Should people who don't have $1,000 to spend on a bike never ride a bicycle? I'm not asking that to be an a**, I really am curious about whether you feel like no bike is better than a cheap bike.
Of course not. By definition bike riding suggests as act - riding. So what you do it on takes second seat to DOING it.


Honestly, it would be probably four or five years before I would feel like we could set aside $1,000 (or even $500) on a bike for me, and I hate the thought that I should just give up the idea of biking to work until then. As a kid I know I rode the cheapest bike my parents could find, and it seemed okay!
It was okay. Its only as an adult that you are swayed by the opinions of others, so called "experts," especially.

Last season I found a nice bike for half price - used. The owner had ridden it in a race and hated it, so I bought it. Ive ridden bikes that cost more than $1000 since. I would not have gotten more ride for my buck had I chosen them, instead.
I also found a nice Specialized Hard rock last year for $15 - all I had to do was clean it up and tune it.
Im not suggesting you look for a used bike, you can but that can also be hit or miss.
What I am saying is to know your riding style and your needs. Both of my bikes suffice for my needs. I could have spent a lot more - and I would have if necessary - but I didn't NEED to.

youre a smart guy and you have things sorted out pretty well. I suggest you get what you can afford and get to riding. You are right ... once you become conditioned and spend some time with your machine, you will want to change or upgrade, or whatever.
But let that come when it does. Meanwhile get to it.

Well put.

In my observation there are some who enjoy biking and some who don't (no matter how high-end of a bike you handout to them, they just don't enjoy pedaling. And, for those who do enjoy biking, they are amused by anything that has pedals and wheels.)

It turns out those who don't enjoy biking go to the xmart and buy a cheap bike to "try out" for fun, and of course the bike ends up in the trash a season later. [it's often abused and left outside to rot].


PS: As for "free market" and whatnot, it's a separate discussion altogether and probably suitable for the political forum, if there is one. All the US corporations are getting greedier by the day, and it's not only impacting bike shops...it's everything. From outsourcing jobs to importing cheap *****. The future is very bleak for US of A. It's truly unfortunate. (And I am not even a US citizen, yet i feel bad to see where this country is heading.)

oh well...sorry for the off-topic rant.

Not to perpetuate an off topic I started, but it's not just corporations. It's consumers too. Shoppers are attracted to saving a dollar without considering how it may undermine their neighbor -- who buys products made by that shopper. Both corporations and humans operate in the short term.

I support increased competition and free markets. But, forcing Americans to pay for a standard of living (water and air quality, occupational safety, environmental protection, national-park creation, animal welfare and [the list goes on forever]) and then allowing them to compete against people who don't bear those *coerced* costs isn't a free market.

A free market would be allowing anyone to opt out of those costs. Then they could work for $10 a day too.

If we aren't willing to live that way (people pimping their 13-year-old daughters to supplement the family income) then we should stop calling it a "free market" and demanding Americans become more competitive. It's really a national interest to protect citizens from unfair competition.

Anyway, that's the problem I have with depicting LBSes as a line of defense against global, cheap stuff. Just about everything sold in an LBS is made offshore. The loss of those manufacturing jobs in the '80s set the "new normal" for offshoring professional tech jobs in the '00s. All of this contributes to shoppers being attracted to department store bikes. It's not a matter of principle with those shoppers NOR the local bike shops. They're both responding to societal trends. Name-brand manufacturers had to move manufacturing offshore to remain competitive. LBSes had to sell those bikes because that's what their customers wanted (when faced with a foreign- or US-made price tag). Those displaced employees bought less, and became less discriminating about the electronics or customer service they pay for. Leading to more offshoring, and reduced opportunity.

It spirals into a "race to the bottom." I don't like it. But, Local Bike Shops are just as much part of the problem as everyone else (corporations, consumers, etc.). There are reasons to patronize an LBS. Better components, better fit, better assembly, intelligent guidance and tips. But, patronizing them to resist the "evil forces" often portrayed as exclusive to department stores seems futile. LBSes undermine jobs like everyone else does. Like everyone else, they had little choice.

It was relatively warm, and I took my xmart bike out today for a ride. Not bad at all. I did abuse it a bit off-road, but the rough handling didn't seem to bother it. It handled it quite well.

However, I did notice a knocking noise coming from the bottom bracket. It only happens under pressure or when going uphill. I am guessing it may have a bearing or two missing. i need to open it up when i get the chance. Other than that, it handled great. :thumb:

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._1040150_n.jpg

Finally opened up the bottom bracket. The caged bearings were fine, but there wasn't enough grease, which may have contributed to the noise that seemed to have been coming from the BB. I greased it up well and tightened everything to the proper tension. It should be good now. I will know soon :)

32 mm wrench: [reverse threaded nut]
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_O...0/IMG_3878.jpg

Spanner tool [reverse threaded ]
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_O...0/IMG_3880.jpg

Caged bearings. [barely any grease, if any at all]
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_O...0/IMG_3883.jpg

I think they put just enough to keep the parts from rusting. I don't have a problem with retail store bikes. You can always buy it and take it to a bike shop and have them tune it up. What I also see is people think I only paid so and so dollars for this bike so it can sit out side. I see it happen a lot and even my own brother and nephews. They know I'm the bicycle guy so when something needs fixing it comes here. A lot of the issues come from the setup...if you want to call it that from store.

I've got my 16lb carbon road bike with full Camp group, Schwinn Paramount, but I still have a Walmart bike in my stable too. The derailleurs may not be lightning fast when shifting but they do what their intending to do and still work. The brakes still stop me and saddle doesn't hurt my rear end too much. It's like a Geo Metro and BMW M3 are still going to get you from one location to the next...keep rain off your head and keep you warm(be it both are in good working condition). Yeah you can go buy something better used on CL but not everyone may not know what CL is or anything along those lines. I see more people in my town riding bikes from Wally world then the folks on LBS bikes. It doesn't matter where you get your bike from. Just ride. Yeah supporting your LBS is one thing but you shouldn't feel obligated to dump your hard earning just to ride.

That's a very common problem. I've heard LBS bikes have this problem too, but their assemblers open up the BB and wheel axles to add grease. (Three times I've found metal shavings in the department-store bikes' BBs. I suppose it's just from the tapping process. But, it's unnerving to see that.).

You should open your axles and grease them too.

To be honest, I'm not sure that yellow stuff is grease. 3 out of 4 times it felt and smelled like Cosmoline. That's a metal preservative used to protect things like gun barrels when packed for long-term storage. I cleaned my axles and BBs, and then greased.

Regarding the knock, make sure your pedals are tight. I hand-tightened mine on my first bike thinking they would tighten as I rode. I ended up with a knock 300 miles later. It was a tap I could feel in my foot. I thought it was the BB. The knock went away, I suppose because I inadvertently finger tightened my pedals during the process. 300 miles later I got the knock again. I spent more time investigating and realized the pedal was 2-3 threads loose.

The other thing I strongly recommend with department-store bikes is to use emory cloth (plumbing department) or a polishing stone to remove any burrs inside the wheel. Sometimes these bikes have some sharp seems and rough edges around the spoke holes. It's a common complaint among DSB buyers, "I rode it 3 miles and it flatted. I replaced the tube and it happened again."

I replace the rubber liner with Velox too. Doing that reduces the need to smooth down the spoke holes. But, I smooth them anyway. I think the big thing is the seam. Those can be abrasive.

At my local Walmart I saw a bike which had been returned, and was on the floor discounted, sold "as is." I was curious if it had single-wall rims so I let the air out. When I pulled the tire to the side, I could see the rubber liner was shifted far to the side exposing spoke holes. That made me wonder if it was returned due to mysterious flats. (Another example of how poor quality, assembly and unsophisticated buyers create a vicious cycle to give potentially decent bikes a bad reputation.).

Yup. That's what I have been afraid off. I have noticed the wheels are not free as it should be. The wheel bearings probably needs to be greased and properly adjusted.

Interesting. I haven't touched or smelled it. I haven't cleaned it, but I did pack some Park Tool "polylube 1000" grease on top of it. I rarely go mountain biking, hopefully, it should last this season, but I need to lube the wheel-bearings ASAP.

You may be right, the pedals are cheap and plasticity. I may have to upgrade the pedals if the knocking/shifting persists after re-greasing the BB.

Good point. I have'nt had a flat yet. The tubes leak faster than my other bikes, but I can get away pumping it weekly. I think I may been to replace the rim liner and the tubes as well. Another thing I noticed, the wheels are not 100% round. It does have some bulge on it, but it doesn't bother me. I can't tell whether it is a bump in the road or the bulges in the wheel :D

Oh well...i am learning new things...so it's not a bad experience. I would rather take a beater to all the dirt muddy trails... and i am broke after i bought my Surly LHT....lol.

Very True! (Most dont' even have the concept of lubing the chain, to say the least)

Agree 100%. [It took me hours to setup and grease, still not done yet. I need to grease the wheel bearings]

I personally don't prefer shopping at CL. Most sellers don't describe the bikes in details, nor do they post high resolution pictures. sometimes it feels like a waste of time looking for bikes on CL. And it's not always cheap either. you also have to look around and inspect the frame for damages. But if you have the time and know what you are looking for, you can score BIG on CL.

Cheers.

I just picked up a Huffy Blackwater on clearance super cheap ($32!) at my local mega sports store. I generally ride vintage bikes I restore myself, and I feel like I've practically had to put the same amount of work into this just to make it rideable:

One pedal was wiggling far more than I like, so I replaced them with some block pedals I had in my spares pile.

Peeled off the decals which were glued on so poorly I could do this with my fingernails. Admittedly decals are normally near impossible to remove, and the bike looks a lot better now.

I didn't check the tightness of the crank before a test ride (duh), so I bent one of the bearing cages just enough for the balls to fall out when I checked for grease.

Greased the bearings on the BB and axles

Trued the wheels

Tightened down one of the brake pads and adjusted the cables.

Reattached the front derailleur cable which wasn't installed correctly.

Adjusted the limit screws on the front derailleur - Oddly, the indexed rear derailleur worked perfectly. They're made by Falcon which is known mostly for Shimano knock-offs; the rear looks almost exactly like an Eagle II minus the giant guard.

Oiled the chain which was completely dry.

I think this will turn out to be a decent bike, or at the very least I'll get the money I spent on it either by riding it or using bits and pieces for spares on my other bikes. It's a reasonable weight for a steel bike, the welds look a lot better than what's been pictured in this thread, it shifts well enough, and it has eyelets for fenders and racks. However, if I had just ridden it as it came from the store I would've ruined it in short order.

Wow! Not a bad deal at all, but I hear ya on the sheer amount of work you have to put into it. (The LBS would easily charge you $150 for the amount of work).

I have tightened my pedals before I've ridden, but it's probably not meant for a 188 lbs rider. I need to replace the pedals. [The weird thing is the Left-side pedal did not seem to be reverse threaded, but I have to double check. (It will be a problem if it isn't reverse threaded, I will have to buy two pairs of pedals!)


Excellent. I wonder why they even slap so much cheesy stickers on these bikes. I peeled most of the stickers on mines, but i simply couldn't get the residue off. (I did try vegetable oil, but it did nothing after 12 hrs of soaking). Hoping it should come off overtime. Other than that, my bike looks great now.

Speaking of the bearing cages, does anyone know what size these are? I could stock a few extras. [would BMX style bearings cage fit?]


You missed the wheel bearings :-)

I need to grease the wheel bearings, but I have no idea what freewheel socket i need. I guess I will have to take the rear wheel to the LBS.


I wouldn't use it as a spare, but these bikes do make a nice project bike or a beater.

Yeah, mines weigh less than my Surly LHT. It's doesn't feel heavy at all ...(i need to lose 30 lbs before I can complain how heavy a bike is, anyways..)

Upload pics of ur bike if you have any.. :-)

Some cities also have bike kitchens. Check and see if your city has one. If you truly would have to save 4 years for a $500 bike I bet they will give you a bike at a kitchen in exchange for some sunday afternoons wrenching (which is just a bigger plus for you as you'll learn to repair the bike).

Sometimes they're also called a collective.

Fixing a bike is not rocket scince. you can do so if you have the tools and time. [I can't think of any better resouces like youtube or bicycletutor.com ]

Never heard of "Bike kitchen", but most LBS hold free Bike clinics around where I live, but they assume you have a bike to work on for hands-on experience.

if someone can or wants to save, it's his or her problem. They probably can do without your advice.

http://www.google.com/search?source=...&aqi=&aql=&oq=

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&r...7g-m3&aql=&oq=

The pedal itself was loose on the shaft, like they left out part of the outboard bearing. One piece cranks use 1/2" quills; personally, I prefer the large block pedals, but you can also get metal ones. No one makes clipless pedals AFAIK.

I did the front wheel bearings and I'll do the back once I find my Freewheel tool. There was NO GREASE in the front bearings. Again, if I'd just ridden it straight away this bike would quickly be ruined.

Speaking of which, not only does the derailleur look like an Eagle II, the freewheel (yes, freewheel) uses Shimano-style splines to remove the gears. However, Park lists their FR-7 as being specifically for Falcon freewheels. You're probably better off having the shop remove yours instead of buying a tool. Once you've got the grease in you can screw the freewheel back on by hand. Pedaling will finish tightening it down.

One piece cranks use "open" bearings. These are pretty much universal and you should have no problem picking up a couple from your LBS. They come with either 9 or 11 ball bearings. This is the same crank used in older/cheaper BMX's -- in fact I have a BMW crank on my old 3-speed right now. The link you have looks like it integrates the bearings into the BB cups. You can also buy 3-piece crank conversion kits which will let you use much stronger equipment, but you'd have to use a different set of cogs. Of course, that's probably a bit more than you'd want to spend on one of these bikes.

Excellent. I wonder why they even slap so much cheesy stickers on these bikes. I peeled most of the stickers on mines, but i simply couldn't get the residue off. (I did try vegetable oil, but it did nothing after 12 hrs of soaking). Hoping it should come off overtime. Other than that, my bike looks great now.

For some reasons I like stickers on bikes. What I don't like are price tags etc. The best think to get the stuff off is rubbing alcohol. I whatever the sticker is off mostly then tear a paper towel in to 4 squares and then fold them a couple times so I have a few surfaces to wipe the sticky junk off with. Then I put that on the bottle tip it over and soak it. Then I rub the stuff on there and get all the sticky mess off. Works great even with the worst stickers that you can barely tear any of it off.

Yup. Looks like you are right. I went to the LBS. They had one in stock and I snagged it. It took a while for them to dig it out from the store room, but not bad for $8. They were willing to help out though. It was nice of them to do so.

One problem, I don't have a wrench big enough for the FR-7 tool. Iwill need a bigger wrench.

Some pics:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_O...0/IMG_0780.jpg


https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_O...0/IMG_0782.jpg


Ok. That's good news. I might keep some spare bearings in hand. Dirt biking sure is fun. I bet I will ware em out :-)


It's gonna snow 8" tonight. I am guessing no biking this weekend, so I will have time to work on it and keep busy :)

Cheers.

Where can i buy this rubbing alcohol? It seems like this is exactly the solution i need. The sticky residue is gathering dirt.. :(

AKA Isopropyl alcohol. Drug stores, many grocery stores and most Walmarts.

Get the 99% stuff if they have it.

Even 99% is slower than acetone (nail polish remover) or Goof-Off.

The problem with Goof-off is that it strips all but the toughest paint (the enamel on your bike should be okay, but don't use too much!), and it MELTS most plastics. Be really careful if you use it. It works REALLY (almost TOO) well.

And yup... you can get Goof-Off at Walmart :P

Oh yes, I meant to mention its aggressiveness but apparently stopped typing before doing so. If you're after some difficult decals and need to step up to Goof Off, test in an inconspicuous area first. Most factory paint jobs will hold up against it if you don't leave it on the surface for too long.

Awesome. Thank you for the info. :thumb:

I hate nail polish remover it give me a headache. I have never had a problem getting any sticker goop off with the rubbing alcohol and it looks like one of the bottles I was using last was 70%.

All the 7-cog, department-store, freewheels I've worked with (all 4 of them) used the FR-1.

Also, to remove sticker goo, I use a cotton ball dipped in kerosene. It doesn't affect the paint, but dissolves the goo. Rubbing alcohol may work too. I would test either in an inconspicuous area to see if it affects the paint.

The FR1 and FR7 look almost the same, but the FR7 is slightly smaller. I have the FR1, whcih I used on a Shimano Cassette, but it didn't fit on the Falcon Freewheel.


As for paint, I dont think this bike has any paint, but probably some glossy polish of some sort. I will give the Rubbing alcohol a try on a small area and see how it goes...it's not like it's a super expensive bike that i could damage :lol:


Anyhoo...i was able to remove the freewheel last night...the axles nuts were so tightened and there probably isn't any grease in the hub. I may have already significantly damaged the bearings in the hub. I will open it up tonight and try and post some pictures.


EDIT: My bad, i believe I have the FR-5 (the one in the picture). I just checked parktools site, and they have a whole range of FR socket tools.