Mechanics Ask Walmart, Major Bike Manufacturers to Stop Making and Selling
‘Built-to-Fail’ Bikes.

https://apple.news/ARJAJrcfqQGG3zYna3g76gg

So what do you think is the most inexpensive bike that you would actually
recommend that somebody purchase?

Ralph Barone <ralph@invalid.com> wrote:
> Mechanics Ask Walmart, Major Bike Manufacturers to Stop Making and Selling
> ‘Built-to-Fail’ Bikes.
>
> https://apple.news/ARJAJrcfqQGG3zYna3g76gg
>
> So what do you think is the most inexpensive bike that you would actually
> recommend that somebody purchase?
>
Probably around the £200/300 mark though the components are fairly heavy
basic and wear fairly quickly, don’t have the same issue with the bolts etc
are made of cheese once down to £100 or so.

Clearly depends on use as well!

Roger Merriman

On Friday, January 14, 2022 at 5:43:21 AM UTC-8, Roger Merriman wrote:
> Ralph Barone <ra...@invalid.com> wrote:
> > Mechanics Ask Walmart, Major Bike Manufacturers to Stop Making and Selling
> > ‘Built-to-Fail’ Bikes.
> >
> > https://apple.news/ARJAJrcfqQGG3zYna3g76gg
> >
> > So what do you think is the most inexpensive bike that you would actually
> > recommend that somebody purchase?
> >
> Probably around the £200/300 mark though the components are fairly heavy
> basic and wear fairly quickly, don’t have the same issue with the bolts etc
> are made of cheese once down to £100 or so.
>
> Clearly depends on use as well!

All of the major manufacturers make good bikes. The problem is that they are almost all fitted with lower end components. From Shimano this means "Made in China" and designed to fail. The reason that they work at all is that they require very close tolerances and made from materials that do not wear rapidly. I installed an old 10 speed Campy Record lever set on one of the bikes I'm building to sell. Those levers are probably 15 years old and shift perfectly. Too bad I can't say the same for the cassette. It is made in China and in two halves. The bottom 6 gears shift perfectly but the top 4 have spacing issues and that Campy stuff needs EXACT measurements. So it sort of rattles before going into the higher ratios.

On 1/14/2022 12:45 AM, Ralph Barone wrote:
> Mechanics Ask Walmart, Major Bike Manufacturers to Stop Making and Selling
> ‘Built-to-Fail’ Bikes.
>
> https://apple.news/ARJAJrcfqQGG3zYna3g76gg
>
> So what do you think is the most inexpensive bike that you would actually
> recommend that somebody purchase?

I don't know the answer, and I'd like to hear opinions.

Long ago I posted about an encounter I had on a solo ride. I was on a
country road miles away from any town and came upon a young guy walking
his bike. He had a flat. He was on his way home from work at a
McDonalds, and he rode his bike there every day.

I fixed his flat for him and got him on his way. Later I encountered him
walking his bike up a very moderate hill, so I again stopped to ask if
something else was wrong.

His answer was that he always walked up hills because any time you try
to change gears on a bike, it breaks. He also mentioned that he buys a
new bike every year because they never last.

He was flabbergasted when I told him the bike I was riding was decades
old and had been ridden coast to coast.

--
- Frank Krygowski

Tom Kunich <cyclintom@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Friday, January 14, 2022 at 5:43:21 AM UTC-8, Roger Merriman wrote:
>> Ralph Barone <ra...@invalid.com> wrote:
>>> Mechanics Ask Walmart, Major Bike Manufacturers to Stop Making and Selling
>>> ‘Built-to-Fail’ Bikes.
>>>
>>> https://apple.news/ARJAJrcfqQGG3zYna3g76gg
>>>
>>> So what do you think is the most inexpensive bike that you would actually
>>> recommend that somebody purchase?
>>>
>> Probably around the £200/300 mark though the components are fairly heavy
>> basic and wear fairly quickly, don’t have the same issue with the bolts etc
>> are made of cheese once down to £100 or so.
>>
>> Clearly depends on use as well!
>
> All of the major manufacturers make good bikes. The problem is that they
> are almost all fitted with lower end components. From Shimano this means
> "Made in China" and designed to fail. The reason that they work at all is
> that they require very close tolerances and made from materials that do
> not wear rapidly. I installed an old 10 speed Campy Record lever set on
> one of the bikes I'm building to sell. Those levers are probably 15 years
> old and shift perfectly. Too bad I can't say the same for the cassette.
> It is made in China and in two halves. The bottom 6 gears shift perfectly
> but the top 4 have spacing issues and that Campy stuff needs EXACT
> measurements. So it sort of rattles before going into the higher ratios.
>
I found Tourney okay bit clunky, only thing I noticed was the 7 speed
chain/cassette didn’t last that long.

Clearly heavy though these things are relative. Is Sora/Tiagra lighter and
slightly sharper shifting?

Plus Tiagra can have hydraulic brakes, which certainly for myself is a big
draw.

It’s cheaper bikes with non integrated shifters/brakes which tend to be
essentially made of cheese and not last.

Roger Merriman.

Ralph Barone <ralph@invalid.com> writes:

> So what do you think is the most inexpensive bike that you would actually
> recommend that somebody purchase?

Fuji Touring, around 900 EUR.

Best regards

Axel

On 1/14/2022 11:52 AM, Tom Kunich wrote:
> On Friday, January 14, 2022 at 5:43:21 AM UTC-8, Roger Merriman wrote:
>> Ralph Barone <ra...@invalid.com> wrote:
>>> Mechanics Ask Walmart, Major Bike Manufacturers to Stop Making and Selling
>>> ‘Built-to-Fail’ Bikes.
>>>
>>> https://apple.news/ARJAJrcfqQGG3zYna3g76gg
>>>
>>> So what do you think is the most inexpensive bike that you would actually
>>> recommend that somebody purchase?
>>>
>> Probably around the £200/300 mark though the components are fairly heavy
>> basic and wear fairly quickly, don’t have the same issue with the bolts etc
>> are made of cheese once down to £100 or so.
>>
>> Clearly depends on use as well!
>
> All of the major manufacturers make good bikes. The problem is that they are almost all fitted with lower end components. From Shimano this means "Made in China" and designed to fail. The reason that they work at all is that they require very close tolerances and made from materials that do not wear rapidly. I installed an old 10 speed Campy Record lever set on one of the bikes I'm building to sell. Those levers are probably 15 years old and shift perfectly. Too bad I can't say the same for the cassette. It is made in China and in two halves. The bottom 6 gears shift perfectly but the top 4 have spacing issues and that Campy stuff needs EXACT measurements. So it sort of rattles before going into the higher ratios.
>

I didn't know there were any Campagnolo-compatible Ten
cassettes made in china.
Who made it?

Or are you using a Shimano type Ten cassette in a Campagnolo
Ten system? That cannot shift well.

--
Andrew Muzi
<www.yellowjersey.org/>
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On Friday, January 14, 2022 at 12:01:02 PM UTC-8, AMuzi wrote:
> On 1/14/2022 11:52 AM, Tom Kunich wrote:
> > On Friday, January 14, 2022 at 5:43:21 AM UTC-8, Roger Merriman wrote:
> >> Ralph Barone <ra...@invalid.com> wrote:
> >>> Mechanics Ask Walmart, Major Bike Manufacturers to Stop Making and Selling
> >>> ‘Built-to-Fail’ Bikes.
> >>>
> >>> https://apple.news/ARJAJrcfqQGG3zYna3g76gg
> >>>
> >>> So what do you think is the most inexpensive bike that you would actually
> >>> recommend that somebody purchase?
> >>>
> >> Probably around the £200/300 mark though the components are fairly heavy
> >> basic and wear fairly quickly, don’t have the same issue with the bolts etc
> >> are made of cheese once down to £100 or so.
> >>
> >> Clearly depends on use as well!
> >
> > All of the major manufacturers make good bikes. The problem is that they are almost all fitted with lower end components. From Shimano this means "Made in China" and designed to fail. The reason that they work at all is that they require very close tolerances and made from materials that do not wear rapidly. I installed an old 10 speed Campy Record lever set on one of the bikes I'm building to sell. Those levers are probably 15 years old and shift perfectly. Too bad I can't say the same for the cassette. It is made in China and in two halves. The bottom 6 gears shift perfectly but the top 4 have spacing issues and that Campy stuff needs EXACT measurements. So it sort of rattles before going into the higher ratios.
> >
> I didn't know there were any Campagnolo-compatible Ten
> cassettes made in china.
> Who made it?
>
> Or are you using a Shimano type Ten cassette in a Campagnolo
> Ten system? That cannot shift well.

They made several superlight 10 speed cassettes in Campagnolo compatible. One of them was five and five with a spacer between them and the first one I was six and four. The five and five works great but the spacing on jump from the high speed gears to the climbing gears in the six and four is a tiny bit off and old style Record carbon levers do not like that. After you cross that spacer it works OK.

I just got back from a test ride of the Douglas with the tubeless and the 25 mm tires ride as well as 28 tube tires.

On 1/13/2022 9:45 PM, Ralph Barone wrote:
> Mechanics Ask Walmart, Major Bike Manufacturers to Stop Making and Selling
> ‘Built-to-Fail’ Bikes.
>
> https://apple.news/ARJAJrcfqQGG3zYna3g76gg
>
> So what do you think is the most inexpensive bike that you would actually
> recommend that somebody purchase?

You can get a decent entry level mountain bike for around $400 from a
place like Decathalon that sells their own private label models, i.e.
<https://www.decathlon.com/products/mountain-bike-rockrider-520>. But
that's twice what a crappy mountain bike from Walmart costs.

On Thursday, January 13, 2022 at 11:45:12 PM UTC-6, Ralph Barone wrote:
> Mechanics Ask Walmart, Major Bike Manufacturers to Stop Making and Selling
> ‘Built-to-Fail’ Bikes.
>
> https://apple.news/ARJAJrcfqQGG3zYna3g76gg
>
> So what do you think is the most inexpensive bike that you would actually
> recommend that somebody purchase?

Somewhat recently I have looked at the bikes sold at WalMart. And I thought they looked OK. I think they would work just fine for almost all riding. That of course is AFTER you completely tear the bike apart and rebuild everything and adjust it correctly. Wheels, spokes, gears, derailleurs, bearings, etc. After rebuilding it, I would and could ride it almost anywhere. Shifting bicycles have been around about 70 years now. They are not really complicated. Not really a lot to go wrong.