This sounds alright.  However saying wal-mart bikes are fine if properly dis-and-reassembled effectively doesn't count.  Nobody besides bike mechanics/enthusiasts/whatever knows that, so until that information is readily accessible and the means to do so are accessable to those would be riders, the point is unfortunately moot and that person is riding a bike that is destroying itself.  This is I think the biggest issue, beyond the wild-eyed dream of doing a competing commuter bike to the department store bike.  I respect the labor of Chinese laborers to be sure, but that doesn't mean that that 'honest' labor is similarly exploited by those department stores just as they're effectively exploiting those people who can't afford more on a new bike.  We coops/collectives whatnot do recycling older bicycles best, and there's no doubt that this is one of the silver bullets that can be shot out against department store bikes.  But is there not more?  I'm not trying to evangelize, I'm not trying to get people on bicycles per se, but there are a lot of people out there who ride bikes but don't know what they're riding and shouldn't be forced by what they don't know to be riding a P.O.S. 

I think that there's a fair distinction, though one that's often blurred, between a criticism of the bikes and those who ride them.  The snobby, gear-head that dwells in the black part of all our hearts might be doing the latter, but we need to find the former aspect and find ways to discourage and do away with those awful bikes so that the people who most need bikes, whether students, invisible riders, or people who just can't afford gas anymore, can ride without worry and not have to buy the obsolescence of their bicycle as a hidden cost over the $150/200.  Until we hit that magic solution, we should keep recycling, keep reaching out to the communities we're in and involved with, and keep doing repairs on whatever comes into the shop.

-sherief


On Thu, May 29, 2008 at 5:52 PM, james thompson <jtexconsult@gmail.com> wrote:
Low-End Bike Soap Box:  A Mechanic's Perspective

Some credentials: I trained as an apprentice mechanic under the one
(good) eye of a master craftsman named Peter Kerezman in Kingsville,
TX from 1983-89.  I have managed two repair-oriented neighborhood
stores for a total of about three years, and worked in several others.
 My favorite bike shop tool is the electric grinder, second favorite,
a head-tube "finisher" which makes pressed cups right and headsets
last.  Third favorite, the old blue Wheelsmith repair manual, with 2-
and 3-speed hub breakdowns and lucid wheel-building instructions and
theory.

Yes, I own a two-thousand dollar road bike (with twelve-year-old
Dura-Ace/Ultegra), and I'm biased towards repair stands vs. home
repair when available.

My opinion: Wal-mart bikes are just fine if they are properly dis- and
re-assembled.  And I respect the Chinese sweat that went into them
just like I do the well-paid welding or carbon-fiber work of an
American craftsperson.  I respect even more the people who pedal them
around town, and I always defer to their grace while spinning
effortlessly up a hill on my sub-20 pounder.

Shamefully, Wal-mart bikes are, or are strongly perceived to be, THE
most affordable ready-to-ride geared bikes for the working poor, bar
none.  What they need is our help selecting them and putting them
together if they insist on buying one.

Recommendation Uno:  no suspension, especially soft-tails.  It's heavy
and it's cheap and it breaks.  People think it looks cool, convince
them otherwise.  If you can't argue for the elegance and
weight-savings of a full-hard, just ask someone the dessert island
question:  would you rather be stuck with a cane pole or the latest
tackle gadgetry?

Numero Dos: Explain to folk that they should buy it in the box and
take it to you and help put it together with love.  Wal-mart/Etc.
don't pay their employees enough to grease your cables and all the
metal-to-metal contacts, to properly torque the crankarm bolts, to
tweak and (typically as needed) tighten the spokes and true the
wheels, to remove the wheels and adjust the cones, or even to properly
center the stem and inflate the tires.  We need some non-commercial
version of the Pete Kerezman special (ca. 1985): bring us the box and
we'll build it right for cheap.

Some other things you can do if you are more ambitious:  unpack and
regrease the bottom bracket.  The quality of grease is typically low
from the factory.  I only recommend this for high-precipitation
environments.  Also, you can usually trim the cable housing to a more
reasonable length for better braking and derailleur performance.

I think the bias here is largely from (ahem . . . commercial
mechanic's soapbox) those who have assembled very few boxed bikes, or
from those commercial mechanics who aspire to work in the rare PRO
shop.  It is ironic that most older pro mechanics I know will cuss and
steam, but then confess that low-end is fine if assemble d properly
and suspension avoided.

The point is don't be a Surly-Campy-Orbea gear-head, dance with the
folk, and think of the worst bikes as One Less Car.

Solidarity,

James Thompson
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