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

[A Muzi]

> Fri, 07 Jan 2005 00:37:04 GMT,
> <[email protected]>, maxo
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>Then there's me trying to apply the bike maintenance thing to the
>>VW--damned if I'll let the dealer charge me 250 dollars for new rear
>>brakes. So I spend ten hours doing them myself (frozen bolts) and a
>>hundred bucks on parts. Then the local mechanic has a special: brakes 80
>>dollars per axle plus 40 extra for my rotors. I effectively paid myself
>>$2/hr to sweat under a car...
>>Yeah, sometimes it's more cost effective to let the pros do it.

Zoot Katz wrote:
> With automobile brakes, there ought to be a law specifying that
> qualified and certified pros do it.

Why? It's hard to screw up.

Although I no longer do much auto work, brake jobs are
pretty straightforward IMHO. 2 years ago I talked a woman
through discs and pads replacement in an hour. She had
never held a wrench before. (I did make sure the bleeders
moved the day before)

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

 

[Fred Clydesdale]

In article <[email protected]>,
maxo <[email protected]> wrote:

> I can fix a flat in less time than it takes me to floss. I carry latex
> gloves to avoid the dirty hands.
>
> Doing your own wrenching if you can is a huge time saver.

i don't own any gloves.

 

[VBadJuJu]

"Claire Petersky" <[email protected]> wrote:

>> 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.
E1. ...or actually RIDING the bike.
F. Requires some degree of investment in specialty tools (like a
stand), which can be silly if the LBS will do the work for FREE.
G. Room for said tools


>
>I hope this clears up the mystery for you.

 

[Mike Jacoubowsky]

> 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.

That may be true in some regions, but not all. Repairs are incredibly time,
labor & space-intensive and have the potential to sink shops (economically)
in high-rent areas. Our repairs are subsidized by our sales operations; in
other words, they don't pay their way.

Also, any semi-intelligent person (of which there actually are a few in this
industry) understands that making bikes too maintenance-intensive turns many
people away from the activity. If someone gets too many flat tires, too many
derailleur issues, too many wheel problems... they're going to find cycling
too much of a hassle and take up something else.

Unfortunately, I'm not convinced the mountain bike side of the industry
truly understands this, as they constantly render each year's product
obsolete as rapidly as possible, such that an expensive fork becomes almost
a disposable item, and certainly out-of-date by the time you buy it.

> 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?

Because most people won't spend more than some percentage of the cost of a
product to get it repaired, as it's just not worth it. They could spend many
hours scouring the planet to find cheap parts to keep them running, but for
some, that time is worth something.

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

Thankfully, he's not. Most decent bikes don't require all that much
maintenance, just a bit of care in terms of keeping the tires properly
inflated and checking the drivetrain for wear & maybe even cleaning it once
in a while (don't look at my own bike though...).

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

 

[Mike Jacoubowsky]

> 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.

True, but it's also dreadfully easy to change the oil in your car, yet I can
think of so many other ways I'd rather spend that time than messing around
with a car and having to deal with the old oil, so I spend the $20 to have
oil changers or whomever do it.

On the other hand, I'd rarely let anyone else touch my bike... I love
working on them. It's all about what you see as a hassle vs something that,
for some reason, you enjoy doing. Who knows why? But I have plenty of
customers who are the reverse. They love working on their cars, but won't do
anything to their bikes.

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

 

[Donald Gillies]

A Muzi <[email protected]> writes:

>GPSBlake wrote:

>> Just curious, how much does an LBS charge to fix a flat?
>$4 while you wait.

An excellent deal, and shows that the shop really knows what it is
doing. I cannot imagine a professional bike mechanic spending more
than 5-6 minutes fixing a flat, that's what it takes me to do it on
the side of the road with lesser tools.

Rema patches (in bulk) i cost something like $0.17/ea, so in reality
the mechanic is billed out at maybe $40-$50 an hour. That seems about
right given mechanic salary, taxes, storefront overhead, etc.

In fact, you might be able to judge the competance of the ENTIRE
BICYCLE SHOP simply by the amount of money they charge to fix a flat
tire. The lesser the charge, the greater the competance ...

- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA

 

[VBadJuJu]

PSB <[email protected]> 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.

This is a pretty illogical argument.

There is a WIDE range of bikes between the $68 Wal-Bike and the $2k
bike and you create a strawman argument by citing them. I suspect the
bulk of the people questioning the $68 pseudobike are in that
in-between area.

I seriously doubt that the "100s" spent is truly on maintenance and I
further question that it is "100s" every year. The person who spends
$2k or more on a (single) bike could easily be classified an
aficionado and as such, is much more seriously into riding and
tweaking certain performance type elements and/or putting better -- or
just new -- components on it.

I put nearly 4000 miles per year (Mar - Oct) on my Trek MTB and havent
spent a single dime on maintenance in 2 years. OTOH, you're already
on your second bike in 32.5 miles IIRC.

 

[Mike Kruger]

Werehatrack wrote:
> On 6 Jan 2005 11:09:42 -0800, "StaceyJ"
<[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>
> I will note that every bike seller I've checked in this
area, without
> exception, is having a clearance sale of the bikes they
did not sell
> in December, and in most cases their shortfall was
apparently pretty
> dramatic,

I've wondered about the effect on the remaining LBS's of the
large number of shops that have been going out of business
in the past few years. All these departing shops are dumping
inventory on the market, and it's the same bikes other
remaining dealers are trying to make a buck on.

Within 8 miles of me, at least 5 shops closed in the last 15
months. Long term, this consolidation will be good for the
remaining shops. Short term is a different story.

 

[Mike Kruger]

A Muzi wrote:
>
> The only rule I've found is that there are no rules where
> margin is concerned. Retailers apply as much margin as we
> can and still get the stuff out the door. Limits to that
> are often complex.

No need to single out retailers. That's true of
manufacturers, insurers, airlines, etc. It's a basic tenet
of capitalism.

The main reason not to maximize short term profits is to
maximize long term profits.

 

[Mark Weaver]

"A Muzi" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>
> Good point.
> I can't efficiently change the oil in my cars either.

I actually do still change my oil because I can't possibly drive to the oil
change place and wait as fast as I can do it in the garage (less than 10
minutes). The little electric oil pump really speeds (and cleans) things
up. Stick tube down the dipstick and pump used oil directly into bottle
without having to get under car, yank plug, etc.

>
> Many of my service customers could probably change their own
> flats. But we're quick and cheap so why dirty one's hands?

Why? Same reason. If you know what you're doing you can change a flat in a
couple of minutes. It would take a lot longer to haul it to the shop.

Mark

 

[Mark Weaver]

"A Muzi" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>
> Good point.
> I can't efficiently change the oil in my cars either.

I actually do still change my oil because I can't possibly drive to the oil
change place and wait as fast as I can do it in the garage (less than 10
minutes). The little electric oil pump really speeds (and cleans) things
up. Stick tube down the dipstick and pump used oil directly into bottle
without having to get under car, yank plug, etc.

>
> Many of my service customers could probably change their own
> flats. But we're quick and cheap so why dirty one's hands?

Why? Same reason. If you know what you're doing you can change a flat in a
couple of minutes. It would take a lot longer to haul it to the shop.

Mark

 

[Mark Weaver]

"Werehatrack" <[email protected]> wrote in message

> I still recall the product safety warnings that
> were published relating to the fact that their heavily-rearward
> seating position gave the rider an unacceptably high risk of doing a
> wheelie and dumping him on his head...

But as I recall, doing wheelies was the main *point* of the Stingray

The problem with bringing back the Stingray is that for kids now who are
into that sort of thing, the niche is already filled with stunt bikes.

Mark

 

[Ted]

In article <[email protected]>,
"Mark Weaver" <[email protected]> wrote:

> "A Muzi" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> >
> > Good point.
> > I can't efficiently change the oil in my cars either.
>
> I actually do still change my oil because I can't possibly drive to the oil
> change place and wait as fast as I can do it in the garage (less than 10
> minutes). The little electric oil pump really speeds (and cleans) things
> up. Stick tube down the dipstick and pump used oil directly into bottle
> without having to get under car, yank plug, etc.

Which leaves sludge, water and metal filings in the ail pan.

If you don't fully drain the engine, you are shortening its life.

--
Ted Bennett
Portland, OR

 

[RonSonic]

On Thu, 06 Jan 2005 05:26:42 GMT, Werehatrack <[email protected]>
wrote:

>On Thu, 06 Jan 2005 04:37:31 GMT, "Phil, Squid-in-Training"
><[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>> 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.
>
>And after about 8 to 10 years, the folks in the first categry donate
>the bike to Goodwill or dump it at a garage sale or foist it off one
>someone else because they are tired of paying to put the thing back
>into immediately ride-worthy shape...and have finally realized that
>they really aren't going to ride it anyway.
>
>That's when people like me get hold of them, and either ride the ****
>out of them or pass them along to someone else who must be sorted into
>one of the categories themselves.
>
>I also get some pretty nice bikes through that same process.


That's where my bikes come from.

Some people would be amazed at how much bike you can find from an owner who
would rather have $40 and not ride a bike than just have a bike he doesn't ride.

Ron

 

[Zoot Katz]

Thu, 06 Jan 2005 22:43:40 -0800, <[email protected]>,
Peter <[email protected]> wrote:

>Do you have any evidence that poor brake repair jobs by
>car owners are resulting in any significant number of
>accidents. I don't remember ever seeing this being
>mentioned as the cause of an accident.

I've seen various figures between three and 8.5 percent of "accidents"
are attributable to mechanical failure.
The number of those resulting from DIY mechanical ineptitude is
insignificant compared to the overall number of "accidents" caused by
driver ineptitude.
--
zk

 

[Zoot Katz]

Thu, 06 Jan 2005 22:43:40 -0800, <[email protected]>,
Peter <[email protected]> wrote:

>Do you have any evidence that poor brake repair jobs by
>car owners are resulting in any significant number of
>accidents. I don't remember ever seeing this being
>mentioned as the cause of an accident.

I've seen various figures between three and 8.5 percent of "accidents"
are attributable to mechanical failure.
The number of those resulting from DIY mechanical ineptitude is
insignificant compared to the overall number of "accidents" caused by
driver ineptitude.
--
zk

 

[Zoot Katz]

Fri, 07 Jan 2005 02:48:49 -0600, <[email protected]>,
A Muzi <[email protected]> wrote:

>Zoot Katz wrote:
>> With automobile brakes, there ought to be a law specifying that
>> qualified and certified pros do it.
>
>Why? It's hard to screw up.

Yet it's done regularly, even at the factory.

It's hard to screw up installing a new gas space heater too. Most
places I know of require certification for the installers. Gas fitting
isn't any more complicated than hydraulics.

Uncontrollable motor vehicles and exploding houses both pose potential
danger to a community.
--
zk

 

[RonSonic]

On Fri, 07 Jan 2005 04:22:52 GMT, Werehatrack <[email protected]>
wrote:

>On Thu, 6 Jan 2005 18:02:56 -0800, [email protected] (Tom Keats)
>wrote:
>
>>In article <1105059871.fe1acdc85cddfb3532308792207d2c71@teranews>,
>> "Mike Kruger" <[email protected]> writes:
>>
>>> That new Schwinn Stingray --
>>... It looks cool, but I guess
>>> there will be a lot of "mint" ones of these available in
>>> later years because it's hard to imagine a child riding it.
>>
>>I remember when the originals hit the market. The big deal
>>was, you could pop wheelies with 'em.
>
>And that was their downfall as well, when kids started getting hurt
>doing it. In fact, it was *too* easy to do a wheelie on them, so that
>sometimes kids would do one when they didn't mean to...and often went
>all the way over backwards and did a head-bash.
>
>>As for nowadays, the lowrider folx (and maybe the chopper
>>artists) seem to like them, although I'd expect an original
>>would have more aesthetic appeal.
>
>I briefly wondered if one of them might make a good base for brewing a
>'bent, but that overly fat rear tire just looks like a stunningly good
>way to waste effort dragging a bunch of extra weight around.

Sick minds think alike.

I've been noodling on the idea of how a chopper style bike might be built fast
and aero without having the recumbent geekishness.

Ron

 

[RonSonic]

On Fri, 07 Jan 2005 04:22:52 GMT, Werehatrack <[email protected]>
wrote:

>On Thu, 6 Jan 2005 18:02:56 -0800, [email protected] (Tom Keats)
>wrote:
>
>>In article <1105059871.fe1acdc85cddfb3532308792207d2c71@teranews>,
>> "Mike Kruger" <[email protected]> writes:
>>
>>> That new Schwinn Stingray --
>>... It looks cool, but I guess
>>> there will be a lot of "mint" ones of these available in
>>> later years because it's hard to imagine a child riding it.
>>
>>I remember when the originals hit the market. The big deal
>>was, you could pop wheelies with 'em.
>
>And that was their downfall as well, when kids started getting hurt
>doing it. In fact, it was *too* easy to do a wheelie on them, so that
>sometimes kids would do one when they didn't mean to...and often went
>all the way over backwards and did a head-bash.
>
>>As for nowadays, the lowrider folx (and maybe the chopper
>>artists) seem to like them, although I'd expect an original
>>would have more aesthetic appeal.
>
>I briefly wondered if one of them might make a good base for brewing a
>'bent, but that overly fat rear tire just looks like a stunningly good
>way to waste effort dragging a bunch of extra weight around.

Sick minds think alike.

I've been noodling on the idea of how a chopper style bike might be built fast
and aero without having the recumbent geekishness.

Ron

 

[Donald Gillies]

An interesting thing I have noticed about purchasing used old-time
10-speeds :

=> If the frame is reynolds tubing, and the item (bike, frameset)
is priced less than $150, then the item is priced at less than the
cost of replacement materials (frame tubing, lugs.)

There aren't many markets that are more favorable to consumers of used
goods ...

- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA