Originally Posted by
borobike
My gosh, you are so right. I have invested less than $50 total into this bike, only $20 of which was completely necessary (brake pads). For that I have a fully functional bike that is fun to ride and got me into cycling and learning about bike mechanics. How foolish of me. Guess I shoulda forked over some extra money while I'm still in college so I could hang out with the cool kids.
Anyway, I really jinxed myself yesterday saying that I haven't even had a flat yet. Ran over a little bit of barbed wire that looked completely innocent until I ran over it. Air gone in about 20 seconds. The group stopped for me, we tried to patch it, but it wouldn't hold. I had even tried to find a spare tube yesterday but they were out of stock! My luck. Only got a 6 mile ride in today. I'm about to head out to the bike shop to try and find a tube or two.
Other than that, I had a great ride. No problems. While we were stopped there were a few of the other riders interested in the Denali in a positive way. Anything that's good enough to ride along without problems in the long group rides is just that...good enough.
You've invested 70 dollars into a 150 dollar bike, and that's just so far. I'm glad you like the bike, it's just that your money could be put to much better use.
A couple years ago, I bought one from Walmart out of sheer curiosity. The thing was a disaster. Not only was it heavy as all get out, it was flimsy too. Plastic derailleurs, hardware made of really soft metal, grindy bearings everywhere, and the single pivot calipers were a safety liability.
Let me put it this way, a couple years ago I bought a 1996 Made in USA Trek that weighs 21lbs
and is durable. And it came with quality components that aren't made out of paper mâché. You know what I paid for it? 220 dollars. The same as your 150 dollar Denali + 70 dollars in parts.
Originally Posted by
BassNotBass
borobike... good to hear you're enjoying your ride and don't have to rely on anyone to maintain it.
I get the same negative crap from other cyclists about my department store bike that you've unfortunately had to put up with here. The funny part is that I have more hard miles on my $140 bike than they do on their >$900 fair weather ridden bikes yet they bring their bikes to me when a tuneup, repair or upgrade is needed. As is said, in most cases it's more the Indian than the arrow that matters.
I ride a minimum of 140 miles a week, every week. And that's urban commute miles. Potholes, curbs, bad weather, and the occasional off road jaunt. These Chinese anchor weights just cannot hold up to that kind of abuse. For the same price, I can hop on Craigslist and find something in one day that CAN hold up to the abuse and wont require 70 dollars worth of parts just to be considered operational.
Price does not equal value.