View Full Version : Toys-R-Us!-Truth in Advertising
buzzman
06-04-07, 06:11 PM
I got this flyer from Toys-R-Us a few months back and forgot to post it.
I really appreciate the truth in their advertising. No wonder why the "R" is backwards in their name- at least they're consistent!
Look closely!
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s176/kencheeseman/Toys-r-us.jpg
Now do you see it?
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s176/kencheeseman/boyonbike.jpg
How 'bout now Mom's and Dad's?
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s176/kencheeseman/niceassembly.jpg
Been screaming this for years. :D
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/3986/toystorevslbs4om.jpg
You know what's funny, I know plenty of chinese food delivery guys who ride more than most of you ever will, for more hours than you ever will, in conditions year round that would make you scream for mama, and they do it on cheap $40 toy store bikes that are still working.
I tried helping a guy once with tightening his brake cable on some $40 toys r us special but he didn't have a wrench and neither did I (he just happened to be in front of the restaurant I was eating at and I saw him through the window); I mentioned that the bike looked like hell and he said "what do you expect for something 10 years old."
I'm not trying to say toys r us bikes are good but they're not the death traps people make them out to be.
Backwards forks are nimble as f**k, for messengering!
crtreedude
06-04-07, 06:31 PM
Slvoid, you are so right. Most people down here ride whatever still will roll. If you ever ride when them, DON'T let them ride a good bike with you. I rode with one guy, I had a great bike and he had one with a rubbing brake. He still wore me down.
I am better now, but I will always remember it.
buzzman
06-04-07, 06:39 PM
You know what's funny, I know plenty of chinese food delivery guys who ride more than most of you ever will, for more hours than you ever will, in conditions year round that would make you scream for mama, and they do it on cheap $40 toy store bikes that are still working.
Your point is well taken.
But my point is proper assembly.
And for many of us the fact that an improperly assembled bike makes it on the cover of their advertising is not only ironic but does not exactly inspire the confidence one might want before putting a child of five on a bike purchased and assembled at such a retail outlet.
Your point is well taken.
But my point is proper assembly.
And for many of us the fact that an improperly assembled bike makes it on the cover of their advertising is not only ironic but does not exactly inspire the confidence one might want before putting a child of five on a bike purchased and assembled at such a retail outlet.
No not you, the guy below you.
buzzman
06-04-07, 07:03 PM
No not you, the guy below you.
Oh.
There's someone below me?:eek:
That does wonders for my self-esteem!:D
Well, my only point is I just think people need to know if they buy their kid a bike from toys-r-us make sure they check it out carefully for manufacturing defects (I worked in shops for years and even the best of bikes came through with defective frames or components on occasion but we looked for them.) And then check and double check the assembly of the bike.
If the bike has no manufacturing defects and is properly assembled and it is properly maintained then it absolutely could last someone many miles and years of great use- this I do not dispute.
That ad really is the "Clueless Award" Winner.
bhtooefr
06-04-07, 08:09 PM
That's simultaneously awesome and horrifying.
That's simultaneously awesome and horrifying.
Those 2 radio flyer fixed gear bikes in the lower right are badass.
Backwards forks are nimble as f**k, for messengering!
I hear they steer themselves
:)
Sledbikes
06-04-07, 09:39 PM
hhahahhaahhahaha
buzzman
06-04-07, 09:52 PM
Those 2 radio flyer fixed gear bikes in the lower right are badass.
:lol:
truth be told when I was that age I would never be seen on that trike. I wanted a trike with the biggest wheels possible and couldn't wait for my first two wheeler.
When my parents bought me yet another tricycle one year at age 5- with the biggest wheels I've ever seen on a kid's trike (I wish I still had it it was massive)- I stole my older sister's 26" JC Higgin's and rode it around the block. Ironically, the front wheel went flying off on a downhill. Fearing my sister's wrath I quickly befriended the 15 year old whose yard the wheel rolled into. He got an adjustable wrench from his father's toolbox and together we put the bike back together. Been my own mechanic ever since.
Maybe the kid in the picture will figure out how to reverse his forks! Yeah, that's the ticket! Teach your kids to be bike mechanics- buy them Toys-R-Us bikes and they'll learn by necessity! It's sink or swim at Toys-R-Us!:D
ghettocruiser
06-04-07, 10:03 PM
Alas, I've seen backwards forks on display model $2000 bikes. I'm not gonna say where.
buzzman
06-04-07, 10:24 PM
Alas, I've seen backwards forks on display model $2000 bikes. I'm not gonna say where.
Pictures! I want pictures!:p
No not you, the guy below you.
I have a name. Ever since you went roadie you've changed, and not in a good way.
sgtsmile
06-05-07, 05:55 AM
Been screaming this for years. :D
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/3986/toystorevslbs4om.jpg
Tend to agree with this one.
Buddy of mine ran a bike shop for years. I can remember him cursing and swearing at department store bikes people brought in to fix. It often cost more in labour than a new dept store bike would cost just to get the thing running right, and even then, it would never be exactly right since he often could not get parts for them (the best example was the one piece crank with rubber BUSHINGS - no bearings - that someone wanted him to fix. All he could do was grease them; they were and are unfixable. And he could not get replacement ones. So the crank was just a sloppy when it left as when it came in.) The biggest weakness though in bikes like this that I saw are the brakes (or lack of them). The ones he worked on tended to not adjust properly no matter what was done; they could be literally bent with your bare hands.
I am not advocating expensive here. His shop sold bikes that compared in price to the better dept store bikes, but had solid brakes, all bearings and no bushings, replaceable parts, and a proper assembly job with a real warranty. He also had a variety of sizes and would sell what fit, not what was "there". His shop specialized in that kind of thing (not a high end bike to be found there).
If it is inexpensive you want, a LBS is often a better option vs a department store usually simply because they know what they are doing when it comes to making a bike a safe vehicle to ride on. It is not fair really to ask a department store to match that expertise since it is not what they specialize in. However, it is fair to demand a well made well assembled bike with maintainable parts. If that can be done at a department store, then cool. But if the department store cannot match a LBS for quality and service, I would not bother with it.
SonataInFSharp
06-05-07, 06:35 AM
Hehe, I worked at Toys 'R' Us for two days many summers ago. I had to "sell" bikes. That meant making sure the brakes worked and that the tires didn't fall off. I was completely embarrassed by the whole thing and shook my head every time the owners of the new bike walked it out the door.
flipped4bikes
06-05-07, 07:37 AM
Hey, isn't that the latest Cannondale fork concept?
I have a name. Ever since you went roadie you've changed, and not in a good way.
But I'm still me... I swear. I mean, sure the sex isn't as good as it used to be but we still have our moments.
slowandsteady
06-05-07, 08:43 AM
I understand not buying a big box store bike as an adult, but why not for a child? Assuming you check out the assembly and make sure it is safe, the kid will outgrow the bike LONG before it needs to be overhauled. I really don't see the point in buying a 5 year old a $300 bike, unless you plan on having 16 kids and using it as a hand me down.
buzzman
06-05-07, 09:41 AM
I understand not buying a big box store bike as an adult, but why not for a child? Assuming you check out the assembly and make sure it is safe, the kid will outgrow the bike LONG before it needs to be overhauled. I really don't see the point in buying a 5 year old a $300 bike, unless you plan on having 16 kids and using it as a hand me down.
this is true. Let's face it we live in a throwaway culture. We want to give our children something shiny and new out of the box even if it's poorly manufactured rather than a quality used bike. The sad thing is that a Schwinn child's bike made in the 1960's could easily be refurbished and ridden today by a kid. A child's bike could effectively last for 3 generations of users. I remember reading in BF's about some guy who was doing just that- refurbishing old bikes and giving them away to kids in neighborhoods who couldn't afford the cheapest of discount store bikes. The kids were thrilled to receive these solid, reliable bikes.
Unfortunately, the discount store bike is primarily to please the parent. It looks like the bike at the bike shop. It's shiny. It gives the same thrill of a gift when it's given and then it's tossed in the back of the garage, left in the yard, run over by the mini-van, stolen by the tough kids down the street, breaks and is never fixed or God forbid the tires go flat and, "we don't have a pump!". And as you point out provided it's safe to ride on day one it should last till the kid outgrows it and then it's landfill.
I see the purchase of a bicycle (any bicycle) as a learning opportunity. It's a right of passage to a child's independence, the responsibility of maintaining a machine. An opportunity to learn how machines work- A bicycle is a compound machine that makes use of the 6 simple machines. Also an opportunity to learn about quality and craftsmanship- values that seem sorely lacking. It's funny but at the college I teach at I am amazed at the number of students I've seen this year on old steel framed bikes from the 70's (Raleigh Pro's, Peugeots PX-10's, Dawes, Motobecanes, Schwinns) that they have converted to FG/SS's. They'll tell me it was their father's or mother's bike that they rode cross country on in the 70's. (I've yet to see a discount store bike from the 70's being used in this way.)
If we advocate to be treated better as adult cyclists on the road we might think about the benefits of giving the bicycle more dignity and respect than just any other piece of plastic crap from Toys-r-us even when it's for a child and not for an adult.
slowandsteady
06-05-07, 09:48 AM
I don't think an inanimate object is worthy of dignity or respect. If you only have one or two kids it makes no sense to pay almost ten times the price for something that you cannot sell without taking major loss. This is just basic economics here. Why spend 200 for something when you can spend $40 for something that will be used for a year or two at most?
bhtooefr
06-05-07, 10:05 AM
Well, I've heard the idea that you can pass it around the family, or give others the bike to extend its use.
You ARE buying the bike with the expectation of 100% depreciation (buy it and throw it away.) However, you're buying it expecting your kids to use it.
Therefore, why not buy the bike, and instead give it away, or keep it in the family, or hand it down? $200 for, say, 40 years of use is a hell of a lot better than $40 for 1 year.
buzzman
06-05-07, 10:07 AM
I don't think an inanimate object is worthy of dignity or respect. If you only have one or two kids it makes no sense to pay almost ten times the price for something that you cannot sell without taking major loss. This is just basic economics here. Why spend 200 for something when you can spend $40 for something that will be used for a year or two at most?
do you think the craftsmanship that goes into the manufacture of the inanimate object is worthy of dignity and respect?
and what about a work of art? -the Sistene Chapel is an "inanimate object", the Statue of Liberty, could a steel sculpture be admired for it's own value? could a quality steel frame made by a great frame builder be worthy of respect? I happen to think a well made bicycle is a work of art.
if you see the bicycle as a throwaway object when you are done with it then you're absolutely right it makes no economic sense to buy something that will last longer than your personal needs- unless you take into account it's resale value. Even many of the houses we build in America are built on this philosophy. I do think that the sense that this bicycle being given to a child will last for a very finite period and then be thrown away may teach the child something that, over the course of his or her lifetime, may not make good economic sense.
My three grandsons roam the driveway day and night on their big-box bikes. Happy as pigs in mud puddles. I could have spent 10 times as much, but then only one would have a bike.
I remember purposely turning the fork around on many of my old Schwinns. Was the cool thing to do. Flipping up the handlebars in what is now referred to a DWI mode. Putting small wheels on frames designed for 27'ers and bombing around in the dirt.
I do like how the moved the brake lever to the other side so the cable routing is correct.
slowandsteady
06-05-07, 10:17 AM
Well, I've heard the idea that you can pass it around the family, or give others the bike to extend its use.
You ARE buying the bike with the expectation of 100% depreciation (buy it and throw it away.) However, you're buying it expecting your kids to use it.
Therefore, why not buy the bike, and instead give it away, or keep it in the family, or hand it down? $200 for, say, 40 years of use is a hell of a lot better than $40 for 1 year.
Who the heck is going to ride a bike designed for a 5 year old for 40 years? How am I going to find all those five year olds. You guys are so brainwashed. Like I said if you plan on having a huge family it makes sense to buy a high quality bike. But, the xmart bike will hold up to the abuses of a handful of five year olds with no need for repair. They are a single speed with a steel frame. I am going to have maybe two more children. If I buy a $40 bike I am quite certain it will survive the two kids. I have just spend $20 for each of them. Then I can donate the darn thing to good will or whatever.
Now if I spend $200 on a bike for three kids I have to spend $100 for each kid. Sure, I can give it away to someone else, but I am still out that $160 that I didn't need to spend. Even if I sold it, there is no way I could get $160 for a ~3-6 year old bike that originally sold for $200.
Even if the rest of my family should decide to have children, how can I be sure they want to have my kids' handmedown of a handmedown? What if the timing isn't right? That bike might sit for 10 years in my garage just waiting for someone in my family to want it.
slowandsteady
06-05-07, 10:19 AM
do you think the craftsmanship that goes into the manufacture of the inanimate object is worthy of dignity and respect?
and what about a work of art? -the Sistene Chapel is an "inanimate object", the Statue of Liberty, could a steel sculpture be admired for it's own value? could a quality steel frame made by a great frame builder be worthy of respect? I happen to think a well made bicycle is a work of art.
if you see the bicycle as a throwaway object when you are done with it then you're absolutely right it makes no economic sense to buy something that will last longer than your personal needs- unless you take into account it's resale value. Even many of the houses we build in America are built on this philosophy. I do think that the sense that this bicycle being given to a child will last for a very finite period and then be thrown away may teach the child something that, over the course of his or her lifetime, may not make good economic sense.
I have been to the Sistene Chapel by the way....and to compare that to a bicycle is assinine.
About 10km from the Sistine Chapel you'd find a man named Mario Caldaro whose work might change your mind.
Phantoj
06-05-07, 10:28 AM
Like I said if you plan on having a huge family it makes sense to buy a high quality bike.
I really haven't seen very many high-quality kids' bikes. The "bike shop" kids' bikes are not really that much nicer or lighter than the kids' bikes at the toy shop. Maybe that's because no parent would pay the $500 or so that a quality bike costs to get something that a kid will outgrow.
I have seen a kid's Colnago... that was actually a nice bike. And there are some 24" bikes that begin to approach the quality of a typical adult bike.
But most of the kids' stuff is just heavy and nasty, and it's not much better when there's a "Trek" or "Giant" on the frame than when it says "Huffy".
buzzman
06-05-07, 11:10 AM
I have been to the Sistene Chapel by the way....and to compare that to a bicycle is assinine.
slow and steady,
The Sistene Chapel was built, as you probably know, by literally thousands of craftsmen over many years. Each craftsperson meticulously doing their small part to make one great work of art. My anaolgy is to the quality and integrity of the craftsmen.
Perhaps I was brainwashed having been a mechanic and around custom frame builders for so many years. But the next time you're on the bike in your signature pic and flying down a mountain at 45 mph remember that you've trusted your life to the quality of that machine, to the people that manufactured it and, unless you do your own mechanics on it, the mechanic who tuned it. I would hope they put some care into the work they did.
What I love about the picture of the boy on the Toys-R-Us flyer is the absolutely naive look of trust on his face as he rolls down the grassy hill with the look of shear joy on a bike that is improperly assembled. That a fortune was spent on the still photo shoot on make up, lighting, catering, props etc. that then the photo was proofed and laid out and ultimately approved and no one ever saw that the fork was reversed boggles my mind.
And the final irony is this: Toys-R-Us began when Charles Lazarus transformed his father's bicycle repair and resale shop (where he refurbished bikes for sale for children) into a chidren's furniture and toy store.
Maybe I'm pissing into the wind here but I'd say it's a remarkable metaphor for what's wrong with current "economics".
sgtsmile
06-05-07, 12:57 PM
Who the heck is going to ride a bike designed for a 5 year old for 40 years? How am I going to find all those five year olds. You guys are so brainwashed. Like I said if you plan on having a huge family it makes sense to buy a high quality bike. But, the xmart bike will hold up to the abuses of a handful of five year olds with no need for repair. They are a single speed with a steel frame. I am going to have maybe two more children. If I buy a $40 bike I am quite certain it will survive the two kids. I have just spend $20 for each of them. Then I can donate the darn thing to good will or whatever.
Now if I spend $200 on a bike for three kids I have to spend $100 for each kid. Sure, I can give it away to someone else, but I am still out that $160 that I didn't need to spend. Even if I sold it, there is no way I could get $160 for a ~3-6 year old bike that originally sold for $200.
Even if the rest of my family should decide to have children, how can I be sure they want to have my kids' handmedown of a handmedown? What if the timing isn't right? That bike might sit for 10 years in my garage just waiting for someone in my family to want it.
Well, on that note, the nice raleigh that we bought my daughter cost the same as a big box store bike. And it was well made, of better quality, and supported our local LBS. A LBS can and often will sell you an inexpensive high quality bike if you ask for it.
The point would be for them to have a lightweight bike that is durable enough to be ridden off-road for four years.
At least that was why I bought a nice bike for my kid who wanted to ride with me and also hit the bmx track.
If your 5 year old's been riding the same ****ing bike for 4 years, he's been smoking.
I really haven't seen very many high-quality kids' bikes. The "bike shop" kids' bikes are not really that much nicer or lighter than the kids' bikes at the toy shop. Maybe that's because no parent would pay the $500 or so that a quality bike costs to get something that a kid will outgrow.
I have seen a kid's Colnago... that was actually a nice bike. And there are some 24" bikes that begin to approach the quality of a typical adult bike.
But most of the kids' stuff is just heavy and nasty, and it's not much better when there's a "Trek" or "Giant" on the frame than when it says "Huffy".
Fo real, son.
$850.
http://www.litespeed.com/shop/images/tricycle-lrg.jpg
My kid's trike has a king headset!
You'll have to translate that for me.
Thanks.
I mean that the growth pattern for a 5 year old does not match the range of adjustment that most 5 year old kid's bikes allow for. And by the time he's 9, if he still manages to fit on said bicycle, he's been smoking something to retard his growth.
A cheap bike may not ride well but it will still ride after many years. Like I said, the irony is in the fact that many people on bikeforums own some relatively expensive bicycles and put them through a lot less use and abuse than most delivery guys and messengers who are on some of the cheapest bikes out there that are still working after many years of constant use.
buzzman
06-05-07, 01:21 PM
If your 5 year old's been riding the same ****ing bike for 4 years, he's been smoking.
my nephew rode the same bike from age 5- 9 (a Schwinn from a bike shop), then inherited his sister's MTB, which was a Trek. When his parents realized he was really into it he went through a few mid-priced bikes as he grew. He's now 21, an expert mountain biker and custom frame builder.
He smokes me everytime we go for a MTB ride and hard as I work I can't drop him on a road bike. Is that what you mean by "smoking"?;)
The Litespeed Trike is a riot! And your point is well taken- there is such a thing as going too far and maybe, just maybe that's it!:D
my nephew rode the same bike from age 5- 9 (a Schwinn from a bike shop), then inherited his sister's MTB, which was a Trek. When his parents realized he was really into it he went through a few mid-priced bikes as he grew. He's now 21, an expert mountain biker and custom frame builder.
That's weird man, I like, doubled in size from 5-9.
Heh. If my son gets the growth genes from the Norwegian side rather than the Mexican side, he'll be riding my bike by the time he's 9.
Heh. If my son gets the growth genes from the Norwegian side rather than the Mexican side, he'll be riding my bike by the time he's 9.
If he gets the growth genes from the latter, you better buy him that titanium trike cause he could be riding that for the rest of his life, according to most people here.
ghettocruiser
06-05-07, 01:47 PM
the irony is in the fact that many people on bikeforums own some relatively expensive bicycles and put them through a lot less use and abuse than most delivery guys and messengers who are on some of the cheapest bikes out there that are still working after many years of constant use.
Hmm. Never been to New York. Locally, I'd note that the bike couriers downtown do not use department store equipment. Maybe very old, very high mileage equipment, but not cheaply made.
The delivery people I see on mass-market bikes are generally travelling barely faster than a walking speed.
That's not a judgment, just an observation.
Hmm. Never been to New York. Locally, I'd note that the bike couriers downtown do not use department store equipment. Maybe very old, very high mileage equipment, but not cheaply made.
The delivery people I see on mass-market bikes are generally travelling barely faster than a walking speed.
That's not a judgment, just an observation.
It better be here in 15 minutes, or it's free.
There are bikes that can accommodate a good deal of growth, especially if it's a little big when you buy it.
The kid looks the same to me. And why were you stalking someone else's kid with a telephoto lens?
e0richt
06-05-07, 02:05 PM
Tend to agree with this one.
Buddy of mine ran a bike shop for years. I can remember him cursing and swearing at department store bikes people brought in to fix. It often cost more in labour than a new dept store bike would cost just to get the thing running right, and even then, it would never be exactly right since he often could not get parts for them (the best example was the one piece crank with rubber BUSHINGS - no bearings - that someone wanted him to fix. All he could do was grease them; they were and are unfixable. And he could not get replacement ones. So the crank was just a sloppy when it left as when it came in.) The biggest weakness though in bikes like this that I saw are the brakes (or lack of them). The ones he worked on tended to not adjust properly no matter what was done; they could be literally bent with your bare hands.
I am not advocating expensive here. His shop sold bikes that compared in price to the better dept store bikes, but had solid brakes, all bearings and no bushings, replaceable parts, and a proper assembly job with a real warranty. He also had a variety of sizes and would sell what fit, not what was "there". His shop specialized in that kind of thing (not a high end bike to be found there).
If it is inexpensive you want, a LBS is often a better option vs a department store usually simply because they know what they are doing when it comes to making a bike a safe vehicle to ride on. It is not fair really to ask a department store to match that expertise since it is not what they specialize in. However, it is fair to demand a well made well assembled bike with maintainable parts. If that can be done at a department store, then cool. But if the department store cannot match a LBS for quality and service, I would not bother with it.
I don't know where this story really came from, but I have used dept store bikes during the 80's hey day and that bike was solid... there is a review thread on this forum for the gmc denal (can get from walmart, target, and amazon) where the reviewer has put on about 4k miles on it... actually during the 80's they had some sort of bicycle manufacturer's Association that would police the quality control for the bikes...
as far as LBS bikes are concerned, if I could get a road bike from an LBS that cost about the same as a hybrid, I would have bought one... unfortunately, you have to get outfitted as if you were going to the tour de france (with the commensurate outlay of cash...)
I have a road bike that cost less than the trek 7100 that I bought (on their recommendation) and the road bike is just as durable and more enjoyable to ride because it is so much more nimble than the hybrid... now why couldn't I have purchased a basic style of 14 speed from the LBS? don't know and basically now, I don't care...
SamHouston
06-05-07, 02:16 PM
I rode the same schwinns as my mom whenever I visited her great aunt. it was found by her great uncle, fixed up to functional&safe though never repainted or anything fancy and subsequently used for, well now 3 generations. My great aunt is still with us in her 90s, I rode it around the yard and the back pastures when I was 8-10ish and now the cousins kids roll the things around. They got tires, probably used tires but hey every ten years or so while great uncle was around, but not since then which is 15 years back.
those are pushing 50 years, with no more work than some oil & grease and a floor pump. I don't think todays x-mart bikes are up to that standard yet the only reason they can't be seems that disposable = better for margins & worse for everything else
SamHouston
06-05-07, 02:17 PM
my 80's toystore "bmx" wasn't near as flimsy and gadgeted as today x-mart bikes either, mine was toys r us circa 1979-80
sgtsmile
06-05-07, 04:37 PM
I don't know where this story really came from, but I have used dept store bikes during the 80's hey day and that bike was solid... there is a review thread on this forum for the gmc denal (can get from walmart, target, and amazon) where the reviewer has put on about 4k miles on it... actually during the 80's they had some sort of bicycle manufacturer's Association that would police the quality control for the bikes...
as far as LBS bikes are concerned, if I could get a road bike from an LBS that cost about the same as a hybrid, I would have bought one... unfortunately, you have to get outfitted as if you were going to the tour de france (with the commensurate outlay of cash...)
I have a road bike that cost less than the trek 7100 that I bought (on their recommendation) and the road bike is just as durable and more enjoyable to ride because it is so much more nimble than the hybrid... now why couldn't I have purchased a basic style of 14 speed from the LBS? don't know and basically now, I don't care...
Well, the bold bit first: that came from my friend who owned a lbs. And from me, who stood there in his shop and watched the bikes he had to work on that were sourced from big box stores. I saw the bushing equiped POS bike that had no bearings and no bottom bracket as the rest of the world knows it. It had a one piece crank which ran through bushings that were pressed into the bottom bracket. When they wore, they were not replaceable, and the crank slopped around all over the place. His store sold bikes that matched the price of big box store bikes within a few dollars, but were of better quality with better quality parts on them. They also had the advantage of being gone over by a bike mechanic of the first order who had more than just a bit of a clue. They also had the free "just broken in" adjustment that most lbs offer.
and on to the rest of it...
Another lbs near me sells road bikes for under or near 1k cdn. They have platform pedals, and are quite nimble. If you lbs won't sell you a road bike that costs under 6k (tdf bikes are not really purchasable since they have things on them not avail to the general public - but 6k will buy you a very nice reasonable clone of a tdf bike, minus all the prototype stuff etc etc etc), find another lbs. Back in the day, dept store bikes were not that bad. Today? I am willing to bet that the bikes at the local big box store have brakes on them so poor that if I grabbed a big mitt full of them and cranked on them, they would break, not brake. The quality is not there like it used to be. The cheap ccm ten speed I got as my first "road bike" has no real parallel in a big box stores these days.
Personally, I am not too concerned where people get their bikes. What matters to me is quality. If you get it at a big box store, good for you. Here at least, that is not so easy to do.
sgtsmile
06-05-07, 04:39 PM
I rode the same schwinns as my mom whenever I visited her great aunt. it was found by her great uncle, fixed up to functional&safe though never repainted or anything fancy and subsequently used for, well now 3 generations. My great aunt is still with us in her 90s, I rode it around the yard and the back pastures when I was 8-10ish and now the cousins kids roll the things around. They got tires, probably used tires but hey every ten years or so while great uncle was around, but not since then which is 15 years back.
those are pushing 50 years, with no more work than some oil & grease and a floor pump. I don't think todays x-mart bikes are up to that standard yet the only reason they can't be seems that disposable = better for margins & worse for everything else
Exactly. That kind of quality used to be found in dept store bikes, but lets face it, making things that last is poor for profits in the short term since if something lasts, people won't buy another, will they? In the long run, they won't either; they will go and buy something decent from some place which has a clue and sells a good product. That place might be a dept store, or might be a lbs.
As an FYI, I'm one of those parents that purchased a 12" Gary Fischer for my 2.5 year old. Her favorite feature? The basket in the front where she can put her doll. It cost $112 from the bike store. The alternative would have been $60 x-mart. So what did I get for my $60? Not having to assemble the thing myself, everything works and is well adjusted, the chain is tensioned properly, the wheels are in alignment, and all I have to do is keep raising the seat every couple of months to accomodate growth. Our neighbors purchased the x-mart verison, and it took them well over 3 hours to put the thing together. Functionally, I'd say they are similar, but its worth $60 to me to not have to putz with it. YMMV.
slowandsteady
06-06-07, 09:54 AM
That's weird man, I like, doubled in size from 5-9.
Yeah, doesn't everybody???? I grew at least a foot. I rode a bike at the age of 10 that could probably almost fit me now as an adult. There is no way I could ride a 5 year old's bike.
As an FYI, I'm one of those parents that purchased a 12" Gary Fischer for my 2.5 year old. Her favorite feature? The basket in the front where she can put her doll. It cost $112 from the bike store. The alternative would have been $60 x-mart. So what did I get for my $60? Not having to assemble the thing myself, everything works and is well adjusted, the chain is tensioned properly, the wheels are in alignment, and all I have to do is keep raising the seat every couple of months to accomodate growth. Our neighbors purchased the x-mart verison, and it took them well over 3 hours to put the thing together. Functionally, I'd say they are similar, but its worth $60 to me to not have to putz with it. YMMV.
Now double or triple that for three kids. 300 vs 180 dollars. I'll take the hour or so to make sure everythings as it should be and pocket the difference. Or spend it on bike parts for me:)
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