SMS
12-31-1969, 08:00 PM
I went with my sister-in-law and niece yesterday to buy a bicycle for my
12 year old niece. Thankfully it was not difficult to convince the
sister-in-law not to buy another Target bicycle! But buying a suitable
bicycle at a bicycle store wasn't so easy either.
The sister-in-law had only a few restrictions: $300 max, adjustable
height handlebars, adjustable reach handlebars, 21-24 speed, relatively
light, and proper size (not "grow into it"). She'll outgrow it in a
couple of years, so didn't really need top of the line components so
even SRAM front and rear dérailleurs were okay (though my son may end up
with it when she outgrows it so I had a vested interest). I wanted 26"
versus 700c wheels because we sometimes do some off-road, and it's not
easy or cheap to buy 700c off-road tires.
We came up with a grand total of two "bike shop bikes" that met the specs.
Schwinn Sierra GS (small) $243 sale price ($280 MSRP) (plus another 10%
in "Team Performance" rebate)
Trek Navigator 2.0 (14.5") $300 sale price ($330 MSRP)
The components were similar, with the $50 difference probably due to the
Trek name. She went with the Schwinn, because the frame style was a
little better for her, with a more sloping top-tube. If we had gotten
to Performance a few minutes later, we would have gotten the Trek, as
someone else wanted the only remaining proper size Schwinn Sierra GS.
One amazing thing that the Performance employee said, and I'm really
wondering if it's true, is that they include lifetime free adjustments
to brakes and gears (not such a big deal as this takes only a few
minutes) but also free wheel truing. Wheel truing normally costs like
$15-25 per wheel, and it's something that you're pretty much guaranteed
to need and it's a time-consuming task. Not sure if he was misinformed,
or if it's really true.
12 year old niece. Thankfully it was not difficult to convince the
sister-in-law not to buy another Target bicycle! But buying a suitable
bicycle at a bicycle store wasn't so easy either.
The sister-in-law had only a few restrictions: $300 max, adjustable
height handlebars, adjustable reach handlebars, 21-24 speed, relatively
light, and proper size (not "grow into it"). She'll outgrow it in a
couple of years, so didn't really need top of the line components so
even SRAM front and rear dérailleurs were okay (though my son may end up
with it when she outgrows it so I had a vested interest). I wanted 26"
versus 700c wheels because we sometimes do some off-road, and it's not
easy or cheap to buy 700c off-road tires.
We came up with a grand total of two "bike shop bikes" that met the specs.
Schwinn Sierra GS (small) $243 sale price ($280 MSRP) (plus another 10%
in "Team Performance" rebate)
Trek Navigator 2.0 (14.5") $300 sale price ($330 MSRP)
The components were similar, with the $50 difference probably due to the
Trek name. She went with the Schwinn, because the frame style was a
little better for her, with a more sloping top-tube. If we had gotten
to Performance a few minutes later, we would have gotten the Trek, as
someone else wanted the only remaining proper size Schwinn Sierra GS.
One amazing thing that the Performance employee said, and I'm really
wondering if it's true, is that they include lifetime free adjustments
to brakes and gears (not such a big deal as this takes only a few
minutes) but also free wheel truing. Wheel truing normally costs like
$15-25 per wheel, and it's something that you're pretty much guaranteed
to need and it's a time-consuming task. Not sure if he was misinformed,
or if it's really true.