ItsJustMe

And here I thought it was ironic because he's going to work on a bike from a company that's doing a damn good job of putting people out of work, unless you live in China.

rumrunn6

Like irony? the best job security for people is to work on replacing people (such as in robotics)

|3iker

There's a thread going on which kinda started about BikesDirect, it escalated to Wal Mart bikes and of course OP's bike was an example.

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?613795-BikesDirect

OP, let us know how this Wal Mart Corsa is working out. Are the parts lubed? Did the crank fall off after 2 miles? Any trapped Chinese kids in the seat tube?

ClarkinHawaii

A couple of you have asked what series 105 is on the bike. I will tell you when you tell me how to identify which series it is--as I said before, I think it's 2007.

Spoke protector not necessary now that I know the derailleur is properly adjusted. But of course you know that--haha.

Seat post is longest I've ever seen--looks and weighs similar to the cardboard roll from a roll of paper towels.

I haven't forgotten about the weight--my friend with the scale is not home this morning--I'll get it for you as soon as I can.

I saw the Denali at local WM store--it was just too shoddy even for me, the King of Cheap.

lambo_vt

My Quest frame was made in Taiwan and the Bridgestone in Japan, so they are objectively better than my Buzz which was made in China.

ClarkinHawaii

FIRST RIDE ROAD TEST REPORT--Initial Rating A+++

OK, I couldn't wait any more--I just had to try it out. Out of the box the wheels were almost perfectly true, brakes and derails properly adjusted. hubs and BB seem properly torqued--easy moving with no wiggle.

I had several concerns before this initial ride:

I was afraid that the seat would be too uncomfortable to use and I would have to buy another one or maybe several, trying to find one that's ok. NO PROBLEM--it seemed SO HARD yesterday when I tried it, but today, wearing levis jeans shorts, it feels just fine--quite comfy, in fact.

I was afraid that the 23mm tires at 100 psi would be such a harsh ride that I wouldn't want to ride it until I put on fatter tires. NO PROBLEM--I must be tougher than I thought, or else the carbon fork is truly superior, because the ride was not appreciably worse than my beater with 50psi Schwalbe Marathons.

I was afraid that the NARROW tire would just sink into the ground if I was forced to leave the pavement, NO PROBLEM--I rode around on the grass in the park and it was as comfortable as my aforementioned beater.

I was afraid that the double chainring would not be able to handle the killer hills around here. I normally use a triple; and I really wanted a triple. NO PROBLEM The combination of "compact" double, lighter weight, narrower higher pressure tires worked to make these hills do-able. (This was actually my most servious concern).

I was afraid that the bike was so sexy that I wouldn't be able to escape from the hoardes of star-struck women who would be running after me. NO PROBLEM Plenty of speed makes escapes a breeze.

Sooooo . . .I am tickled to death with this bike. Only lingering concern is that this bike is truly a "one trick pony"--very little flexibility when it comes to customizing as commuters love to do. I took my computer off my beater with the intention of mounting it on the Corsa--Oops, not enough clearance between the fork blade and the wheel for the sensor to fit--I'll have to get another, nicer computer. Anybody have recommendations?

Lastly, this bike is light enough that I can just pick it up by the stem with one hand and carry it through the security door (I live in a high rise apt building). Any bike (like my beater) that has to be rolled through the door is tricky because you need a "third hand tool" to hold the door open, steer the bike, change hand positions halfway through the door, etc (it's trickier than you would think!).

Got to go ride some more--I'm having such fun! Thanks to all of you for your interesting and valuable feedback!

mikeybikes

Glad to hear that the wal-mart special is working out so well for you!

ClarkinHawaii

WEIGHT and STANDOVER HEIGHT

Corsa FA bike, size MEDIUM

weight = 20.3 pounds
standover height (midway between seatpost and headpost) = 75cm
effective toptube length (horizontal measurement) = 54.5 cm

BA Commuter

Good luck with your new bike.

Enjoy it and stop worrying about so many little things!

cyclokitty 

Sounds like a fun bike to ride, Clark. You get extra fun points living in Hawaii (particularly in February).

sonatageek

Considering what a set of 105 STI levers cost the bike seems like a pretty good deal.

Abneycat

The price is heavily cut, about half. Wal-mart attempted a foray into the high end bike business a few years back, and it has seemingly not gone so well for them - they've still got stock leftover from the very first (and I believe also the only) year that they made these bikes. Nothing to complain about I guess, the bike industry gets to breathe easier, a few people will get a very good deal on some bikes and the manufacturer making the frames probably just kept making them for someone else, with different stickers on them.

Regarding buying a bike from a company that's doing a "damn good job keeping people out of work", consider that the majority of large bicycle manufacturers outsource their product to begin with. Wal-mart might be a big player in the outsourcing game, but they're hardly the only one, and the cycling industry is rife with the same practices. It's business as usual.

Sam N

Thanks a LOT for posting this and taking the time to do measurements, etc. I just ordered this bike in Large and I was worried it might be too big, but it seems the medium would have been too small for me so hopefully the large will be fine.

There was 20% bing.com cashback for Walmart a couple days ago, but sadly I didn't know about it when I was ordering the bike. You can still get 4% or so and sometimes it goes higher.

Anyone know the difference between 2007 105 and 2010 105 components?

mkeller234

The fact that the bikes were made in 2007 does not meant that the Shimano group is of the same year. I would guess that the parts are older than the frame as a way to reduce the cost further, but that is just a guess.
Sorry I cannot answer your exact question... but I can add this. Shimano seems to pass technology down to the lower groups as the top flight gear advances. I assume from year to year there could be a marginal difference in weight and maybe the color. There is nothing wrong with an older group... unless maybe your name is Lance.

My main rider has a 1990 Shimano 105 group that still works beautifully. I don't care that the components are way out of date... It still does everything that I need it to do.

froze

What would you call a bike with 5 out of 8 of it's components are 105? When you up grade to the next one up 7 out of 8 components being 105...what would you call that? Let's not undersell the bike either. You're not going to find a bike at any LBS with that kind of set up for those kind of prices. You would have to go to Bikes Direct to get a bike similar to what the OP got and pay $200 more...but we don't dare want to oversell the bike the OP got because he got it from Walmart...oh no, it's that big bad devil company.

froze

The general public demanded lower prices because our dollar is buying less and less, thus Walmart filled that need. And how does Walmart threaten our health and well being? Last time I checked they were missing off the nuclear family list, they weren't part of the axis of evil, or trained and supported terrorists, nor run up massive debts due to pure fraud go into bankruptcy and expect the United States government to bail them out. Please explain their "threat to mankind", I need something to laugh about.

emperorcezar

Please don't start. The OP asked very nicely for the thread not to degenerate into a slinging match about Walmart's policies or politics. If you want to have a discussion over it. Take it to another thread.

froze

Wait, I'm replying to a "slinger" and I get my chops busted? I'm waving at you!!! And nor was I bad mouthing Walmart, the other poster was!

Again I'm waving at you!

FR4NCH1SE

I bought this bike too, luckily I live in VA and I have a Canon Camera, Dont worry folks I will post allot of pics and videos. I also had to pay taxes and paid 549 for the bike, but its well worth it. I am pleased to see the weight of the bike, I cant wait to use and see the bike.

CCrew

Considering the crankset and the brakes are two of the three highest ticket items in the group, and 3 of 8 is
what, 40% of the group missing I'd call the phrase "full 105 group" a stretch. From a $ standpoint even more so. But it's missing 4, the BB is part of the group.

As to the Walmart part, you said it - go back to my post, I never mentioned it. I merely said it's a decent price point for what it is. A little lower and it would be worth buying just to strip it if nothing else.

CCrew

BS. Here's my post you had issue with. You started the WalMart bash.

lambo_vt

Just to defuse a bit, froze said his Walmart piece in response to corkscrew, in the post right after he responded to CCrew.

CCrew

He also brought it up again when he quoted me in post #40, but I respect your trying to defuse it... Thanks.

froze

Your quote shows your ignorance of what I said. The "bash" you said I said about Walmart was this:

"I don't consider an no-name crank/BB and Tektro brakes an "almost complete" 105. Yeah, I'll give that the bike has a decent component set for the price point, but let's not oversell it here.

Would be interesting to see what series 105 is on it."

Where is the bash against Walmart here?

Edited by Moderators

Juha

OK, I did some deleting and editing in this thread. If you find your post missing or edited, it's because you were out of Guidelines, specifically the part regarding personal attacks. Please work on your posting skills to find a way to disagree that doesn't involve name calling.

Any questions, please send me a PM. Thanks.

--Juha, a Forum Mod