06-16-2020, 12:09 PM
I'm not sure what is meant by "Bike Shop quality." A few months ago I called a bike shop to inquire if they would take a Schwinn 3rd Avenue hybrid bike in part exchange for one of their cruisers. They said they will only take "bike shop quality" bikes. So I sold the Schwinn, privately, and bought the bike shop cruiser.
I'll admit the Schwinn was a piece of garbage out of the box. I had to buy two tires and two tubes before I could even ride it. I did quite a bit of upgrading on it, including a cartridge BB to replace the cup and cone. Stripped it down, cleaned the wheel bearings and headset and greased them all with White Lightning silicone-based grease. Still, the bike shop wasn't to know all the things I did to it, so I can't blame them for not wanting it.
Now the cruiser has 690 miles on it. It's a nice bike with aluminum frame, and very comfortable. A couple of nights ago, while riding it, an occasional clinking sound started coming from somewhere, then it got worse. At home I put it up on my bike work stand but it wouldn't make the noise when I turned the pedals, so it was hard to tell where the noise had been coming from. Back on the road and it was fine.
The next evening, while riding, back came the clinking sound. So, back up on the work stand, I turned the pedals and it sounded like it was coming from the freewheel, but it's a fairly new one, only a couple of months old. Wheel bearings?
Yesterday I turned the bike upside-down and found the rear wheel was hard to turn, and it was grinding. After removing the freewheel and loosening the cone nut and lock nut, the ball bearings started falling out. The wheel was laying on it's side when I did this, so it was the bearings on the lower side that were falling out, but the ones on the top were a mess, like they had never been seated properly. It looked like one ball had never gone into place.
After cleaning the bearing seats and the ball bearings and putting it all back together, the wheel turned freely. I figured I'd better look at the front wheel, too. Same thing there, but the ball bearings seemed to be in place, even though they had been grinding. Once it was all done, the ride was sweet and quiet.
So much for "bike shop quality," but I can't blame the bike shop because they didn't build it. Quality control at the factory might not be what it ought to be. The thing is, I'm capable of doing the job, myself, but for those who only ride a bike, they would have had to take it back to the shop. For me, that would have been a 24-miles round trip to take it there, and another 24 miles to go pick it up when it's done. Guarantee? I don't know if that would have been covered. And I can't help wondering why it took nearly 700 miles for the problem to show up. I had intended to service the bearings at 1,000 miles, anyway. For a bike that cost about three times what a Walmart cruiser would have cost, I wouldn't have expected such a problem.
Aside from that, I really like the Crystal White Lightning grease. It's silicone which makes it waterproof, but it can't be cleaned with citrus cleaner as can regular grease. Gasoline will clean it but I don't like to use that.
I'll admit the Schwinn was a piece of garbage out of the box. I had to buy two tires and two tubes before I could even ride it. I did quite a bit of upgrading on it, including a cartridge BB to replace the cup and cone. Stripped it down, cleaned the wheel bearings and headset and greased them all with White Lightning silicone-based grease. Still, the bike shop wasn't to know all the things I did to it, so I can't blame them for not wanting it.
Now the cruiser has 690 miles on it. It's a nice bike with aluminum frame, and very comfortable. A couple of nights ago, while riding it, an occasional clinking sound started coming from somewhere, then it got worse. At home I put it up on my bike work stand but it wouldn't make the noise when I turned the pedals, so it was hard to tell where the noise had been coming from. Back on the road and it was fine.
The next evening, while riding, back came the clinking sound. So, back up on the work stand, I turned the pedals and it sounded like it was coming from the freewheel, but it's a fairly new one, only a couple of months old. Wheel bearings?
Yesterday I turned the bike upside-down and found the rear wheel was hard to turn, and it was grinding. After removing the freewheel and loosening the cone nut and lock nut, the ball bearings started falling out. The wheel was laying on it's side when I did this, so it was the bearings on the lower side that were falling out, but the ones on the top were a mess, like they had never been seated properly. It looked like one ball had never gone into place.
After cleaning the bearing seats and the ball bearings and putting it all back together, the wheel turned freely. I figured I'd better look at the front wheel, too. Same thing there, but the ball bearings seemed to be in place, even though they had been grinding. Once it was all done, the ride was sweet and quiet.
So much for "bike shop quality," but I can't blame the bike shop because they didn't build it. Quality control at the factory might not be what it ought to be. The thing is, I'm capable of doing the job, myself, but for those who only ride a bike, they would have had to take it back to the shop. For me, that would have been a 24-miles round trip to take it there, and another 24 miles to go pick it up when it's done. Guarantee? I don't know if that would have been covered. And I can't help wondering why it took nearly 700 miles for the problem to show up. I had intended to service the bearings at 1,000 miles, anyway. For a bike that cost about three times what a Walmart cruiser would have cost, I wouldn't have expected such a problem.
Aside from that, I really like the Crystal White Lightning grease. It's silicone which makes it waterproof, but it can't be cleaned with citrus cleaner as can regular grease. Gasoline will clean it but I don't like to use that.
If I knew how to ride a bike properly, I'd do it every time.
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