First ride review: Schwinn Sidewinder from Walmart 20.6 mile ride.

Concerning the maintenance requirements of a bicycle, it's a mystery to
me why more cyclists don't take the chore upon themselves.

A. It requires fine motor skills
B. It requires patience
C. It's not fun
D. Actually, it's downright BORING. Boring, boring, boring.
E. It takes up valuable time that could be spent reading posts on Usenet.

I hope this clears up the mystery for you.


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But the one thing I noticed, people who actually ride department store
bikes on this group have little problems with them.

There are basically three types that ride these bikes:
1. People who buy and never ever ride.
2. People who buy and ride the **** out of them commuting.
3. People (teenage boys) who buy and ride the **** out of them doing things
the bikes were never intended to do.

We get lots of #3. #2 come in once in a long time. #1 come in to have
their bikes fixed after sitting for a couple of years, usually scoffing at
the cost of repair. And then proceed to never ride them again.

So generally, I'd agree.

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

"Luke" wrote in message
...

Concerning the maintenance requirements of a bicycle, it's
a mystery to
me why more cyclists don't take the chore upon themselves.
Adjusting
derailleurs and brakes; chain, chainring and cassette
replacement;
trueing wheels; adjusting cones; etc.; these can be
accomplished with a
minimal investment in tools and learning. A beauty of the
bicycle is
its sympathy to the backyard mechanic.

Time and money are limited resources. Sometimes one resource
is more limited than another.

I don't change the oil in my car any more, either.

On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 14:26:14 -0500, PSB wrote:

Did the 20.6 miles today including a several 100 feet climb within a
mile and some dirt roads. Bike performed almost perfectly. Gears shifted
without any problems, brakes worked outstanding. Bike rode real quiet
except for the 26x1.9 tires humming on the road.

$15 for a pair of slicks will take care of that. Your wrists and
shoulders will thank you if you ride very far.

Bike seemed faster on
the dirt roads than the paved roads but probably just my perception. The
bike has a front suspension fork but I really don't see the point in it
on this bike. Only minor problem was the end of the front derailleur
cable stuck out a little bit and kept hitting the pedals making the
annoying (click, click, click sound each time the pedal hit). Corrected
by taking a taking a trash bag twisty and connecting the cable to the
frame. Might have to adjust the seat angle slightly.

Be aware that while the Schwinn's seat tends to have a better clamp
that the ones used on many Roadmasters, these still tend not to grip
well if undertightened. Carry a wrench for the through-bolt on the
clamp for the first few rides, and check the tightness after the first
ride even if it seems OK.

This bike performed
great in my opinion on this first ride. Maybe I got a lemon for the
Roadmaster Mt Fury as someone else had good reports on it. I'll report
after I reach 100 miles on it.

My rash prediction: it will do just fine.
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PSB Wrote:
Gooserider wrote:


My $300 Ibex Corrida is about a hundred times more well built and
performs
better than a $150 Wal - Schwinn.

So I assume you have owned a Schwinn from Walmart for quite some time
then to make such a statement? I didn't think so. We'll see if my
Schwinn holds up to the test of time. Maybe it won't. I'll keep posting
reports on the progress just like others have on their store bought
bikes.

http://www.ibexbikes.com/Stacks/Series_Corrida.html

Shows your bike to be a road bike. While you would kick my ass on a
paved road, let's take your bike vs my bike on a dirt sandy road here
in
South Carolina. You won't make it half a mile. See, I bought my bike
for the roads I ride on. A road bike don't cut it.

But the one thing I noticed, people who actually ride department store
bikes on this group have little problems with them. Carl Fogel, Ron
Hardin among others. Nor do they spend $100's of dollars each year at
the LBS for tune ups, truings, etc. like many of the roadies who ride
high priced bikes do.
I have owned and run several thousand miles on several huffys and
good/bad schwinns. For what they are they are decent. They are still
heavy, poorly engineered for anything but low build cost. Oftentimes
they are victim of poor asembly from the store, so I used to have a
special department-store-bike tune up package. Gimme 20 and an hour and
I have it up to its potential. The problem is, that is the most
potential it will have. Mongoose and Schwinn at least allow some
options(like real deraileur mounts, 1-1/8" head tubes, etc.)

SO far as the fancy bikes residing in the LBS, I believe it is driven
by the mindset that makes a person(including myself) buy such higher
priced machines. The strive to perfection. I personally have had a shop
tweak bikes a total of 3 times for me, since I rather do it and have the
tools, but almost all of the larger LBS offer 6 months to a year of free
tune up for any reason service. They tell people to bring them back for
any questions because they want to preserve the perfection feel.

I will not insult the sub-300 dollar bikes aside to say one analogy.
Equate a Dept store bike to a Hyundai car. No matter how good the
warranty claim, it is still a car of the same lesser quality. Some
swear by them, but more hate them.
Equate a Bike Shop bike to say a Porche(roadie) or a Hummer(MTB). Do
they break? Yes. Do they suffer inadequacies? Yes. As many?
No.


--
Conniebiker

On Thu, 6 Jan 2005 13:49:42 +1100, Cyclist14
wrote:


:-)Cheapo Bikes do not get as hard a use as high end road bikes
Huh?

and also for a High-end bike to be lightwieght you must sacrifice some
durability.
Could you explain what durability has to be sacrificed? I guess it
would help to know what you consider a high-end bike and what you
consider lightweight.

Cheapo bikes also have everything made of steel and
rejected tubing and they wiegh a ton and a half. If you want a good ,
reliable bike don't go below $300.00 anything below that number is
junk.
Rejected tubing? And where did you come up with the $300 amount?

Including Huffys

Cyclist 14
Is 14 your age?


Life is Good!
Jeff

On Thu, 06 Jan 2005 01:21:22 GMT, "Robert Haston"
wrote:

Once upon a time, Schwinn bikes were incredibly durable and low maintenance.
You couldn't break them. We mountain biked the hilly trails east of Kansas
City long before mountain biking was officially invented. My friends Sears
or Huffy bikes were always falling apart.

But like so many products before, labels that meant quality over many
decades can be turned into big profits by slapping them onto junk.

[rest snipped]

Was it just my imagination, or was there a complete lack of actual
"sad story" in that post? A near-rant, yes, but nothing in the way of
current factual narrative.
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In article ,
PSB writes:
Bought this bike from Walmart when I returned the Roadmaster Mountain
Fury. Checked Schwinn Sidewinder out at Walmart before buying. NO
problems noted and yes, I checked the pedals this time. Took it home,
adjusted the seat, added $9 Schwinn cyclometer from Walmart and my GPS
mount for the Garmin Etrex Legend. Pumped tires to 65psi. Bike weighs a
ton and is a few pounds heavier than the Roadmaster Mountain Fury. But I
did not buy this bike to ride in pelotons, I bought it to commute and
for exercise.

Well, I hope you get loads of enjoyment out of it.
That's the main thing.


cheers, & good rides,
Tom

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Robert Haston wrote:

Saddest yet are these rules are applied in spades to kids bikes, because
they spend even less on a bike the kid will outgrow. So kids learn the myth
from early childhood. That's why you see parents hauling their little kids
in their cars to the park, where they drive around little electric cars.

Argh, I want to scream when I see these idiot parents with those stupid
cars.

Yet explaining to a parent why they shouldn't buy that $50 bike at
Target or Wal-Mart bike, and should spend $150 at a bike shop, is
fricking impossible!

And sure as sh-t, since you (or I) are considered the free bike repair
person for an extended family, we'll be called upon to try to get that
$50 Target or Wal-Mart bike on the road.

Now I should state that Costco is selling some decent bikes, not for
$50, but for around $150; the assembly sucks, but the components are
equivalent to the low end $250 bike shop bikes.

On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 21:24:21 -0500, PSB wrote:

Ron Hardin has more miles on his Huffys. I also know many roadies who
reguarly spend 100's a year just on maintenance of their $2,000 bikes.
In fact, if these expensive bikes were so unbreakable, LBS'es would be
out of business by the droves as repairs fuel the LBS, not bike sales.

I know the LBS in my area has a week long wait to repair bicycles and
nearly all of them are non-department store bikes. Sure seems to be a
lot of high ends bikes that need fixing doesn't it?

I am so glad you are an exception to the rule about high end bicycles.

And for purposes of comparison, I will note that a whole lot of the
price-leader name-brand lbs bikes today are using precisely the same
level of componentry that is present on the higher-level Mall-Wart
bikes. My daughter's Trek 800 is equipped with kit very little
different from the Mongoose that it's generally locked to...and the
two bikes show no real difference in their performance and durability,
though the seat on the Goose was judged adequate when received as
opposed to the Trek's being found most unworthy. (Of course, seats
are so wildly subjective that this is a silly point to bring up.)
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