leob1

The cheapest bike you buy at a proper bike shop will be better than the most expensive bike you can buy at a department store.

himespau 

Check on Craigslist and see if you can find someone selling used bikes. It might be more expensive if you find someone who is selling a moderate number, but, if they are and, when you talk to them it sounds like they know how to maintain them, you might be getting a better deal and something more solid. You might also get someone who is just buying cheap things and flipping them for more money with no work done, but someone who actually checks things out and makes sure they're working before selling them and might have several for you to try, seems like a good bet for you. Better yet if you can take someone who knows something about bikes with you.

OldTryGuy

My 17yo $100.00 Magna with 10,000+ miles has cost me tires, tubes, 1 chain and FW, rear der., bearings/grease and 1 SS hose clamp that replaced the cracked fork lock nut since purchased.


Began yesterday's portion of ride on Magna @ 36 mile mark - - https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/4340991996


Thursday's 160 mile ride was on the Magna for first 26 miles - - https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/4332409593

GrainBrain

I physically laughed out loud at this. Keep it up


Anyway correct answer is "local co-op"

cyccommute 

A 17 year old Magna isn't the same bike as a 1 or 2 year old Magna. HelMart has always striven to undercut production costs but they have gone even further in the last 10 years.

Are you referring to the headset lock nut? Replacing it with a hose clamp is a risk I wouldn't want to take. It's relatively easy to come up with a proper lock nut. Your teeth will thank you for it.

tagaproject6

Do you have a budget in mind?

shelbyfv

Well then....

hubcyclist

I don't have any personal experience with big box bikes, but I encourage everyone to check out a youtube channel called kevcentral. He takes a really balanced look at big box bikes, goes through pros and cons of models, has done some neat projects with some of the more upgradable models out there. Stuff that would turn me off on big box bikes:

freewheel setup instead of cassette
no derailleur hanger
twist shifters
cheap crankset where you can't replace rings
models with bolt wheels rather than quick release

Not to mention cheap suspension that normally comes on budget bikes (I'm not a mountain bike person so I can't speak to how bad they are, but from kevcentral it seems very few of the marketed mountain bikes are actually capable of being used for that purpose).

OP is probably gone at this point and not checking back in but it would have been helpful to know a little more about where they wanted to ride. For "grass and gravel" which doesn't sound very technical, just about anything would do with the right tires.

Wilfred Laurier

A few drawbacks to box-store bikes:

Freewheels instead of freehubs - the design makes axle bending or breaking much more likely
Assembly - Box stores don't employ people to assemble bicycles, and even when they do assembly the assembler usually doesn't know enough to know whatthey don't know
Parts - the moving parts of a box-store bike - shifters and derailleurs and such - are often not compatible with the aftermarket parts you will need as replacements when the roginal stuff wears out or breaks
Parts (ii) - the moving parts on the cheaper box-store bikes are of cheap quality and will wear out much faster than basic bike-store quality parts.
Fit - Box store bikes are usually only sold in one size - sometimes one men's and one woman's size. If you are of average height and dimensions then this might not be a problem for you. If you are tall or short then you will have trouble getting comfortable, especially for long rides. All bike store bikes are available in different sizes to work with different body dimensions.

My main concerns for OP who wants to ride long distances and on grass and gravel are the hub design - it only takes one ride through a pothole to bend a freewheel hub axle, which will mess with the wheel bearings until fixed, and keeping the cheap parts adjusted for a multi-hour ride might be tricky, so you either stop regularly to make adjustments, or you ride half the time with gears grinding and brakes rubbing.

livedarklions

I had a Magna about 25 years ago. Big, heavy, simple and reliable as I recall.

The problem with comparing low-end department store bikes from previous decades to today's is that they've tried to keep the prices about the same despite inflation, and they're adding features like suspension, thus something has to give.

rollagain

You want to ride for endurance? Get one of these:

https://www.worksmancycles.com/inb.html

The bike will endure, whether you do or not. No aluminum, and the only plastic is in the handgrips, fenders, and chainguard.

If you have hills, get the smaller chainring option. And in any case, get the front brake. After all, it'd be embarrassing to go barreling down a hill and knock a car off the road because the coaster brake couldn't stop you in time.

Maintenance is drop-dead simple: put a few drops of oil on the chain now and then and learn to service the cup-and-cone bearings. You can buy balls for them at such places as Farm & Fleet, Tractor Supply co., or sometimes in a good hardware store (my local Ace Hardware has them.). No special tools needed.

Cheap, simple, third-world survivable, and unlikely to attract thieves.

And, man, will you build endurance!

mtb_addict

I ve own quite a few big-bo

Vintage Schwinn

HERE IS A DECENT INEXPENSIVE ROAD BIKE THAT YOU CAN BUY FROM WALMART, TARGET, AND OTHERS.
*************IT IS AVAILABLE IN FOUR DIFFERENT FRAME SIZES*******
17 inch/42cm frame size MODEL #42717 .........700C LADIES KENT GMC DENALI ROAD BIKE 21 speeds
https://www.kent.bike/gmc/700c-gmc-denali-1743cm

20 inch frame MODEL #42720
22 inch frame MODEL #42722
25 inch frame MODEL #42725
( MENS 700C KENT GMC DENALI ROAD BIKE ....the 22 inch frame version WEIGHS 30 pounds....................21 speeds )
https://www.kent.bike/gmc/700c-gmc-denali-20

You have four different frame sizes! There is one that will likely suit most anyone.
Many people wrongly believe that it comes only in one frame size. You will see this misinformation among web postings by uninformed individuals saying the bike is utter trash because it comes from Target/Wal-mart and not from a proper bike shop.
***THIS BIKE HAS BEEN IN PRODUCTION FOR A LONG TIME NOW AND MANY FOLKS HAVE PLACED THOUSANDS OF MILES ON THE Kent GMC Denali.
You'll also see that there has been significant chronicling on bike forums of such longterm ownership reports attesting to the durability of this really inexpensive bike.
You can say that the Kent GMC DENALI has a cult following of thousands who praise it's value and durability. They also praise the simplicity of which one can make
upgrades which can increase both durability and the competitiveness in road riding and triathlon use. Now, an old fashioned heavy (30 pound) inexpensive bike WILL
PLACE YOU AT A SEVERE DISADVANTAGE GIVEN THE STOCK 48/38/28 front crank, and the weight, but it is relatively easy to change the FRONT CRANK To higher grade old style alloy 52/40/30, since this bike is old fashioned technology, so there are many alloy front Crank Wheels etc that can be swapped in from thirty year old bicycles. All of this can likely be accomplished by someone at home with some fairly inexpensive tools sourced from the web/ebay. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND USING THIS BIKE TO COMPETE IN TRIATHLONS, BUT AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, A FRIEND OF MINE WON THE CLEMSON TRIATHLON IN JULY 2019 IN HER AGE DIVISION ABOARD A SLIGHTLY MODIFIED KENT GMC DENALI 21 SPEED ON THE STOCK 700C WHEELS. THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TRIATHLON THAT SHE HAS WON WHILE RIDING THIS KENT GMC DENALI !! She enjoys the challenge of winning while riding the KENT GMC DENALI, even though she does own some superb bikes that are probably more appropriate for Triathlon competitions!
https://bikemunk.com/gmc-denali-review/

https://www.bikeforums.net/commuting...i-bicycle.html

https://www.bikeforums.net/commuting...li-review.html

https://www.bikeforums.net/general-c...ners-bike.html


https://www.bicycle-guider.com/gmc-d...d-bike-review/

livedarklions

That's a big wall of text for a bike that's "out of stock" at Walmart and "unavailable" at Amazon and Target .
You might want to check if something is still being made before you gush next time.

Also, Denali isn't fully assembled, so a newbie like op should probably factor in the cost of having a mechanic assemble it, especially if incorporating upgrades.
I've seen a fair number of them on Craigslist, though.

Rajflyboy

get off the high horse

There are websites that research big box store bicycles and give you the low down on them. If that’s what you can afford you may be able to find something that works for you. Many times you can just change the rear derailleur and you will have a good functioning bike.

shelbyfv

Wow. Now up to about 15 inches of WRONG, not to mention the SHOUTING

livedarklions

This is a good point, and it could be helpful to op and others if you post some links.

roadsnakes

Totally Agree!

Gconan

Do you have any examples of good Road, Gravel or Mountain bikes that can be bought at department stores?

Maelochs

So much emotion over simple products ..... I commuted for years on crap, cast-off, or donated big-box bikes. If they are meticulously maintained, they can get the job done (though please do take seriously posts #30 by @cyccommute and #35 by @livedarklions----the quality of the lowest-end bikes has plummeted in the past couple decades.)

The question is, how much does the OP Really plan to ride, and how skilled.eager is s/he to do meticulous maintenance?

My $500 Dawes was light-years better than the best big-box bike I ever owned or built out of scavenged pieces. It's worst components were better than the best components on any of the cheap bikes. it was a "real" bike, in that all the parts and pieces were low-end but standard bike parts---no hard plastic or pressed pot-metal bits which are both fragile and not available for replacement (try getting a brake lever for a modern Magna .... can't be done, and if it could it would still be cheaper to buy the whole bike.)

Can the OP ride for the rest of his life on a bike from Walmart? For sure. Will it be his/her optimal cycling experience? Can't say---None of us can. But .... based on actual experience, not prejudice, I can say that spending the money to get a better bike----try BikesDirect----would be well worth it.

I am sure a lot of us remember inpd, who toured much of north-central California on a Dawes similar to mine. I have thousands of miles on mine. Even those, admittedly low-end bikes, which came with wheels which needed attention and cables needed adjusting, were remarkably better than most Walmart bikes. And All bikes bought anywhere except at a bike shop need to be checked Thoroughly. Loose spokes, maladjusted or unlubricated bearings, backwards forks or brake levers .... if that is what the OP wants and is ready to do, wonderful.

My experience has taught me (other lessons are valid, of course) that money spent up front on a bike is Usually recouped over the life of the bike many times over. Better parts make for a better ride, less maintenance, more functionality, less down time---plus, even a bike like my Dawes had a frame good enough to be worth upgrading ....

All we are offering is observations and opinions. People like to fight .... people like to hold strong prejudices and fight others with other strong prejudices. Not my bag so much anymore. My observation is that buying a better bike pays off over time. My experience tells me that if the OP is willing to do the work, s/he can ride a Walmart bike for many years ... but that the money spent over that span of time would be better spent up front on a better bike.

But here is the Real "right answer."

If the OP wants to buy a cheap Walmart bike and learn about riding, why not? Even as a retiree on a fixed income, it might be manageable as a one-time expense .... buy the bike and if s/he likes riding enough, give it to a co-op or a niece or nephew or a thrift store, and get a better bike. if it proves sufficient, or doesn't get used much, little harm done.

Best of both worlds.

himespau 

Most "mountain" bikes that I've seen at the department stores, if you read their manual, they forbid offroad riding or say it voids any warranty. Knobby tires and shocks don't mean that the manufacturer wants to get into a legal liability situation if you actually take them onto gravel or singletrack trails and it brakes.

cyccommute 

You are missing the point. Recently manufactured HelMart bikes are beyond poorly made. They are essentially nonfunctional from the factory. If I only saw one or two of these kinds of bikes with bearings ground to dust, I would chalk it up to an anomaly. But I've seen dozens of them. I have never seen a bike with bearings that are worn out to the point of being not just unround but hemispherical. I hold my breath each time I have to remove a bottom bracket from one of them because I don't know if the bottom bracket cups will hold together long enough to be removed. Given that something so cheap should be so cheaply made, it makes me wonder about the quality of the frames. And, if the bottom bracket does break apart, the bike is scrap. There is no way to remove a bottom bracket that is essentially cross threaded in the frame.

Additionally, just changing the rear derailer doesn't necessarily make it into a functioning bike. There are still too many warts to fix to make the bike reach even that low bar.

Additionally,

livedarklions

Before this gets closed as yet another snob vs. slob debate, here's my take:

OP has progressed past the "dipping his/her toe in the water" stage and is now looking for a bike reliable enough for some distance riding. We don't really know what OP means by "long miles", as we know "long" has completely different meanings to different posters, for myself, I wouldn't use the term for anything less than 75 miles, I've seen posters use it to refer to 15-20 mile rides. I'm not saying anyone is wrong in how they use it, just that it's a relative term.

Like all buyers of anything, the less information OP has, the higher the risk of getting something entirely unsuitable for the use. This is true no matter what source the OP ends up buying from, although the risks involved may be different. Department store bikes can be bargains if they are suitable for the riding you're doing and they are maintainable. The problem is that if you don't have enough information about what you're using the bike for and how it is to be maintained, there are plenty of bikes with tempting low prices that will not fit either criteria, and the buyer will not know to avoid them.

The risks of buying uninformed at an LBS will more likely be of buying something unsuitable and/or more expensive and complicated for what the buyer needs. Like all businesses, LBS have stock they need to sell, and it may not be what the buyer really needs, and not all sales pitches are benign.

The risks of uninformed used buying are enormous and really too obvious to discuss.

This is a long way of saying that there's no substitute for doing your homework before buying. Ask people who aren't trying to sell you something questions, get on some bikes and try them out. My son got on a $350 bike at a LBS and knew immediately he had found his bike. Take notice of all the things that may be bugging you about your current bike and learn some things to avoid. Check out online reviews--I tend to skip over the glowing ones and look at the negative ones because I can generally tell whether the problems they identify are going to be things i care about, whereas I can't necessarily tell whether praise is sincere or fake.

Thomas15

I have a mid-80s Nishiki that I still ride, did several half centuries with it last summer. What you are saying is soo true, the Nishiki name was purchased by Dick's Sporting Goods a number of years back. The new bikes look nice but are not in the same league as the Nishiki of the past. Not even close.

base2 

4 frame sizes?...So a decent fit for about 1/4 of the population.

"Thousands of miles", So about 2 to 4 months of riding. Ok. Great economy.

"Significant chronicling here on BF" I'm not sure about that except for that one multiyear running "BSO" single speed thread that wasn't really a BSO. But o.k. Knock yourself out.

My 67 year old Mother-in-law got a Magna & only took it to the local MUP a few times a week in the spring through the fall. It literally crumbled to bits in under 2 years. She paid $170 twice for a complete tune up from the LBS in 6 months to keep it road worthy. I made her quit riding it out of concern for her safety when I couldn't get brakes to hold an adjustment & the forks twisted around like wet spaghetti. Seriously, the rate of degredation was absolutely unconsciencable.

I have tires that cost more & have more miles than her entire bike.

​​​​​​​But you do you.