Ok, I should follow up on this.
First a story, then I have a size question ok?
I BOUGHT the Schwinn Point Beach. Spent my saturday putting it together. Cheap *** bike there, NOT a real schwinn at all. (Made in china ****.)
Well that's ok, I knew it was a cheap bike right? This will be my prototype and I'm sure I can sell it next summer and try again with better stuff.
All looked good.
Except the tires were deformed. I mean bad! Wobbly. They only inflate them enough to pack so ok, I have a mechanic right across the street, I assembled the bike and walked it over there.
DEflated the tires. I ran the whole wheel to check for crimped tube, that the tire rim was seated in the wheel rim etc. Fine! Put in ten pounds, ran it again. FINE. Filled it. STILL deformed. BOTH tires were like this. The tread just wobbles and it is formed that way.
Across the street and one lawn behind my back yard is the fire department parking lot. I rode around that a few times, the bike (style at least) IS very comfortable. BUT these tires? It rode like a galloping horse. I can only imagine this with a motor on it!
So... yesterday I stuffed the bike in my trunk and took it back. They called up this kid from bikes.
(I have dealt with him before, he is a moron!)
He starts telling ME how you have to make sure the tire is seated properly. I assured him I KNOW how to seat a tire. I've been changing bike tires since I was eight! These tires are deformed!
He said, "Ok your the expert.... but..."
And... get this. Hold onto your chair. Ready?
"I can fix it for you but if you hit a puddle it may make the tire go out of alignment again."
Really? A puddle???? Really?
Ok, you go fix it for me.
Meanwhile I looked at their bikes again. Took another Point Beach off the rack and spun the wheel. Wobbly! Same thing with the tire. Tread is visibly crooked.
Then I took a few more. Pulled off a ten speed, a huffy, another cruiser. All fine! True as can be.
It's only this one with defective tires.
So I go back to the front, that guy shows up and tells me "the rim is fine, it's the tire."
DUAH!!!!!! Isn't that what I said????
now I told him I LIKE the bike. Just give me a set of GOOD tires and I'll put them on.
Or.. YOU go swap the tires and I'll wait.
But no. They refunded my money. So much for that.
So I'm back in the market for a bike.
Tried spookytooth.com. They said they could custom build a bike and to let them know what I want.
(This is way above what I thought I'd spend but what the ****.) So I sent a list.
Then never heard back!
Tried to sign up and log into their site to read the instructions on a motor. Their site was messed up. Logged me in but then every page would tell me to go log in. So I emailed them again!
NO REPLY! To either. NOT good. I do know this is the busiest time of year for bike dealers but gees! It's been DAYS! Answer the email before I blow OVER SEVEN HUNDRED bucks! aghh!
Poor customer service is a sure way to blow me off for good!
I'm back to my original plan. Get a cheap (not walmart) bike, (200.00 range or LESS.) buy the motor, and commence to pulling out my hair trying to install it. I was finally able to pull up spoooky tooths instruction manual. Very detailed manual. How hard can a simple two stroke be? One screw here, one bolt there. One thing at a time right? I can do this.
So my questions; I found a TON of bikes on line. I mean TONS! But there is no way to sit on one.
I'm going to stop by a bike store today and see if they will help "fit me." They will probably be too expensive to buy, but hopefully I can get the size specs down.
So.. how exactly do you figure size? Is "wheelbase" the distance between axles? That walmart bike seemed cramped to me and it was bigger than spookytooths.
This walmart bike I had to put the seat almost as high as it would go to be able to peddle comfortable. BUT that meant I could not reach the ground unless I got OFF the seat first. Which isn't that big of a deal. I have a 27" mens 12 speed I do that all the time.
There seem to be other things to look at too, like how close the seat, handlebars, peddles are to each other. Are there "specks" for all that? If so what?
What about stretch bikes? They look like they could be hard to handle at slow speeds or tight turns.
Anyone have experience with them? I don't trust that long chain either. But they sure look comfortable. I DO want to have a bike I can peddle too. Not get too spoiled with the motor. That is for the up hills, long sections of road into the wind, like that.
It's hard enough to buy clothes on line, bikes are very similar. If I know what measurements are comfortable it would help.
Again the bike shop should help there.
(I just won't tell them their prices are insane. I'll act interested. get my facts and leave.)