So my internship is at a new startup... PublicBikes.com

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Meghan54

Meghan54

Lifer
Oct 18, 2009
11,684
5,228
136
Homerboy said:
30 mins by a trained professional. How much time to do it PROPERLY buy an untrained yuppie with no Park tool set and no knowledge of a crescent wrench vs an allen wrench?

Not to mention who's going to get sued when the 1st improperly adjusted brake pad slams into the spokes on the front wheel sending the rider head first into a busy street intersection? ANY new, out of the box, bike requires a fair amount of PROPER adjustment before I'd feel "OK" about somebody riding away on it (this comes from my opening thousands upon thousands of bike boxes in the approx. decade I wrenched and sold bikes too :))
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Fair amount? True, the wheels need checking out for true or hops. V-brakes are the simplest of "real" brakes to set up...couple of minutes per wheel. No front derailleur, internal geared rear hub.....so no rear derailleur. Just grease up the stem bolt, drop handlebar/stem into place and tighten, check if shifter shifts hub correctly, adjust if needed. What more is needed? Disassemble and repack.

Personally, I think any bike being sold via internet and shipped should go to a competent bike shop for final assembly, but that's me.
 
F

FleshLight

Diamond Member
Mar 18, 2004
6,883
0
71
I think the bikes will be sold fully assembled and hopefully tuned since they offer test rides. But I find it hard to believe that they actually design the frames. It makes no sense to design a brand new women's specific steel frame when Giant offers several of them at a much lower cost.
 
M

MikeMike

Lifer
Feb 6, 2000
45,885
66
91
FleshLight said:
I think the bikes will be sold fully assembled and hopefully tuned since they offer test rides. But I find it hard to believe that they actually design the frames. It makes no sense to design a brand new women's specific steel frame when Giant offers several of them at a much lower cost.
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They have bike shops around the country they are in talks with.

The following will be installed by the customer

Reflectors, Seat/Seatpost, Pedals, Rear Fender, Front Wheel, Front Brake, Front Fender, Stem.
 
Homerboy

Homerboy

Lifer
Mar 1, 2000
30,890
5,001
126
M

MikeMike

Lifer
Feb 6, 2000
45,885
66
91
Homerboy said:
"he argues, most American bike stores still cater primarily to athletes. "

What? Not 90% of the stores I've been in for the past 20 years. Sure there are hihg-end stores and boutiques, but the vast majority of retail stores and manufactures sell on comfort, usability and PRICE.

There are 2 comments on the article thus far too. Both ripping.
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They cater towards men, and volume quantity...

Both comments have no idea, the bikes are assembly lined, and made in Taiwan, but Taiwan is the largest bike manufacturing country... Expect a lot of things to be coming soon, May 5th I believe is the key date...
 
Homerboy

Homerboy

Lifer
Mar 1, 2000
30,890
5,001
126
MikeMike said:
They cater towards men, and volume quantity...

Both comments have no idea, the bikes are assembly lined, and made in Taiwan, but Taiwan is the largest bike manufacturing country... Expect a lot of things to be coming soon, May 5th I believe is the key date...
Click to expand...

Who caters to men? Bike shops? Again I would strongly beg to differ. Go into any shop around here and there will be a PLETHORA of kids bikes and most certainly single chain-ringed multispeeds with classic style (mens and womens). Sure there will be a bunch of high-end road/Mountain bikes too, but hardly the majority or what they are catering too.

MikeMike, I know you're the new intern and all, but you don't need to drink ALL the Kool-Aid in one sitting. :)
 
M

MikeMike

Lifer
Feb 6, 2000
45,885
66
91
FYI, some more info i have...

Bikes can be delivered either to you when you order, or to a local bike shop and the bike shop will assemble the bike...

The frames are guaranteed for life.
 
StageLeft

StageLeft

No Lifer
Sep 29, 2000
70,150
5
0
I hope things go well for you but TBH as a cyclist those bikes look like something my grandfather probably rode back in 1950 and I could find at a garage sale for $20. I'm sure some marginally employed coffee-drinking guys who have long beards probably think they are the cat's meow, though :)

BTW I commute to work some days. I have a $250 (or was it $330) mountain bike I bought years ago and put slicks on. It actually moves pretty decently with that single swap. I use cages on the pedals. I'm not sure what a bike like this could do for me. If I replaced this bike with another it would be a more aggressive road-type setup but more able to handle bumps and riding on grass than a true road bike.
 
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nsafreak

Diamond Member
Oct 16, 2001
7,093
3
81
MikeMike said:
FYI, some more info i have...

Bikes can be delivered either to you when you order, or to a local bike shop and the bike shop will assemble the bike...

The frames are guaranteed for life.
Click to expand...

So you get to pay a buttload of money for a bike then shell out another $50-$80 (approx) for a bike shop to assemble the bike if not potentially more? Just not seeing the market for this and really those bikes do NOT look like they're worth the money that's being asked. People will pay more for a bike with the appropriate features and from a brand name that they've actually heard of such as Specialized, Trek, KHS, Nishiki, Cannondale, Lightspeed Titanium, etc. For the money that your company is asking for you could get a very well equipped bike from any of those companys (well, except Lightspeed Titanium) that will beat it out feature wise.

And from what I have seen people purchase there aren't quite as many people purchasing the cruiser style bikes that you're selling as they are all terrain bikes nowadays. At least that was the view I had from visiting five independent bike shops in the past couple of days while doing some bike shopping. Ended up with a Specialized Hard Rock for $300 which wasn't a bad deal.
 
Homerboy

Homerboy

Lifer
Mar 1, 2000
30,890
5,001
126
MikeMike said:
FYI, some more info i have...

Bikes can be delivered either to you when you order, or to a local bike shop and the bike shop will assemble the bike...

The frames are guaranteed for life.
Click to expand...

FWIW, I can't think of a bike manu that doesn't guarantee a frame for life. Shipping to a shop is at least a good idea. But then again, that shop is going to charge $75+ just to assemble it.
 
M

MikeMike

Lifer
Feb 6, 2000
45,885
66
91
Homerboy said:
FWIW, I can't think of a bike manu that doesn't guarantee a frame for life. Shipping to a shop is at least a good idea. But then again, that shop is going to charge $75+ just to assemble it.
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Depending upon where you are, there may be a "PUBLIC Agent" in your area that is trained to assemble the bikes, and will cost you nothing, but they will assemble the bike for you.
 
M

MikeMike

Lifer
Feb 6, 2000
45,885
66
91
I will say the accessories they are offering are very appealing, and very well thought out.
 
M

MikeMike

Lifer
Feb 6, 2000
45,885
66
91
Tomorrow the website launches, I believe some of you will be very impressed by the accessories, and products outside of the bicycles offered by the company... many European products not easily available inside the US, as well as many many comfortable, dailyable bike gear
 
deadlyapp

deadlyapp

Diamond Member
Apr 25, 2004
6,670
744
126
A fucking hat to wear under a helmet? That makes me want to fucking pass on the word to avoid this shit.
 
YOyoYOhowsDAjello

YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Moderator<br>A/V & Home Theater<br>Elite member
Aug 6, 2001
31,205
45
91
lol, terrible.

I think... just maybe... the ATOT crowd isn't your target audience.
 
Crusty

Crusty

Lifer
Sep 30, 2001
12,684
2
81
What could you possibly selling that you can only find in Europe? I'm glad my original assessment was correct :D
 
YOyoYOhowsDAjello

YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Moderator<br>A/V & Home Theater<br>Elite member
Aug 6, 2001
31,205
45
91
MikeMike said:
I should have said "some" not all of them, there are some things some people on here may be interested in.
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I know very little about bike accessories.

I looked up a couple random products from the site and found them for less with free shipping from Amazon.

What's special about the accessories that people would pay more to get them from you?
 
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