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A different take on Walmart bikes

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A different take on Walmart bikes

Old 03-15-12, 07:59 PM
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Burton
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A different take on Walmart bikes

Here's the specs for one of Walmart's better bikes this year. Retails for over a G note here in Canada, has MANY components that are often cited as being excellent here on BF, ..... and I personally can't think of one good reason that any bike shop anywhere would refuse to work on one, or somehow lose money doing so. Every store and every LBS carries a range if models. Many customers opt for base models of bikes, cars, BBQ's, stereos - you name it. But the choice is their's - its not because there's no choice.


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Old 03-15-12, 08:32 PM
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Hard to imagine Walmart selling a bicycle at that pricepoint. It's also difficult to imagine Walmart selling bicycle components of that high caliber of quality.

This was a very refreshing post to read!

PS.

True, there's always choice, but limited income always limits choice. People with meager incomes are drawn to Walmart because, they feel that they can buy more items for less money. They see Walmart as "their" bargain store. Walmart is warmly embraced by the poor. For the most part, Walmart has become an integral part of low-income culture. Therefore, choice is not only limited by income, it's also limited by cultural experience, and how one is raised.
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Old 03-15-12, 09:11 PM
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Nothing currently listed on WM.com in the vicinity of 1000USD. There is a CF schwinn at $549.

Is that bike in a store?
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Old 03-15-12, 09:16 PM
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You do know they shut down a thread that traveled down this same path?

But in effect that price is in LBS home court. You could get a Focus, Giant, Jamis, Fuji and several others with a year of free servicing for that price. I am sure a LBS would service the bike you listed but they would charge you about $35.00 here. In fact many LBS bikes in that class are less than a grand. Performance has several bikes in that price range with a satisfaction garentee. The bike would be assembled by someone with bike tools not a cresent wrench and pliers. And chances are the same person that put it together would be there when you brought it in for any minor tweeking. So in my opinion only I don't see an advantage. What brand is the BBS bike?
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Old 03-15-12, 09:19 PM
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Also, who assembles it and do they offer different sizes of frames?

Ok, that answers my questions, a few sizes. Its a Raleigh.

https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/raleigh-...et=SRCH%3ABike
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Old 03-15-12, 09:20 PM
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Originally Posted by JanMM
Nothing currently listed on WM.com in the vicinity of 1000USD. There is a CF schwinn at $549.

Is that bike in a store?
The OP is referring to a Canadian Walmart. I'm not sure, but I would guess that there would be major differences up North.

PS.

Yep! That's the Canadian online Walmart outlet, you'd order that Sojourn through.

Last edited by SlimRider; 03-16-12 at 08:14 AM.
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Old 03-15-12, 10:14 PM
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That's a Raleigh Sojourn in that Canadian Wal-Mart for $1364. According to thebikestand.com (about the only place I find that actually has pricing info online for Raleigh), a Sojourn will run $1199.99 US- with a few differences.
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Old 03-15-12, 10:42 PM
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I have to agree. If I want to drop $1000 on a bike, it would have to be at an LBS where it would likely have a warranty and I know I could get it properly serviced. Maybe even some discount accessories at the time of purchase.
Having said that, I do buy bike related stuff at WM. My Bell helmet, tubes, 2 MTBs for my girls when they were younger, and assorted other small items.
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Old 03-15-12, 11:56 PM
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Very similar to a bike I saw at REI a few years ago, I believe it sold for around $1200:
https://www.rei.com/product/779985/novara-buzz-road-bike
It's a shame that people might be fooled when see a decent list of components into dropping an amount of money with which the could have purchased a real bike and instead end up with something that is unlikely to have been assembled properly, will still probably have no warranty or anyone to service it, and from what I've seen of Wally-world bikes, probably comes in only one size.
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Old 03-16-12, 12:18 AM
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I've seen nothing but SIS components on walmart bikes in my area. Shimano's seems embarrassed to put their whole name on them. It's seems the Schwinns are a little better than year's past but the next bikes are aptly named. I know "the guy" that puts bikes together, he doesn't ride and admits he got zero training.
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Old 03-16-12, 12:24 AM
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The most expensive bike physically available in our local Walmart right now is $249.
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Old 03-16-12, 05:08 AM
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But in this case, assembly has nothing to do with it. You'd take it to a bike shop.
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Old 03-16-12, 05:24 AM
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There is a big difference between the BSO's that big box retailers sell, and branded products, Wal-Mart sells Apple products which are no different from what are sold in an Apple store, the Raleigh Sojourn they are selling will be no different from the one you can buy from a Raleigh dealer (although probably with better aftersales service).

If you were talking about one of their in-house branded bikes, that would interesting, but a Wal-Mart bike this is not.
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Old 03-16-12, 06:07 AM
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well, if you want some minimum wage bonehead assembling your bicycle, fine.
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Old 03-16-12, 06:18 AM
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Originally Posted by Burton
Here's the specs for one of Walmart's better bikes this year. Retails for over a G note here in Canada, has MANY components that are often cited as being excellent here on BF, ..... and I personally can't think of one good reason that any bike shop anywhere would refuse to work on one, or somehow lose money doing so. Every store and every LBS carries a range if models. Many customers opt for base models of bikes, cars, BBQ's, stereos - you name it. But the choice is their's - its not because there's no choice.
It sounds to me like you have an alternate agenda. You want to buy a bike at WalMart and somehow force an LBS, that doesn't want to service it, to tune and repair it.

I understanding your reasoning, but you can't force somebody to do something they don't want to do.
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Old 03-16-12, 06:42 AM
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Originally Posted by Retro Grouch
It sounds to me like you have an alternate agenda. You want to buy a bike at WalMart and somehow force an LBS, that doesn't want to service it, to tune and repair it.

I understanding your reasoning, but you can't force somebody to do something they don't want to do.
But would they necessarily know? I mean, this bike is not sold in stores. So you get a box (and considering the size, probably the original one.) Other than the shipping label, it's a Raleigh bike in a box, like all bikes that bike shops get. If you can find a LBS that sells Raleigh that is willing to put together a bike that you buy online for a fee, there should be little difference for service/tuneups. It's not like they have to fix mistakes made by a Walmart employee.

Personally, I don't think it's a great deal. For that price I can get a bike from an LBS with full 105 drivetrain, instead of this bike that uses Deore and Tiagra.

Last edited by dpeters11; 03-16-12 at 06:48 AM.
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Old 03-16-12, 06:49 AM
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This is likely Walmart's attempt at attracting a new customer base - in this case, the serious cyclist, who can afford to pay such a price. I'm curious at how this model will sell and whether the will decide to keep selling it after this season. I note that it is only available to be shipped and not likely available in their stores. If that's the case, who is responsible for assembly, I wonder?

On the topic of assembly, around here the department stores usually hire young people, between 16 and 18 years of age, to assemble bikes. Minimum wage for that age group is less than for adults. They are usually paid a commission, based on numbers of bikes assembled, which provides incentive for them to crank out the bikes, without observing quality. They are usually hired via classified ads, which state that no experience is required and that people will be trained.

I am curious, though, I wouldn't mind seeing one of these bikes in person.
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Old 03-16-12, 07:59 AM
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Originally Posted by Retro Grouch
It sounds to me like you have an alternate agenda. You want to buy a bike at WalMart and somehow force an LBS, that doesn't want to service it, to tune and repair it.

I understanding your reasoning, but you can't force somebody to do something they don't want to do.
Actually my 'alternate agenda' is pretty straight forward. People on these forums seem to like posting threads criticizing WallyStores, basicly accusing them of selling cheap bikes. There is currently a thread ongoing in the Mountain Bike forum that does nothing short of complaining about inexpensive Wally city bikes that can't stand up to the abuse of mountain biking. When does owner stupidity start to count?

And then there's the comments in THIS thread about the hiring and training policies of personel, even though those same hiring and training policies are used by many LBS. For some reason I'm convinced that even if It was arranged for Park Tool to train all their employees - it still wouldn't be enough for some people.

But a number of posters in other threads have no problem justifying on-line purchases of components and even complete bikes with the explaination that they can do their own mechanics and see no point in paying a cut to a LBS for something they can do themselves.

So my suggestion is that if you don't like the products, don't whine about them. Be constructive and post an alternative that actually works for YOU. If half of what is posted in these forums was true - most BBS would be out of business already. But the truth is that the service and prices at most LBS seem to be more of an issue for many people on these forums.

And I actually thought that Raleigh was a pretty nice bike myself. My thanks to all those posters that were open enough to see it for what it was and appreciate it.

Last edited by Burton; 03-16-12 at 08:24 AM.
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Old 03-16-12, 09:36 AM
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There is an LBS in Toronto that sells the same model of bike for $100 less than Walmart. Given the choice between an LBS, where I can actually test ride the bike in person, have it fitted properly and have some service guarantee plan versus buying it online from a department store web site, I think I would go with the former. If I was to hazard an estimate, that even if the LBS offers a free year of adjustments and tune ups, that would realize an equivalent value of $100, bringing the savings to the customer to approximately $200.

Here is the link to the Toronto bike shop advertising this model: https://cyclemotive.com/product/12ral...n-131712-1.htm

In this case, the BBS isn't providing good value to its customers, at least not at this price point.
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Old 03-16-12, 10:34 AM
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I can only go by what Walmart sells in their stores here. Those are the cheap models that are essentially one size fits all, poor components etc.

I honestly think the bikes that are bought at the BBS's don't get ridden much, so they don't have time to manifest their issues. I also have a friend who had a K-Mart bike for about 15-20 years and said it was better than our LBS bikes because in that time he never had to replace tires or get a tuneup. Except that he couldn't shift to his biggest chainring, etc.

As mentioned, on the US site, the best bike they have is $549. A bike at Walmart with a carbon fiber rear triangle and fork would just scare me. And it's still just one size.
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Old 03-16-12, 10:40 AM
  #21  
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Originally Posted by dpeters11
Personally, I don't think it's a great deal. For that price I can get a bike from an LBS with full 105 drivetrain, instead of this bike that uses Deore and Tiagra.
The Raleigh Sojourn, for the price, is reasonably spec-ed with Deore and Tiagra. Full 105 would increase the price of this bike significantly.

It isn't a "road (racing)" bike.
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Old 03-16-12, 10:50 AM
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Originally Posted by Burton
Actually my 'alternate agenda' is pretty straight forward. People on these forums seem to like posting threads criticizing WallyStores, basically accusing them of selling cheap bikes.
They do sell really cheap bikes! A vast ocean of them. The fact that they sometimes sell a few "real" bikes doesn't change that! (It seems that Walmart sells "real" bikes that they get as close-outs. They don't seem to have the same "real" bikes consistently.)

Anyway, if this "real" bike is bought from a brick-and-mortar store, the hapless buyer is still subject to Walmart's crappy assembly OR, if bought on-line, they would have to pay to have it assembled (or do the work themselves).

It's hard to say whether this is any sort of savings over buying the same bike from a LBS.

At least, for this bike, an LBS won't have any problems fixing or getting parts for it.

Originally Posted by Burton
And then there's the comments in THIS thread about the hiring and training policies of personel, even though those same hiring and training policies are used by many LBS. For some reason I'm convinced that even if It was arranged for Park Tool to train all their employees - it still wouldn't be enough for some people.
You should tell us the name of your shop so we can avoid it!

Some LBS's might do this. In the US, shops doing this aren't likely to stay open for very long.

You have no support to say that "many" of them do (since it's vague, it's hard to know what you mean by "many"). Anyway, we pretty-much know "all" of the Walmarts do this (which means the odds are still better at the LBS!).

Originally Posted by Burton
If half of what is posted in these forums was true - most BBS would be out of business already.
Most of the bikes sold by BBS aren't used very much (BBS's are quite reasonable places to buy bikes that aren't really used.)

Originally Posted by Burton
And I actually thought that Raleigh was a pretty nice bike myself. My thanks to all those posters that were open enough to see it for what it was and appreciate it.
And you don't seem to realize that that one example is an exception.


Originally Posted by Burton
But the truth is that the service and prices at most LBS seem to be more of an issue for many people on these forums.
If people who are buying bikes from Walmart think service prices at LBS's are too high, they can always go to Walmart for service!

Last edited by njkayaker; 03-16-12 at 02:38 PM.
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Old 03-16-12, 10:57 AM
  #23  
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And the sellers could care less whether they work well or not,
just to ring it up on the register is the wally world goal.

but it is a bike a thief will take to ride away on , if you don't lock it up.
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Old 03-16-12, 11:03 AM
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well, if you want some minimum wage bonehead assembling your bicycle, fine.
there are a few people that, on piece work, put them together with power tools since they are paid by how many they get on the floor, not how well it's done.

and enough bike shops get burned spending time putting them in a more functional shape ,
only to have them abandoned when the charges are levied , they either refuse to deal with them,

or like the new shoe repair guy, in town, you pay up front.
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Old 03-16-12, 11:12 AM
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Bike shops quite often employ minimum-wage labor. But at least they're going to have adult supervision. And the shop will accept responsibility for their work.

At Wally-World and its ilk, the common practice is to hire someone to come into the store once or twice per week and assemble bikes in the back room. The same person may put bikes together for Toys-R-Us, Target, Wally World, and Sears. They're paid by the piece; so the less time they spend on each bike, the higher their hourly rate. And as far as standing behind the product, you get the famous Wally-World guarantee: "if you're not happy with it, bring it back and we'll replace it with another one just like it."
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