What to do with a POS bike?
 

Was sold, for very cheap, a bike. It's a Walmart special, and it seemed as though it would be a decent deal for that at least (I need light duty, short term transportation). Now, I knew the wheels were horribly wobbly. I knew the saddle was a broken down piece of junk.
But I was NOT aware that the thing was actually a 7-speed with no shifter cable and a damaged brake handle. No shifter, no brakes, no coaster. It had been described to me as single speed, which is, well... technically true..... :lol:
I don't want to throw a bunch of money at getting a junker bike running. Is there any hope of getting this thing to a vaguely functional state, be it single speed or fixie, for almost free?

Free? Prob not unless your box of parts is extensive. Could prob eBay a as/fg hub for cheap

You might be able to fix the wobbly wheels with a spoke wrench, and use the brake pads as markers to tell you where the high spots are. Be careful and take your time. As far as the rest, You might get lucky with the cable and that's all that's wrong.

Are there any good parts on the bike?

It's a bike that was sold by Walmart; it's a cruiser sort of bike. A "Kulana Moon Dog". The frame and fork seems in good shape, same with the tires. The cruiser bars look okay. Just - there's nothing on them that would be useful to stop or shift. =) There's nothing on it that's particularly valuable or good. If it was in fact a single speed cruiser, i'd be fine with that. Really I was just looking for something to putter around on for a week or so, maybe something able to make it in a week the ten-ish miles to the bike shop so I can pick up the new bike and see if they'd take it as trade-in (or salvage metal at least.. ;)
I had some idea that I could get a junker coaster brake rim from.. ********** and stick it on the back, then take links out of the chain to fit as a single speed.. but i'm not sure how feasable that is to do with just a folding bike tool.

i would guess that it would cost $20 to fix up the brake and then i would just leave the rear rim. bikes with gears have different size chain than single speed bikes.

If it was me I'd:
hacksaw out a footlong straight section of tube (seattube likely) from the frame.
hammer one end of it flat for about 3"
drill holes in flat end
break out a few lengths of the chain
use bent pieces of spokes to 'rivet' the chain bit into the holes in the tube
cut and wrap inner tube around the round end of the tube to make a grip

VIOLA! you just made a junker bike into a new chainwhip for your toolbox.
(yes, i have a chainwhip in my box that says (fuji)Odessa on the side)

See if there is a place in your area to donate it -- where i live we have a guy who takes in junk bikes and repairs them and gives them to charities at Christmas for the kids.

Tale the front wheel off the bike and remove tire & tube.

Take all the brake and gear cables off the bike, throw the housings in the bin but keep the inner cables.

With a hacksaw cut up the frame into an assortment of tube lengths, from 6" to 18", and drill a 3/16" dia. hole about 1/2" from one end of each tube.

Take the large and small chainrings off the crank.

Using short pieces of brake cable loosely attach the assorted pieces of frame tube to the rim of the front wheel, evenly space all the way around.

Take a piece of cable a little shorter than the shortest frame tube and hang the large chainring from the front wheel axle so that the chainring hangs horizontally.

With a bit more cable hang the small chainring from the large chainring so that it catches the wind on your new wind chime!

...that's the only way you'll ever get any enjoyment out of a POS bike from walmart.

$5 - Walmart brake/shifter cable kit
$5-12 - spoke wrench (check Dick's Sporting Goods)
$10-15 - new saddle or seat post, depending on problem
$0 - oil/lube, if you have it sitting around...

Pretty cheap to get into decent running condition, not sure about the 'no coaster' part...

If you already have a parts supply it can be fixed up pretty easily on the cheap. If not you will probably spend more than the bike cost new to rework. I still pick up free BSO (Bike Shaped Objects) and strip them down for a few usable parts then scrap the rest of them. I can get about $6-7 for the aluminum on one at the scrap yard.

Aaron :)

Figure out your favorite gear. Bypass the derailleur & shorten the chain. Now you have a single speed. This pile is not going to be fast enough to worry about having good brakes front & rear. One mediocre brake will do. Fronts are usually easier than rears to set up.

"It's only for a week" That is your new mantra.

I used to work for a bike charity, and the thing about those Kulanas is that once they start to fall apart, they just don't stop. My suggestion is to cut your losses and harvest for parts.

Recycle this POS and move on.:twitchy: Yer wasting riding time messing with it!:p:p

Until I can get my own bike I don't HAVE "riding time". If I can work out an issue with a check, and figure out how to get to the bike shop (20 miles away and off of the transit system) that will be tomorrow.