I might be in the wrong place with this question (most people in this forum seem to be at least "enthusiastic" about cycling, and "enthusiasts" are, I suppose, likely to have higher-end stuff), but, does any of you mainly use a Huffy (or "Huffy-type") bicycle for your commuting? (By "Huffy-type," I mean a bike sold at a "big-box store" [e.g., Wal-Mart, Toys 'R' Us; not a local bike shop].) That is, does any of you mostly ride a bicycle that costs about a hundred bucks? If so, how do you like it?

Just wondering.

I did. That's what I got when I began bike commuting. Then I got a garage sale 12 speed road bike. I've since stuck with older bikes that cost less than even a big box store bike. I think people make too big a deal about the poor quality of department store bikes. If you have a short commute, practically any bike will do the job.

I see a lot of huffy's in NYC. Mostly parked in front of restaurants as delivery type bikes. In many ways a perfect bike for the city. Not worth it to steal and works for short rides.

I had a Huffy Aerowind back in the day. It weighted about 80 lbs. but the aerodynamic frame ruled the world.

Today's Huffys seem to be the new big-box Schwinns - and that's what got me started riding again several years ago. A heavy, pink Roxie Schwinn cruiser 7-speed. Did an 18-mile commute a few times before the nostalgia wore off and my need for gears and brakes that actually worked increased. As fun as that bike is, it's just sitting on my porch right now, the chain rusting from exposure. I'm looking into different options for groups to donate it to.

I had a pink girl's Huffy when I was a kid and don't even remember the model name (back when Michael Jackson was still singing disco) and I think it was my subconscious motivation for my latest purchase, a Trek Lime with pink decals. Same kind of comfort frame and pink stylation, but no worries about components falling off unexpectedly and I can get back and forth with a load of groceries.

I had a Huffy still in the garage and being ridden as recently as last year. It was pretty old (about 18 years old), and I used it with my son when we were taking rides in the park with one of those back bikes that attaches to the seat post. When he outgrew it at the end of last season I stored it one more winter and then found someone to sell it to this spring. It is still in use, just no longer by me.

Wow. I'm impressed! I just knew as soon as I read this post that a holy shat storm would land. I'm glad it didn't because a department store bike is what I started on! Then I caught the bug, started tooling around with it and now it's not even a shadow of what it used to be. The only parts that are "original" now are the break levers. I wish, with hindsight, that I would've spent a little extra scratch and gotten a nicer bike, but at the time I was new to the whole thing so there really was no other path I would've gone by. So get the dept. store bike, find out if riding suits you because if it turns out you like it on a Huffy you'll be upgrading in no time, and that's the real reason people get a bike

By the way, one major regret I have was not paying attention to the type of hubs and bottom bracket I was getting into, that's where the quality really took a nose dive. Hope that helps!

Well, if nobody else is going to say it, I will.

Big box bikes are usually made of mild steel or the lowest grade of "hi tensil" steel. Sometimes they are heavy guage aluminum. All this means is what ever material they are made of they will be heavy compared to LBS bikes. "Heavy" takes some of the fun out of riding, but doesn't mean they are not functional. The components are decidedly low end, but again they are functional if not durable.

The worst sins of the big box marketers is the absolute total lack of quality assembly and fitting. They pay highscool kids a couple of bucks apiece to stick those things together so they can be displayed on the sales floor. They have no concern whether the bikes make it out the door before parts start to fall off and they wouldn't even know how to fit a bike to a rider. Couldn't fit it any way since they don't have different sizes.

In my local big box retailer there are normally about 50 full suspension fake mountain bikes, 20 fake BMX bikes and kids bikes and then maybe 4 or 5 decent hardtail Schwinns or Mongoose semi hybrid/fitness type bikes. Then there is usually 1 or 2 e-bikes. I would absolutely not even give the full suspension bikes a second look. Those are all crap. It's possible to make a decent bike for between $100 and $200; but not with full suspension.

They know those suspension bikes are crap, they even put a disclaimer on them warning you to not ride them off road. I have actually seen those frames come apart in mid decent when somebody did not head the warning. A painful lesson.

Having said all that, those 4 or 5 Schwinn hybrid/fitness type bikes are fairly good bikes, just know you will have to reassemble it when you get it home.

Wait...the brakes don't work?

If that Huffy of yours is just collecting dust, maybe you'd like someone () to take it off your hands (that is, if the brakes at least "sort of" work).

That's an endearing story. It's always kind of charming to hear an item enjoyed by someone has been passed onto someone else, so he or she can get some pleasure from it, rather than tossed by a road-side trash-can.

What might be inferior about the quality of the hubs or of the bottom-bracket?

Does anyone know if there's truth to the idea that Huffys (or, maybe, "Wal-Mart" bikes, all over) have declined in quality? Nowadays, people seem to dump all over bicycles bought from a source other than a bike shop, and I wonder if this dumping's new or has "always" gone on.

big box store bikes have been up and down in quality over the years. I saw one in 1980 that had to be the lowest quality possible for a "bike like object." The issue is that most of these bikes are purchased and never used more than once, if that much. So people that expect to commute regularly on one are a very small part of the target consumer pool for these bikes. The difference now is that there do seem to be higher quality bicycles available from the big boxes.

The "BLO" I mentioned from 1980 had a headset that couldn't be adjusted, and was quite loose. Every part was made from the thinnest sheet metal that would possibly work. It was dangerous to be within 3 feet of this brand new "bike," so riding it was a very questionable activity. It was an AMF or Huffy or the like, American brand. I doubt that any piece of junk the Chinese might manufacture could possibly be worse than that.

I have not owned a genuine Huffy since my high school days (mid 70's), however, I did buy a box store MTB about 6 weeks ago to use as a commuter. Having been away from bikes for over a decade, I bought this one not knowing what I needed. As stated above, it was functional, and it was heavy, and because it had dual suspension, was not very efficient. So, I went to a few of the LBS in the area, and ended up getting my KHS. It made my commute much more enjoyable, and quicker. It does have a front suspension fork, but I like it. And plan on keeping this bike for a good long time, even after I add more to the stable.

When I got the bike I knew nothing about servicing or working on it. I just had an idea that it would be a fun hobby and a nice way to get around a new area. At first things were great, accept for some adjustment issues (with the derailleurs and brake pull). After the miles started piling up, it became clear the bike was in need of a tune up. This is when I found out the difference between high end components and what my bike had. Trying to fine tune the hubs after you regrease the bearings is an art, this process is more difficult the further you get down the list. I couldn't find that happy medium between the wheels turning freely and not wobbling around on the axle. So I made the transition to sealed cartridge hubs and never looked back. Also, the drive train had a freewheel assembly, and over time my rear axle was becoming bent as a result of the power transferred from the cranks. As far as the frame becoming fatigued and failing, I never had a problem with that. Then again, I never took my bike down K2 either.
The bottom bracket was an un-mitigated nightmare, the proverbial can of worms if you will. The bearings were separated by a retainer ring which meant that the manufacture could get away with using less, which I didn't think was a huge deal. In fact I thought it was nice that the bearings were all held in place by a nifty ring so that I wouldn't lose any. After struggling with this messy operation, I finally repacked the bearings and thought my job was done. When I took it out for a ride, every thing was hunky dory for a few miles then the crank started to wobble back and forth as I applied my weight. Evidently in my infinite wisdom, I had not tuned the bottom bracket as well as I thought. The ride totally screwed up the bottom bracket. However this was not a huge deal because a sealed cartridge BB is fairly in-expensive. I can't blame the manufacturer for my BB woes because it was probably my fault in the end.

Keep it well maintained and thoroughly adjusted. You may get poor assembly. Especially have a pro check the spoke tension.

I bought a Schwinn hybrid at Target in 2006 and bike shops are surprised it has lasted this long. WTF. It's a bike ... and I take care of it ... yeesh

3 years later I have replaced many parts, some from wear, some from neglect, some are upgrades, some are not. She just did the last 50 mile leg of my century ride on Sunday.

Hmm ... why did I say "she" maybe I'm spending too much time with her ...

actually, it was probably more likely that the axle became bent after riding the bike in general now that I'm thinking about it. Sure, I'd like you to believe I'm so strong that I need special bikes that won't succumb to my enormous power, but that's not the case.

I know what you mean Rum, my wife has clear jealousy issues over my baby.

I've got a "Schwinn" hybrid purchased at Target. There was some initial tweaking of derailleur and brakes required on mine, but that didn't bother me. If anything, it was helpful for me to have to try to figure out a couple of those things on my own that I could fix with the couple Allen wrenches and other basic (i.e., not bike-specific) tools I already had at home. In fact, I still have some work to do on the derailleurs and indexed shifting.

I put "Schwinn" in " " above b/c there are Schwinns as sold in LBSs and there's big box Schwinns, a distinction that they state blatently on their website.
Quote: Because it's likely that they will see more use..., frames and components on bike shop models are designed with this rider in mind. IOW, our big box bikes are POS designed for the huddled ignorant masses who ride their bike once every couple motnhs for two miles and call that a long ride. Wish I'd read that before I bought my bike...

Because my bike has been a major headache of late. Only a couple months into ownership and a no more than a few hundred miles on the bike, and it's one spoke after the other. *PING* POS wheel has only 24 spokes, and after a couple trouble free months of commuting and weekend riding, I've had three broken in two days of riding.

Guess if I'd ridden it twice and put it away forever after that as they apparently assume all big box buyers are going to do, then I'd be fine. But, I tried to actually USE the bike, so I guess I should have gone to the LBS...

My experience with the wheel and spokes does make me wish I'd been more aggressive in pursuing the used bike route or somehow scraped together another 100 or so bucks to get a Trek instead of the "Schwinn". Because as it turns out, short of Schwinn doing something about the wheel under warranty (doubtful, right?), I'm gonna end up spending close to that extra $100 to get a sturdier back wheel with more spokes to support my clyde stature anyway.

Sorry to be so sour. I used to think the "don't buy Wally World bikes" people were bike snobs. Now, I'm beginning to see they're just more experienced...

I have an early 90's Huffy Mtb that I am still riding. Everything but the handlebar and the frame have been replaced, but the frame is still going strong. Weighs about twice what my regular bike does, but it makes for a fun ss mtb.

I had a co-worker that commuted about 12 miles round-trip on various WalMart bikes (Next, Mongoose, etc). He always bought the full suspension models, and he replaced them about once a year. I guess at that price point it's cheaper just to replace than repair. The one time he needed a repair, derailleur adjustment, he took it a LBS and it ended up costing him about half the price of the bike. He complained for weeks.

Personally I haven't ridden a Huffy since back in my BMX days in the mid-80s. I started out on a cheapo Huffy, moved to a Haro, and eventually to a Freeagent. The strange thing is I never did any better on the high-end Freeagent than I did on the cheapass Huffy. (My best finish ever was third place...out of three).

Just a FYI. Son turned down a job at Toys-R-Us last week as a bike assembler. He's 16 years old. Pay was $8.25 an hour. (He turned it down because it conflicted with the $10 hr job he does have)

The issue for me was to buy the right "Huffy-type" bike from the right big box store. I bought my Ragazzi from Real, a German big box store for 268DM (approx. $135 in 2000 or 2001). Real is a store chain like K-mart formerly known as Massa. I've been using it for the last 7 years of all year, all weather commuting in Iowa and have put approx. 35,000 miles on it and am quite satisfied. The only significant adjustment. I made are adding additional lights, and changing out the saddle. The bike came with full fenders, lights, rear rack, Sachs 7 speed IGH with coaster rear and front handbrakes.

In the early 70's I rode the heck out of a Sears 3 speed bike commuting in Philadelphia. I bought it through the catalog for $50. Eventually I got rid of it and bought for $82 a Raleigh Sports 3 speed.

The "issue" for some bicycling purists and others who gnash their teeth about "Huffy-type" bikes (or any other bike without an LBS provenance) is that these bikes are "never" used by the right kind of people for the right kind of bicycling.

We spend summer weekends at a place that has no car rentals, only bike rentals. They have fleets of "cruiser style" singlespeed bikes of the sort that apparently are sold in department stores. One brand is "Solar"; some are made by Huffy.

These bikes get minimal maintenance and are ridden in one of the most salty, humid, corrosive places on earth. Even so, they last for years. They do good service for us with trailers attached, carrying our daughter, luggage, and beach stuff all over, even including 14 mile round trips. The one drawback is the strange, almost bar stool-like, heavily padded seat (I can't really call it a saddle), which usually takes me a day to recover from.

My conclusion is that a hundred dollar bike without suspension, gears, and flashy paint can be a perfectly good utility bike for flat areas. Astoundingly, they are just as good as bikes of that sort were in the 1950s. Add lights, and you would have a perfectly good, entry level, Dutch bike substitute.

Paul

Holy crap. I thought you were kidding. It actually says that on Schwinn's website.

Funny, I didn't see anything on that site even closely related to, "our big box bikes are POS designed for the huddled ignorant masses who ride their bike once every couple motnhs for two miles and call that a long ride."

I suppose that since Workman brand bikes are made for a specific heavy duty use or user who wants to pay for that set of features, anything elseis not worth a damn for anything, meant for clods and those who don't appreciate durability in a bike, eh?

Hey EKW - Keep shopping. Remember my issue with my back wheel? I posted another thread about getting 2 new wheels for cheap. The LBS owner checked all spokes and evened made sure they were true with some minor tweaking on his jig. Both wheels are 36 spoke and I paid $62 for both. Yes, I know they aren't top of the line wheels but I'm hopeful they will hold up with a good start, and attention from me. So I opted not to go for a custom wheel at this time. You might keep shopping and find a decent wheel and a decent shop that will check the spokes and true-ness before you give it a try. Just thought I'd share.