Originally Posted by
jefnvk
Sure, but my 1978 Schwinn has garnered more nicks and scratches, and the stickers have worn far more, in the year and a half I've owned it than it did in the previous 36 or so years from the point I dropped $27 on it. Majority of bikes out there simply do not get ridden.
I'd truly be surprised if even looking at LBS bikes alone, half made it to 400 miles.
Big difference. A 1978 Schwinn was
not a Big Box Store bike. Up until about 2001, Schwinns were only sold through bicycle shops...many of them were "Schwinn" shops which sold only Schwinns. They were manufactured in US plants up until the mid80s. That may have been part of their problem as a brand. As a kid, I could never afford a Schwinn because they were higher quality and more expensive than other bikes. They also failed to keep up with mountain bike technology during the 90s which also buried them.
After 2001, the Schwinn name was sold to Pacific and they became Big Box Store bikes sold as a bit better quality than Pacifics other brands. Their other bikes are of such poor quality that being "better" than really bad is a pretty low bar to clear.