[CR]Re: [BOB] Schwinns at Target : 6x cheaper than before?

(Example: Production Builders:Cinelli)

From: Donald Gillies <gillies@cs.ubc.ca>
Date: Sat, 20 Nov 2004 15:15:45 -0800 (PST)
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: [CR]Re: [BOB] Schwinns at Target : 6x cheaper than before?

Well, one summer in 1982, my Raleigh Grand Prix was stolen and i needed a beater bike for 2 months, after which i would be back at college and riding my Sekai 2500. So I broke down and bought a $25 huffy to replace my raleigh grand prix.

I resolved to take it apart and rebuild it up and tune it so well that it would be fun to ride, although 10 lbs heavier than it needed to be. I quickly found out why a $25 bike is hopeless.

- brakes were soft steel, every time you braked hard they went out of adjustment. I mean EVERYTHING went out, the calipers bent, the stops bent, even the levers or the cable stretched. I could never get them with 1/4" of the rim and keep them there.

- rims were steel, difficult to true and braking performance was poor.

- tires were horrible 60 psi original equipment.

- handlebars had extension levers, which I removed. I wrapped the bars with rubber from a burst tire, including wrapping the brakes to make cheapo pseudo-hoods

- saddle was awful, par for the course.

- tires barely held air

- hub cones could not be adjusted properly, and there was something wrong with the headset that couldn't be fixed.

Now, i didn't buy the $108 schwinn at target, but in inflationary terms the brand-new $108 schwinn is the same price as my used 1982 Huffy. However, I see the brakes are higher quality aluminum, the rims are aluminum, and i did immediately find nonstandard or cheesy parts. Granted, i did not bring a caliper to check everything.

My point is, we must be at some sort of zenith for $100 department store bikes, and I expect that in a few years these bikes will be costing $200 or more, after the US dollar gets done falling.

- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA