A Great LBS

SMS said:

I called my LBS looking to buy a 90mm 1 1/8" adjustable reach quill
stem. I'm pretty sure they've been discontinued so I was hoping they'd
have one from before Kalloy droped this item. They didn't. The owner
looked in the on-line parts databases for me, no luck. I was about
resigned to having to search for one on eBay. Then he told be, 'wait a
minute, we had some bicycles that were recalled and we had to destroy
them and we took some used parts off of them, and one of the parts is
what you're looking for and you can have it.' I went down there and he
gave me one free (even though I would have been happy to pay him $20
or so for it).

Damn, good stuff. Buy him a 12-er of his favorite brew!

Sounds like my LBS. It's things like thatthat mke life livable :-3)

- -
Compliments of:
"Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

If you want to E-mail me use:
ChrisZCorner "at" webtv "dot" net

My website:
http://geocities.com/czcorner

It's Chris said:

Sounds like my LBS. It's things like thatthat mke life livable :-3)

They're very helpful. Alas, while I wanted to buy the bicycle (that the
stem went on) there as well, they just didn't have what I was looking for.

This was for my son's "Tween" bicycle. It was very hard to find a
bicycle that was larger than most 24" wheeled bicycles, but small enough
that the reach and standover height were still acceptable.

I finally bought a 12" frame, Jamis Ranger XR, and with the adjustable
reach quill stem the reach is adjustable to be correct.

REI had the K2 Zed, which is specifically a "tween" bike, with their web
site stating "A great choice for young riders transitioning to
adult-size wheels." However I didn't want suspension, and I preferred a
threaded heasdet with quill stem to a threadless headset, because the
height and reach are more easily adjustable which is important for
someone that is still growing.

IMVAIO, if "real" bicycle manufacturers want to entice parents out of
Target and Wal-Mart, they need to improve their offerings of kid's and
pre-teen offerings. The manufacturer and the shops might need to
sacrifice some margin on these bikes to keep the prices reasonable, but
they'll build a long term relationship with the families. They also
would be advised to make these kid's bikes more "unisex" in frame design
and colors, as parents will be more willing to spend more on a bike if
it can be passed from brother to sister and vice-versa (I recall in
college whenever selling a bicycle, if a man called he would ask the
model, size, etc., while the women that called always asked about the
color first).

I run our cub scout pack's bicycle activities, and I want to scream
every time someone shows up with a Target bicycle (adults and kids
alike). For what they spent they could either a) have bought a good used
bicycle on craigslist, or b) bought a new bicycle then sold it for at
least half of what they paid a few years later (after multiple kids in
their own family used it).

SMS said:

they'll build a long term relationship with the families. They also
would be advised to make these kid's bikes more "unisex" in frame design
and colors, as parents will be more willing to spend more on a bike if
it can be passed from brother to sister and vice-versa (I recall in

Exactly! I looked for a long time for a reasonable bike for my
daughter. I finally settled on a Fuji, but unfortunately it has a
flower pattern and baby blue paint. My son will definitely be wanting a
new bike rather than her practically brand hand-me-down. I hesitate to
spend so much again, and instead will be fixing up used bikes from now on.

--
Work and recreation are not often effected at the same time.
One using a bicycle in business makes an exception to the rule.
- Dr. Edgar H. Earl, Rochester. (~1892)

Rex Kerr said:

Exactly! I looked for a long time for a reasonable bike for my
daughter. I finally settled on a Fuji, but unfortunately it has a
flower pattern and baby blue paint. My son will definitely be wanting a
new bike rather than her practically brand hand-me-down. I hesitate to
spend so much again, and instead will be fixing up used bikes from now on.

Maybe they don't make then unisex because they want to prevent
hand-me-downs!

Rex Kerr said:

SMS said:

they'll build a long term relationship with the families. They also
would be advised to make these kid's bikes more "unisex" in frame design
and colors, as parents will be more willing to spend more on a bike if
it can be passed from brother to sister and vice-versa (I recall in

Exactly! I looked for a long time for a reasonable bike for my
daughter. I finally settled on a Fuji, but unfortunately it has a
flower pattern and baby blue paint. My son will definitely be wanting a
new bike rather than her practically brand hand-me-down. I hesitate to
spend so much again, and instead will be fixing up used bikes from now on.

--
Work and recreation are not often effected at the same time.
One using a bicycle in business makes an exception to the rule.
- Dr. Edgar H. Earl, Rochester. (~1892)

If it's a decent bike, you could consider another approach. Explain
to your son why it's a decent bike, joke with him about how it's too
bad the colors are all wrong, and let it sit. Then hit him with "what
if you could have it any color you wanted? What if we did something
real cool, like (insert his favorite color(s) with flames?". Of
course the original value of the bike and your abilities and/or access
to somewhere to paint it may vary. Hey, what's cooler than custom?

SMS said:

Maybe they don't make then unisex because they want to prevent
hand-me-downs!

Exactly why they didn't get my business for her next bike. She now has
a small 24" wheel Schwinn Caliente in a hundred disconnected pieces
hanging on my repair rack next to a pile of new parts that need to be
installed. It'll go to my son when she outgrows it. Now I just have to
find time to put it all back together. :-) I'm also debating whether to
use the drop bars with friction barend shifters or the flat bars with
the indexed thumbies (I bought two bikes to combine parts to put
together one good one).

--
Work and recreation are not often effected at the same time.
One using a bicycle in business makes an exception to the rule.
- Dr. Edgar H. Earl, Rochester. (~1892)

Quoted message said:

If it's a decent bike, you could consider another approach. Explain
to your son why it's a decent bike, joke with him about how it's too
bad the colors are all wrong, and let it sit.

The color isn't toooo bad... (baby blue), it's the flower pattern and
curved, low, toptube.

Quoted message said:

Of
course the original value of the bike and your abilities and/or access
to somewhere to paint it may vary. Hey, what's cooler than custom?

I've never had good success with painting bikes. I'm not sure it's
worth the cost of a professional powdercoat, etc. Instead, I think I'll
just sell it and buy him another used bike for now. If they didn't grow
so fast I'd be willing to buy them nicer new bikes, but I just can't buy
them new bikes every year!! Used, sure, because I can usually clean
them up and sell them for more than I bought them for.

-Rex

--
Work and recreation are not often effected at the same time.
One using a bicycle in business makes an exception to the rule.
- Dr. Edgar H. Earl, Rochester. (~1892)

Rex Kerr said:

Quoted message said:

If it's a decent bike, you could consider another approach.  Explain
to your son why it's a decent bike, joke with him about how it's too
bad the colors are all wrong, and let it sit.

The color isn't toooo bad... (baby blue), it's the flower pattern and
curved, low, toptube.

Quoted message said:

Of

Quoted message said:

course the original value of the bike and your abilities and/or access
to somewhere to paint it may vary.  Hey, what's cooler than custom?

I've never had good success with painting bikes.  I'm not sure it's
worth the cost of a professional powdercoat, etc.  Instead, I think I'll
just sell it and buy him another used bike for now.  If they didn't grow
so fast I'd be willing to buy them nicer new bikes, but I just can't buy
them new bikes every year!!  Used, sure, because I can usually clean
them up and sell them for more than I bought them for.

-Rex

--
Work and recreation are not often effected at the same time.
One using a bicycle in business makes an exception to the rule.
       - Dr. Edgar H. Earl, Rochester.  (~1892)

The paint/powdercoat thing may surprise you if you were to look around
and do your homework. However, there's no fixing that low top tube.
It's a girlie bike, off it goes!!!

Rex Kerr said:

Quoted message said:

If it's a decent bike, you could consider another approach. Explain
to your son why it's a decent bike, joke with him about how it's too
bad the colors are all wrong, and let it sit.

The color isn't toooo bad... (baby blue), it's the flower pattern and
curved, low, toptube.

Quoted message said:

Of
course the original value of the bike and your abilities and/or access
to somewhere to paint it may vary. Hey, what's cooler than custom?

I've never had good success with painting bikes. I'm not sure it's
worth the cost of a professional powdercoat, etc. Instead, I think I'll
just sell it and buy him another used bike for now. If they didn't grow
so fast I'd be willing to buy them nicer new bikes, but I just can't buy
them new bikes every year!! Used, sure, because I can usually clean
them up and sell them for more than I bought them for.

I tried to find a bicycle that was sufficiently adjustable that it
wouldn't be outgrown so fast. It was quite difficult. You need an
adjustable height stem (quill or a Speedlifter equivalent), and
adjustable reach stem, a seat post that's sufficiently adjustable, and a
frame that's not too large for a tween so both the standover height and
the reach are not too excessive. I found one bicycle that met the
requirements, once I changed the stem from a non-adjustable to an
adjustable.

The unavailable Kalloy adjustable stem that I tried to get a shop to
order from QBP is actually not discontinued. It was in the Kalloy booth
at Taipei Cycle. It's just not being distributed in the U.S. any more by
the importer, probably because quill stems are not popular in the U.S.
anymore. But quill stems are still widely used in other parts of the
world, at least on utility type bicycles. The adjustable stem that the
shop gave me for free apparently came from the Trek MT220 that was
recalled for frame failures.

SMS said:

I tried to find a bicycle that was sufficiently adjustable that it
wouldn't be outgrown so fast.

For adjustability I briefly considered a Dahon, or similar, folding
bike, but decided that my son would probably kill one. I was especially
drawn to the fact that I could sometimes "borrow it" when I traveled. :-)

--
Work and recreation are not often effected at the same time.
One using a bicycle in business makes an exception to the rule.
- Dr. Edgar H. Earl, Rochester. (~1892)

Rex Kerr said:

SMS said:

I tried to find a bicycle that was sufficiently adjustable that it
wouldn't be outgrown so fast.

For adjustability I briefly considered a Dahon, or similar, folding
bike, but decided that my son would probably kill one. I was especially
drawn to the fact that I could sometimes "borrow it" when I traveled. :-)

You have to be a little careful in choosing folders because many don't
have adjustable height stems. My Dahon Speed TR has one, but the next
year they dropped the adjustable height stem. On the newest model they
have an adjustable reach stem, but not a sliding stem like on older models.

I think that some of the sliding bicycles allow riding in different lengths.

I think there were probably 500 different folding bicycles exhibited at
Taipei Cycle last week, with almost none of them being available in the
U.S.. Dahon, Brompton, and Birdy were the big names in folders at the
show, but some of the lesser-known brands had compelling features as well.

I just happened to be in a store that just happened to have a Jamis 12"
frame Ranger, their low end, non-suspension mountain bike. It was
exactly what I was looking for, and it was pretty cheap ($195 less a 20%
discount).

My thinking is that maybe bicycle stores could sell a lot of $150
"tween" bikes and get people out of Wal-Mart and Target. But few
potential customers are going to go through a lot of hassle and driving
around to buy a decent bicycle.

Bicycle shop marketing is almost an oxymoron. Very little good
advertising, no use of direct mail, failing to advertise in community
newspapers (i.e. weeklies). Some do bicycle club discounts, at least on
high margin clothing and accessories, and some give 10% discounts on
complete non-sale bicycles which is something.

SMS aka Steven M. Scharf said:

[...]
I tried to find a bicycle that was sufficiently adjustable that it
wouldn't be outgrown so fast. It was quite difficult. You need an
adjustable height stem (quill or a Speedlifter equivalent), and
adjustable reach stem, a seat post that's sufficiently adjustable, and a
frame that's not too large for a tween so both the standover height and
the reach are not too excessive. I found one bicycle that met the
requirements, once I changed the stem from a non-adjustable to an
adjustable.[...]

Look here for a bicycle that will fit a wide range of rider sizes:
<http://www.easyracers.com/ez_1_sc.htm>. 😉

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
The weather is here, wish you were beautiful