Originally Posted by
HillRider
Except in the real world that $100 bike will require a lot more than a new tire and tube to perform acceptably and reliably.
Really? Not been my experience. In fact, before the age of 18, I owned two bikes: Both huffies. Both ridden like all hell. And both required very little maintenance, other than flat repairs.
Yes it does because that $500 car is very likely to need several more expensive repairs in the near future and the expression "spending good money after bad" applies.
Just like bikes, cars have very few truly expensive repairs. Engine and transmission about about it. An engine/tranny replacement on a $500 car will most likely come up to about $2500 total. Still less than the $5000 car.
And, with a $100 bike, you can replace everything but the frame with entry level components, and still only come to about $1000. So, your total cost of ownership is $1100.
And, don't give me the line "well, everything has to be replaced to make it an acceptable ride", because I know plenty of people riding stock Next bikes, and they look like they're having plenty of fun on it.
And, yes, you'll have to replace the chain when it wears out on the $100 bike. Guess what? You have to do that on all bikes. Maybe the $100 bike's will come sooner. But, in the end, you'll have more miles on the frame, by the time you have gotten to the cost of an entry level LBS bike.
Same with all the components. You don't have to replace most out of the box. Out of the box, in order to make is a safe ride, you MIGHT have to replace the brakes. And you most likely have to regrease it, and put it back together. Even with that, if you went to an LBS to do it (Who would work on them), you still will come under what a LBS bike would cost.
"Spending good money after bad" only applies to lemons, not to otherwise serviceable things.
This idea that you have to replace is what drives corporations like Wal-Mart to sell disposable objects.