Recreational & Family - Cheap La Jolla Cruisers?

I am contemplating a purchase of bikes for my wife and I. We have looked into comfort bikes, folding bikes, Townies, and even Cruisers...

We saw some interesting Cruisers at our local Wal-Mart and Academy Sports stores... They are the La Jolla model Cruisers with either the "Kent" name or "Next" bicycle manufacturer name on them. They are only about $85 with no fenders, and one speed coaster brakes...

What surpised us is how "lightweight" they are, being they have aluminum frames....
Our old Cruisers we never ride anymore are heavy steel Schwinns. We just want something lighter to load up onto vehicles.

Anyone have any experience with the cheapo La Jolla bikes? I thought we could buy them and put smaller tires on them and make them even lighter.

Here is a link to see them online:

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4990073

Walmart has a good return policy so if you don't like them you can always take them back or get a store credit. I like the old steel cruisers myself and so do a lot of other people. If they are the Made in Chicago Schwinns you can sell them on Ebay for a good price.

littledog

Please be warned- All bikes are shipped from the factory disassembled and are assembled by the reseller.
At a bike shop, bicycle experts put them together. At Walmart..... you get my point.

If you do get a mart bike, its a good Idea to get someone knowledgable in bikes to check it out for you.

I've seen them, and they aren't too bad. Just remove the pedals and grease the threads, remove then stem and grease the wedge, remove the seat post and grease that, and make sure every bolt is tightened properly.

Big sign over the customer service desk at our Wal-Mart : ALL BICYCLE SALES ARE FINAL. NO RETURNS ON BICYCLES. BIKES SOLD AS IS WITH NO WARRENTY.

I bought one of the Next La Jolla cruisers from Wal-Mart for my mom for Mother's Day. She's 55 years old and hasn't ridden in probably 20 years, since we used to ride together as a kid. She wanted one to go to the bike trails with Magoo and me, so this was a cheaper option to start her out with. She doesn't do long rides, but she has ridden it with me on our local bike trail and hasn't had any problem with it at all. It's very comfy, but the only downfall is it's single speed with no hand brakes (what is that, coaster brakes I think? Sorry I'm a newbie without all the lingo!). Other than that, she keeps up with me just fine on my mountain bike. I would take it to a bike shop to have it looked over to make sure it's assembled properly before riding for any distance. Of course, regular maintenance is a must just as with any other bike. My Mom loves hers, and rides everyday. We will probably move her up to a better brand if she decides to get into it hardcore, but that won't be for a while.

Lil round one: make sure you keep that chain tension tight. The chain not only drives the bike, but actuates the brake. Kepp about a half-inch of deflection in the chain, as a completly tight chain can bind up and be noisey.