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Bicycles at Costco --- seeking advice



 
 
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  #11  
Old March 21st 05, 04:46 AM
Kenny
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You're getting ripped off. For the price you're paying you can get two
bikes at Walmart and have money left over.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...%3A4125%3A4178

Ads
  #12  
Old March 21st 05, 11:17 AM
greggery peccary
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wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello all,

This is my first posting to this newsgroup. Let me also mention that I
like bikes, but I am not a pro... I ride my bike for fun (work schedule
permitting, of course).

Since it's the time that I replace my 12-year bike, I stopped at Costco
in Dallas and checked out the mountain bikes. I liked a dual suspension
Cephas Fever 7.7 TG mountain bike with 21-speed Shimano gears,
thumb-shift, RST front suspension, FormulaAero spoke wheels, etc. for
$199.99.

I know that this is not the coolest and the lightest bike out there,
but I feel that it would be sufficient to satisfy my needs.

Does anybody out there know anything about this bike? I can not find
anything related to it on the Web.

Thank you all!

:-)


i dont like full suspension bikes, even on hard core trails. a front shock
is great for butter-churn rocky roads (and avoid carpal-tunnel wrist pain),
but IMO the only thing a full suspension bike can do for you is take away
all of the energy you spend pushing the pedals. i think there are a lot of
good condition "hard tail" bikes out there for cheap, see a recent post by
maxo "my new $8 rockhopper".
-alan


  #13  
Old March 21st 05, 01:07 PM
catzz66
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greggery peccary wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...

Hello all,

This is my first posting to this newsgroup. Let me also mention that I
like bikes, but I am not a pro... I ride my bike for fun (work schedule
permitting, of course).

Since it's the time that I replace my 12-year bike, I stopped at Costco
in Dallas and checked out the mountain bikes. I liked a dual suspension
Cephas Fever 7.7 TG mountain bike with 21-speed Shimano gears,
thumb-shift, RST front suspension, FormulaAero spoke wheels, etc. for
$199.99.

I know that this is not the coolest and the lightest bike out there,
but I feel that it would be sufficient to satisfy my needs.

Does anybody out there know anything about this bike? I can not find
anything related to it on the Web.

Thank you all!

:-)



If you do your homework and don't mind doing a little running around,
you can find a lot of good bikes for under 200 dollars. You can check
out garage sales and look for a bargain or spend a little more cash and
get a used bike. You mentioned Dallas and were passing through, but
there are several good used bike shops. Many of the LBSs carry trade in
bikes of various sizes. If you buy from a LBS, most of the time the
bike will be tuned up already and have fresh rubber on the tires, etc.
  #14  
Old March 21st 05, 04:03 PM
Rich
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catzz66 wrote:
If you do your homework and don't mind doing a little running around,
you can find a lot of good bikes for under 200 dollars.


craigslist (www.craigslist.org) seems to always have lots of bikes for
sale, although that may well be city-dependent.
  #16  
Old March 21st 05, 09:06 PM
maxo
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On Sun, 20 Mar 2005 15:55:13 -0500, Arthur Harris wrote:

a low-end hybrid bike
from a local bike shop would be a better choice.


No doubt. I've seen the bikes at costco, and while better than the X-mart
bikes, they lack in key areas. Cheap bottom brackets, headsets, cranks,
hubs--cheap as in no-name crap.

300 can get you a pretty decent entry level ride--last time I checked, my
local REI had a simple rigid Marin hybrid for this price. Quite fine bike,
and very pleasant to ride. Yeah the bits and bobs are lower end
Shimano--but even lower end Shimano will hold up rather well for the
casual cyclist.

As for comfort over the bumps--get a pair of gloves and some Ritchey "True
Grips" (also sold at rei) and you'll be fine.

EDIT: seems REI doesn't stock an entry level bike w/o a front shock
anymore. the replacement seems to be the "K2 alturas"


  #17  
Old March 22nd 05, 02:11 AM
bbaka
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Arthur Harris wrote:
"bbaka" wrote:

I maintain the family fleet of bikes, and have built up several bikes and
wheels from scratch over the last 25+ years. And I can tell you it's much
nicer working with decent quality parts than poorly made junk. I don't ride
high zoot Ti/Carbon bikes. My main ride is built around a 20+ year old SL
steel frame. Not sexy, but very good basic quality, reliability, and
functionality.

The guy asked a simple question. The purpose of this newsgroup should be to
tell him the truth. Someone not familiar with bikes may think this Costco
bike is a fantastic deal because it _seems_ to have all the features of much
more expensive bikes. What should we do, tell him, "yeah, that's a great
bike; go buy it."? I don't think so. So, you've given him your opinion, and
others have him their's. The ball is in his court.

Art Harris


Maybe I should have asked him how old he is for starters. I said welcome
to the group and a few words here and there to the effect of "If you
like it then it is a good deal" then everything went downhill. If he was
a 16 year old he would be asking his 16 year old friends and not be
here. All of the guys I know do their own wrench work, from the local
rednecks to the British guy I know who refused to give up his Volvo
after 300,000 miles. He has a company in Silicon Valley and is about my
age but still likes to dive into things and work on them.
I think I misjudged the younger male dynamic these days.

Bill Baka
  #18  
Old March 22nd 05, 02:28 AM
bbaka
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Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:
You are the third guy in a row to tell him he made a bad choice. If he
likes it then it becomes a good choice. If it saves him the expense of
buying a more expensive bike and finding out he doesn't like it, then it
is still a good choice.



The problem is that he can spend $199.99 on such a bike, and still be
precisely $199.99 (plus time & aggravation) further away from something that
he might find more enjoyable. Dual-suspension cheapie bikes are a category
that most LBSs generally frown on, for two reasons-

#1: You're spending a lot of money in the wrong place. Even a cheapie dual
suspension bike, for a given price, robs money from other parts of the bike
that need it more... such as wheels, fork quality, frame durability (ever
wonder how long those pivots last on a cheap dual-suspension bike? They
don't.) etc.



#2: We call them "Worker's Comp Specials" as in lift-with-your-knees. Even
on a flat road you can notice all that weight, and to what end?

If the original poster were to go to a bike shop, he could try out a few
different types of bikes (cheapie dual-suspension, entry-level mountain
bike, hybrid...) and see what would be more fun to ride. Also, people don't
come in just one size, like most Costco bikes.


And what is up with the paranoia about doing your own wrench work? Buy
some tools and you have them for life. Go to a shop and you learn nothing
about your bike. Truing a wheel is actually kind of relaxing, and you
don't have to take the bike to the shop, most likely in a car.



Some people have a knack for such things, others don't. I can work miracles
on nearly any bike in a very short amount of time, and yet you wouldn't want
me to touch a hammer and saw and do any woodwork.

I know the feeling there even though I try and have some strange looking
home built tables and such.

More than anything, a really good bike shop is going to do everything they
can to keep the guy's bike on the road and not in his garage. That doesn't
just mean building it right; it means making sure it's appropriate for
riding opportunities in the area, making sure it fits right, and giving the
customer the feeling that they're there for him if anything doesn't seem
quite right.

It's not like this guy is only looking to spend $80 and there's no option
but to buy something at Costco or WalMart. He's spending good $$$ and ought
to get a good bike.


I won't even try to deny the facts but he may not have a good LBS
nearby. I have 2 LBS in my town, 1 terrible and 1 just medium good.

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


Bill Baka
 




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