no1mad 

Just a reminder folks- you can speak to the quality of the merchandise here, but the topic of the big box retail business model/ethics/practices would be better off in P & R.

RubeRad

Shorts at walmart I can't comment on.

But cheap panniers on the other hand...

I bought these (from Amazon, not walmart), put them on, it was like the 2nd ride one of them got in my spokes. Scared the crap out of me. As soon as I (carefully) got home, I took them off and posted them on craigslist.

I also bought a Bell cyclocomputer from Walmart once ($10). It was crap. Broke in less than a year.

Basically the only bike-related thing I'll buy at walmart now is tubes. But since the last time I bought any bike stuff from walmart, a lovely little LBS opened up just a few blocks from my house, so I would much rather support them than Walmart.

Papa Tom

From the OP: My philosophy about my bike is that I do not ever want it to be a source of stress. Adorning it with expensive accessories that I have to worry about every time I leave it parked somewhere makes riding my 19-year-old GT Outpost a lot more stressful than it has to be.

I am a pretty good bike mechanic and I am handy at modifying "crap" to make it more useful and more durable. My bike, which is covered from top to bottom with decals from all my travels, rides like a charm and is the envy of all the other kids on the block. My accessories are practical and most are at the high end of the crap scale. Nobody wants to steal them, which is just fine with me. And if some misinformed idiot thinks they are worth stealing, I'm not even going to bother looking up from my Chipotle rice and beans to try to catch him in the act.

I agree with the general consensus about WalMart and all the other giant box stores. If these lower-end items were available at my LBS, I would give them the business in a New York minute. But they can't make a profit on them and WalMart can, so I might as well support the modest jobs of at least a FEW workers.

All this said, I think you guys have talked me out of trying the shorts. And I would NEVER buy a cyclo computer at one of these stores. I might be cheap, but I ain't stoooopid.

TransitBiker

Aye-aye!

- Andy

jimmie65

I won't shop at WalMart (for reasons already stated by others). I do sometimes pick up cheap Bell and Schwinn stuff from Academy (which could be just as bad as Wally World but ignorance is bliss). While lights and bells have been OK, their gloves and trunk bags sucked. I'd be reluctant to try anything else made of fabric.

noglider 

Actually, I've had very good luck with super-cheap cyclocomputers. I hear some have problems with their mounts, but I haven't had such problems.

The bad pair of shorts I had from Nashbar injured me. Not sure you'll want to read the details of that, but if you do, feel free to ask.

RaleighSport

Funny! I absolutely refuse to buy tubes from there anymore, they're always heavier than equivalent tubes and not much cheaper!


Why does your outpost need accessories exactly? Not knocking you at all I just don't get it.. my tequesta, I've put a different stem(GT) on, added one bottle cage and switched my canti's for v-brakes and went to 2.0 slicks and she is fun and righteous to road ride everywhere! I still freak out leaving her outside anywhere too cause I love her so!

Papa Tom

I ride it to work and I use it for the few overnights I do per year. My accessories are:

1. Two water bottle cages (good solid ones)
2. Frame pump (Schwinn crap that works great)
3. Rear rack with trunk/pannier (Good rack with Schwinn crap trunk that expands into a double pannier and has served me very well, despite a false start)
4. Front and rear lights (Modified 32 LED flashlight on front/decent red blinkie from a bike shop on rear)
5. Mirrycle MTB mirror (Best thing I ever bought)
5. mp3 player with handlebar speaker (Ah! Ah! Don't wanna hear it! I want my music and the speaker allows me to hear the road and the chirping birds just fine)
6. Retractable back scratcher (THIS, I don't skimp on. Nothing less than the $4.99 Deluxe 7-Eleven model for me)

MikeRides

Don't knock big box stores, they get a lot of grief for selling cheap quality products but a lot of times the products aren't any different than what you'd buy elsewhere. My experience with a few of their bike related products:

I've used the same Bell cyclometer (paid $15) for over 3 years now. All I was looking for was something to track mileage, and it does that plus.

Ironically, my LBS and Walmart sells the same Schwinn-brand tubes. I'm actually convinced my LBS buys their stock from Walmart but I can't prove it. The LBS sells them for $6 a pop while Walmart only charges $4.88. Being frugal I'd rather pay the lower price, but every time I look they are sold out of that size so I'm stuck either traveling further to the next Walmart or just buying from the bike shop.

I bought my water bottle cage from Walmart for $4 since I refuse to pay $20+ at the LBS for a simple bottle cage, no issues whatsoever (and I don't expect there to be any).

Lights from Walmart... I grew up with Bell-branded accessories so I had one of those light sets on my bike growing up. I mostly rode around the city and rarely after dark, they were alright to be seen but not to be used to see more than a foot in front of you. Quality however, I recall being decent, unfortunately the bike was stolen along with the lights so I can't comment any further. The Schwinn-brand they now sell look ridiculously cheap that I refuse to take that risk. I now use two free HF flashlights mounted to my handlebar, plus 2 planet-bike blinkies in the rear. I got the rear blinkies from my LBS for about $15 total.

I don't recommend the cheap aluminum they pass off as a rear rack. I had one fall apart with only a milk crate and a 5# backpack on it. Picked up a nice Topeak rack from the bike shop which is rated to hold up to 50#. I don't carry much so I can't comment how accurate that is.

I'm not interested in panniers but I've had an Outdoor product backpack that I bought from Walmart almost 20-some years ago, used it throughout high school and currently use it for work - weighted down with work boots, change of clothes, lunch, toiletries, and anything else I may need on any given day. It's been through all kinds of weather (rain, snow) and the contents have stayed dry. No broken zippers, no torn seams. Again, some of the crap they sell today probably wouldn't have the same results.

cobrabyte

I don't buy cheap stuff, but I do try to find inexpensive stuff when I can.

mstateglfr 

I have ordered 2 pairs of mtb bike shorts from Nashbar, both to disastrous results. A non liner pair came that was so tight on me it was downright graphic. A liner pair came that was so big that it looked like I had a fat suit on only around the middle half of my body. My wife was in tears after seeing the second pair.

I swore off buying mtb shorts online after that. The cut/sizing is just too varied.