Originally Posted by
alcjphil
If you want to flip bikes for money you have to be very careful and knowlegeable about what you buy, Buying cheap bikes for more than what they are worth can easily leave you underwater
Even "Free" bikes can be more trouble than they are worth.
On the cheapest "box store" bikes, they likely never shifted properly and would have inadequate stopping power if they weren't so slow to begin with. Shifters aren't compatible with anything, even themselves. Brakes are thin steel stampings that have way too much flex to be effective.
They are like putting lipstick on a pig.
At the time I was flipping bikes (same reason as you) I found out you can't make money spending $30 for a $50 bike. You have various "consumables" including soap to wash your hands.
Huffy is the worst example I can think of although that was a "decent" brand 70 years ago.