Also: old-looking, very unfashionable road bike with lots of rust and body primer on parts of the frame, unpainted homemade fork, old grocery-basket pannier permanently bolted to rear rack. I'll take my chances that any potential thief won't know the name "Helyett," and will think I made the Honjo fenders in my garage with a hammer. Camouflage bikes come in many forms!

That reminds me of the old SNL skit about the Chameleon XJ9000 or something like that. It was a car with rusted body panels from various random mid-70s cars, a wire coat-hanger retractable antenna, cracked front grille and missing hubcaps. On the inside however were finely appointed full power leather seats, luxury interior and a high-end audio system. The skit also did a spoof of the old Acura or Lexus commercial that had Jonathan Price rolling the ball bearing down the hood to illustrate the fit and finish... only this time, the ball bearing fell through a rusted out hole, clanked around the engine compartment and rolled out the opposite fender.

He was asking about WALMART Schwinns, not good ol' reliable Schwinns of the past.

No, but I remember the "two pennies a mile" VW ads...

If it was all I could afford, you bet! I think some of you are so stuck up you'd rather that folks who can't afford an LBS bike drive old gas-guzzlers instead

Yes I ride a "Rice" bike now. But I am looking for an American bike. Which seems to be impossible to find. Was just wandering how many of the Pros here would ride a bike like a Wally World Special. Atleast I have the Balls to admit it. Smart ass.

Actually my $125 Schwinn made Paramount is a nice bike and I've logged about 1,000mi on it so far

Do I have any other options? If yes, then I'd give it to a neighborhood kid. If no, then I'd ride it. Lame/ass wheels are better than no wheels at all.

My new thrift score had paint splatters, un-detailing, all custom.. certainly the ugliest, largest...most expensive, best equipt thing I ever dragged home. Road goodies from heaven. Everybody was looking @ the "Free Spirit"
Like>new<dep't store bikes ( ya, any GOOD used bike probably GOT used.) I've been happy as a clam for days.

I learned new un-detailings from an old master. And I have his Group? components, great price.

Halfhearted, you notice it too? I do believe that there are many cyclist today suffering from identity crisis.
It's almost like dressing up as kids to play cowboys, pirates or whatever. I was thinking about this the other day. What if most of the good ole' boys here in the south could go down to a local car dealership and buy virtually the same exact set of wheels as Dale Earnheardt drives at Daytona? And suppose the drivers helmuts, fire suits, gloves and boots were all within the reach of a moderate income? Well, I bet you'd see something like what we witness in the cycling hobby. Looking exactly like a pro and "driving" the same set of wheels isn't particularly expensive for a cyclist. And, since the wheels don't come with a "pro" engine we're all relatively safe dressing up and playing "Lance".

You can get Amercian frames, American forks, American hubs, rims, stems, handlebars, seatposts, saddles, brake pads, brakes, brake levers, cranks, skewers, and seat binders. However for the most part everything else will be made elsewhere. By this I mean Canada, Germany, Switzerland, France, Taiwan, China, and Japan. The Phillipines and Mexico have almost dropped off the map in the bike industry.

i have several bikes that i ride. old huffy cruiser, huffy muscle bikes,
old schwinn cruiser, ect. i'm darn proud of each ! they were
all junk-yard-dogs, ive replaced all bearings,tubes,tires,&
spokes as needed. i'd gladly take on anyone with their $3,000.
pedal pusher anyday. i wear jeans, & cowboy boots when i ride.
no pansie drawers here. i only ride about 30 miles a day.
but, lets face it there are two kinds in this world.
those who do it, & those who talk about doing it. so you
weekend riders can kiss this daily rider's spurs.

I'd have no problem riding a walmart/kmart/dept store bike today. Hell I've beaten people on full carbon trek 5200's with my $350 specialized mtb with 2" tires aired up to 70psi.
I had a guy keeping up with me for a bit on my roadie and he was riding a touring bike with a trailer with TWO little girls sitting in the back.
Lance armstrong could probably win a Cat5 race on a dept store bike if you replaced the tires and gave the thing the proper tune up.
My old stock pacific toy store bike with big knobbies inflated to 30psi used to go down the hill at 30mph; the same speed as my current specialized mtb commuter with high pressure semislicks.

I've got an 80s era Schwinn Tempo-apparently a high-end bike at the time. It rides very well. This was pre-Wal-Mart, of course.

I said it in another thread, and I'll say it again-snobbery does not help the cause.

my thuoght is; ride what you want. just don't try
to act as if your better than someone else. cause,
the toughest of men aren't flashy dudes.

I'm not getting where this is coming from. The question posed was "How many here would ride a.... Walmart Mongoose, Next, Roadmaster, Schwinn?" And I detected very little sense of snobbery in the responses. One could have also posed the same question like, "How many here would eat at.... McDonalds, Burger King, Jack In the Box, Wendy's?" and received similar answers. The answer most people gave was that if it's the only thing available to them then they would ride it. Most of us have ridden those bikes. Most of us now have a choice and opportunity to get a better bike and most of us have chosen that route.

my first bike was a 1973 huffy cheater slick.
i had english racers, i even buoght myself one of those
specialty bikes ,i didn't like the ride with all those shocks,
nor did i like shifting gears. i enjoy a solid, one speed ride
myself. thats what i like about the old huffy, & schwinn coaster brake cruisers i now ride. as far as riding a dept. store bike; i have an '04
occ schwinn stingray chopper. after tuning it my self, & replacing
the handlebars w/ apehangers. so i guess the answer to the question would be, yes i would. but, only after going thru it first.