nkevin90











I'm not even interested anymore at the sub $100 bikes that the stores sell, because whether they be roadmasters, magnas, or what have you anymore, because the budget grip or thumbshifters, decorative faux suspension designs with realistically, maybe 20mm of travel in the front and rear of the bike, not to mention the fact that 90% of the bike is made from steel, 7% plastic, 3% blood, sweat and tears from asian factory workers, and 1% alloy strictly because decimal places are too expensive for the companies to print out, and that percentage comes from the very tip of the end of the threading of the uppermost water bottle screw on the underside of the frame. yep- just one of them.



but yeah- so I don't bother with those bikes anymore. designs don't ever change much and the paint schemes only get uglier with progression of time. what really, really disturbs me is one bike in particular that I saw in my local target supercenter, or whatever the fuck they're calling their slayer of small businesses across the land. it's called the schwinn s-60. this whole bike is a fuck







ohhhh, alright, awesome! a nice looking mountain bike in eggshell/ creme! 300 bucks for a bike that can "tackle the roughest of terrain" as target boldly asserts it can on the green tab, not to mention highlights some great components. quick release axles? they're just like fancy cocktail ice, big deal. they cost about eight bucks each, but I don't know why the industry hasn't dumbed them down other than the fact that they don't feel like producing vertical dropouts on most bikes, and want matching front and rear bolt-ons. still don't get it.







somewhat radial spokes laced to what looks like a wider road bike rim, but dusted off with a 2.10 inch tire? okay... I'm not sure where they were going with that, but they sure do look cool, huh? and GOLLY GEE WHIZZ; a disc brake! wow!!! that's the same concept of brake that the automotive industry uses in like, automotives and stuff! the rotor's not wavy, but it has its holes for extra S/A, so I'll give it that. and I actually tried it out, and it does stop. I've heard promax makes the worst mechanical disc brakes on the face of the earth though, and no offense to anyone who has them.







oh, I really hope I didn't pluralize disc brake, because not only is there only one on the bike, but the frame lacks mounts other than canti-bosses. nice. so not only can I not even consider lacing these shitty wheels to a disc hub and mounting a caliper on the rear, but I can't even put a commuter rack on the rear if I wanted to.







oh yeah, and what we saw in the back there was a five dollar SRAM deraileur, not even marked with what level it's at, as in 3.0 or anything, but it's just straight up SRAM. complimenting it of course, is a set of SRAM x4 shifters that are quite possibly the worst things I've ever used in the history of my riding mountain bikes. they're basically below the bar, indexing thumb shifters that feel like a toy you get in a happy meal. and I noticed after shifting for a little (yes, I rode the bike up and down the aisle), that there was a shift indicator below the bar as well. brilliantly placed I might add, considering that they were angled so far up that they're completely impossible to read. and even if you could read them, I couldn't even make out what the indicator was trying to tell me. they're they size of a dime.







this really pissed me off. this shock barely even compresses once the limit is even choked all the way up near the headtube, and not only does it look like it can compress more than an inch or two, but aside from the fact that it can't, it's so overly excessively bulky, and WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY DOING WITH THE FAKE PIGGYBACK?! what, like they're going to put rebound adjust on that shit? a schrader air valve? no way! are they serious?! the fake piggyback reservoir on this bike basically sums up what it's all about; it's supposed to look like a nice mountain bike when it actually isn't. I think the only thing that sets really decent coil over shocks apart from ones on department store bikes is adjustability, and this is easily noticable in such a reservoir. this is such a huge slap in the face to the industry, really.







and this makes me smile, because after scorning this bike the whole time, this takes the cake. a three hundred dollar mountain bike that looks like a miniature downhill/ all mountain inbreed has a lovely sticker on its headtube "this bike is not intended for competition, jumping, stunting OR OFFROAD USE"



W!N



three hundred dollars for something marketed as a mountain bike, something bearing knobby tires, something bearing trace amounts of suspension, and it's not suitable according to the factory, to be taken offroad.





DEPARTMENT STORES DO NOT SELL MOUNTAIN BIKES. EXEMPLIFIED RIGHT HERE.

alright, so I'm sure I'm not alone in this group in that whenever us bike nuts are in a department store, of course we scorn what they're selling in disapproval, but at the same time, we're drawn to anything on two wheels and feel obligated to check their shit out.I'm not even interested anymore at the sub $100 bikes that the stores sell, because whether they be roadmasters, magnas, or what have you anymore, because the budget grip or thumbshifters, decorative faux suspension designs with realistically, maybe 20mm of travel in the front and rear of the bike, not to mention the fact that 90% of the bike is made from steel, 7% plastic, 3% blood, sweat and tears from asian factory workers, and 1% alloy strictly because decimal places are too expensive for the companies to print out, and that percentage comes from the very tip of the end of the threading of the uppermost water bottle screw on the underside of the frame. yep- just one of them.but yeah- so I don't bother with those bikes anymore. designs don't ever change much and the paint schemes only get uglier with progression of time. what really, really disturbs me is one bike in particular that I saw in my local target supercenter, or whatever the fuck they're calling their slayer of small businesses across the land. it's called the schwinn s-60. this whole bike is a fuckohhhh, alright, awesome! a nice looking mountain bike in eggshell/ creme! 300 bucks for a bike that can "tackle the roughest of terrain" as target boldly asserts it can on the green tab, not to mention highlights some great components. quick release axles? they're just like fancy cocktail ice, big deal. they cost about eight bucks each, but I don't know why the industry hasn't dumbed them down other than the fact that they don't feel like producing vertical dropouts on most bikes, and want matching front and rear bolt-ons. still don't get it.somewhat radial spokes laced to what looks like a wider road bike rim, but dusted off with a 2.10 inch tire? okay... I'm not sure where they were going with that, but they sure do look cool, huh? and GOLLY GEE WHIZZ; a disc brake! wow!!! that's the same concept of brake that the automotive industry uses in like, automotives and stuff! the rotor's not wavy, but it has its holes for extra S/A, so I'll give it that. and I actually tried it out, and it does stop. I've heard promax makes the worst mechanical disc brakes on the face of the earth though, and no offense to anyone who has them.oh, I really hope I didn't pluralize disc brake, because not only is there only one on the bike, but the frame lacks mounts other than canti-bosses. nice. so not only can I not even consider lacing these shitty wheels to a disc hub and mounting a caliper on the rear, but I can't even put a commuter rack on the rear if I wanted to.oh yeah, and what we saw in the back there was a five dollar SRAM deraileur, not even marked with what level it's at, as in 3.0 or anything, but it's just straight up SRAM. complimenting it of course, is a set of SRAM x4 shifters that are quite possibly the worst things I've ever used in the history of my riding mountain bikes. they're basically below the bar, indexing thumb shifters that feel like a toy you get in a happy meal. and I noticed after shifting for a little (yes, I rode the bike up and down the aisle), that there was a shift indicator below the bar as well. brilliantly placed I might add, considering that they were angled so far up that they're completely impossible to read. and even if you could read them, I couldn't even make out what the indicator was trying to tell me. they're they size of a dime.this really pissed me off. this shock barely even compresses once the limit is even choked all the way up near the headtube, and not only does it look like it can compress more than an inch or two, but aside from the fact that it can't, it's so overly excessively bulky, and WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY DOING WITH THE FAKE PIGGYBACK?! what, like they're going to put rebound adjust on that shit? a schrader air valve? no way! are they serious?! the fake piggyback reservoir on this bike basically sums up what it's all about; it's supposed to look like a nice mountain bike when it actually isn't. I think the only thing that sets really decent coil over shocks apart from ones on department store bikes is adjustability, and this is easily noticable in such a reservoir. this is such a huge slap in the face to the industry, really.and this makes me smile, because after scorning this bike the whole time, this takes the cake. a three hundred dollar mountain bike that looks like a miniature downhill/ all mountain inbreed has a lovely sticker on its headtube "this bike is not intended for competition, jumping, stunting OR OFFROAD USE"W!Nthree hundred dollars for something marketed as a mountain bike, something bearing knobby tires, something bearing trace amounts of suspension, and it's not suitable according to the factory, to be taken offroad.DEPARTMENT STORES DO NOT SELL MOUNTAIN BIKES. EXEMPLIFIED GOD SAVE THE MOUNTAIN BIKING INDUSTRY 29 comments

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