I was in Wally World yesterday (don't ask) and realized they had Schwinn bikes (!) on the shelf. Are these any good? I desperately need a new bicycle (my offshore knockoff mountain bike bit it last year), am not a bike snob in any way, but want something that will last. SWMBO has a Trek that she's had for 14+ years that's been an awesome bike FWIW.
I wouldn't recommend buying anything you can buy at a big box store, regardless of name (those storied brand names don't mean much, having been sold years ago). Not only are the components bottom of the barrel, but the assembly will likely be so bad that you'll essentially have to rebuild it yourself (and hope the guy who did it the first time didn't break anything).
Unfortunately, Schwinn ain't what it used to be. Check their Wikipedia entry for the whole story.
Meh... I've been beating on my 29" Mongoose from Wally Mart for a few years. Is it top notch? Nope. But for the price I paid it's held up really well.
short answer...not really. The component and construction spec is on par with the other Bike Shaped Objects Wally sells. You are far better off buying a better name bike - Trek, Specialized, Kona, Giant, etc - used of CL or somewhere. You can spend the same dough and get a MUCH better unit. The discount store bikes feature a lot of OEM-only, plastic rich parts in the drivetrain that break and wear quickly and then can't be replaced. They don't use the same parts standards (like head tube & bottom bracket size, etc) that the better bikes do so replacing components or upgrading can be near impossible.
Schwinn sold out to the big company that makes all the wally level brands several years ago. Since then they the quality has tanked. Even before that, Schwinn was not the brand it was in the 60s, 70s, 80s.
The caveat here is that Schwinn does still make some decent bikes - they are sold at places like Performance Bike and Bike Nashbar, but not at discount stores. You can get really good deals on bikes with a pretty nice spec by checking out those guys, and to a lesser degree REI. If you want to buy new and get a good bike value for the money, check out Performance Bike's house brand Scattante. I rocked one of their road frames for several years and it was great. Their complete bikes usually feature a higher level drivetrain spec than others in the same price range, and the frames are made in the same Taiwanese factories as the big name frames.
Pretty much all the "brand name" bikes at Wal-Mart are made by Pacific Cycles, and are not the same bikes that made the brand famous. They're cheap offshore knock offs which have bought a once great brand name. I've got a Giant Boulder mountain bike - a bit more expensive than a Wal-Mart bike, and the Suntour fork is leaking from being stored upside down - but it's a much better bike than the cheap ones.
Check out Bikes Direct: http://www.bikesdirect.com/
They are all made in Taiwan like all the bikes made for Trek, Specialized, etc. It is along the same lines of Harbor Freight but with bikes. It's the same item without a brand name.
The advice that makes sense to me for a not-bike-snob but don't-want-a-pos user is: Buy off CL, stay away from any bike that has a 1 piece crank (indicator of crappy cheapness)
2 years ago I bought the walmart fixie on grounds of it is so simple that the trained monkeys assembling it couldn't berkeley it up. I would be willing to try the fat tire bike they have for the same reason. Otherwise I step up a little to a big box sporting goods store D-back/nishiki.
my Trek.. a 9800 OCLV cost me all of $600 used on CL ten years ago. That was a $2000 bike 15 years ago. I am sure you could find similar if you looked about
Javelin.... you do know ae86andkp61 is the manager @ River City Bicycle right???? Jesse...
Go in and talk to him...
No.
It should be really easy to find a high end used mountain bike for cheap in Washington.
I second River City. Store brand bikes are ok for just tooling around the neighborhood because they are usually heavy with cheap components that wear out easily. Not too mention most aren't assembled too well to boot.
If you don't mind used, hit up the local pawn shops and buy a name brand like Trek, then take it to be serviced (or do it yourself) and you'll have something you can own for a while and when you spend money on maintenance you aren't throwing money down a hole.
You also have to remember, it's the lowest possible quality component, put together by the lowest common denominator. Think of the front people you see at Walmart. Now think of the ones they won't let out of the back room. THEY'RE the ones putting your bike together. Not to say you can't repair it, but I've seen permanently damaged headsets, bottom brackets, etc by some clod with a vice grips going to work on a "Schwinn" at Walmart.
Just adding in here to reinforce: Check out CL, check out bikesdirect.com, check out your LBS and see what they have taken in on trade. These are the way to go -- I've seen pics that my LBS has taken of the wally world bikes that folks have brought in for a tuneup or fix.....scary stuff.
My brother picked up a TREK 920 on CL a few years ago for $80. That was a $600 (with Rockshox front fork) bike in 1998 money. Were you live should be a cake walk finding a deal.
Can't wait until the new 2015 Kona Big Rove hits the used and clearance market. Such a rad bike. I'm thinking of trying to build one out of an older 29er I've got, but I may just sell that to fund the Rove.
PHeller wrote: Can't wait until the new 2015 Kona Big Rove hits the used and clearance market. Such a rad bike. I'm thinking of trying to build one out of an older 29er I've got, but I may just sell that to fund the Rove.
That's pretty cool. Looks really similar to the Specialized AWOL. I really want one but I settled for putting skinnier tires and drop bars on my old hardtail Trek 6800 MTB and have 99% of the functionality at 1/20th the price... I really like the idea of a ride-it-any-dam-where bike.
I've got an old 1990 Marin Team that my father had bought in 1993.
I put a threadless stem adapter on it, with a negative rise stem, and pair of mtb bars, and 2.3" slicks.
It'd made me realize how DUMB skinny little tires are in an urban environment. This thing just cruises over curbs, potholes, and any other imperfection like a normal MTB. I just wish it had an internal geared hub.
oldeskewltoy wrote: Javelin.... you do know ae86andkp61 is the manager @ River City Bicycle right???? Jesse... Go in and talk to him...
I knew not!
Diamondback and Nishiki used to be bike shop brands. They are now under the umbrella of Raleigh America. Diamondback still makes high end stuff, but their sub-$500 bikes are in the big boxes.
The hitch with buying from a big box is gambling that the person who assembled/tuned your bike had even a ghost of a clue about bikes. I was a bike tech at Dick's for a few years (and I know what I'm doing) and some of the build errors from other stores that would pass through my hands for correction were ALARMING. Like "someone is going to get killed" alarming.
If you type in keyword, "Bridgestone" into the Portland CL, a couple of nice (but over-priced) options show up.
Bridgestone last imported full bikes into the US in 1994 but these are typically over-built bikes.
The naming system was pretty simple:
RB=Road Bike
MB=Mt. Bike
XO=Cross Over (Hybrid).
In those classes, a #3 is/was a more expensive/better equiped bike than a #5
I am not sure what you goals are but this XO-3 looks good.
I would try to drive the $175 price closer to $100.
Was a $600 bike in 1993. $985 converted to 2014 dollars.
Has since lost the goofy, "mustache" handlebars for what looks like a better handle bar.
The history and old catalogs of Bridgestone.
In reply to gamby: My best bike was a D-Back Kalamar from Dicks, and that was miles ahead of the walmart bikes I had as a teen. It just sucks that I lost it down a waterfall on my first long ride.
I'm checking CL daily for Trek and Specialized, and hitting the local pawn shops tomorrow. Any other brands besides Bridgestone to look for?
It just sucks that I lost it down a waterfall on my first long ride.
C'mon, you can't just leave that hanging there like that!
I bought my wife a "Schwin" cruiser from Wal-mart recently. She already has a very nice Specialized mountain bike, but she wanted a cruiser for around town and to put a kid seat on the back. It's a nice bike for the money, but definitely not on the same level as her Specialized. I did go over every bolt and adjusted everything. The brakes were put together wrong, but at least all of the parts were there.
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