Originally Posted by
HerrKaLeun
Buying a department store bike AND then going to an LBS for adjustment is a terrible idea. What, you spend 50% of the purchase price just to adjust it and not even get better components?
You get assurance that the components which are on the bike work as intended ... not something Walmart would guarantee.
Originally Posted by
HerrKaLeun
And going to an LBs with a department store bike is a recipe for condescending comments and guilt trips.
In which case, tell the staff to eat each other and go to a good bike shop.
Originally Posted by
HerrKaLeun
But adjusting a bike is not that hard to learn. If you are mechanically inclined at all, you should be able to adjust a department store bike.
And if you are not you could screw up that bike.
Originally Posted by
HerrKaLeun
If you are not up to that, buy the bike from a good LBS.
So I spend $100 at Walmart, $50 at a bike shop, and go ride for a season and decide if I really want to continue with cycling ... that's bad.
Or I follow your advice, buy a $700 bike at a bike shop .... oh, I don't because I don't have that much cash right now and even if I did, it would be stupid to spend that much money only to find out that I only Thought I wanted to ride.
There are different approaches to different situations.
Telling a person to either learn bike mechanics or spend four times his budget .... neither sound like good solutions in this specific case.
I would rather see this couple out on the road on a couple single-speed beach cruisers, learning to ride and learning to enjoy riding, than to see them not buying bikes because it is way too complicated and Waaaay too expensive.
But we all have different views.