You've reminded me of conversations I had with my Dad when I first got into road cycling. I was telling him about degreasing and doing this maintenance. And he was trying to tell me about how his old 10 speed he never did anything and it worked just fine. He got to say i told-ya-so when I over-did the whole maintenance thing and snapped my chain on a ride a few days later. Of course i had to call for a ride home.. But I stand by your belief that ****ty bikes turn kids (and people) away.