benb
01-22-2019, 01:37 PM
I had a couple decent wrench jobs over Xmas. Both new items out of the box/crate.
1) I built a Huffy. We bought one of my son's friends this bike. I would have loved to get him something else but that's what his Mom asked for, single Mom, she is not going to take care of it I think, so we got him what she asked for.
2) I built a ~$2000 Nordic Track treadmill.
The Huffy came with the BB + headset installed, rear wheel installed, front wheel not installed. Handlebar came mounted to a quill stem which just needed to be inserted into the steer tube. Pedals had to be installed, front brake had to be setup. They have a funky setup where the cable is already installed and the cable end has already been crimped on, and the brake lever allows you install/remove the brake lever end of the cable after the fact. Rear brake was a coaster brake and seemed to be fine out of the box, didn't have to adjust it. The front brake is a joke, there are factory videos they apparently have a tool to make it easy to bend the parts of the caliper/springs to adjust it. After a really long time I got it serviceable but I'd still put it in the "unsafe at any speed category" for brakes. This is a kids bike, I'd assume the adult bikes are better.
Overall though.. everything on the Huffy was fine. Threads were all nicely tapped, nothing had to be forced, nothing was obviously misaligned, etc..
My son had a $400 Trek, this Huffy was $100, you can instantly see where the money goes in the Trek. The Huffy was at least 2X the weight, maybe 3X, the brakes on the Trek are much better (read safe), headset is miles better, bearings obviously better, the Trek has a freewheel and 6 speeds, Shimano components, etc..
But there was nothing really WRONG with the Huffy. It'd be a better bike for a kid if I had torn the front brake off and tossed the brake lever + caliper in the trash and he'd just use the coaster brake, but I didn't do that.
Now onto the Treadmill.. my wife bought this, it was advertised as a commercial level one. I have often wondered at the gym where the money was going as everything at gyms feels really cheap compared to bikes. This is a super fancy treadmill, it's got a big computer screen built into it and has a whole service like Peloton but for runners.
Anyway.. what did I find on the ~$2k treadmill:
- Holes not tapped, they want you to self tap holes into steel by hand. (Manual bans using a powered screwdriver/drill)
- Manufacturing tolerances so loose that almost all the major holes for assembly are stamped out as ovals so all the parts can be slid around to align things.
- Numerous parts that are assembled by screwing into plastic
- Snap together parts that cannot be disassembled/reassembled without destroying plastic tabs. Some of these parts included covers that hide major bolts and such that you might need/want to tighten/check to make sure they are not loosening from vibration.
I pretty much can't imagine seeing something like "force the screw in to tap the threads" or oval holes on a bike.
I don't know, it was just an interesting perspective on where money is going and how refined even the cheapest "IBD" bikes are. That $500 Trek/Specialized/whatever is still made at an outrageously nice build quality today compared to so many other types of products. Even the Huffy is really high quality compared to so many other products sold today, especially when you consider most of our bikes are made to survive the elements.
1) I built a Huffy. We bought one of my son's friends this bike. I would have loved to get him something else but that's what his Mom asked for, single Mom, she is not going to take care of it I think, so we got him what she asked for.
2) I built a ~$2000 Nordic Track treadmill.
The Huffy came with the BB + headset installed, rear wheel installed, front wheel not installed. Handlebar came mounted to a quill stem which just needed to be inserted into the steer tube. Pedals had to be installed, front brake had to be setup. They have a funky setup where the cable is already installed and the cable end has already been crimped on, and the brake lever allows you install/remove the brake lever end of the cable after the fact. Rear brake was a coaster brake and seemed to be fine out of the box, didn't have to adjust it. The front brake is a joke, there are factory videos they apparently have a tool to make it easy to bend the parts of the caliper/springs to adjust it. After a really long time I got it serviceable but I'd still put it in the "unsafe at any speed category" for brakes. This is a kids bike, I'd assume the adult bikes are better.
Overall though.. everything on the Huffy was fine. Threads were all nicely tapped, nothing had to be forced, nothing was obviously misaligned, etc..
My son had a $400 Trek, this Huffy was $100, you can instantly see where the money goes in the Trek. The Huffy was at least 2X the weight, maybe 3X, the brakes on the Trek are much better (read safe), headset is miles better, bearings obviously better, the Trek has a freewheel and 6 speeds, Shimano components, etc..
But there was nothing really WRONG with the Huffy. It'd be a better bike for a kid if I had torn the front brake off and tossed the brake lever + caliper in the trash and he'd just use the coaster brake, but I didn't do that.
Now onto the Treadmill.. my wife bought this, it was advertised as a commercial level one. I have often wondered at the gym where the money was going as everything at gyms feels really cheap compared to bikes. This is a super fancy treadmill, it's got a big computer screen built into it and has a whole service like Peloton but for runners.
Anyway.. what did I find on the ~$2k treadmill:
- Holes not tapped, they want you to self tap holes into steel by hand. (Manual bans using a powered screwdriver/drill)
- Manufacturing tolerances so loose that almost all the major holes for assembly are stamped out as ovals so all the parts can be slid around to align things.
- Numerous parts that are assembled by screwing into plastic
- Snap together parts that cannot be disassembled/reassembled without destroying plastic tabs. Some of these parts included covers that hide major bolts and such that you might need/want to tighten/check to make sure they are not loosening from vibration.
I pretty much can't imagine seeing something like "force the screw in to tap the threads" or oval holes on a bike.
I don't know, it was just an interesting perspective on where money is going and how refined even the cheapest "IBD" bikes are. That $500 Trek/Specialized/whatever is still made at an outrageously nice build quality today compared to so many other types of products. Even the Huffy is really high quality compared to so many other products sold today, especially when you consider most of our bikes are made to survive the elements.