$595?!? I test rode one today at an independent shop where it was $950. At $950 it was easy to say no to, but at $595 it's going to be a lot harder!

I buy a lot of accessories from Performance, but I'd never buy a bike there.

Internet forums are great for getting preliminary information, but there's no substitute to good, solid know how at your local LBS. What that "LBS" may be varies - maybe it really is Performance, maybe it's REI (bought a couple bikes there), maybe it's a locally owned shop (bought a bike there too, unfortunately).

My wife went in to buy a hybrid from them a while back and they fed her pure garbage information trying to sell her on whatever overstock they had sitting around. Still - go with the place with the staff that knows the most and is the most helpful. You'll end up with the bike that fits you the best and the best support. You might pay more, but in the end what's cheap is expensive.

The price tag said $699, but I waited a day, since there was an in-store 15% off sale. That's what brought it down to $595.:)

That Schwinn World Tour is a very nice looking bike! I really like the overall geometry of it. I do have an affinity for steel touring type bikes though :) Sounds like good components, too.

Hmm, I have $600 in scholarship money left over after tuition... but I should probably buy textbooks. Oh well.

*pats 1985 touring bike comfortingly*

That's a good price. I thought Schwinn stopped making those though? Ah, I'm thinking DBX--that had the disc brakes, while this is canti's. Still, not bad at all.

I'm going to check that out. I'd like to support the smaller independent shops, but the price difference is way to big to do that.

I like to support the independent shops, but they are not always staffed by people in the know, either. And I disagree with hosehead about never buying a bike from Performance. I wouldn't say I'd never buy a bike from any particular dealer.

Everyone's mileage will vary. As I mentioned earlier, the quality of the staff at three Performance shops in my area varies so widely that you would not guess they are connected by any corporate umbrella.

I personally have had good experience with Performance. I have also had bad experience with Performance. Likewise, I have had good and bad experiences with independent LBSs.

The Peformance in Charlottesville, VA that I got my '07 World DBX from did an excellent job of building my bike. I'm in my first week of commuting with it and have had no problems at all with it.

I usually try to use local LBS's for my bike buys but family economics left me will a very fixed budget for my commuter and this one fit the bill.

You mean that bike shops that don't carry commuter bikes, almost never have any bikes in my size, and are often staffed by people who know less about bikes that I do? My local Trek store does actually have a Madone in my size - the first road bike I've EVER seen in my size locally.

Those are the shops I should be relying on for a good buying experience?

Unfortunately, we don't all get to live in a Bicycle Mecca. Don't take this as a defense of Performance, I don't shop there either. I would though if they were the only source of a bike I wanted.

Like these? I doubt you'll be seeing those at Performance anytime soon. :p

Thanks. This is part of what I was trying to say.

After riding a recreational road bike for 16 years, I wanted to find a commuter-style town bike. I spend time in Europe every summer, and I wanted good, European-style basic transportation. I came back from Europe this summer to see that gasoline cost about $4.25 in the DC area. Who needs that?

Most shops in my area looked at me as if I was from Mars when I described what I wanted. One LBS, which used to carry Breezers, has moved into recumbents and "special-needs" bikes. The rest thought I meant either a mountain bike or a drop-bar bike for long touring. They had no concept of local transportation for errands on a bike.

Only in one shop did I see a decent town bike with fenders, rack, chain guard, comfort geometry (the Schwinn World Avenue 1). That shop happened to be Performance.

They had what I wanted, and so I bought it there.

In all fairness to hosehead, though, at the end of his post he does point out that the LBS experience can be just as negative as the corporate-chain experience.

Not to pick on Performance but there has been such a bike in many sizes available from:
http://bikesdirect.com/products/windsor/tourist.htm
And you get a free delivery too.

But I wouldn't buy any of those. Instead, I'd spend a little exra and get Masi Speciale of Bianchi Volpe both of which have modern (not quill) stems and standard (not integrated) headsets. Just add a rack & mudguards of your choice for $60 & you'll have a much better bike. That's what I actually did with my Volpe and can't be happier with it :)

The Tourist doesn't have an integrated headset, it is a standard 1" threaded headset, but doesn't have cartridge bearings. (I own a Tourist) Performance states the Schwinn World Tour has cartridge bearings on the integrated headset. Not sure which type of headset is better/worse between the two. I personally like the quill stems. It makes it easy to adjust handlebar height.

Thank you for the correction regarding the Tourist's headset. But basically you prove my point that there is a bike you can get for $600 delivered in any size you want any time you like. And it's probably made on the same assembly line in China as the one at Performance. The quill stem is IMHO an outdated design. Certainly, it makes easier to adjust the height but the truth to be told, how often do you adjust it?
Once you dial in the correct hight, you basically leave it alone. The only problem is that the manufacturers cut the fork too low sometimes. But for that you can get a stem extender from Delta for $20 as I did with my Volpe.

Worse than quills, IMHO, is integrated headsets...what're you going to do if you damage one of the integrated cups? If it gets pitted? Oh, yeah, replace the frame, right? Right...I'd rather be able to just replace the cups ;)

+1 So to sum it up: basically you can get a better bike (Tourist) in your size for less money if you so choose (i.e. you like the quill stem).

Ahhh...I guess that is why they have cartridge bearings on the Schwinn with the integrated headset. You shouldn't need to replace the frame that way if the bearings go out.

Today was my first commute on the new World DBX. It was great. Especially coming from commuting for the last 2 years on a Schwinn 32 lb. full suspension big knobbed tire mountain bike.

While, I do miss the low gearing on the hill climbs, I don' t miss fighting the road with those fat knobbed tires.

Any shop can be a bad shop, whether it's a chain or local. You folks are right though - there are a lot of bike shops where I live so I can be picky. Chains are inherently going to be hit or miss because staff is always going to be different.

I'm finishing up my first week of commuting with my World DBX. Nothing but praises for the bike. I'm going to try out a couple different handlebars (WTB Dirtdrops and Nitto Moustashe) this weekend to see how they would feel.

That Schwinn looks great. Perfect commuter.

I would have expected some pretty good LBS in Raleigh/Durham/RTP. Not good there?

A few years ago, my wife and I strongly considered moving to your area. I bet there's some lovely riding; we drove some really nice back roads...

WTB DirtDrop is a great bar. I'm still planning to put one on my old hardtail if I can ever find a 1 1/8" quill stem that's tall enough, or an adapter, or a shim, or a new fork, or something...

In the whole scheme of things, we probably have some decent shops - just not the "ideal" that I would like to see. Of course, this is a drivers town with no real downtown. My ideal shop probably couldn't stay in business here - at least not in Raleigh. I think something might have a chance of making it in Durham. The roadies around here have their favorites that they seem fairly happy with.

Aside from the sizing issues I mentioned, my main problem is that the shops are very spread out. I drive very little now and try to avoid window shopping to minimize my purchases. As a result, I just don't get in most of the shops that often.

I don't get the wheel specs:

Rims: Jalco DRX2000, Semi-aero, Double Wall, 32H; Hubs: Shimano Alivio MC12/MC18 w/ QR, 36H

32 or 36? Which is it?