Schwinn vs Huffy

[Maggie]

Left-Pinky-Toe Dec 28, 11:59 pm
I always thought Schwinns were overpriced personally.


Maggie Dec 29
The first bike I bought was a Roadmaster from Walmart. I did not want
to invest alot of money in the beginning. I have that bike at my
brothers house in PA. I actually love riding it. I know that the
group believes in the better LBS bikes.....but I have a hell of alot of
fun on that 59 dollar Roadmaster. After I realized I loved to ride, I
bought a better one. I may upgrade again in the spring. I remember
when I was a kid and all the guys in the neighborhood were getting
Schwinn English racers. They were really "THE HOT BIKE" to have back
then. But that was 40 years ago. My brother is 56. I say Ride anything
you can afford or get out of someones garbage.......For me, its the
riding part, not the brand of bike. A friend of mine will not be seen
on anything but his expensive TREK. I never even heard of a TREK
before this newsgroup. I never realized how much he paid for it. But
he also has three very expensive cars. So I guess he needs an expensive
bike. He only rides through the city. I don't think he has ever been on
a long distance ride. I guess it helps him pick up good looking women
in Central Park. ;-)
Maggie.

 

[Tom Keats]

In article <[email protected]>,
"Pat" <[email protected]> writes:
>
>:
>: And isn't there something noble about giving a bike like that a new lease
> on
>: life? But I'm beginning to suspect this is a troll, given the recent
> remark
>: from the original poster regarding knobby vs slick tires for a "commute"
>: bike.
>:
>: --Mike Jacoubowsky
>:
> I agree: it's a troll. He wanted to start a flame war, that's all.

In which case, I'd recommend the knobbies. Big, fat, plushie,
aggressively-treaded ones.


cheers,
Tom

--
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[Maggie]

Mike Jacoubowsky Dec 29, 12:00 am show options

Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.misc,rec.bicycles.tech
From: "Mike Jacoubowsky" <[email protected]> - Find messages by this
author

>> So which would you recommend?

What's wrong with American Flyer?

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


Maggie Dec 29

Isn't that a wooden sled. Wasn't my old sled an American Flyer?
Maggie.
Maybe I am getting senile.
Reply

 

[Pat]

: >
: > What's wrong with American Flyer?
: >
: > --Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles

: >
: > Maggie Dec 29
: >
: > Isn't that a wooden sled. Wasn't my old sled an American Flyer?
: > Maggie.
: > Maybe I am getting senile.
: > Reply

:
: What I want to know is why was there no radio
: in my Radio Flyer. I did make it fly once,
: but I was only a passenger for half the trip.

The radio in the name referred to radio waves. You were riding the waves
over the snow.

Pat in TX

 

[LioNiNoiL_a t_Y a h 0 0_d 0 t_c 0 m]

> Learning toward one or the other for buying a new dept store bicycle.

Buy a much better used bike for the same amount of money, out of the
local newpaper ads.

--
"Bicycling is a healthy and manly pursuit with much
to recommend it, and, unlike other foolish crazes,
it has not died out." -- The Daily Telegraph (1877)

 

[di]

"Little Meow" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Pat wrote:
>
> http://www.redwagons.com/18clasred.html
>
> "Radio Flyer red wagons take children safely forward"
> Unfortunately there were no labels warning of the
> dangers of riding the wagon off the roof and into the pool.

Should have had some of today's lawyers, they could have solved that
problem, but of course you wouldn't have gotten anything from it.

 

[spoking]

Wow. Just for fun, i'm gonna reply to this one. Even tho i am
completely a roadie, and everything I own now is fitted to a T, I
believe there is a place for dept store mass production machines.
Caveat - they are mostly wear-em-out-and-throw-em-away. Don't worry
about Huffy or Schwinn, go for price. Don't get fancy shocks. Don't do
stunts on it. Avoid potholes and riding off curbs. Make sure it fits,
and the instant the saddle gets uncomfortable, replace it with a better
one. Experiment with saddles. If your commute is <5 miles, maybe you'll
never have a problem.

When I was a child my parents bought me a few various "English"
3-speeds. I didn't like em and always wanted what the other kids had -
Sting-Rays. The first bike I had I considered to be mine I stole from
my sister - she had moved out of the house and left it. That was a
humongously heavy Schwinn girls cruiser - but it had a basket, and I
had a newspaper route that I had to deliver to make money, and there
was no other bike in the house at the time. My second bike I got after
high school, and once again used to commute to work - it was a dept
store cheapo 10-speed, and it saw a couple of hard summers of commuting
to work, and even some non-summer commutes. The bike held up long
enough, and served its purpose. At that time I had no spare parts bin
to rebuild a used bike, and didn't have the knowledge or desire to do
so either. It worked, I worked, and we got along just fine. When the
seat stay (part of the frame) broke away from the rest of the frame, my
kid brother braised it back, and 'inherited' the bike that way. Overall
miles, it didn't go that far, but it went far enough, and the price was
right.

Knobbies vs. slicks? Unless you're doing sloppy dirt, do the slicks.
The skinniest lightest tire that will give you a ride without going
flat or sinking into your "road" surface is a good way to think about
it. Riding roads in Africa or Mongolia? Get fat thick tires. Not going
there? hmmm.

You know, Ron H doesn't get a lot of respect around here, but on this
topic I agree with him.

Have a great day;
Mark

 

[Mike Jacoubowsky/Chain Reaction Bicycles]

> Isn't that a wooden sled. Wasn't my old sled an American Flyer?
> Maggie.
> Maybe I am getting senile.

Maybe, but I might be getting there first. Might have been American Eagle.

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
IMBA, BikesBelong, NBDA member

"Maggie" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Mike Jacoubowsky Dec 29, 12:00 am show options
>
> Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.misc,rec.bicycles.tech
> From: "Mike Jacoubowsky" <[email protected]> - Find messages by this
> author
>
>>> So which would you recommend?
>
> What's wrong with American Flyer?
>
> --Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
> www.ChainReactionBicycles.com
>
>
> Maggie Dec 29
>
> Isn't that a wooden sled. Wasn't my old sled an American Flyer?
> Maggie.
> Maybe I am getting senile.
> Reply
>

 

[Werehatrack]

On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 18:08:49 GMT, Little Meow <[email protected]> wrote:


>
>> Mike Jacoubowsky Dec 29, 12:00 am show options
>>
>> Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.misc,rec.bicycles.tech
>> From: "Mike Jacoubowsky" <[email protected]> - Find messages by this
>> author
>>
>>>> So which would you recommend?
>>
>> What's wrong with American Flyer?
>>
>>
>
>http://americanflyerbicycle.com/

Hmmm. Interesting. They claim that their road bike is equipped with
"Kenda Kontender Ceramic Tires".

That should yield some novel rebound rates on bumps.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

 

[Mark Weaver]

"Donald Gillies" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I took a close look at a department store Schwinn a month ago,
>
>
http://search.bikelist.org/query.as...?"&SearchPrefix=@msgsubject&SortBy=MsgDate[a]
>
> Specifically, the $108 schwinn hybrid at Target. Unlike earlier
> department store bikes that had obvious manufacturing compromises
> (e.g. cheap soft steel brakes that bent every time they were used,
> steel rims, lead-pipe frames, suicide extension levers), modern
> dept. store bikes have closed a tremendous gap with bike shop bikes.
>

I bought one of those for my kid. Heck of a deal, IMHO. Frame seems fine,
components are the same as on low end LBS bikes. My kid (like a lot of
13-year-olds) doesn't take care of things very well, leaves the bike out in
the rain, often forgets to take a lock, etc, so I was happy to be able to
get a pretty decent bike for such a small sum.

If you compare the Schwinns to the Huffys, though, there are some pretty
significant differences -- the Huffys I've seen do *not* use the same
components as low-end LBS bikes. You'll see stamped-steel caliper brakes
instead of aluminum linear brakes, a single piece crank instead of a
3-piece, possibly steel wheels instead of alloy, and so on.

> Although I don't own one, these bikes are probably not fun or
> practical to work on or tune. They are designed to be manufactured
> cheaply, used until the parts fail or go out of the adjustment, and
> then thrown away. Don't expect to get it fixed cheaply at a normal
> bike shop. Work on it yourself, if at all.
>

Nah, really no better or worse than a low-end LBS bike--the components are
the same. I didn't have any trouble adjusting it after I bought it.

Mark

 

[Tom Sherman]

Mark Weaver wrote:

> ...
> I bought one of those for my kid. Heck of a deal, IMHO. Frame seems fine,
> components are the same as on low end LBS bikes. My kid (like a lot of
> 13-year-olds) doesn't take care of things very well, leaves the bike out in
> the rain, often forgets to take a lock, etc, so I was happy to be able to
> get a pretty decent bike for such a small sum....

When I was 13, my bicycle was a Peugeot P-8 purchased new from Andrew
Muzi/Yellow Jersey that cost ~$260 (IIRC). This was a small fortune (for
me), and you can be assured I took care of it.

When I outgrew it in my late teens, I passed it on to a relative who
commuted on it for 10+ years, until it was destroyed by a pick-up truck
driver running a stop sign. Otherwise, I expect it would still be in use
2+ decades later.

This was the low-end of the Peugeot range, but the ride, handling,
weight, braking and shifting performance made it much more enjoyable to
ride than the ~$80 hardware store "10-speed" it replaced.

--
Tom Sherman - Near Rock Island

 

[OliverS]

PSB wrote:
> Ron Hardin wrote:
>
>> I generally get 6 years before that happens, and the current one
>> looks to be going strong for more years yet.
>
>
> I was hoping you would ring in Ron.
>
> The thing about the Huffy I was looking at has knobby tires. The Schwinn
> didn't have knobbies.
>
> What do you recommend Ron, knobbies or slicks?
>
> Thanks.
Rolling resistance comes from distortion of the tire and the surface. A
steel wheel on a steel rail has the least rolling resistance.

Knobby tires have significantlly greater rolling resistance than a
smooth tire. Likewise high pressure tires have less rolling resistance
than soft tires. The most important thing is to get a bike that fits.
If it has knobby tires, change them to something smoother. I love
Avocet Cross tires 700x35 for general purpose riding and touring. The
inverted tread has low rolling resistance on a smooth surface, and has
some grip on dirt roads and paths. They are a little bit on the
expensive side though. If you are commuting, you do not want knobbies,
unless you are purposely trying to increase your calorie burn.

Oliver

--
Cheers! OliverS
When replying personally, remove "_nospam_"

"When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of
the human race." HG Wells

 

[Mike Kruger]

Tom Keats wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>,
> "Pat" <[email protected]> writes:
>>
>>>
>>> But I'm beginning to suspect this is a troll, given
>>> the recent remark from the original poster regarding
knobby vs
>>> slick tires for a "commute" bike.
>>>
>>> --Mike Jacoubowsky
>>>
>> I agree: it's a troll. He wanted to start a flame war,
that's all.
>
> In which case, I'd recommend the knobbies. Big, fat,
plushie,
> aggressively-treaded ones.
>
Steel rims are a must. Much stronger and so shiny

 

[A Muzi]

> Mark Weaver wrote:
>> I bought one of those for my kid. Heck of a deal, IMHO. Frame seems
>> fine,
>> components are the same as on low end LBS bikes. My kid (like a lot of
>> 13-year-olds) doesn't take care of things very well, leaves the bike
>> out in
>> the rain, often forgets to take a lock, etc, so I was happy to be able to
>> get a pretty decent bike for such a small sum....

Tom Sherman wrote:
> When I was 13, my bicycle was a Peugeot P-8 purchased new from Andrew
> Muzi/Yellow Jersey that cost ~$260 (IIRC). This was a small fortune (for
> me), and you can be assured I took care of it.
>
> When I outgrew it in my late teens, I passed it on to a relative who
> commuted on it for 10+ years, until it was destroyed by a pick-up truck
> driver running a stop sign. Otherwise, I expect it would still be in use
> 2+ decades later.
>
> This was the low-end of the Peugeot range, but the ride, handling,
> weight, braking and shifting performance made it much more enjoyable to
> ride than the ~$80 hardware store "10-speed" it replaced.

That series was robotically fillet brazed and successfully
sold in good volume at $199 to $259 - a price where European
lugged frames were prohibitively expensive at the time.
(Production later moved to ProCycle Canada)

These are sought out by the thrift store cognoscenti. Their
unfiled joints don't look all that sharp but since Peugeot
used a heavier down tube and a much lighter top tube ,
combined with a classic geometry, the handling and 'road
feel' are exceptional. A 'category killer' new at $259 and
once again among the '$20 used ten speeds'.

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

 

[Mike Kruger]

A Muzi left his web site link, and I wandered over to his
photo of the day.
http://www.yellowjersey.org/daily.html

It's quite the winter cycling photo!

(because this may not be the picture at some later point, I
will describe it: an upside-down iron is substituted for the
saddle. The iron is connected to an auto battery, which is
where the rack trunk would be on my bike.)

 

[Tom Keats]

In article <[email protected]>,
OliverS <[email protected]> writes:

> Rolling resistance comes from distortion of the tire and the surface. A
> steel wheel on a steel rail has the least rolling resistance.
>
> Knobby tires have significantlly greater rolling resistance than a
> smooth tire. Likewise high pressure tires have less rolling resistance
> than soft tires. The most important thing is to get a bike that fits.
> If it has knobby tires, change them to something smoother. I love
> Avocet Cross tires 700x35 for general purpose riding and touring. The
> inverted tread has low rolling resistance on a smooth surface, and has
> some grip on dirt roads and paths. They are a little bit on the
> expensive side though. If you are commuting, you do not want knobbies,
> unless you are purposely trying to increase your calorie burn.

Knobbies do make a pleasing 'buzz' on asphalt. Sure, they'll
slow ya down and (heaven forbid) allow other riders to pass ya
sometimes. But if you don't care, it doesn't matter. And there
may be some shortcut scenarios where knobbies come in handy.
Even in urban environs.

One of the worst thing about knobbies is not being able to
run a sidewall generator on them. They can interfere with
fenders, too, on a commuter bike.


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

 

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] (Tom Keats) wrote:

> In article <[email protected]>,
> OliverS <[email protected]> writes:
>
> > Rolling resistance comes from distortion of the tire and the surface. A
> > steel wheel on a steel rail has the least rolling resistance.
> >
> > Knobby tires have significantlly greater rolling resistance than a
> > smooth tire. Likewise high pressure tires have less rolling resistance
> > than soft tires. The most important thing is to get a bike that fits.
> > If it has knobby tires, change them to something smoother. I love
> > Avocet Cross tires 700x35 for general purpose riding and touring. The
> > inverted tread has low rolling resistance on a smooth surface, and has
> > some grip on dirt roads and paths. They are a little bit on the
> > expensive side though. If you are commuting, you do not want knobbies,
> > unless you are purposely trying to increase your calorie burn.
>
> Knobbies do make a pleasing 'buzz' on asphalt. Sure, they'll
> slow ya down and (heaven forbid) allow other riders to pass ya
> sometimes. But if you don't care, it doesn't matter. And there
> may be some shortcut scenarios where knobbies come in handy.
> Even in urban environs.

But slicks are soo much nicer to ride on! And better cornering grip. And
better wet-pavement grip. I have a set of Tioga City Slickers, which are
pretty cheap, available at MEC, and they even have gumwalls to satisfy
the purists. The tread is a minimalist road pattern.

Even on packed gravel, I would opt for the slicks over knobbies. About
the only urban surface a knobby can traverse that a slick cannot is a
muddy slope long enough that you can't just power through by
accelerating before you hit the hill. That's a pretty rare thing, even
when making shortcuts.

> One of the worst thing about knobbies is not being able to
> run a sidewall generator on them. They can interfere with
> fenders, too, on a commuter bike.

I love knobbies when I'm playing in the mud. But one of my Boxing Day
finds was a nice rear wheel for $15, which will soon hold the slicks for
my mountain bike, causing quick-change happiness for planned urban
stupidity.

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email protected] http://www.wiredcola.com
Verus de parvis; verus de magnis.

 

[Tom Keats]

In article <[email protected]>,
Ryan Cousineau <[email protected]> writes:

>> Knobbies do make a pleasing 'buzz' on asphalt. Sure, they'll
>> slow ya down and (heaven forbid) allow other riders to pass ya
>> sometimes. But if you don't care, it doesn't matter. And there
>> may be some shortcut scenarios where knobbies come in handy.
>> Even in urban environs.
>
> But slicks are soo much nicer to ride on! And better cornering grip. And
> better wet-pavement grip.

I agree so much, I opt for slicks, myself. All I'm saying is
knobbies aren't totally unusable on pavement.

> I have a set of Tioga City Slickers, which are
> pretty cheap, available at MEC, and they even have gumwalls to satisfy
> the purists. The tread is a minimalist road pattern.

I finally parted ways with my Cheng Shins, after 8-10K kilometers.
I went looking for a new pair of the same, but ended up instead
with IRC Metros, from The Bike Doctor. $11.69 each. They at least
look similar to the Cheng Shins.

....

> About
> the only urban surface a knobby can traverse that a slick cannot is a
> muddy slope long enough that you can't just power through by
> accelerating before you hit the hill. That's a pretty rare thing, even
> when making shortcuts.

IME knobbies traverse wet, grassy fields better than slicks,
which can go kind of sidewindery. But there might be the
matter of divots.


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
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[Ron Hardin]

Tom Keats wrote:
> I finally parted ways with my Cheng Shins, after 8-10K kilometers.
> I went looking for a new pair of the same, but ended up instead
> with IRC Metros, from The Bike Doctor. $11.69 each. They at least
> look similar to the Cheng Shins.

Cheng Shin makes the sturdiest, longest lasting tire I've ever seen. They
have amazingly high rolling drag, however. You go 10% faster with anything else.
--
Ron Hardin
[email protected]

On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.

 

[Tom Keats]

In article <[email protected]>,
Ron Hardin <[email protected]> writes:
> Tom Keats wrote:
>> I finally parted ways with my Cheng Shins, after 8-10K kilometers.
>> I went looking for a new pair of the same, but ended up instead
>> with IRC Metros, from The Bike Doctor. $11.69 each. They at least
>> look similar to the Cheng Shins.
>
> Cheng Shin makes the sturdiest, longest lasting tire I've ever seen. They
> have amazingly high rolling drag, however. You go 10% faster with anything else.

I noticed that effect too, but over time it seemed to diminish.
I wonder if there's a break-in period for those things.

And I never was totally confident with their cornering. But
I sure got a lot of good use out of them. If it wasn't for the
gash in the rear one, I'd still be using them. I'm keeping the
front one on standby in the basement shop as a spare.


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca