|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#41
|
|||
|
|||
Schwinn Varsity at Walmart
"Rich" wrote in message ... Max Penn wrote: I have to concede that GM is having hard times and that they might have avoided if they were to manufacture under a fascist regime where they could invoke government coercion to keep the workers in line. Can you provide links to some news stories that state this to be true, as he articles I've read on China don't. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2003/27768.htm http://www.cecc.gov/pages/virtualAca...D=448130253222 69dd57e736cdb5292379 http://www.uscc.gov/hearings/2004hea...04_09_23wrts/n ewport_folk.htm http://www.davidicke.net/newsroom/as...a/111101c.html Taiwan bike makers outsourcing their production to mainland China: http://www.biketaiwan.com/TBC/E_tbc_editorial.htm http://www.nlcnet.org/campaigns/arch...bikesdoc.shtml http://www.foreignaffairs.org/199703...obert-a-senser /china-s-troubled-workers.html http://www.hrw.org/reports/2002/chin....htm#TopOfPage http://www.internationalviewpoint.or...id_article=752 |
Ads |
#42
|
|||
|
|||
Schwinn Varsity at Walmart
On Mon, 30 Jan 2006 08:49:30 -0800, Ozark Bicycle wrote:
Ken M. wrote: Speaking of Wal*Mart and road bikes, I saw the first Denali on the way back from the grocery store yesterday. Typical x-mart bike rider, the wrong way, on the sidewalk, Perhaps they need a little advice, not derision. Yup. riding too fast, "Too fast"? Maybe the bike isn't all that grim, after all? Apparently! wearing jeans and a tee-shirt. Maybe they were just riding to the grocery store (?) I've had a few comments from the bike fashion cops, when riding my fancy Klein road bike to the grocery store in jeans, t-shirt, SPD tennies, and backpack. Apparently I'm supposed to buy a vintage Bridgestone with racks and fenders and just the right amount of rust for this. Matt O. |
#43
|
|||
|
|||
Schwinn Varsity at Walmart
Ken C. M. Jan 30, 11:56 am show options Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.misc From: "Ken C. M." - Find messages by this author Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2006 11:56:49 -0500 Local: Mon, Jan 30 2006 11:56 am Subject: Schwinn Varsity at Walmart Reply | Reply to Author | Forward | Print | Individual Message | Show original | Report Abuse Ozark Bicycle wrote: Perhaps they need a little advice, not derision. ----Yes, advice especially friendly advice, can be of use. ....yet if such advice here is meant to refer to cautioning someone about "riding on the sidewalk", reports where I am, Massachusetts, are that a statewide bylaw has recently been passed enabling police to ORDER bicyclists To Ride ON The Sidewalk, should they so see fit...which doesn't of course mean that all, or maybe even all that many, police are aware of such new law. Or that after one police officer orders someone ONTO the sidewalk, the next police officer to come along, won't necessarily order the person back OFF. Whether an appropriate thing, or whether more a sign of an era of burgeoning police powers, I don't know. |
#45
|
|||
|
|||
Schwinn Varsity at Walmart
Rich wrote:
The Wogster wrote: GM has other problems, product quality has been declining since the 1970's, they haven't really had an technical innovation since the 1960's.... Product quality of all car manufacturers has improved considerably since the 70s. Althugh they do have other problems. Let me rephrase that, fit and finish has gone downhill, continuously since the 1970's. The component quality is improving, but that's because a lot of it is farmed out, some of it overseas. However when you look at the way some of the new cars being thrown together, you wonder how the companies can have the intestinal fortitude to ask the kind of selling prices they do. W |
#46
|
|||
|
|||
Schwinn Varsity at Walmart
On 27 Jan 2006 19:50:37 -0800, "Olebiker" wrote:
It appears that the venerable name "Varisty" has been resurrected by Schwinn. I was at Walmart tonight and they have an aluminum framed road bike that Schwinn is calling Varsity. It was $199. I just saw one a couple hours ago on the rack next to the Denali that sells for about $150, Okay, it looked cheap, very cheap, but it also looked alarmingly like a bicycle and appeared to be made out of bike parts. Very cheap ones, mind you, but bike parts nonetheless. The wheels had aluminum hubs and rims (machined brake surfaces) and stainless spokes. The rocker style SIS shifters up by the stem looked the cheese, but also looked like they'd work. Add some proper looking cotterless three piece aluminum crank and dual pivot brakes and the thing closely resembles a real bicycle. The gap is closing. Ron |
#47
|
|||
|
|||
Schwinn Varsity at Walmart
innamaze wrote: Just to sort out the schwinn thing....the schwinn bike company, which had gone bankrupt due to failing to produce bike designs fast enough to keep up with the new designs and frame materials relying instead on the company practice of waiting to see what the competition came up with then supplying a reliable product afterwards, and relying on their name recognition in th USA ...the company was bought out by Pacific Bicycles. This is the Huge Taiwanese bike manufacturer who had been building all the low and midprice bikes for every bike company, of every country, following the requirements of each company and badging the bikes with that logo, so any schwinn or redline or trek or _____(fill in the blank) was made by pacific...their business was so good that they built the newest, largest and most sophisticated bike production plant in the world. In the early 90's they began to sell their own badged line of bikes..As each of the old brands began to go bankrupt they bought the companies, and continued to produce mongoose, redline, schwinn, etc. Their plant is not the dirty backroom mainland chinese plant you are thinking of, and taiwan is not mainland china and I do not believe they use child labor, their production capabilities are so good and efficient, that is why they can offer low price, and undercut the cost of any other smaller production company..they produce well made frames, their tig welding is automated and produces a very good and smooth weld so their aluminum frames are surprisingly good at their price points. So before you boycott schwinn you might do your homework on what you are really buying... Unless the bicycle is a road bike intended to compete with top of the line bicycles from other manufacturers, it would dishonor the heritage of the Schwinn Paramount to use the name on it. For what it is worth, I own two Taiwanese made bicycles that have good welds and paint, and no alignment issues. A reliable source tells me that at the factory where they are made, the workers generally drive automobiles [1]. [1] Some may consider this bad, but it does demonstrate their standard of living. -- Tom Sherman - Fox River Valley |
#48
|
|||
|
|||
Schwinn Varsity at Walmart
"innamaze" wrote in message
oups.com... Just to sort out the schwinn thing....the schwinn bike company, which had gone bankrupt due to failing to produce bike designs fast enough to keep up with the new designs and frame materials relying instead on the company practice of waiting to see what the competition came up with then supplying a reliable product afterwards, and relying on their name recognition in th USA ...the company was bought out by Pacific Bicycles. This is the Huge Taiwanese bike manufacturer who had been building all the low and midprice bikes for every bike company, of every country, following the requirements of each company and badging the bikes with that logo, so any schwinn or redline or trek or _____(fill in the blank) was made by pacific...their business was so good that they built the newest, largest and most sophisticated bike production plant in the world. In the early 90's they began to sell their own badged line of bikes..As each of the old brands began to go bankrupt they bought the companies, and continued to produce mongoose, redline, schwinn, etc. Their plant is not the dirty backroom mainland chinese plant you are thinking of, and taiwan is not mainland china and I do not believe they use child labor, their production capabilities are so good and efficient, that is why they can offer low price, and undercut the cost of any other smaller production company..they produce well made frames, their tig welding is automated and produces a very good and smooth weld so their aluminum frames are surprisingly good at their price points. So before you boycott schwinn you might do your homework on what you are really buying... Pacific is headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin. It is a division of a Canadian firm, Dorel, which is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. See http://www.pacific-cycle.com/ourstory/ Pacific doesn't describe themselves as a bicycle "manufacturer" but a bicycle "supplier", who "Pacific Cycle designs, markets and distributes high quality bicycles", which is likely to mean they source from the cheapest current manufacturer. If they have a huge plant in Taiwan, I couldn't find evidence of it on their website. You may have done more "homework" than I did. If so, I would appreciate citations. |
#49
|
|||
|
|||
Schwinn Varsity at Walmart
"The Wogster" wrote in message
.. . Mike Jacoubowsky wrote: It appears that the venerable name "Varisty" has been resurrected by Schwinn. I was at Walmart tonight and they have an aluminum framed road bike that Schwinn is calling Varsity. It was $199. If it's not 16-gauge gas-pipe tubing, it's not a Varsity. I would have thought 12 guage or maybe 8 guage, 16 is pretty thin for gas pipe. Isn't there a requirment that Walmart bikes need to weigh in excess of 20kg (44lbs). I always thought it would have been a cool marketing scheme to put the Varsity name on something superlight and high-quality. The ultimate inside joke. Kinda like Ford building a nice high quality hybrid mini-van and calling it an Edsel..... W Or worse yet, a Model T. Charles of Schaumburg |
#50
|
|||
|
|||
Schwinn Varsity at Walmart
"Ken M." wrote in message
... Olebiker wrote: It appears that the venerable name "Varisty" has been resurrected by Schwinn. I was at Walmart tonight and they have an aluminum framed road bike that Schwinn is calling Varsity. It was $199. Speaking of Wal*Mart and road bikes, I saw the first Denali on the way back from the grocery store yesterday. Typical x-mart bike rider, the wrong way, on the sidewalk, riding too fast, wearing jeans and a tee-shirt. Ken -- You never have the wind with you - either it is against you or you're having a good day. ~Daniel Behrman, The Man Who Loved Bicycles Homepage: http://kcm-home.tripod.com/ Well at least it wasn't a 300 lb guy in yellow lycra bike shorts . . . . Charles of Schaumburg. |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Schwinn Sidewinder at Walmart | Joe | General | 17 | July 19th 05 04:52 PM |
FS: All-original Schwinn Le Tour II, How much is it worth? | gn171100 | Marketplace | 0 | July 11th 05 12:41 AM |
First ride review: Schwinn Sidewinder from Walmart 20.6 mile ride. | PSB | General | 118 | March 23rd 05 06:28 AM |
First ride review: Schwinn Sidewinder from Walmart 20.6 mile ride. | PSB | Techniques | 129 | March 23rd 05 06:28 AM |
Schwinn Backpedaling | Garrison Hilliard | General | 11 | March 24th 04 01:27 PM |