If one store's box bike is worse than the other's then it must be the EMPLOYEES. They get the same parts any other of those places is getting. I suspect the difference might be whether the store actually cares to try to make them as well as they can vs. some cat with my brand of skills, with no swearing.

put a wal mart / target schwinn next to a bike shop schwinn and there is a noticable difference in parts quality. even if a bike shop had assembled the box store bikes, you can tell why one costs more than the other.

Few quick notes on my own experience with a wal-mart schwinn (varsity 700c)
The good:
-$200 for a road bike.
-Helped me to learn my way around a bike mechanically
-Allowed me minimal investment to decide how much I liked riding (lots :) )
-Some components are tougher than you'd think. RD took several hits and still functioned fine, also curbed with the pedal a couple times pretty hard and the pedals & crank arms were still fine.
-I've had several people tell me the difference is in the frame, but I don't see how - it's slightly heavier than the average alum. frame, but it is comfortable, solid, and the welds are high quality.
The bad:
-Assembly was horrific. Brakes and derailleurs were badly out of adjustment, bars were put on about 5-10* out of alignment with front wheel, bars were at a wierd angle, etc.
-Shifters were inconveniently placed.
-Freewheel failed after a week.
-Any significant step-up requires quite a bit of replacement.
-No bike shop support

Specs:
-Aluminum frame, steel fork
-7-speed falcon freewheel
-Shimano rear derailleur (very low quality shimano, some plastic pieces, etc - but functioned well with the 7-speed wheel)
-Falcon front derailleur
-double crankset (pro something brand, can't remember).
-generic aero brake levers

overall:
The bike will definitely need work to be ridable, unless you stumble upon some miracle-worker bike mechanic who has somehow gotten stuck in the back room of wal-mart working on bikes. To some (like me) that's a good thing, it forces you to learn the basics right from the start.
After standard adjustments for brakes & shifters, it rides fine out of the box. Shifting is annoying, but brifters would cost over half the cost of the bike, so what do you expect? :)

Personally, after a month or so, I decided to take it a bit more seriously and build it up a bit, so I went through it and changed up most of the drivetrain. Crank because I wanted a triple (I know the arguments! :) ), wheel because I wanted brifters and didn't want to be stuck with an out-of-date 7-speed setup, brakes/shifters just 'cuz I wanted brifters, and both derailleurs to support the triple front and 9-spd rear (the stock rear derailleur worked fine on the 7-spd setup, and actually did work on the 9-spd, but was extremely sluggish shifting).

Overall I'm still pretty happy with my decision. If you want a bike to just pick up and ride, though, go to a bike shop, this is NOT IT. That, coupled with the support you'll get from an lbs makes the price difference well worth it to those who never want to worry about such things.

I last posted on this thread back in 2002. Wow :eek:

Anyways, while I try to avoid the ole Satan Mart I, like many others, just can't do it.

I own a "Schwinn." It's a Jaguar, a 7 speed cruiser. I bought it (barely) used for ~50$ and I can't complain. 7 speed Shimano shifts petty slowly but it gets in the right gear..... and the bike is a cruiser. The alloy rims spin true and I've got a bike to chase my kids around with, ride to the neighbor's house for a beer and etc.

The sad fact is that if a person got one of the "better" "Schwinns" (alloy rims, canti brakes) took it to a LBS in the box and paid them ~50$ to finish the assembly they'd have a serviceable bike. Also, they'd have a start on a relationship with a LBS and who knows what might happen?

Back in the 70s as a 14 year old kid I used to put together Varsitys at a "Authorized Schwinn Dealer" but when it came time to drop my $ on a bike I bought a Motobecane (back when they were French but that's a whole 'nother story)

The people who put Schwinn into WalMart had nothing to do with me and thousands like me making that decision and starting Schwinn down the road that leads to the graveyard (or WalMart :) ).


:beer:

I too have a box store Jag, although mine came from Target. I've had it roughly 2 1/2 years now. I use it to make grocery runs, and trips to the hardware for odds and ends. According to what I've read on BF, this shouldn't have happened. Thank God my reading comprehension isn't any better than it is, or I might have bought into that line of thought. :) I'm not professing it to be anything other than an inexpensive bike. If used gently and maintained... well we will see.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...y162008010.jpg


I added fenders from a 1968 Typhoon. This is an older pic, and has been posted here before.

If you believe what you read here then you will immediately drop dead upon setting eyes on a Wal-Mart Schwinn and your body will succumb to spontaneous combustion. However that is not the case, as said above, if used APPROPRIATELY and maintained well they can be a good bike to get someone into riding, I've got a Walmart Skyliner that I really like, it does well on mild single track and on the MUP, components aren't horrible although the RD has been upgraded to Deore after a crash (why not, I can always move it to the next bike).

This is pretty true. I have a Schwinn mountain bike that my friend is letting me use for the time being. The shifts are sloppy, The knobby tires suck for road use, The brakes are useless in rain, The grips are starting to decentigrate, and the bike is still too small with the seat post just past the minimum insertion line. (I'm 6'5")

But I do put 100 miles a week on it, including some jarring rides on the front rack on a bus. I can lock it up without worrying about it getting stolen, and besides a few flats I haven't had any major breakdowns. It may not be LBS quality, the most stylish, or the fastest bike but it takes what I throw at it.

I think mine came from Target originally. I was poking around eBay and saw mine for sale from a local seller that let me pick it up and I'm satisfied. Just rode it around today as I felt like a quick spin and didn't want to kit up and get on my roadie (nor did my wife).

I bought my kid a WalMart cruiser (Kulana or something) and I found that unsatisfactory. Very poor shifting and out of true wheels. I trued up the rims but the shifting remains crappy.

Are Schwinns better than your average X Mart bike? Was my Jaguar a rare exception? Is my kid's Kulana the norm?

I don't know but I think the Schwinns are at least a bit better than some of the other brands. I know they're all made in basically the same place but the Schwinn does seem to have better parts (low-line Shimano v. No-Name shifters).

Like I said above; take it home in a the box and get it assembled by someone who knows what they're doing and you have a serviceable bike.

:beer:

One of these days....

In case people haven't noticed! The quality of products at WM varies. In general the overall quality of the bicycles has been going down hill, as manufacturers strive to meet WM price points. WM has a bad habit of purchasing a large batch of something from a certain manufacturer, then going back to them and beating them up on the price. So the manufacturer is forced to cut corners somewhere to meet the price, or losing the business. Materials are one place they make that attempt. Lower quality components, non assembly, etc. Just imagine how much money you profit on 50,000 bicycles if you can shave $4 off the wholesale price.

Currently they only have a couple of bicycles available that I would consider acceptable, others are nothing but a BSO. Not to mention the issue with sizing...at WM it is a one size fits all world.

Aaron:)

Having not seen this thread, I had a discussion with my LBS who said they are considering dropping the Schwinn line (or at least not promoting it much) because if they are seen as a Schwinn shop, people bring in their Schwinns bought at big box stores and expect the shop to be able to get them running like Swiss watches. They said the componentry and construction is a clear cut below bike shop Schwinns, and that at times they will even have non-standard parts they have never seen before ("We can get 25" wheels cheap in Bangladesh? Cool! We'll put 'em on our big box bikes!") Their bottom line seemed to be that as long as the bike was running okay, leave it alone. But when it starts to need service, don't expect miracles.

The funny thing about this thread is that it sounds like Big Box Retailer bikes are best purchased by people who know their way around bikes -- how to fix, adjust, repair, etc.

But, they're seen as "beginner" bikes by the general public, who might not know how to fix a badly-assembled bike, or even know that it's badly assembled in the first place.

Umm, ya might want to research that a bit further...

That's a very good point.

Just a quick hello to Bfers in the year 2012, the next time this thread comes up for air.

None of them were actually named SCHWINN at that point either.

We'll be at war with Canada or something to claim Toronto and BC for Hollywood and get all the great stereo gear they hoard :roflmao2:

Problem is that nobody seems to know how to service ANYTHING or Craigslist wouldn't be full of ads that say "It shouldn't be hard to fix--buy it, take it and do it yourself" which translates to:

"You can dump it for me"

I sincerely hope that all the Wal-mart bashers do no shopping via the internet.

While there has and always will be a push for lower prices/costs; there is also a push for higher quality. Japanese car manufacturers originally sold cheap but crappy cars. They responded to the complaints by producing high quality vehicles while Detroit kept on producing shoddier and shoddier product. Finally, Detroit wakes up and realizes they too need to produce better cars and they do, but too late to shift customer perceptions.

In 1970, the big beer companies had squashed most of the competition, only 40 beer companies remained nationwide. But in so doing, they all raced for the lowest common denominator, resulting in Diet beer that is only barely drinkable at near frozen temperatures. A demand for quality beer created a boom market for microbrews and companies like Sam Adams to thrive in.

Back in the 70's, Varsitys were not considered quality bikes; they were cheap, HEAVY, and a far, far cry from the Paramounts, which almost nobody bought. Wal-mart and K-mart were just getting started, most people bought their bikes from Sears or Montgomery Wards. They sold cheap, heavy, hard to shift, hard to brake bikes built by sweat shop labor from Austria, Italy, Spain, Japan, or plants here in the U.S. like the Schwinn one in Mississippi.

Honestly, I rolled by Wal Mart last night, and if I was in the market for a new geared bike, I'd seriously consider getting one of the Varsity's. $250 for an aluminum frame, Shimano components, a single piece (or so it appeared) handlebar and 700c rims and tires? Heck, I might just buy the bike for the components and throw the clincher rims on my Professional! For someone like me (poor, not interested in club rides, primarily used for commuting, etc), it seems to be ideal. So something breaks, replace it. I'd rather take this thing in the snow and muck than a $1,000 commuter bike.

As it is though, I'm getting a Windsor Clockwork.

Purchased my 10 year old a Schwinn 21 speed department store bike and it's not bad. It's got a low-end shimano rear derailleur and it has not required any adjustment. She road it a lot this summer and I expected to be tuning it periodically- never happened. It is heavy for an aluminum bike and it seems to be holding up well. I wouldn't hesitate to purchase an entry level Schwinn department bike if I was getting into this sport. Heck a Wally bike you could return if you hated it for any reason within 1 year.

Now I also have another Schwinn but it's a Peloton- full carbon road bike. It cost about $999 after a huge discount. Worlds apart in craftsmanship from the department store bike; obviously higher end components installed. There are two types of Schwinns in this world.

A company in Canada called Doral purchased Pacific (aka Schwinn) & Cannondale recently. It appears they are trying to re-ignite the Schwinn brand name @ LBS. Perhaps they are cross breeding Schwinn and Cannondale designs now :) Cannonwinn.


b

Nope. Although now that you bring it up, I wonder if the same CF factory is making some of Cannondale's carbon frame designs alongside those Schwinns.

You do know that Feldman's comment was made in August of 2002, right?:rolleyes:

Child, do your research.
Wal-Mart is evil.
They steal money from communities, keeping their economies down, they pay too little, and they force employees to work off the clock.

They're EVIL.
Research. Open your eyes.
Awake.

[QUOTE=LegalIce;101729]Actually, I won't support evil and spend money on junk.
I'm fine spending more money on things.
Americans enjoy a very high standard of living as is. Tone it down.

I haven't shopped at a chain store in the last three years.
Not once.

I'll shop at chain stores (it's kinda unavoidable), but I won't shop at "box stores" - the Marts, Home Depot, Lowes, etc. I do shop, however, at locally owned and operated stores, like Ace hardware, etc.