All of my co-workers that bike to work have department store bikes
You should know I have and still use department store bikes. I have taken them in to get worked on at local bike shops without a problem. Most people who have higher priced bikes probably started with department store bikes.
We need to create an atmopospere that no matter what you ride it is a good thing and it does not matter what the 2 wheel flavor looks like.
There are probably over 200,000 department store bikes in town. I for one, would like all of them to ride to school, ride to work and be bike club members.
Now, how to reach the masses. Wait, isn't that what I'm doing here? I've got a lot more zeros to climb to get to 200,000 readers a day, but hey sometimes, it's a good thing to think big.
3 comments:
My current bike (Jamis Coda Sport) and my previous bike (Specialized Crossroads) were both purchased at bike shops. That was done not because I know anything about bikes (I know a little more now than when I started) or because I was avoiding dept store bikes (I wouldn't even know what "brands" they were) but because I strongly believe in buying from local shops instead of dept stores whenever possible. I also wanted to be able to talk to the bike shop people about accessories, etc. I could easily have been riding a dept store bike. The bike shops aren't going to make more converts by being rude and/or exclusionary.
If you haven't seen it, you should read the Bike of Doom blog. It's all about commuting on a $99 bike.
Good post, great photo. I agree completely. I ride a Dept Store Bike for commuting... the $99 Bike of Doom. I haven't actually taken it into a bike shop for repairs, but I use bike shops for parts. Most of them are pretty good.
Most people who ride Department Store Bikes will upgrade, if they enjoy cycling, will one day upgrade to a bike from a Local Bike Shop. That's usually the way it works. My recommendation to all those people, and I've written this on my blog... pay attention to how you're treated at bike shops when you come in with your Department Store Bike. When you finally upgrade, don't shop at a bike shop that treated you badly. The sad fact is, if they treated you badly before you were a customer, they'll probably treat you badly after you're a customer.
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