no name import cruiser bikes

[WesGrimes]

I found a site BikeBuyers.com that sells no name import cruiser bikes. I like the looks, but am worried about their quality. Has anyone purchased any import cruisers? Suggestions, opinions, warnings?

It looks so good, but...

[dreadcptflint]

Never used them but they have an Ebay store with a positive feedback of 100% for the last 12 months. It should be some decent stuff.

[emiller]

Does look pretty good. I have heard of a lot of bike shops won't work on so called Walmart (Chinese) bikes.

[caseydog]

Unless you pay a ton of money, all bikes are imports, and most from China or similar slave-labor rate countries.

So, it is probably the same quality is what you would get at a discount store, like Walmart.

And, yes, a lot of bike shops won't work on the cheap bikes.

[Mike Angeles]

Hard to believe anyone would turn away work.....

Mike

[Fenlason]

Hard to believe anyone would turn away work.....

Mike

The shop I work at now.. will work on them.. another shop I worked at before would not.
Some of those bikes.. are horrible, my boss did not want me to have to deal with them. There is also a possible liability issue. Many of the bikes are really unsafe, and if we have done work on one of them.. we open ourselves up to problems.

It may be be more of an issue for place like here [Maine] where our service season is fairly short.. it is hard to keep up with repairs as it is. Also there is not much one can do to fix one of those bikes without exceeding it value.

[Fenlason]

I don't know anything about the bike in question. I forget the name of another mail order place.. selling bikes with recognizable names.. like Motobecane. Even though they may be fairly possitive reviews, they are not such a great deal. Also Motobecane is not the same Motobecane that some of us grew up with. Someone bought the name.. the same with Schwinn and Mongoose.

[WesGrimes]

Does look pretty good. I have heard of a lot of bike shops won't work on so called Walmart (Chinese) bikes.

It's okay, I can fix it. I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express last night!

(Thanks for all the feedback everyone!)

[dakotamouse]

Unless you pay a ton of money, all bikes are imports, and most from China or similar slave-labor rate countries.

So, it is probably the same quality is what you would get at a discount store, like Walmart.

And, yes, a lot of bike shops won't work on the cheap bikes.

Oh, ain't that the truth!! Remember when a Schwinn meant you had a top of line bike? Now they are made in China, too! Not the bike they used to be.

[dreadcptflint]

Oh, ain't that the truth!! Remember when a Schwinn meant you had a top of line bike? Now they are made in China, too! Not the bike they used to be.

What's wrong with China, they are making the hummers after all?.....


<ducks>

[Fenlason]

There is some nice stuff from China..

even from the same factory there are different levels of quality available..

Before Schwinn went bankrupt they had some good foreign stuff... but after the bankruptcy assets were sold of.. and someone bought the name... and are trying to cash in on it...

[dakotamouse]

There is some nice stuff from China..
.

That's true. I think it depends on the company contracting the work with the Chinese company and what they specify for quality. But with bikes......well........has anyone else noticed how in America they have become something that is considered desposable? Used to be bikes were passed down from kid to kid. Now we just expect to dump and buy a new one.

[nikwax]

I was seriously into bicycles when I was in college (early-mid 70's), at that time the quality bikes were coming from Japan. US and European bikes pretty much disappeared by the late 70's (I bought an all-European in 79 that was considered exotic). By the 80's and 90's there were three bike factories in Taiwan that were responsible for 98% of the bicycles sold in this country, Japan and Europe having settled for making components (brakes, deraileurs, wheels) . Anyone in the bike business simply contracted with one of the three, specified color, logo, components. Vendors like Trek, Schwinn, Giant, Raleigh, etc were mostly distributors. I believe those three factories are still around and still producing most of the bicycles sold here. The production numbers on the Chinese bicycle factories are staggering, bicycles having been a primary form of transportation there for decades.


If you are casually riding a bike, most any one will do that fits you properly. If you want light weight, suspension, high quality components (shifters, brakes, wheels), exotic design, then you pay more. A $900 bike is not necessarily 3 times better than a $300 bike. You can find very good used bicycles on Craigslist for much less than new prices. And look for closeouts, there are always good deals on new bicycles late in the season (after Xmas and before summer). Why buy a bicycle without riding it first?



Perspective: I spotted a $2500 bike in a local shop, snapped a picture and sent it to a buddy who races professionally, thinking he'd be impressed. His response: "it's hard for me to find a good pair of wheels for $2500 anymore." ;-)

[Fenlason]

There is some nice stuff from China..
.

That's true. I think it depends on the company contracting the work with the Chinese company and what they specify for quality. But with bikes......well........has anyone else noticed how in America they have become something that is considered desposable? Used to be bikes were passed down from kid to kid. Now we just expect to dump and buy a new one.

I think in general people don't want to pay for things.. so many things have become disposable.

On many department store bikes a tune up and new tires costs more than the bike. You can most often purchase a kids bike that is worthy of becoming a hand me down at bike shops.

[Fenlason]

I was seriously into bicycles when I was in college (early-mid 70's), at that time the quality bikes were coming from Japan. US and European bikes pretty much disappeared by the late 70's (I bought an all-European in 79 that was considered exotic). By the 80's and 90's there were three bike factories in Taiwan that were responsible for 98% of the bicycles sold in this country, Japan and Europe having settled for making components (brakes, deraileurs, wheels) . Anyone in the bike business simply contracted with one of the three, specified color, logo, components. Vendors like Trek, Schwinn, Giant, Raleigh, etc were mostly distributors. I believe those three factories are still around and still producing most of the bicycles sold here. The production numbers on the Chinese bicycle factories are staggering, bicycles having been a primary form of transportation there for decades.


If you are casually riding a bike, most any one will do that fits you properly. If you want light weight, suspension, high quality components (shifters, brakes, wheels), exotic design, then you pay more. A $900 bike is not necessarily 3 times better than a $300 bike. You can find very good used bicycles on Craigslist for much less than new prices. And look for closeouts, there are always good deals on new bicycles late in the season (after Xmas and before summer). Why buy a bicycle without riding it first?



Perspective: I spotted a $2500 bike in a local shop, snapped a picture and sent it to a buddy who races professionally, thinking he'd be impressed. His response: "it's hard for me to find a good pair of wheels for $2500 anymore." ;-)

Giant was one of the Taiwan companies building bikes.. as was Hodaka. Giant finally decided to make bikes with their name on them also.

Even though for example Hodaka make bikes for many people it does not mean that all of them were the same. Each company would spec and choose what they wanted for geometry and sizing. They still designed their bikes.. they just did not manufacture them.

My understanding the reason bike production went from Japan to Taiwan.. was the currency issues.. The US dollar vs the Japenese yen.

At first the product from Taiwan was severely lacking, but it did not take long and some very good stuff came out of their.

Today what you can buy for $ 1000.00 dollars is head and shoulders above what is was years ago. Yet at the same time the upper end.. while better than it ever was.. is getting more and more expensive.

while a $2500 dollar bike is nice.. it is nothing for an enthusiast to drool over. $ 6000 to $10,000 is more of that level..