July 23rd, 2010 | 
Author: 
I love this bike but pedal is too close to front wheel. When I turn, my foot touches the front wheel. Is it only me or is there anybody experiencing same problem?
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Ok, so I saw it on Target.com and i loved it. The problem is that my dad won’t let me ride it if it doesn’t have handbrakes. Does it come with handbrakes or no? And is Women Schwinn Legacy Cruiser Bike 26 it also possible to add on a little basket on the front?
Yeah and here is the link:
http://www.target.com/Schwinn-Legacy-Cruiser-Bike-26/dp/B00160GL60/sr=1-15/qid=1249440736/ref=sr_1_15/181-2059643-3895303?ie=UTF8&search-alias=tgt-index&frombrowse=0&pricerange=&index=target&field-browse=1038576&field-original-keywords=bicylcle&rh=k%3Abicycle%2Cn%3A1038604&page=3
(And please only answer if you are sure, not only guessing)
Please help!
Easy 10 points~ 
Thanks
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by: Geoff Ficke
If you are of a certain age you will vividly remember the following names: Helena Rubenstein, Faberge, Germain Monteil, Trigere, Revlon, Elizabeth Arden, Max Factor, Schwinn, W. T. Grant, Montgomery Ward and Chuck Taylor. Each name represented a hugely successful consumer product brand.
Each of these brands was grown from the entrepreneurial seed of a visionary. Unfortunately, each was subsequently abused, in several cases terminally, by non-visionary corporate bean counters.
A classic example is Revlon. Revlon is instructional because it remains in the news, mostly for being a tortured shell of it’s former glorious self. Founded by Charles Revson in the 1930’s, Revlon was the largest cosmetic company in the world until the 1980’s. Ultima, Norell, Charlie, Bill Blass and Eterna 27 were subsidiary divisions under the Revlon corporate umbrella. The finest department and specialty stores in the world fought to carry these upscale, elegant products. Revlon was widely respected as the arbiter of taste for fashion conscious women. Fire and Ice, Lips and Tips and That Man are only a few examples of product marketing campaigns that were ubiquitous in consumer culture of the time.
Charles Revson was one of the most famous businessmen of his time. Books were written about his life, business strategy and the legendary brutal bullying of his management personnel. He paid his people exceedingly well and expected total commitment to his company. The drive to stay ahead of the competition by constant innovation Women Schwinn Legacy Cruiser Bike 26 and creativity was all consuming for Mr. Revson. Nothing was allowed to impede his constant pursuit of staying number one. His famous department store mantra, “success requires space, location and demonstration” is a given followed by successful merchants to this day. He once was asked how he could justify charging $5 for a $.40 cent lipstick? His famous retort: “I don’t sell lipstick, I sell hope” is an accurate reflection of an entrepreneur who knew his customer and how to please them.
As Mr. Revson aged, he could see the need to address his succession as crucial to his legacy and Revlon’s future. After conducting a famous, thoroughly documented executive search, he hired Michel Bergerac from IBM. Mr. Bergerac was a brilliant executive. He inherited a billion-dollar business with worldwide operations. Revlon dominated the male and female fragrance, color cosmetic and skin care markets.
Sadly, the business culture of the 1980’s and 1990’s did not value creativity and innovation as much as asset deployment. Mr. Bergerac was excellent at deployment of assets. For a number of years Revlon held on as king of the category. However, the inevitable slowly began to happen. Product launches began to stall. The Company began to follow competitor’s successes with me-too look-alike products. Lancome, L’Oreal and Estee Lauder, under the lead of entrepreneurial owners, became industry innovators and assumed leadership in the space historically dominated by Revlon.
It has been 20 years since Revlon left the department store business. Mr. Bergerac was awarded a lucrative “golden parachute” when financier Ronald Pearlman took control of Revlon in a hostile corporate takeover. Under Mr. Pearlman’s ownership Revlon has been a continual money loser. Product innovation is non-existent. Revlon’s products are sold in drug chains and mass merchandisers and are regularly promoted with off price coupons. Charles Revson would be livid. But he would not be alone as a founding entrepreneur, nurturer of a great brand and yet, unfortunately, a life’s work diminished or extinguished by successors lacking the innovative gene.
Great entrepreneurs like W. T. Grant, Montgomery Ward and Pauline Trigere are rare. The ability to create, innovate, manage and grow a business is rarely found in a single package. Calvin Klein is a creative entrepreneurial genius in the fashion world. His partner, Barry Schwartz is the unseen business/management half of the Klein success. They compliment and balance each other. Whether their successors can continue to provide clothing designs that the consumer will desire is an open question.
It was easier for Germain Monteil to build her skin care line from scratch than it was for The Squibb Drug Company, after purchasing this growing brand, to maintain it. Germain Monteil products are no longer sold. There are far too many such examples.
In my work with entrepreneurs I am constantly confronted with examples of ambition not paralleling reality. As Clint Eastwood famously quipped in a Dirty Harry movie, “a man has to know his limitations”. It is a rare person that has the range of abilities to both launch and successfully build a product. Limits of ability or experience, however, do not close the door to potential success. The right partner, team or alliance can spell the difference between success and failure. Charles Revson was the whole package. His successors have proven themselves to be not of his caliber.
I love to discuss specific opportunities with prospective entrepreneurs. Please call me at any time to review your dreams. Geoff Ficke 859-567-1609.
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Posted in Bikes | 
Tags: Cruiser Bike, Keyword, Legacy, Love, Photo Women, Schwinn Bike, Schwinn Cruiser, Sportinggoods, Wheel
First, let me say that I love my new bike computer. For only $[...], it’s definitely worth that price.
Second, I hope to shed some light on this computer. First, the same computer seems to be marketed in different forms by other manufacturers.
It seems to be very similar to the Raleigh 16 function ARC005 Cordless Computer (although this one isn’t cordless; I can also not find any on-line manual for the Raleigh ARC005, either) and the RavX TaxTix 2 Wireless 14 function bike computer.
This was hitting the jackpot, because it has an on-line manual at [...]
In it it explains the Schwinn’s mysterious undocumented ‘Maintenance Program’ function.
In its manual it says, “Maintenance Program – Maintenance Program notifies you to replace parts or lubricate the chain after the preset distance is reached. Right after KM/Mile selection, the perset total distance of 800 km (or miles) will falsh, press RIGHT button to select between 200, 400, 600 or 800km (or miles) and press LEFT button to confirm. For example, if 600 km is selected, the wrench will flash whenever the total distance (ODO) reach 600, 1200, 1800 km (or miles). Press LEFT button to stop flashing wrench.”
When you’re initially programming the computer, you put it in as 20, 60, 80 or 80 instead of 200, 400, 600 or 800.
Another inconsistency that I’ve seen is, if you have microscopic eyes, the pictures in the Schwinn manual actually show the wrong function names for most of the functions. The names are properly defined in the text, but the little pictures show the wrong three-letter code.
The actual picture’s display, however, is correct; it’s just the three-letter code that’s wrong. Thus, if you look at “4th Screen – Maxiumum Speed (MXS)” image, the picture is properly showing the Maximum speed, but the three-letter code really says ODO on the left side. Most people won’t be able to actually see those three-code names in the manual photo anyways; but if you can, it might be confusing. Just ignore the three-letter code in each picture and the manual then will be correct.
Another undocumented function is the backlight. In the TaxTix manaul it states, “EL Backlight – The EL Backlight can be turned on in two ways: 1. Hold RIGHT button for 2 seconds. EL light will be turned on for 8 seconds and comptuer will go to fast scan mode with DST, MSX, AVS & TM displayed once. 2. Press once on LEFT button. EL light will be turned on for 4 seconds and comptuer will go to freeze frame memory mode.
For those who think this is a confusing bike computer, all 15 function bike computers are confusing. Since they’re all basically based on the same integrated circuit, any 15 – 17 function computer will be the same except for small differences.
Actually, as you can see from the fact that the same bike computer is called everything from a 15 function to a 17 function bike computer depending on who is manufacturing it… just how many ‘functions’ it has is determined by who is writing the manual.
It actually has ten screens, so you might say it is really a ten function bike computer (the tenth ‘screen’ is the scan mode). The ‘Maintenance Mode’ is really just a wrench that shows once it reaches that mileage, for example. It has no selectable screen of its own.
Thus, it really isn’t as confusing a computer as you’d think. After setting the computer, you just press the right button to switch through the ten different screens. The screens say what they are by a three-letter code on the left of the display. Just watch the code if you can actually see it.
It cycles through the following ten screens:
(None) – Speed and Time
ODO – Odometer
DST – Distance (Trip Timer)
MXS – Maximum Speed
AVS – Average Speed
TM – Timer
(None) – Temperature (has an F or C at bottom right)
CAL – Calories
CAL in small letters and F as big letter – Calories Fat Burning
SCAN – (Also shows each of the above three-letter codes as it displays each screen)
A ‘+’ or ‘-’ shows when you go above or below your average speed.
So, it’s really a ten function with other hidden ‘functions’ that rely upon some little symbol that displays when you’re in one of those ten screens.
Other things which might be helpful: You can set the odometer to zero by taking out the battery. You can reset the odometer to any particular number after you’ve taken out the battery, so write it down before changing the battery. If you want to reprogram the computer’s values (such as the size of the wheel), take out the battery.
I measured my wheel with a piece of string. Turns out… my 700c x 28C is actually 2140 mm in size (between 84.25 and 84.35 inches).
The manual shows it to be 2136 mm. I’m sure it varies quite a bit depending on who’s tires you buy; and as it wears, it will get smaller. Thus, their value might be an average as it wears.
In case anybody loses the manual:
20″ – 1596 mm
22″ – 1759 mm
24″ – 1916 mm
26″ (650A) – 2073 mm
26.5″ (Tubular) – 2117 mm
26.6″ (700 x 25C) – 2124 mm (DEFAULT)
26.8″ (700 x 28C) – 2136 mm
27″ (700 x 32C) – 2155 mm
28″ (700B) – 2237 mm
(w/tire)
ATB 24″ x 1.75″ – 1888 mm
ATB 26″ x 1.4″ – 1995 mm
ATB 26″ x 1.5″ – 2030 mm
ATB 26″ x 1.75″ – 2045 mm
ATB 26″ x 2″ (650B) – 2099 mm
27″ x 1″ – 2136 mm
27″ x 1 1/4″ – 2155 mm
…
The only CON I see about the unit is the magnet that goes on the spoke. At least on my bike, which has few spokes (Schwinn 700c Volare Men’s Bike), after you’ve screwed it as tight as the nut allows, the magnet can pivot around the spoke. Since you have to get the magnet so close to the reed switch sensor, that pivoting might cause it to hit the sensor. Once I’ve determined the best location for it, I’ll be putting a dab of silicon glue on the back side in order to keep it from rotating around the spoke. Silican glue can be removed, if need-be.
There’s a second right-angle plastic projection on the magnet that I can’t imagine the purpose. Possibly it was designed to go across a second spoke? However, I can’t imagine that occurring on any bicycle, not just mine. No spoke is that close to the spoke it’s on. If they’re figuring that you somehow put another ziptie on it, it would just slip off. I don’t understand that second projection’s purpose.
You’ll have to move the sensor up and down on the fork, and rotate it’s relative angle to the magnet so they cross across each other about 1/8″ apart. I found that it worked well when you put the magnet so that it crossed across the bottom of the sensor.
At least on my bicycle, I placed the magnet’s center about 4 1/4″ from the edge of the tire on the spoke. I placed the sensor so that the bottom of the sensor is about even with the bottom of the magnet and the sensor is about at a 45 degree angle relative to the fork, aiming forward.
As far as the mount goes, up at the handlebars, I put a piece of rubber under the opposite side of the mount, under the two zipties, that came from a dollar-store bicycle light. It keeps the computer from rotating around the handlebars. Since it only attaches with two zipties, it could easily slip down or up if you bump it.
I also used other longer zipties to keep the wire steady as it runs down the frame of my bike, and then wrapped the wire about three times around the fork before attaching the sensor so there were no looped wires that might catch on things.
All-in-all, I love the little computer.
However, the thermometer seems to register about eight to ten degrees hotter than the actual room temperature.
One interesting aside… it implies that, somehow, you can use the bike computer as a pedometer. I haven’t figured out that one, yet. It says ‘Step Counter (in pedometer mode)’.
I bought this bike computer in early July 2010, entirely b/c I liked the sub-$20 price. I was hoping to get a decent quality product for a nice price. But it seems to be true that you get what you pay for. The instant I pulled it out of the package, I noticed how cheap it felt. I’m really certain that it’s going to break within the first 500 miles or else the computer will detach from the bracket, as the entire assembly is very cheapy. As far as the feature set, the features seem great. (Perhaps too many for the low price?) I just took it for a test drive and it worked fine. But it was a little hard to use on the fly because the buttons are a little hard to press: pressing the buttons made the whole computer rotate forward around my handlebar (even with the bracket installed quite tightly), unless I used my whole hand to press the buttons upward with my thumb as I held the computer in place with my other fingers…but then that’s very distracting while biking.
I should also note that the manual is REALLY bad. This is my first bike computer, so I read through the installation instructions first to make sure I didn’t foul up the installation – the instructions didn’t make a lot of sense. The installation diagrams were just plain wrong (for example, they combined a side view with a rear view in the same photo… just wrong), and in one place there were obviously words missing. When I looked up an alternate set of instructions online, the online instructions had these words in place! Finally, when reading through the actual usage instructions, the diagrams didn’t line up with the corresponding function… for example, the “odometer” description illustrated the “average speed” screen display, etc. The manual was obviously not written by someone in America, and it obviously wasn’t proofread by someone in America either. While it doesn’t detract from the actual functionality of the computer, it’s a sad state that when I open the box of a SCHWINN-made product, the quality is so noticeably lousy.
I realize I’m ranting a little bit about intangibles here, but poor quality drives me nuts. I’d rather pay a few bucks extra and get something that doesn’t make feel as cheap as the gadget is. I give this little thing 4 stars for the functions, only 2.5 stars for the build quality, and 1 star for the manual. That’s an average of 2.5 stars, but I’ll round up to 3 since it’s supposed to be about the computer, not about a Nobel prize-winning novel.
I bought this bike computer some few weeks ago, and I am very pleased.
Once you enter the tire circumference in mm, it calculates the distance, speed, and etc. I checked my bike route i took with google maps, and compared it to what the computer gave as the distance traveled and it was quite accurate. I like the auto start/stop feature.
I just had it installed yesterday and tested it. It works great!!! Calories, speed, it even keeps the time plus the other 14 functions. I would recommend this for anyone who owns a bike. This odometer is great!!!
I have searched High and low for a Shwinn Cruiser with more than one gear and under 200 bucks…..can’t be done!
The bike was received in 8 days from the order date which was great. Upon starting assy I noticed the fenders were dented and scratched. The seat post was missing and a bolt to hold on the front fender. I would not order another bike because of this. The bike overall is ok but will have to acquire a seat post, touch up the fenders…
Dissapointing as it was a gift for my wife. :>(
This is a great entry-level bike. A fantastic price! A word of caution: assembly is NOT for the faint of heart. The instructions are vague at best, actually a one-size-fits-all book with absolutely NO helpful illustrations. Essentially, my husband pulled up the photo of the bike from this site and used that photo to assemble the cycle. The fenders and rear rack are very thin sheet metal, but I didn’t really expect otherwise at this price point. I’m using this as a try-and-see for biking to work each day and will only put about 15 miles a week on the bike.
I love my new bike! I was worried about the assembly but it was actually quite simple to put together. All I needed to assemble were the handlebars, front tire, seat and the pedals. The gears were already in place so I didn’t have to worry about that. Which saved me a headache because I wouldn’t know what to do in that situation! You don’t need many tools either. Just a set of allen wrenchs, phillps screw driver and a monkey wrench. Its worth the money which I think is a great price for an awesome product. I am so pleased with my purchase!!!!
The “Customer Service Person” went beyond the call-to-duty.
I’m 75 years old and a frequent shopper at Amazon.
I misplaced my Manual (Senior-Moment) so a certain amount of the assembly of the bike was “From Memory”…circa 1950′s.
It is *not* a one-person job…but being “Superman” I just improvised for a few *days*.
Really …not much has changed. My wife *loves* the bike…cute-as-hell. She is near my age.
Apparently there is no such thing as *not* forgetting how to ride. I just bought her the TRAINING-WHEELS and
intend to surprise her with them *today*.
I bought my wife this bike for her birthday. She loved it. As soon as she rode it around she started laughing and said it was just like one she had as a little girl. It needed a little assembly but it was an easy job. All the shops around town wanted twice as much for less bike. This was a great experience buying directly from Amazon.
The round paper in the spokes claims this bike comes with “Free Assembly.” But the FedEx guy who dropped it off at my house wasn’t about to help me, so I guess that only applies if you buy the bike at Target or Toys R Us. But putting it together is fairly simple once you manage to get all the packaging undone.
The bicycle itself looks like a dream. My wife looked at all the stores for a pink cruiser style bike but couldn’t find one. This, coming from Amazon, proved to be perfect.