VegasTriker

The answer might be sure, ride the cheap bike but not always. I think back to the Scout who showed up for a cycling merit badge 10 mile ride with a Walmart special that weighed half of his weight. I checked it out for safety but didn't realize the cranks hadn't been tightened enough when it was assembled a few days earlier by the bike experts at Walmart. It lasted about two miles until one crank stripped as it loosened even more. Had he been standing on the pedals powering up the next hill, that would have been a disaster. The second ride in the series of rides (by now on his 3rd Walmart bike) was similar. The bike stayed together but it was too hard for him to complete the 10 miles. We had to stop for him to rest far too often which was really annoying to the other riders. He soon quit trying so never earned the badge.

A decent bike is far more pleasurable to ride, especially if it is properly fitted. Better bikes come in multiple frame sizes to fit your stature. Cheap ones are often "one size fits all" which is quite a joke for anyone on the lower or upper ends of human sizes. It probably will last a lot longer. Over my lifetime I owned 3 road bikes. The first was a second hand Fiorelli Italian racing 10 speed. I kept it for about a decade. The second was a Japanese Nishiki Semi Pro. Both bikes weighed around 29 pounds. The last one was a French made 1973 Motobecane Le Champion. It was top of the line at the time for their production bikes. 21 pounds, great components, and sure was fun to ride. I kept it for decades until as I got older it was no longer fun to ride a bike that had narrow wheels and required being hunched over the handlebars. It was still a good bike and perfectly rideable for the right person. I'll bet that kid's Walmart bike was in the garbage within a couple of years at best (if he ever rode it).