Department Store Bikes and Department Store Telescopes
by Steve ~ March 20th, 2008. Filed under: Department Store Bikes.This week on my travels round the web I found a couple of interesting blogs with posts about Department Store Bikes.
The first, BikeLoveJones (The true adventures of a gal and her bike), has a nostalgic post from a gal who recalls her childhood riding various department store bikes, and who points out that most avid cyclists graduated from department store bikes to LBS bikes. She started on a small BMX style bike, then graduated to her sister’s 10-speed DSB, and cycled everywhere, like we all did.
The other blog was from one of our close neighbours in the US, South Dakota, Cycling South Dakota, where the blogger mentions that most of his cycling co-workers use department store bikes, at least to ride to work. He has a great photo of the front window of a Local Bike Shop with a sign that says “We will not work on Dept. Store Bikes.”
Both posts made me realize why taking a stance against Department Store Bikes is the wrong approach. Most cyclists get their first taste for cycling when they’re children. Most children ride Department Store Bikes. Without Department Store Bikes, which provide a low-cost entry into cycling, most kids would never start cycling. You can talk all you want about the poor quality of department store bikes but without them, and I mean without the cheapest of them, the DynaCrappiest of them, there’d be a lot less cyclists on the road today. If I had to shell out a few hundred bucks every time my kids got a bike, or had to search for a used bike, I would never have bought them bikes. I’d have bought them skateboards instead.
This is the same recruitment model that exists in amateur astronomy, by the way. Amateur Astronomers are forever complaining about the poor quality of Department Store Telescopes. Essentially they’ve got flimsy mounts and poor optics, which means any serious amateur astronomer won’t use one. Like cycling, however, Department Store Telescopes are the entry point into the hobby for most astronomers, and most have fond memories of using their cheap ass telescopes. When I was a kid I had a 60mm Tasco tabletop refractor — similar to the one pictured on the left — the ultimate department store telescope, on flimsy tripod legs. I used it well into adulthood, and developed my interest in amateur astronomy because of it. Would my parents have been able to purchase a “good” telescope back then? Heck, no. I’d have gone without. It wasn’t until I was well into adulthood that I got my first really good telescope, when I made my own — pictured below in mid-construction.
Unlike the field of cycling, however, amateur astronomers seem to have come to an accommodation with Department Store Telescopes. While nobody recommends you actually buy one, there’s very little of the strident anti-department-store posturing you often see in cycling. Instead, the astronomy approach seems to be, “Don’t buy one, but if you’ve already got one, here’s how to make it useful.”
Anyway, enough of that. Spring is here! If you haven’t already put your bike on the road (LBS, DSB, or otherwise) do it now!
Related posts:
Sheldon Brown on department store bikes
March 20th, 2008 at 7:34 am
Agreed. I started bicycling again in my late 20’s but I never would have done so if my cheapest option was a $400 cruiser bicycle store bike. For all I knew, I’d hop on it once and never ride again.
What ended up happening is that it became one of my favorite hobbies and now I’m seriously considering buying a proper touring bicycle from a LBS or REI (a store that sells mostly outdoor and cycling equipment. I don’t know how familiar Canadians are with it.)
March 20th, 2008 at 7:56 am
REI is the equivalent of our MEC I think (Mountain Equipment Co-op). I buy a lot of bike tools and parts at MEC, but they don’t sell complete bikes… they didn’t want to go into competition with Local Bike Shops. (BTW, MEC is a department store of sorts, so I guess that was pretty big of them!)
March 20th, 2008 at 9:31 am
I’m flattered to have made the cut.
My Brother-in-law was an avid astronomer for about three years. He joined his local star-gazing club, went to remote places to look at the sky through his “starter” telescope, and in the end gave it all up because he couldn’t keep up with the rest of the club members who were either replacing or improving their telescopes every other week. He simply didn’t have that kind of money, and as he put it, “got tired of the escalating arms race”.
I’m not exactly in the same boat. I have three bikes, two of which are definitely beyond department store level. I ride every day and often of the weekends as well. Between the two primary bikes I ride an average of 2,700 miles a year. Would I ride as much on a cheap bike? Maybe not. Much as I loved my department store bikes while growing up, once I grew into so much riding as an adult, I needed a bike that would hold up better and ride more comfortably. I couldn’t see my doing this kind of riding on my sister’s old Penney’s bike. It would fall apart under me. For me, being faithful to the bike that works and fits best and riding it regularly has become the point.
March 20th, 2008 at 10:41 am
Beth, I agree 100%. I own three bikes, two good LBS Bikes (a Jamis and a Giant), and my Department Store Bike I use ONLY for commuting. Before last year I was cycling between 3,500 and 4,500 Km a year (2,200 to 2,800 Miles). When I bought the Department Store Bike, I started commuting more, and jumped up to 6,000 Km last year. This year I’m aiming for 7,000 Km… (about 4,400 Miles). I do most of my recreational riding on the Jamis, including weekend centuries and long “discovery” rides, but having the Department Store Bike as a beater has allowed me to commute more than I ever did before.
March 21st, 2008 at 10:51 pm
Wow what a horrible telescope !!!!!!
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March 22nd, 2008 at 4:09 pm
Nice write-up. I agree. ride ‘yer bike, no matter what it is.
March 24th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
… there is one little teeny difference… if a telescope breaks on ya, the consequences are a little easier to handle.