Originally Posted by donnamb
Please consider the possibility that some people are never going to understand derailleurs. I can assure you that
many of those people are no longer riding a bike - something they once enjoyed - because of the scarcity of alterntive options.
I tend to think that this is a bit of an overstatement just in the sense that if you want a derailleur system bike, this is not a reason not to buy it. A decent derailleur system is not that hard to adjust nor does it need to be done very often.
Having said that the low end Wal-Mart bikes would probably be better off without derailleur. I could see where derailleur on bikes that cheap could be difficult to adjust or not hold their adjustment.
Also, I would agree that not all people need multiple gears.