Originally Posted by Rustyoldbikes

Brandon, there is nothing wrong with buying a bike from K-Mart, Wal-Mart, or from BikesDirect. Cheap bikes enable millions of people to ride a bike until they are able to afford a better bike. What is wrong is misleading customers...claiming a bike is "Full Utegra", and then removing the Ultegra brake calipers and substituting low quality generic calipers, removing the Ultegra hubs, removing the Ultegra bottom bracket, removing the Ultegra crank...but calling the bike "Full Utegra".

How do you tell a frame that wholesales for $20 from one that wholesales for $100? Buy a million dollars worth of stress testing equipment. Cut the frames apart. Do tests on the quality of the aluminum used.

GLANCE at two frames made in the same factory and discern the quality of aluminum used, and the temperature at which the brazing was done? Impossible. So, it is easy for a dishonest bike wholesaler to CLAIM that its "cheapo" frames are identical to the high quality frames used on better bikes...because suckers are born every minute.

When Schwinn was a REAL bike company, it invested in millions of dollars in testing equipment. Suppliers would send Schwinn tires, or cranks, or hubs that LOOKED identical. Through expensive testing, Schwinn found that the differences in actual quality where dramatic...one crank was twice as strong as another, a tire from supplier "A" had twice the rolling resistance as an "identical" tire from supplier "B". Companies such as Trek, Cannondale, Specialized, and Giant spend millions of dollars a year testing frames, testing forks, and testing components.

Where is the test lab for "Cheap Bikes Are Us"? YOU are the test lab...if the generic brake calipers fail to work properly in the rain while riding in heavy traffic, you will have an exciting day.

There are two basic rules of capitalism: 1. a customer gets EXACTLY what they pay for....you pay $600 and you get a $600 bike. 2. There are always people dumb enough to think they can buy a $1,200 bike for $600.