your cell phone! :: :: Without saying anything bad about Walmart bikes, I'd like to make the :: suggestion that for commuting a mountain bike might not be the best :: choice. I switched from a road bike to a hybrid many years ago for :: use as a commuter in NYC. :: :: Eric I certainly wouldn't disagree...but the OP appears to be happy at the moment with what he has. |
#16
|
|||
|
|||
Walmart bike good enough?
On Sep 4, 3:50 pm, wrote:
I have recently got into biking and have started commuting to work 12 miles each way a twice a week. My bike is some heavy walmart'ish bike, 18-speed mountain bike, shimano gears. Honestly I have no issues with it, as it is tuned up correctly. However, all the websites say to avoid these bikes, why? I suppose if I spend $300+ I'll get a 10 pound lighter bike, but what difference is that going to make? The weight of the rider dominates the mass of the system, so a 10 lb bike weight reduction should only make you go 5-10% faster? So what are the real benefits of expensive bikes? Aside from weight and parts quality (and the quality of brakes, chains, hubs, spokes, rims etc. really do start to matter to high- mileage riders), it's that they're available in many sizes, with further adjustability through parts swapping. Just like every clock is correct twice a day, there are people who are actually the right size and body geometry to be fit correctly by a Wal- mart bike. It's just like finding shoes at a yard sale that just happen to fit you. Maybe your Wal-mart bike fits you, and that's your good luck. Or maybe you don't know the difference between a bike that fits and one that doesn't, and yours doesn't, really, and the more you ride the more uncomfortable you'll become. Or maybe you're young enough to ignore the discomfort, only to regret it when you're 50 and your knees stop working. Have you ever gone hiking in shoes that don't fit *perfectly*? They seem OK for a mile or two. Two weeks later... r |
#17
|
|||
|
|||
Walmart bike good enough?
Ron Hardin wrote: :: I do 8,000 miles a year on a Huffy and it's perfectly fine. Do you have a link to the specific model? Do you spend a lot of time on maintenance to keep it going? How many miles do you have on it? Oh Roger, you just opened a can o' worms. |
#18
|
|||
|
|||
Walmart bike good enough?
Roger Zoul wrote:
Ron Hardin wrote: :: I do 8,000 miles a year on a Huffy and it's perfectly fine. Do you have a link to the specific model? Do you spend a lot of time on maintenance to keep it going? How many miles do you have on it? The current one is a Huffy Ironman, bought 1998, so it has 72k miles on it. It doesn't require any attention except twice a year, when it's time to consider replacing the power train. That's at about 4k miles. The chainwheels last maybe 12k before you need to replace them. It was one of their top-of-the-line models, but the lesser models lasted as long. The life is determined by how many components need replacement at the same time. It's always worth replacing single components. But if it's several, a whole new bicycle may be cheaper. Huffy sells parts by the way, so keeping it in parts isn't a problem. 1-800-USA-BIKE. They wind up on your porch the next day, if you live in Ohio. Anyway they used to. They may have moved to China. -- On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk. |
#19
|
|||
|
|||
Walmart bike good enough?
|
#20
|
|||
|
|||
Walmart bike good enough?
"Hank Wirtz" wrote in message oups.com... On Sep 4, 2:15 pm, "Bellsouth Ijit 2.0 - Global Warming Edition ®" wrote: This Walmart bike is good:http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...uct_id=5751042 Dunno if it's good, but it's overpriced for its spec and level of dealer support. For similar levels of support, you can get a 105-equipped bike from Bikesdirect.com for $700-$800. For the same price as the Walmart one, you could get an Ultegra-equipped one. For most people though, who will need service after the sale, a similarly equipped one could be had for a similar price from an LBS. That would be the way to go. Of course. It was said in jest. I would buy a bike from Salvation Army before I buy one from Walmart. |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Walmart bicycles | Michael Press | Techniques | 23 | September 5th 07 03:42 AM |
Walmart Road Bike | [email protected] | Techniques | 62 | June 10th 05 12:18 AM |
Costco Road Bike, the opposite end of Walmart! | Steven M. Scharf | Techniques | 3 | May 10th 05 05:21 PM |
Walmart Mongoose XR-200 | Dave | Mountain Biking | 27 | May 29th 04 03:39 AM |
Walmart Mongoose XR-200 | Dave | Marketplace | 23 | May 29th 04 03:39 AM |