have any of you ever ridden a Walmart bike? A big-box bike of any kind? No? Oh ... then you simply don't know the first thing you are talking about.
Slow steering---is called “stability” by people who are learning to ride. Seriously, who needs “fast” steering? Racers cutting through crit courses. MTB riders slaloming through trees at speed. Not people buying a first adult bike.
And … a lot of people (Who Post here, by the way) seem to like the front suspension. It makes it a lot easier to ride a bumpy trail … and across the lawn and such. A lot of rider errors can be soaked up in a just an inch of travel.
I am not convinced that most first bikes have suspension anyway. Proof?
Chainguard ring? Yeah … because people are Really concerned about rhe weight of the piece of plastic which keeps their clothing out of the chain, keeps the grease off their clothing, and keeps them from getting cut or scraped as they lean not to be clumsy around a bike.
Adjustable stem---absolutely a great thing to put on a beginner bike. Yup. No matter what kind of stem is on the bike, if it is not adjustable, it won’t fit more people than it will. An adjustable stem can fit a Lot more people … and can adapt if they adapt.
As far a changing chain rings … yeah, first thing most novices look to do.
I don’t swap chain rings. I swap cranksets, as a rule. Though I might replace a chain ring due to wear. But we are talking about people who ride a few miles a week … they won’t wear out chain rings in this lifetime.
Big cassette with a granny gear---excellent. We are not talking about athletes buying bikes. We are talking about people who have spent years on the couch, considering getting off the couch. They might not use the granny gear often … but neither of us know that.
Big saddle … yeah, a comfortable saddle is the Last thing I’d put on a bike. Considering that most beginning riders will for their entire riding carreer—SIT ON the saddle, instead of using their legs for some support … a thick saddle might be the difference between riding or not.
Huge shifters … What? Are you hallucinating?
V-brakes … because they work. Yeah, no point having working brakes.
A for lights … most riders are not going to ride at night so lights would just needlessly drive up the price of the bike. Most fo the poor folks I see riding at night rigged a flashlight … and nowadays for about ten dollars one can get a rechargeable flashlight and a strap to attach it to a bike.
If anyone had a clue about who actually buys these bikes, those people would not suggest foolish and useless stuff like built-in lights. A bell would be a much more useful accessory.
This crap that is listed in that post … it is nauseating, that anyone can be so unaware and still so demanding.
The idea that Most Riders have Completely different needs … some people are too selfish or too … (insert obvious adjective) to realize that someone who rides a lot and rides for some level of performance wants something different than people who ride around the neighborhood at 10 mph.
Seriously …. Unremovable chain rings is an issue? Someone needs to Seriously learn to think about the needs of others before dictating the needs of others.
People need to get it through their heads: Most bike buyers and bike riders don’t want what most BF posters want. Don’t need what most BF posters need. Don’t care about what most BF posters care about.
What most of those people want, is to be able to hop on a bike and roll around and get off the bike and not be sore anywhere. And they don’t much want to be sore the next day ….
Weight? They have a granny gear. Gearing? They are just learning to shift, and revs are definitely their friends.
And in many cases … People want step-through frames, which are going to be a little heavier for the same strength … but people lack the flexibility to swing a leg three feet in the air to mount a diamond-frame.
But some people seem to have a driving need to know what everyone else Should want, and is bent on convincing everyone that that is what people Should want ... to what end I do not know.
But the people making all those statements, totally divorced from reality … aren’t running bike shops, or they’d be broke.
I will again mention my friend with his sub $100 Diamondback.
It has a single front ring, 7-speed cassette (not freewheel and cluster) and Shimano brakes and shifters (not the GIGANTIC shifters one poster hallucinates.) I believe the bike has v-brakes---which is good because they are easy to center.
It has 26-inch wheels and lightly treaded tires. This means he can ride groomed dirt trials like some rails to trails, he can ride across a field or whatever …. He doesn’t have to worry if he has to ride down a gravel driveway.
It is steel and weighs about 30 pounds … a little heavier than my Raleigh with its 10-speed Tiagra kit.
That guy doesn’t want anything special. He got some Walmart lights which work fine for the speed and roads he travels. He has a cheap rack and a couple bungees and can bring anything he needs anywhere he needs. He is old and has some health issues but he can lift 30 pounds onto the front rack of the local transit buses, so he can use both systems to get around.
All the stuff listed as a drawback is a plus for him, and everything suggested as an upgrade would be irrelevant or a nuisance or a waste of money … so the guy would buy a cheaper bike without all that useless stuff.
The guy isn’t fast but he will ride as far as he has to, to get where he needs to go. The bike doesn’t hold him back.
People want to make rules for other people .. how about starting with a rule for themselves:
Go out and meet a few dozen of the people whose lives you are trying to rule and rearrange, and figure out what the duck you are talking about. Then talk … if you really feel the need to tell everyone else how to live.