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 […]
So, you’ve been riding your department store bike for awhile and the miles are adding up. You’re actually starting to enjoy riding it, or at least that’s what you tell yourself. In your darker moments, however, you wonder if you’re experiencing a velo version of the Stockholm Syndrome. At night, in the […]
As hard as it is to believe, there are some bikes just so cheap, so clearly bad, even I wouldn’t ride them. As a connoisseur, of sorts, of low end bikes, I have set myself some limits. A price of $99, for example, would be about the lowest I’d go. A bike […]
Bike thieves changed my life. Really. One of the arguments I’ve often expounded in support of buying a department store bike is the prevalence of bike theft. Why commute with a brand name LBS bike that is going to catch the eye of every bike thief worth the name? I’m wondering if […]
I had my “marketing” hat on yesterday; I guess I cycled home from work with it on instead of my helmet. They feel roughly the same. I started thinking of Local Bike Shops and how they could win the hearts of the unwashed masses of Department Store Bike riders.
Tactics I’ve seen used include […]
One common argument directed at the Department Store Bike (DSB) is that riding one will deflate a nascent interest in cycling, permanently relegating the unfortunate owner to the ranks of the sofa-bound. The argument is invariably tied to the perceived poor quality of the bike: heavy, badly put together, inferior quality components, likely a deathtrap […]
I suppose that depends upon who’s riding it.
The question of who actually rides department store bikes (other than experienced cyclists who have made a conscious decisions to buy one) has intrigued me for some time. From what I’ve seen, there are two groups of people who choose department store bikes: the very poor […]
I bought the $99 Canadian Tire SC1800 because I wanted to save my $1,000 Jamis Coda from the ignominious abuse of a daily commute. What I didn’t expect was that a year later, that cheap department store bike would be my favorite ride.
There are a number of reasons for this strange turn of events. […]
I’ve been curious about the SC1800 since I bought it at Canadian Tire, but have not been able to find any information about the bike, anywhere. So, I thought I’d go to the source and ask Canadian Tire about it. I figured it was a longshot, but what the heck. Today, I […]
Recent activity on this blog has convinced me that I need to write this post. I know it may seem that I’m having fun playing with my low-end Canadian Tire SC1800, but I am in no way whatsoever recommending that other people run out and buy one of these bikes, or a similar Department […]
