taitrantrong

So, before hating on these cheap bikes, please give me your honest opinions about these bikes base on what I am using them for.

I need a bike just for really simple use only. I will use it for traveling from point A-B on a normal street. No jumping, tricks, rocky paths (well maybe but unlikely), etc. Can these bikes be good enough for that ? They have really good review on Walmart website. Oh and I haven't mentioned I'm just aiming for the bikes with 4+ stars reviews with a really high amount of reviews. I aiming for the $80 (Roadmaster) one and the $120 one (Hype Havoc). Are these decent enough for me ?

Hope I can get some honest opinions. I don't want to go for expensive bikes if I don't necessarily have to.

immortal216

Can these bikes work? Sure they can. They might also meet your needs. I went through this same thing when buying my bike. It is my understanding that these bikes from big box stores are basically throw away bikes. Meaning when major components start to go bad it's not worth fixing. Someone can correct me if i am wrong on that. I decided to buy what some people (not on here) consider a "real" bike which is anything that is not from a big box store.

To try and keep it short these bike will go down the road and get you from point A to point B. How long will they last? I am not sure. I know there are pretty cheap options for better entry level bikes but i know you have a really strict budget so i won't go into that.


Hope this helps.....

saint mucus

I just bought a lower end Diamondback, it's an Insight 1, hybrid which many here consider a BSO but I can tell it's performing way better than anything I've ever bought at Walmart. Pluss I was also able to get it in an 22" XL frame, I've put 32 miles on it in the last 18 hrs, two separate 16 mile rides and I have zero complaints, I even like the stock saddle.

gringomojado

They will meet your stated needs! The "cycling Elite" loves to bash WalMart bikes, but most of what they sell is cheap but serviceable. I buy our toilet paper there! I even bought eyeglasses there, again cheap,shoddy but serviceable.

Springdog

I have a Roadmaster in the garage and put some miles on it until I purchased a Trek this year. It got me from a to b just fine.

Canker

Keep the bike as simple as possible. No suspension being the most important part of that.

bud16415

I have a friend at work that bought a Walmart bike 2 years ago for about 100 bucks and rides it as a commuter bike about 1 mile to work each day and on the weekend in the summer might do up to a 10 mile ride on trails a dozen time. It is a Mountain like bike triple chain ring suspension bike. The rest of the time it sits indoors at work and in his house. He brought it home and spent a few hours going over it and greased it and oiled it typical stuff they didn’t do well at assembly and he retightened everything. He added another 50 dollars’ worth of add on stuff from Walmart a rack, lights and some bags on the back for his stuff. I can see that bike lasting him till he retires in 20 years no problem the way he uses it and the way he maintains it.

I voted no in your poll because I have bought at least a dozen used bikes off CL for half the amount he paid that I would never trade for his Walmart bike brand new. So in my case I wouldn’t want one. But then again you have to know what you are looking for in a used bike of quality and know if it is wore out or lightly used, and in both cases the bike needs to be gone over before I would ride it. The trouble people have with buying a Walmart bike and then taking it to a bike shop and asking them if they could go over the bike and give it a good tune up is they will likely charge you about half the price of the bike to do that.

if my friend was advising you I know he would say go for it. It is really amazing they can build anything of any quality for that price. I know firsthand from seeing hundreds of cheap bikes at garage sales and around if you give one to a kid and they get used as most kids use a bike with leaving them out in the rain and all around beating on them they last about one summer.

You didn’t mention the fit and your size and weight. I wouldn’t recommend one at all to someone pretty heavy. Wheels and spokes really come into the discussion then and once the wheels start going the bike is done.

Hope this helps.

memebag

I bought two Walmart bikes. They were garbage and unpleasant to ride, so I didn't ride them. They sat in my garage and rusted.

I bought a good bike. It was $50 more than the Walmart bike I was looking at. It was a pleasure to ride, so I rode it as much as I could. I lost 40 pounds, cured my sedentary ailments, got into cycling, joined a bike team, did charity rides, and changed my life.

Best $50 I ever spent.

jeffreythree

Before I vote, can you service the bearings yourself? Hubs, steering, and bb? I have found these level bikes need that done as soon as purchased before riding if you want them to last.

Homebrew01

Decent used > new junk.

NYMXer

I have a few bikes in my coral, and about 3 of those are Walmart bikes. They are a cheap FS Mtb, a Cruiser and a better DS Mtb. I bought them specifically for rides with my GF or casual relaxing rides and they have worked just fine. I do maintain them well and they serve a purpose.

So, given that you are buying one knowing they need maintenance before you ever ride one, won't be doing long or serious rides and just looking for a basic affordable bike, then "yes", they are worth considering. Search the Walmart website for a bigger list of available bikes and markdowns. If you can't assemble a bike yourself, take it to a bike shop for a full service before you ride it.

Here's the "but"...... Try looking on CL for a decent used bike first before you buy a new Walmart bike. You could end up with a much better bike for the same cash

jefnvk

I see people on them all the time. A lot of people, in fact. They have to be suiting someone's needs. They were ubiquitous on my college campus. I suspect if you are only doing a couple miles here and there, they are probably perfectly suitable. I probably wouldn't show up with one to a group ride, but I can guarantee I will see plenty on a 30 mile mass ride tomorrow morning.

That said, as others have mentioned with just a bit of looking you can probably find something nicer on Craigslist for the same price. If you post a general local area, people are generally more than happy to scour CL for options for you.

Trsnrtr

What he said. Bikes from Walmart are assembled by people a set of instructions and little knowledge or experience. Even a good bike assembled poorly is a piece of junk.

10 Wheels

Frank enjoys his.

Phil_gretz

Find a rigid fork steel MTB from the early-to-mid 1990s for about $125 on craigslist. Antelope, Cross Creek, 800, 900...there were so many of them. Twist grip that you can cheaply upgrade to EF-51s for trigger shifting if you so desire. Put on slicks and go.


Why is this even a discussion at all?

Phil_gretz

I buy range ammo there...

10 Wheels

Please Stay on the topic.

12strings

If you get one, it should be the one with NO SUSPENSION, (there is a roadmaster with a solid fork for $100). The one I saw also only has one front chainring, so that's a plus (it has gears in the back). Check the brakes and gears when you get it, and lookup on youtube how to adjust them.

It will be fine for riding a few miles around town. Getting someone with knowledge to tune it up will help.

I rode a $200 wal-mart bike (Schwinn Varstity 1200) for almost 2 years of commuting (5-7 miles each way), and about 3 months on club group rides with the roadies before buying a real road bike. It worked well, but I had to replace the rear wheel's cassette and get it tuned up before it really functioned well. I was able to stay with a 20mph paceline, and climb some 5-6% 3 mile hills...but the road bike is obviously faster and better in every way...but I had fun on the walmart bike.

I sold it to a friend for $100, and he is still riding it regularly.

jefnvk

Some people aren't mechanically capable, and the cost for someone else to do it would far exceed the price of a new bike. Even the bikes I've seen that have been "tuned up" on CL more often than not still need work, especially in that price range.

Some people associate new with better, and even here there are plenty of people who will tell others that bikes older than a couple years old on CL are just junk that aren't worth it.

Some people are not comfortable scouring CL for a good find or meeting up with sellers.

Some people don't know what to look for even if they were comfortable looking on CL.

Some people need something NOW and don't have the time to wait for the right bike at the right price to pop up.

leob1

I work on a lot of wal-mart bikes, they are crap. They have the lowest level of components possible, the wheels are junk. There is a very good chance you'll get a bike that can not be adjusted to make it shift well or brake well. Plus they are heavy.
You'll be much better off getting a bike from a bike shop, even if you get the cheapest one in the store. You'll have a better bike, and a place to take it if you have a problem. Or buy a used bike that came from a bike shop, Trek, Giant, Specalized, etc.

Good Luck.

nitroRoo

I have owned, ridden and/or worked on several walmart bikes. My daughter currently has a Schwinn Ranger mountain bike. I've had a few huffy's and murrays. They are "usable," but as others have said they are heavy, and have the worst components. This makes them more likely to need adjustment/servicing more often, and they are somewhat frustrating to work on because they are so cheap.

A quality bike with quality components rides night and day different. Earlier this year I bought a used GT Force road bike for commuting and road riding. It has older downtube shifters, but they are quality shimano RX100 components. I adjusted them once and have put over 800 miles on that bike this summer (I know not much compared to others). It rides SO much nicer than my father in law's GMC Denali road bike from walmart. I paid $120, pretty sure the walmart road bike was more than that - plus you have to pay tax.

So bottom line is you will get a MUCH better bike for the money by buying used, even if you spend a little extra to have it tuned up at a bike shop. Well worth every penny if you're going to incorporate biking into your life regularly.

mrv 

my LBS is next door to a WAL-MARTs. people bring those things in for service. the suspension forks are backwards - not like in a while - very frequently.
the LBS owner will give it to the people straight - i can fix this. but it's cheaper for you to go buy a new bike at WAL-MARTs than for me to repair it.
i would not - no way - no how- buy a bike from WAL-MARTs. just notgonnahappen.com. i'll get another $80 1982 TREK 420 of CL.

jefnvk

How long would it take you to find that deal again? How realistic of an option is that for someone who has a need for a bike in the near future? When I bought my first old road bike off CL, it took me a month of searching to find one that fit me that wasn't a pile of crap at a good price, and even then it still needed a complete overhaul.

I could tell the OP to just go buy a $27 immaculate Le Tour from the Salvation Army like I did, but as one that shops there frequently, I am well aware that I luckily stumbled upon a deal when it was still available. It is cool when people find deals, but thinking that a deal is a realistic option for most looking for a bike is silly.

02Giant 

Frank doesn't know any different.

Seattle Forrest

This site needs a way to mark posts as awesome or great or whatever.