Originally Posted by
jdswitters
Just stopped at LBS for new front v-brakes for $165 Target bought Schwinn. The spring adjustment part had a pin break the plastic case and the brakes are now useless. The good news is that the new all metal parts v-brakes was only $32.
The v-brakes on my Schwinn Avenue was the weakest component of the bike. They used to go out of adjustment all the time. Like the spring metal wasn't good quality and would lose its tension. But, it got better after 4-5 months. Like they've finally reached a stable level of tension.
Those were "radius" brand v-brakes. My Schwinn Trailway hasn't had any problems. It has no-name brakes. I don't think it's a quality difference between Walmart and Target. They both change components over time.
Regarding out-of-true wheel. Just buy a spoke wrench for $6. You can true the wheel on the bike. Just hold a brake arm close to the rim, spin the wheel and eyeball it. It's easy to do. Bicycletutor.com has a tutorial. If it's single-wall you'll have to retrue it occasionally. (Every 250 miles?). If you ride on rough surfaces (equivalent to hopping curbs), single-walls may not hold up for you. But, under normal conditions, and if you're not too heavy, they should be ok for a comfort bike like that. After you true it a couple times it should hold its true better than it did from the factory.
Depends on whether you want to save $50, or save the time/headache of truing your wheels occasionally.
Good choice on the H2 Hardcase tires. I have 35mm H4 and love them. Smooth middle for low-rolling resistance. I bought 32mm Race Lite Hardcases. I kind of like the H4's better. The ride feels a little better. I don't notice much difference in rolling resistance.
We have goat's head thorns here. When I rode a normal Walmart bike (normal tires) 25 miles in 2 weeks, I had 4 flats from those thorns. With my hardcases, I've only had two flats in 1500 miles. One was a piece of stiff wire that poked through. (Probably from a fragment of a blown-out steel-belted radial tire I rode over?). Another was a piece of glass that got into a small slit in the rubber (cut from something else) and worked its way though the hardcase.
In both cases, I bet those things were stuck in the tire for awhile and it was my fault for not examining the tire before each ride. I bet I had the opportunity to see it and remove it before it worked its way through.