Cheddarpecker

Frank sounds like a real nice guy.


Frank would probably be a little happier if he moved his seat up a bit.

It takes a lot of miles to appreciate the finer points of a quality bicycle. For daily rides of a couple of miles, you may never understand the difference. Most people don't care, I mean, it's a bicycle. Right?

jefnvk

I can't speak to every last one, but I did a 30 mile charity ride this weekend that draws many cyclists of all sorts of skill level. PLENTY of new Schwinns, Mongooses, Next, Roadmasters, etc made it to the finish line under their own power, including many ahead of me.

AlexCyclistRoch

I had a similar discussion with a guy who had one of those awful GMC bikes a while ago. He bought the bike for, what, $249, and had since replaced his BB and cranks with something......at least decent. In all, he claimed that he had about $500 invested in it.

OTOH, I had recently bought a used 1986 Cannondale for $250, and had spent probably $100 on new cogs, chain, etc. His bike was still a 40 lb boat anchor, no matter how many "decent" components he bought for it, whereas my bike is a bona-fide 21 lb bike of quality, and will probably still be extant when his BSO bites the dust. And still cheaper now, as well as in the long run.

Notice that the poll is running about 90/10, against Wal-Mart bikes. That pretty much says it all.

rydabent

Just remember not everyone can afford a $5000 CF bike.

Cheddarpecker

I have two Denalis. One was stripped to build a cheap lugged frame from the 80s for a neighbor who didn't ride it in an event, so it became a loaner. One came from a pawn shop for $30 and ended up being about $100 in the end to make it semi roadworthy. The owner of that one rode the Denali derived steel frame after about a hundred miles on his aluminum one and didn't want to go back to it.

DaveQ24

I have a sub $200 Wal-mart bike and an over $10,000 Specialized. And 11 other bikes in between. 4 of them, including my Sp. Roubaix, were over $8000 list price, although I got a couple of them on clearance at a significant discount through the Performance outlet website.

Is my Roubaix a better bike than my sub-$200 Wal-mart mt bike? Absolutely. Have I enjoyed having the Wal-mart bike just as much? Yes.

Some things transcend money. The experiences I get from riding are in that class. I have had some great rides on my Roubaix that I will never forget, and some great rides on the Wal-mart bike I will never forget. It's impossible to put a dollar value on those experiences.

I-Like-To-Bike

The poll pretty much indicates what kind of people respond to BF posts and polls that focus on the buzz words "Walmart bikes" or bikes without LBS provenance, and how unrepresentative this BF crowd is of the bicycling population.

jefnvk

I'd imagine if you went to a car enthusiast forum and asked if a bone stock Yaris or Versa was a decent car, you'd get that as well, and the advice of how you can get a few year old BMW or Mustang or Lexus for the same price. Doesn't change the fact there are plenty of people not on here putzing around on those bikes every day, just like many get by with an economy car that many others would shun.

Deal4Fuji

While it's absolutely true you can get a better name brand bike for comparable $ off of Craigslist, a new rider can also get burned and not see a bike with defects. Everyone knows the easy return policies mass retailers have should there be a problem, and you don't have that kind of assurance in a used bike purchase.

BF members seem to lump all mass retailer bikes into the same level of quality and they're not. I've been pleased with my Schwinn Trailway from Target. For the money ($159) it's been a good bike but as I was told could happen I've worn out the bottom bracket, but it's taken a lot of miles for it to just now get to the stage where it has to be replaced. For what I spent on it, I can easily afford to replace the bottom bracket and now get to gain some wrenching experience. Just sayin for a new rider who can't recognize problems on sight, a Wal-Mart bike isn't a bad place to start.

Cheddarpecker

There's a Schwinn Ascension on CL that I swear I checked out in Target a couple of weeks prior. Sold new for $300 so this guy posted it for $300. Claims MSRP of 350.

I remember the preload adjustment on the fork was like a child's toy, just a ratcheting knob without any stops. It's down to $225, I might entertain the thought if it gets around a hundred. Less than a hundred.

Cheddarpecker

For a novice with an intermediate eye for problems, the shelves at Wal Mart appear to be full of them. The blind consumer will purchase, wonder, then return or exchange. Returned bike probably goes back on the shelf. It may end up in a garage or a shed where the defect will never come to light and the sale is complete. Satisfied customer, too.

Reading the reviews provides a lot of insight regarding the typical box store customer.

Amigo_Frio

If your budget is tight, then a Walmart bike just might serve your temporary needs. However, I would stick to steel-framed-single speeds without suspended forks.


I would also have a bike shop or someone who knows bikes to check the assembly for correctness.

indyfabz

And the BF trolls love to sucker guys like you into responding to threads like this for posts like the above:


I gave this tip before I went on tour a week ago last Friday: When you see a "class warfare" post like this you should check the OPs post history before deciding whether to respond. See this more than one year old thread started by the OP:


https://www.bikeforums.net/hybrid-bic...l#post17800163

Johnny Mullet

I will chime in on this since all I ride is Walmart bikes and I actually got rid of all my "Better Bikes" and my entire fleet of bikes are made by Huffy. Some Walmart bikes are decent and will do the job. Most are horrible. Older USA built dept store bikes are WAY better than the junk they sell now.

If you are a casual rider and ride to help lose weight and do short rides, a new, cheap Walmart bike will be fine. It might be heavy, slow, have crap components, etc but with a good tune they seem to work and get the job done. Some older USA built Walmart bikes have low end components, but are built way better and some work flawlessly after many years. The frame welds, materials, chrome, bearings, components, etc are far more superior compared to a China made modern or new bike.

A newbie buying a used "Better Bike" in most cases will find they need repairs. If equipped with a Euro bb and the bearings are toast, the new owner discovers the cost of his "Better Bike" just got much higher and the need of special tools to replace these components might deter a new rider from ever riding a bike.

All my Huffy bikes have some of the original components and they are still working perfect after 20-30 year and many hundreds of miles on them. I have upgraded some of my Huffy bikes with better components, but no because they failed, but because I wanted to. I even went as far to take the very first bike I started riding a couple years ago and did a total Deore XT and Mavic wheel upgrade because I like it so much..............



My single speed China made Huffy commuter is reliable because it's a single speed bike with no crap components to fail. I have put over 1000 miles on this bike this year commuting with it trouble free.......



My childhood bike was a Huffy BMX and I found one and restored it. This bike is 33 years old and I ride it indoors through the winter months trouble free...........



My road bike is a 1988 Huffy and I only upgraded parts on it to get it under 30 lbs and upgraded the brakes for better stopping. I ride this bike on weekends and during group/club/charity rides and never had an issue with it.



Now we have wifey's 2013 Huffy Rival MTB. This is a bought brand new bike and it's a piece of crap! It's heavy. The welds suck. The components all suck. It's very slow and cumbersome to ride. This is an example of a bike NOT to buy at Walmart.....

ADAP7IVE

Should be fine. I've seen a couple with really bad assembly and no grease in the bearings, so things to look out for and top up. If you don't, the bars might shift or the pedals come loose on you in an inconvenient moment and cause a crash. Otherwise it'll work fine. I agree with immortal--just toss it when stuff starts to go.

Although I say "fine," if you are looking to save money, I still recommend you go to a local bike shop and ask for help within your budget. Or get a friend who knows bikes to help you find/build a bike within your budget. You can get a reliable bike at just about any price point, so skimping and getting the big box bike won't actually be worth it in the end.

Retoocs

The people that assemble the bikes are the same people that just assembled the patio furniture. They get paid by the item. Bike shop mechanics are paid by the hour. A fast through build out of the box is about 30 minutes. I knew guys who assembled the patio furniture and bikes, they were putting a bike together in 5-10 minutes. Basically they threw everything that wasn't already assemble onto the bike and out it goes.

You are better off finding a used good bike than one from Walmart.

locolobo13 

Four years ago I went to NJ for training. The hotel/inn was across the street from the training center so no rental car. I thought rather than renting a car I would look into renting a bike. The nearest bike store that had rentals was a 5mi walk and wanted $80/day. There was a bike coop 6 mi away. But there was a big box store a 3 mi walk and 2 mi train ride away. They had an $80 Mtn bike.

So I went to there. I changed my mind on the cheap bike and got the $119 Mtn bike. First problem was air. The clerks were very helpful and let me use their big pump to air the tires. The air held. Their bike assembler was there and he made a couple of adjustments. Then I spent 5 min out in front of the store removing the cardboard and plastic wrapping. We missed something tho. The handlebars were loose! After flipping over on my back and laughing my tail off I went back inside to borrow the tool to tighten it. The bike assembler took care of that.

How did the bike do? It did fine the first day. The second day I noticed the right pedal seemed off kilter. But the bike still did fine. The third day the pedal was noticeably at an angle. I couldn't get it out with the tool kit I had. Late on the third day the pedal snapped off at the crank. There was nothing I could do to fix it. However the store was only a mile away. I walked the bike back and got a refund.

So all in all I spent nothing to ride a bike for 3 days. Pretty good deal!

OP, I say go for it. Don't have high expectations, just enjoy it while it lasts. Check it out before riding. Maybe learn how to fix it. Think of it as a starter bike. OTOH if you can afford it the LBS can help you find a better deal.

americanlt2

You could be seriously injured on a Walmart bike. I've seen childrens bikes with the fork installed backwards! Spend $100 on a used bike. Why risk injury?

jefnvk

Not that I disagree with the general idea that a used quality bike is better, but look at what you can get for $100 on CL sometime, or at a thrift shop. Much of what you find at that price point is similarly unsafe. I think it is fairly prudent to give any $100 bike a thorough going over before riding.

If the folks at Wal-Mart are anything like the folks at Office Max (of which I was once), they are paid by the hour. I didn't get anything but my normal wage to assemble furniture.

Ironfish653

'WalMart' bikes fill a niche for low-cost bicycles. There are some people who rely on a bike for their only transportation, and they might only have $150 to buy one. We have a few temps at work who fall in to that category. They rely on their NEXT's and Huffy's to get them to work every day.

If you're in that situation, you don't have the time or money to shop around, so you take a bus to WalMart, buy a bike, and ride it home. Yeah, you know that there are better bikes out there, but you get what's in your reach.

If you don't have the knowledge or skills to evaluate/repair a used bike, or the money to pay some one to do it, you need something with a return policy, like post #67.

Cyclist0084

+1

saint mucus

Yeah, my Diamondback Insight 1 seems to be a decent bike so far, I've put 115 miles on it in 6 days and I'm climbing some pretty good hills with it too (good hills for a beginner anyway). I bought it from Nashbar and there were a couple issues with the factory assembling but I was able to correct it and have had no issues since putting it together.

Maelochs

This is exactly what those bikes are good for. People don't ride them hard or fast ... they ride them to work or sometimes to a Temp office to get a van to a job site, and it keeps the lights on and the fridge full.

Same thing with some students. They need to get to class, and having a bike gets them their three times as fast. They don't intend to race, they don't intend to do stunts, they don't care if they Look Like Lance ... they want to be able to lie in bed an extra ten minutes and still get to class on time---and they want more cash in their wallets to buy party favors. Wal-Mart does the trick.

Kaze6

Not hate, just knowing that there are better options out there in the same price range.

Check the swap meet and craigslist, and in most areas you will find plenty of high-quality bikes, whose only problem is that they have been sitting in the back of the garage for decades, and aren't in demand due to newer bikes. These can usually be bought for about what you would pay for the Wally World special, and are a much more enjoyable ride.

What you want to do when you find a good candidate is to use your smartphone to check out particulars, reviews, etc. I've seen some pretty nice bikes at the swap meet and garage sales in the sub-$100 price range. I picked up a Jamis Aurora, Trek Fuel 80 and a Trek Carbon at good prices over the last several months.

rydabent

As I posted earlier, not everyone can afford $5000 CF bike, and I think it is kind of snobbish to look down on the people that cant.

Are Walmart bikes or any other big box stores great, no, but yet they are serviceable. The frames are heavy, but strong. It makes them great for kids. How long do you think a delicate CF frame bike would last a 10 year old that throws it on the ground when he is done riding.