A few points about why I'm still RIGHT:
>I have a friend at work who recently bought a bike at Wal-mart. I
>recommended he spend another $50 or so and buy a decent bike, but he
>thought it looked nice, and after all a bike is a bike, right? A few days
>later he complained that it it didn't just shift right. All I could do was
>shrug. They decided to return it, and had to call in a manager and argue a
>bit because they didn't want to allow the return since it'd been ridden.
LMFAO! All you could do was shrug huh? When I got our NEXT bike from
Wal-Mart, and got it home, it didn't shift right either, but I could do
a little more than "shrug!" In fact i turned the bike over, had a look
at the deraileurs and presto! I could understand how it works! I could
adjust it! I could adjust it the way it should have been but wasn't
because a WAL-MART EMPLOYEE assembled the damn thing. I found out the
bike didnt' shift right before ever riding it because I checked out
every part of assembly before i took it out. Now if you want to pay
someone a couple hundred bucks extra on a bike just to have to not work
on it, GO TO LBS and get ripped off on service, If you have mechanical
aptitude (and can do more than shrug), You could make a walgoose shift
correctly without a problem.
>While high quality bicycles appear expensive compared to motorcycles it is
>due to economies of scale in the 2 industries. Your assertion that bicycle
>enthusiasts are being tricked into buying the equivalent of your NEXT BSO
>for 10 times the price shows total ignorance of the market and the products.
>If you want to share your opinions, please go do your homework and bring
>back an informed opinion. The current ones are way overpriced.
Bicycling and Motorcycling merge when it comes to mountain biking.
Many trails that are pedaled are easily negotiated with a motorcycle as
well, and vise-versa.
My asserstion is NOT that bicycle enthusiasts are being tricked, it is
that bicycle NEOPHYTES are being tricked. Bicycle enthusiasts already
know what's what with the world of bicycles, they don't come into
forums asking questions like: "I'm thinking of getting a bike from
walmart, but my friend said i should fork out a crapload more bucks and
buy a 'real' mountain bike, what should I do?"
Blindly sending everyone to LBS to get the hard sale on a pricey bike
shows YOUR total ignorance of the market and the products. Lets take a
look at that market shall we:
http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/31898/story.htm
"Americans purchased more bicycles than new cars and trucks combined in
the past year -- and all without employee discounts or zero-percent
financing. "
"Our sales have almost tripled in the last couple of years," said Bob
Ippolito, executive vice president at Pacific Bicycle, the largest
bicycle distributor in the United States."
"Unlike high-end specialty bicycles, which represent a small portion of
sales, it is the hybrid road bikes sold at Wal-Mart Stores, Kmart and
Target Corp. that made up the majority of the 19 million bicycles sold
last year, and are often the choice for leisure and noncompetitive
riding."
So again to sum it up AGAIN, the best advice to neophytes asking on
this forum is that they must know what they want to use the bike for,
and they must know if they have any mechanical aptitude at all. If
they have no mechanical aptitude, I myself would recommend staying away
from wal mart, toys r us, target, etc for buying a bike, they will hate
it, not because the bike is bad, but because it was assembled by a $5
per hour employee, and will be way out of adjustment for them, may not
shift right etc. They will need to purchase the mechanical skills of
others who have them, and skills are not available at those stores, the
best place to look for that kind of know-how is: NEXT DOOR! if your
neighbor has a toolbox, and they like you, THEY are probably smart
enough to setup a bicycle for you, IT IS NOT HARD! you just have to
know how to use a few tools! But alas, if your neigbor is an A-hole,
then your best bet is to go to LBS for your bike.
Assuming the neophyte HAS mechanical aptitude, then the USE/PURPOSE
factor comes in: If they are going to ride it around town on paved
trails and such for exercise, then it's a $99 dollar exercise bike from
walmart for the neophyte! take a few minutes to learn about their bike,
set it up properly THEMSELVES, and bam! have fun. . . .
If they are going to ride it for serious MOUNTAIN BIKING, then walmart
bikes are not up to the task due to the increased stresses placed on
the bike in these condiditons, and the bike manufacturer's even warn
you of this. You will need to purchase a "high-end specialty bicycle".
And since they've gotten to this part of the purchasing question,
x1134x chime's in with:
"If you're into getting outdoors on serious trails, and are planning on
dropping big bucks on a BICYCLE, have you considered that you could buy
a dirt bike with that money? A bike that has a MOTOR on it? A bike that
would blow the most expensive of mountain bikes off the road like a
dried leaf? IMHO its more fun. . . .
I think the majority of the 19 million bicycle buying americans agree
with me.
