Going from a bike store bike to a Wal-Mart bike

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Don’t shoot me! A year ago I did what everybody in the world told me and forked over about 500 bucks for a bike from the bike store. Customer service was excellent, the bike was fitted to me, etc. Everything you’re supposed to do.

I fucking hate that bike. Who the hell wants to ride a bike hunched over like a jockey? It hurts my back, it hurts my hands, and sweet Jesus does it hurt my ass. When I was a kid, we didn’t have to wear padded underwear to ride bikes. Know why? Because our bikes didn’t hurt!

Seriously - what person who isn’t an actual racing cyclist wants a bike like that? I asked them for a good leisure riding possibly commuting bike. It’s a hybrid. It’s supposed to be The Thing. I never ride it. Hell, the air is out of the tires and I can’t even figure out how to put it back in because even that simple operation is too complicated on this thing. (Yes, I know that’s my problem. Yes, I could take it down to the bike store. Not the point - I wanted a bike that was easy.) This bike has something like 28 gears. Does anybody on a leisurely neighborhood bike ride or a commute anywhere but the French Alps need 28 gears in their life? All it is is confusing.

Himself went and bought a $150 cruiser from Wal-Mart. You sit up on it. It doesn’t hurt your ass. (Too much.) I don’t like how my feet slide off the pedals but I bet I can switch them out from Mr. Expensive and blow the dust off them. We rode around town for two hours yesterday and enjoyed ourselves. I didn’t need padded gloves because it isn’t possible to have a bad hand thing going on because it isn’t possible to put your weight on your hands because you sit up like a human being!

So I went to Wal-Mart and I bought me a $150 Schwinn too. Today we rode down to his store and back. (Yes, I actually went somewhere on a bike, something I never managed on my bike store bike.) Okay, so I had to walk it back up the little hill because I’m really out of shape - I guess when I was a kid we were all a lot stronger because we went out and rode our bikes every day. Something I doubt we’d have done if they had 28 speeds and required padded underwear.

I’m gonna sell my expensive bike store bike to some other sucker. Good riddance.

(Yes, cyclists, I am aware that if I went into the bike store and dropped another seven hundred bucks or so that I could get a similarly styled bike that’s much nicer, fitted to my frame, lighter, etc. But the fact is the bike stores just assume you want the style of bikes they ride. And why don’t they sell anything under $450 or so? They don’t cater to the casual rider at ALL. I’ve wasted a year, ten pounds or so, and a ton of money on a bad idea. My hybrid is all, completely, and totally wrong for me, but that’s what they sell to people like me. Why? What do they have against my back? And where the hell do baby cyclists come from if they all ride bikes like that?)

2

I always thought the racing style, ram’s-horn handlebar bikes looked excruciatingly uncomfortable, and asked about it here years ago. Actually, so the explanation goes, by having to lean forward and down to reach the bars, you actually take weight off your butt, so it’s more comfortable in the long run.

I’m not sure I understand how that can possibly be valid for a male, though.

3

Trust me, it hurts your ass and your hands. Two, two, two discomforts in one!

Sure, maybe you could “toughen up” - but do you really want to do that? Would your junk thank you?

4

Yeah, I’m with you. I was visiting a friend in Santa Monica a few years ago and rented a 1-speed cruiser to go up and down the beach. I hadn’t been on a bike in … 15 years? It was perfect, probably the best part of the whole trip. I now own a 20-some year old 3-speed from this place, it’s so ugly it’s not even ironic. All I need is a white wicker basket with a flower on front.

5

I’ve had a herd of bikes at different times. At one point, I had a hunch-over multi-speed racing style bike that was okay, which I hung on a hook in my carport. One day I came out and it had been stolen, and a cruiser was left in its place. I was quite pissed, but I got on the cruiser and went off to university (UCSB). I lived along a steep road up from the beach, and I figure the cruiser owner thought they’d trade up to more gears.

Anyway, to make a long story short, I got the best of the bargain with the cruiser. It was the, hands-down, no-contest, best bike I’ve ever owned. As long as you were content with one speed, it was unstoppable, with a great comfy seat, great stability, steerable with one hand, you could talk with a friend, stand on the frame and surf, and do cowboy tricks off the saddle - you name it, all with no backache, and no fear of small stones or curbs.

I eventually folded it jumping the steps off the engineering building on my way to the lab. I replaced it with a multiple gear mountain bike, which has been, well, Okay.

Next bike - Cruiser, no question.

I applaud your decision to get a bike you actually like to ride.

6

Maybe they didn’t steal your bike at all. Maybe they were doing you a conscious favor. Maybe they’re like guerrilla cruiser people.

I definitely need a basket. And some dorky matching bike clothes (Christ, why do they make you give up your fashion sense when you walk into the bike store?) because Himself and I have matching bikes now. Don’t you think he’d like that surprise? :slight_smile:

ETA - also, these are actually seven-speeds. So you do have some hill-climbing help. The model name is Point Beach, from Schwinn. They come in girl-bike and boy-bike, which is a little weird and retro but cool.

ETAA - also, what is up with those ugly damned helmets? I can’t get Himself to wear one because they’re so ridiculous. Really, we’re okay with not being aerodynamic. We’re not in a wind tunnel. Is there anywhere you can get a helmet that doesn’t look like you’re also wearing all neon spandex? I’ve seen some nice looking helmets for kids, but not for grownups.

7

Fine. Get a comfortable bike, just don’t buy it from them.

8

Well, I didn’t want to, but that’s the only place I could find one. My boyfriend had bought his there and I knew I liked it. I did check Target. Hadn’t been in there for probably a year before yesterday.

9

Those 28 gears would have made it much easier for you to actually ride up the hill, you know.

Also, if you went to a bike store and they did not at least offer, if not strongly encourage you to take the bike you were looking at out for a (brief, parking-lot) test-ride, you got seriously ripped off.

10

The best bike on the planet won’t do you any good if it doesn’t get ridden. Get a bike which works for you and enjoy your rides.

Enjoy,
Steven

11

Well, yeah, I rode it in the parking lot. I also hadn’t ridden a bike in 20 years. I got what they said is the bike I should get - I figured I’d get used to it, and that that’s just how bikes felt for grownups.

12

I’m kind of in the same boat. I spent about $350 on mine. It was fitted etc. The guys there couldn’t have been nicer, but it’s not quite what I want. I paid for it, I ride it, but I hanker after an old lady Schwinn with the saddle seat where I can be fully upright. The ones they had like that at the bike shop were truly hideous, as in mint green with brown, orange and pink flowers on them. Flat paint, too! Gah.

I do have a dorky basket (which I use all the time) AND a whatdoyoucallit on the back to strap things to. I also have a water holder.
I cannot figure out my gears. Is first gear the one where it’s really hard to pedal (none of them are hard to pedal–I remember it sometimes being hard to pedal as a kid/teen. Can this mean I’m in better shape now? I don’t think so) or where it’s so easy to pedal, your feet fall off the pedal? I dunno. The bike shop guys say it doesn’t matter, just go with whatever gear I’m comfortable in. I want to know, dammit! (computer guys do this too–is this a tech thingy or a twenty something guy thingy?)

Anyway, congrats on a ride that YOU like. The other bike will help someone else, so good on you.

13

Also, for riding up the hill, I didn’t need 28 gears. (Himself had no trouble.) I need to not have gone from 100 lbs to 145 in three years. Can’t really blame that on the bike. I hope that if we do ride a good bit then I’ll gain a lot of stamina. When I was a kid my mom would kick me out of the house in the summer in the morning and expect me back for lunch and then dinner; I rode my bike all day. No idea how, now.

14

I’m glad you ended up with a bike you like. It makes a huge difference. I guess I’m fortunate that the bike store I went to last spring helped me get exactly what I needed (and not in any icky colors–yikes!).

I went in knowing that I have to sit completely upright and not have any weight on my hands. That was the whole reason for getting a new bike in the first place, and they had a couple of different ones that I tried out. They even adjusted the handlebars for me until they were just right.

Anyway, I love my bike, and it’s so much fun to go zipping around the neighborhood to places that are further away than I’d walk. I hope you have the same experience now!

15

Lower gear number = easier gear = slower gear. Physically, the lower gears are closer to the center of the bike, while the higher gears are further away. Here is a good video on how to use bicycle gears. To feel the difference, try accelerating from a dead stop in first gear on both the left and right shifter, and then try from the highest gear on both (probably 3 on the left and 7 on the right). Mechanically, dividing the number of teeth on the front gear (the one by the pedals) by the number on the rear gear gives you the number of wheel rotations for every rotation of the pedals.

16

Recumbent tricycle…I have NEVER enjoyed riding more.

17

Yeah, but aren’t you worried that people don’t see you?

18

Wait a minute-I’m stupid. So, first gear is the one where there is almost no tension in the chain at all? (this seems backward to me, maybe because with everything else, first gear takes a bit to get going…). I confess to having my brain blank out with your sentence re the gear ratio and the rotations. I’ll try it again in the morning.

Also, do I add the two gears together to get the gear I’m in? If my right handled gear thingy says 6 and my left says 3, am I in 9th gear?

19

Bike stores are like any other specialist store - selling high-end gear to aficionados. Try a small, local stereo store and they’ll try to sell you a $5000 pre-amp and $6000 speakers, even though you’d probably be happier with a $500 “Home Theater in a Box” system from the big box store.

Not every bike rider is going to race the damn thing, so they don’t need a racer’s seat and bars.

<Andy Rooney>And what ever happened to bike bells? I’ll be walking on the sidewalk, and some bike rider will be stealthily coming up behind me. (Never mind that they should not be on the sideWALK!) A bell sure would come in useful, but some bike designer decided that if the bikes in the Tour de France don’t have bells, no bikes should have bells.</Andy Rooney>

20

Bummer, then. But I mean, you do need to remember that you’re talking to a salesman.

I hope you don’t let this put you off biking, though. It’s definitely a lot of fun, plus, if you can replace at least some of your car stuff with bicycling, it’s definitely cheaper.