REI Transfer - competition?

JG said:

I'm looking to buy a commuter bike for my son as he is off to
college. The REI Transfer looks like a knock-out. It's an upright
commuting bike with Shimano seven speed internal gears, 26' tires, v-
brakes, all fairly hassle-free, _and_ it's sold with a rack, shimano
dynamo front hub, fenders, and kickstand for $600. What other models
should I be looking at?

JG

What does your son like to ride?

JG said:

I'm looking to buy a commuter bike for my son as he is off to
college. The REI Transfer looks like a knock-out. It's an upright
commuting bike with Shimano seven speed internal gears, 26' tires, v-
brakes, all fairly hassle-free, _and_ it's sold with a rack, shimano
dynamo front hub, fenders, and kickstand for $600. What other models
should I be looking at?

What college? At my college, bike theft was so rampant that I'd never
have an expensive bicycle on campus.

Look at the Schwinn World Avenue 1. I've seen it on sale for as little
as $300 when combined with a Performance coupon and a Team Peformance
10% rebate.

"http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=24141"

Also, note that at REI you should get an REI Visa card that gives you 5%
back in addition to the 10% dividend (usually it's 10%) that REI members
get on all non-sale items.

JG said:

I'm looking to buy a commuter bike for my son as he is off to
college.  The REI Transfer looks like a knock-out.  It's an upright
commuting bike with Shimano seven speed internal gears, 26' tires, v-
brakes, all fairly hassle-free, _and_ it's sold with a rack, shimano
dynamo front hub, fenders, and kickstand for $600.  What other models
should I be looking at?

Depends--the Transfer is near perfect and the price is right, but
bikes don't last long at college if they ain't locked right. If he's
committed to using a good lock right--put it on the short list along
with something like Jamis Commuter:

http://www.jamisbikes.com/usa/bikes/08_bikes/08commuter3.html#

Internal gears are a must for anything that gets locked outside a lot.
Put a rust buster chain on it as well.

Now, if he's the sloppy type, and the bike's just gonna be a campus
scoot--get him a beach cruiser from Craigslist for $50 and a cable
lock--seriously, campus bikes get ripped off at a stupid high rate, no
reason to put a donation on the block.

"JG" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
| I'm looking to buy a commuter bike for my son as he is off to
| college. The REI Transfer looks like a knock-out. It's an upright
| commuting bike with Shimano seven speed internal gears, 26' tires, v-
| brakes, all fairly hassle-free, _and_ it's sold with a rack, shimano
| dynamo front hub, fenders, and kickstand for $600. What other models
| should I be looking at?
|
| JG

For commuting bikes, I'm beginning to come around to the idea of disc
brakes. I thought they were silly at first; I was wrong. The big advantage
is that your brakes work, no matter how banged up your wheel is. Plus,
because the rim is designed to hold a tire in place rather than be a brake
surface as well, it can be made stronger for a given weight.

I'm selling boatloads of the Trek SU 2.0 for commuters and college kids. It
doesn't have a generator light, but inexpensive battery-operated lights with
long life & bright beams are pretty easy to find these days. Same for racks,
fenders & kickstands.
http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/2008/urban/sport_urban/su20/

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

In article
<[email hidden]>,

JG said:

I'm looking to buy a commuter bike for my son as he is off to
college. The REI Transfer looks like a knock-out. It's an upright
commuting bike with Shimano seven speed internal gears, 26' tires, v-
brakes, all fairly hassle-free, _and_ it's sold with a rack, shimano
dynamo front hub, fenders, and kickstand for $600. What other models
should I be looking at?

A shop local to the university selling reconditioned
bicycles from the 70's and 80's and a good lock.
Rack and drop in pannier for lugging books.

--
Michael Press

someone said:

I'm looking to buy a commuter bike for my son as he is off to
college. The REI Transfer looks like a knock-out. It's an upright
commuting bike with Shimano seven speed internal gears, 26' tires,
v- brakes, all fairly hassle-free, _and_ it's sold with a rack,
Shimano dynamo front hub, fenders, and kickstand for $600. What
other models should I be looking at?

Going to college? I suspect he should be essentially an adult by now
and ridden many miles. If he hasn't, that's where the choice of
bicycle got lost. Besides, if he hasn't ridden yet, commuting to
class will be only that so get a one speed balloon tired bicycle from
Goodwill and let him pay for it.

By the time most young men get to high school, they either know what
sort of bicycle they want to ride or they don't want to ride. How
long are you going to hold his hand, or better yet, let his mother do
so? What did he do for summer work, where a young people earn their
own money for such stuff?

I guess mom takes him to Nordstrom's or Neiman Marcus to oversee his
wardrobe. What kind of BMW did he get for high school graduation?
"Poor" kid!

Jobst Brandt

Quoted message said:

someone said:

I'm looking to buy a commuter bike for my son as he is off to
college. The REI Transfer looks like a knock-out. It's an upright
commuting bike with Shimano seven speed internal gears, 26' tires,
v- brakes, all fairly hassle-free, _and_ it's sold with a rack,
Shimano dynamo front hub, fenders, and kickstand for $600. What
other models should I be looking at?

Going to college? I suspect he should be essentially an adult by now
and ridden many miles. If he hasn't, that's where the choice of
bicycle got lost. Besides, if he hasn't ridden yet, commuting to
class will be only that so get a one speed balloon tired bicycle from
Goodwill and let him pay for it.

By the time most young men get to high school, they either know what
sort of bicycle they want to ride or they don't want to ride. How
long are you going to hold his hand, or better yet, let his mother do
so? What did he do for summer work, where a young people earn their
own money for such stuff?

I guess mom takes him to Nordstrom's or Neiman Marcus to oversee his
wardrobe. What kind of BMW did he get for high school graduation?
"Poor" kid!

It's too bad you didn't bother to use a shred of logic when you wrote
this post.

Nice emotional rant, however....

E.P.

Quoted message said:

It's too bad you didn't bother to use a shred of logic when you wrote
this post.

Nice emotional rant, however....

E.P.

Yeah, that was weird! Sounded like the OP hit a sore nerve in Jobst's own
family tree.

Quoted message said:

By the time most young men get to high school, they either know what
sort of bicycle they want to ride or they don't want to ride. How
long are you going to hold his hand, or better yet, let his mother do
so? What did he do for summer work, where a young people earn their
own money for such stuff?

I guess it's possible that the individual in question did not grow up in
an area where he gained any bicycling experience, and now is off to a
college where cycling is how you get around. I was shocked when I had
someone visit me from NYC when I was about 10, and he didn't know how to
ride a bike.

But you do have a point. Most college age kids should be able to buy a
bicycle on their own, with their own money, though there is nothing
wrong with getting some advice from the parents.

My first college bicycle was a $55 ten speed from Lionel Play World.
When that got stolen, I bought a 3 speed Columbia from Woolco
(Woolworth's foray into discount department stores) for $45. I think
that it's a bad idea to be buying a $600 bicycle for campus use, no
matter who's paying for it.

You might like this article (it's also now a book):

"http://psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20041112-000010.html"

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
| someone wrote:
|
| > I'm looking to buy a commuter bike for my son as he is off to
| > college. The REI Transfer looks like a knock-out. It's an upright
| > commuting bike with Shimano seven speed internal gears, 26' tires,
| > v- brakes, all fairly hassle-free, _and_ it's sold with a rack,
| > Shimano dynamo front hub, fenders, and kickstand for $600. What
| > other models should I be looking at?
|
| Going to college? I suspect he should be essentially an adult by now
| and ridden many miles. If he hasn't, that's where the choice of
| bicycle got lost. Besides, if he hasn't ridden yet, commuting to
| class will be only that so get a one speed balloon tired bicycle from
| Goodwill and let him pay for it.
|
| By the time most young men get to high school, they either know what
| sort of bicycle they want to ride or they don't want to ride. How
| long are you going to hold his hand, or better yet, let his mother do
| so? What did he do for summer work, where a young people earn their
| own money for such stuff?
|
| I guess mom takes him to Nordstrom's or Neiman Marcus to oversee his
| wardrobe. What kind of BMW did he get for high school graduation?
| "Poor" kid!
|
| Jobst Brandt

What was that all about? A guy wants to buy a bike for his kid who's off to
college. Could be that he's going to a school that's bicycle-friendly and
car-hostile. Yes, they do exist. Could be that he's told his kid they can't
afford a car for him, that with college costing what it does, the deal is
that mom & dad pay for college but no car... he's going to make do with a
bike. Whatever the case, it's a pretty innocent-looking post, certainly
nothing indicative of everything that's wrong with our society.

We get people like this in our shop all the time. They're looking for
something practical and a shop that's going to take care of things if
something goes wrong.

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

"JG" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm looking to buy a commuter bike for my son as he is off to
college. The REI Transfer looks like a knock-out. It's an upright
commuting bike with Shimano seven speed internal gears, 26' tires, v-
brakes, all fairly hassle-free, _and_ it's sold with a rack, shimano
dynamo front hub, fenders, and kickstand for $600. What other models
should I be looking at?

Get the cheapest thing you can find off craigslist. Often I see bikes
in the "free" section. The uglier the better. If it has streaks of surface
rust your home free. If your not handly with tools yourself, take it
to a bike shop and have them lube it and pull the nails out of the tires.

The secret to having a usable bike the entire time that your in college
is to have the ugliest bike in the bike rack.

10 to 1 it will be stolen 6 months after he gets there. Whereupon
you get another cheap beater bike and repeat the process.

Your doing him a disservice by saddling him with the responsibility
of keeping an eye on a $600 bike. He should be paying attention to
his schoolwork and not worrying about whether his bike will be there
when he comes out of class.

Ted

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I'm looking to buy a commuter bike for my son as he is off to
college. The REI Transfer looks like a knock-out. It's an
upright commuting bike with Shimano seven speed internal gears,
26' tires, v- brakes, all fairly hassle-free, _and_ it's sold with
a rack, Shimano dynamo front hub, fenders, and kickstand for $600.
What other models should I be looking at?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Going to college? I suspect he should be essentially an adult by
now and ridden many miles. If he hasn't, that's where the choice
of bicycle got lost. Besides, if he hasn't ridden yet, commuting
to class will be only that so get a one speed balloon tired bicycle
from Goodwill and let him pay for it.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

By the time most young men get to high school, they either know
what sort of bicycle they want to ride or they don't want to ride.
How long are you going to hold his hand, or better yet, let his
mother do so? What did he do for summer work, where a young people
earn their own money for such stuff?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I guess mom takes him to Nordstrom's or Neiman Marcus to oversee
his wardrobe. What kind of BMW did he get for high school
graduation? "Poor" kid!

Quoted message said:

What was that all about? A guy wants to buy a bike for his kid
who's off to college. Could be that he's going to a school that's
bicycle-friendly and car-hostile. Yes, they do exist. Could be
that he's told his kid they can't afford a car for him, that with
college costing what it does, the deal is that mom & dad pay for
college but no car... he's going to make do with a bike. Whatever
the case, it's a pretty innocent-looking post, certainly nothing
indicative of everything that's wrong with our society.

Quoted message said:

We get people like this in our shop all the time. They're looking
for something practical and a shop that's going to take care of
things if something goes wrong.

You might get a better understanding from:

http://psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20041112-000010.html

read all 8 parts and I think you'll recognize the behavior.

Just because this syndrome is so prevalent, doesn't make it a good
mode of social conduct.

Jobst Brandt

Quoted message said:

You might get a better understanding from:

http://psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20041112-000010.html

read all 8 parts and I think you'll recognize the behavior.

Just because this syndrome is so prevalent, doesn't make it a good
mode of social conduct.

I was amazed and dismayed when my daughters middle school sent us
information on how to use the web check up on every aspect of their
school day, right down to monitoring what they choose for lunch.

Jesus, who has time to sit on-line and check on that kind of stuff, and
how warped is the parent that does have the time and uses this service.

Yet at the same time, the school is encouraging the parents to "let go,"
telling them that it's okay to drop their kid off a block away, or let
them walk to school by themselves, rather than causing massive traffic
jams and dropping them off within ten meters of the school entrance.
Also, telling them to not call their kid when the kid's away for a week
on a Yosemite trip.

The school was overwhelmed with students bicycling to school, as soon as
it opened (it's been open for only three years). They vastly
underestimated the number of students that would be permitted to bicycle
to school, and rushed to build a second secure bicycle parking area. So
there is hope for the world.

If we didn't all know Jobst is a generous, big-hearted bicycle
advocate, I'd venture that someone is a little miffed that someone
else actually bothered to calculate cable and stretch and pad
compression... (I'm not sure why as I still have no !@#$ing idea what
those two clowns were arguing about, and it's not like Beam bothered
to try either...)

Thanks for all the parenting advice. I grew up in an urban college
city, and never lost a bike, so I understand what's involved. I
probably mislead a bit with my post. My son has never had a bike - we
live in a hilly and traffic heavy suburb, and it wasn't his thing.
But he recently mentioned it, said he thought he knew from riding
friend's bikes. I let him try my big Ritchey, and he could start up
and stay upright, but couldn't turn or shift with any confidence. A
relaxed posture and internal gears would seem to meet his needs at the
moment.

With the REI discount, the Transfer is a very attractive product. I'm
not that confident I could find a used bike with internal gears in
good shape without hidden problems. Say I decided it has to have new
wheels, or fenders, or a rack - the price could escalate quickly...

Now to go deal with the pool boy. You'd think a Stanford graduate
would know how to keep the 23K plumbing fixtures clean...

JG

JG said:

I'm looking to buy a commuter bike for my son as he is off to
college. The REI Transfer looks like a knock-out. It's an upright
commuting bike with Shimano seven speed internal gears, 26' tires, v-
brakes, all fairly hassle-free, _and_ it's sold with a rack, shimano
dynamo front hub, fenders, and kickstand for $600. What other models
should I be looking at?

I think the bike is fine.

Since I don't know where he'll be, I'll say to get this for the frame
and front wheel:
http://www.onguardlock.com/lockviewer.php?type=chain&model=5016

and this for the rear wheel:
http://www.onguardlock.com/lockviewer.php?type=ulock&model=5013TC

Though in Atlanta, I've had no issues using this combo:
http://www.onguardlock.com/lockviewer.php?type=ulock&model=5015TC

--
Paul M. Hobson
..:change the f to ph to reply:.

JG said:

If we didn't all know Jobst is a generous, big-hearted bicycle
advocate, I'd venture that someone is a little miffed that someone
else actually bothered to calculate cable and stretch and pad
compression... (I'm not sure why as I still have no !@#$ing idea what
those two clowns were arguing about, and it's not like Beam bothered
to try either...)

Thanks for all the parenting advice. I grew up in an urban college
city, and never lost a bike, so I understand what's involved. I
probably mislead a bit with my post. My son has never had a bike - we
live in a hilly and traffic heavy suburb, and it wasn't his thing.
But he recently mentioned it, said he thought he knew from riding
friend's bikes. I let him try my big Ritchey, and he could start up
and stay upright, but couldn't turn or shift with any confidence. A
relaxed posture and internal gears would seem to meet his needs at the
moment.

With the REI discount, the Transfer is a very attractive product. I'm
not that confident I could find a used bike with internal gears in
good shape without hidden problems. Say I decided it has to have new
wheels, or fenders, or a rack - the price could escalate quickly...

Now to go deal with the pool boy. You'd think a Stanford graduate
would know how to keep the 23K plumbing fixtures clean...

JG

It's certainly not a crime to want to do something nice for your college
student. I was lucky enough to have two hard working kids who earned
what they could with their summer jobs. I helped them with their
undergrad costs and anything else I could afford to do when I thought it
was appropriate. If someone had criticized me for any of that, I would
have told them it was none of their business and gone on with it. That
being said, I always bought used bikes that ran well but were not too
nice looking, because they were simply not as tempting to steal.

Quoted message said:

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

Quoted message said:

> I'm looking to buy a commuter bike for my son as he is off to
> college. The REI Transfer looks like a knock-out. It's an
> upright commuting bike with Shimano seven speed internal gears,
> 26' tires, v- brakes, all fairly hassle-free, _and_ it's sold with
> a rack, Shimano dynamo front hub, fenders, and kickstand for $600.
> What other models should I be looking at?
Going to college? I suspect he should be essentially an adult by
now and ridden many miles. If he hasn't, that's where the choice
of bicycle got lost. Besides, if he hasn't ridden yet, commuting
to class will be only that so get a one speed balloon tired bicycle
from Goodwill and let him pay for it.
By the time most young men get to high school, they either know
what sort of bicycle they want to ride or they don't want to ride.
How long are you going to hold his hand, or better yet, let his
mother do so? What did he do for summer work, where a young people
earn their own money for such stuff?
I guess mom takes him to Nordstrom's or Neiman Marcus to oversee
his wardrobe. What kind of BMW did he get for high school
graduation? "Poor" kid!

What was that all about? A guy wants to buy a bike for his kid
who's off to college. Could be that he's going to a school that's
bicycle-friendly and car-hostile. Yes, they do exist. Could be
that he's told his kid they can't afford a car for him, that with
college costing what it does, the deal is that mom & dad pay for
college but no car... he's going to make do with a bike. Whatever
the case, it's a pretty innocent-looking post, certainly nothing
indicative of everything that's wrong with our society.
We get people like this in our shop all the time. They're looking
for something practical and a shop that's going to take care of
things if something goes wrong.

You might get a better understanding from:

http://psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20041112-000010.html

read all 8 parts and I think you'll recognize the behavior.

Just because this syndrome is so prevalent, doesn't make it a good
mode of social conduct.

Jobst Brandt

Jobst - I didn't carefully read the entire site, but scanned parts of
it. I don't at all disagree that kids' lives are too controlled and
protected. Mea Culpa. I have two daughters, one a late teen, the
other in college. Both are great kids. Like my parents before me, I
don't think they had it as tough as me, I don't think they are as self
reliant as I was, etc. On the other hand, both are far more
successful academically than I was - one at an elite level, one at a
very good level for a college-bound kid. Both are more ethical than I
was at that age, both have a better wariness of drugs and sex than I
had. All in all I'm happy and proud of them. Do I think they are
perfect? No. Do I think their lives were too organized when they were
young? Yes. Have I steered them towards activities more than my
parents did - both in terms of the activities themselves and the
gear? Yes. But that's because we live in a social situation and a
physical location that precludes a lot of the spontaneous, self-
directed activities I enjoyed as a kid in the 50s and 60s. It ain't
the time or place I grew up in.

All that said, I just can't see anything wrong with encouraging a
college-bound kid to ride a bike at school, and helping him buy it.
That's not how I was treated, but it's far beyond being overly
controlling and protective. On the other hand, about that time in a
kid's life, it would be the last piece of gear I bought for him/her -
after that, either they want it enough to spend their own time and
money on, or they don't.

"JG" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

But he recently mentioned it, said he thought he knew from riding
friend's bikes. I let him try my big Ritchey, and he could start up
and stay upright, but couldn't turn or shift with any confidence. A
relaxed posture and internal gears would seem to meet his needs at the
moment.

I would suggest that perhaps your son will graduate to faster bicycles
rather rapidly if he finds them interesting. In which case internal gearing
bike wouldn't last long at all.

And he might find that he detests riding bicycles to class in which case
you'd end up wasting your money on a new bike.

The bottom line is still finding a good used bike in his size.

On Mon, 09 Jun 2008 07:21:51 -0700, SMS <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

The school was overwhelmed with students bicycling to school, as soon as
it opened (it's been open for only three years). They vastly
underestimated the number of students that would be permitted to bicycle
to school, and rushed to build a second secure bicycle parking area. So
there is hope for the world.

Cool.