This is taken from
http://www.bikesrnottoys.com/
The Truth About Toy Store Bicycles
Bike Shops
- Train their people to match your kind of riding to all your different bicycle choices.
- Carefully, proportionally fit your bike to you. This is vital to your safety, comfort, and fun. Quality bikes are built in many sizes to fit you OR a growing rider more safely and longer.
- Provide you honest information, have more types of bikes for different types of riding, and let you to test ride your choices.
- Quality bicycles ARE repairable, worth repairing, and are built with better, more durable parts less prone to malfunction or need for repair.
- Bike shops have expert, trained technicians to build AND repair bicycles..
- Correct, safe bicycle assembly by a bike shop takes an average of an hour or more per bicycle and is FREE!
- ALL NEW BIKES need re-adjustment of gears, brakes, spokes, bearings, etc. after an initial 15 to 30 hours of use to operate properly and last. Bike shop warranties cover free adjustments, parts, and labor if problems occur.
- Properly assembled and maintained bikes last and last and last…
- Bike shops teach correct operation, safe use, and care, and adjust your bike to you. ONE bicycle that fits, lasts longer and "holds-up" through many riders' use (and STILL has a re-sale value!) costs less!
- You BI-cycle for years on bike shop bikes.
Toy Stores
- Their clerks are trained to stock shelves!
- Bikes are “one size fits all!” NO frame size selection or choice. (That’s like Nike™ making ONLY size 6 shoes to fit everybody’s feet.) Ridiculous!!!
- Have few bike-type choices, no test rides, but MIGHT offer a choice of colors!
- "Toy store” bikes often use un-fixable, off-brand, “odd-ball” parts, and ARE OFTEN NOT WORTH REPAIRING!
- Toy stores have none!
- Toy stores “throw together” 6 to 10 bikes an hour, and most charge extra for assembly! (A bike shop would charge up to $50 to re-build such a bike.)
- Expect bike adjustments to cost an EXTRA $25 to $60...and toy stores DON'T do them! DON'T overlook this "hidden expense! And, they can ONLY give you another bike-in-a-box when they sell you a "lemon!"
- "Toy store” bikes often malfunction, need costly repairs, and DON’T LAST!
- Clerks spend little or no time with you, and you get what you pay for! Their bikes fall apart, are sometimes NOT-fixable, are often disposable, and their frequent repair or replacement COSTS YOU MORE!!!
- You RE-cycle “toy store” bikes!
Schwinn was once a quality manufacture, recently, Pacific Cycles, has purchased Schwinn and GT. The name means nothing now, and is not worth mentioning when purchasing the bike... It’s just like the Pacific's at that price range. You may actualy even be paying more for the name, its not worth the extra cost.
Shimano's situation is a bit different; they make very high quality, and very low quality components. When it comes to bikes, "You get what you pay for" is really true.
For your $150 budget, you can find some great used hard tails that will last a life time, check with your local bike shop. Tell them you are on a budget, and you want to buy used, chances are they have the contacts to get you what you want.
You can purchase brand name 1" slicks (26" rim size) from most shops for ~$10 each. These will be much more efficient when riding on the road, and well worth the cost.