Mountain Biking - what not to buy!

my friend just bought a trek 820 because he's just getting into the sport, but his dad keeps raggin on him for not getting a department store bike. im trying to find pics of crappy department store bikes that are BROKEN. i know i've seen em floating around on the net before, so if you got em, please post them so i can show his dad what those things are really made of! thanks a ton.

China...

I ride a department store bike, and I guess I could believe that they break. But they aren't meant to be mountain biking. Just for fun on the road. But still, don't "real" bikes frame break? I mean I bet theres a ton of them, but more department store bike failures are more looked forward to rather than seeing an 820 crack. So there are more department store photos. My friend has gone mtbing on his supercycle and even through downhill 1-2 foot drops it didn't break. And I know like 4 people who are still riding their old d-ment store bike on road and off road, and they have never failed. Maybe it's just them.

I know that non-d-ment store bikes are generally better, but how much is your friend going to use that bike for until he gets better. His father is of coruse wrong, and I don't want anyone else to make the same mistake that my father made me do.

I just don't like posts that flame bikes. Bikes are bikes.

alright, im not looking for a debate here.. just some pics. yeah ok, if you wanna pick it apart, both bikes break, but the quality between the two is incomparable. to answer your question, my friend is doing quite a bit of heavy trail riding, where a department store bike weld would have a much greater chance of breaking, the 820 takes it like nothing, for example.

China...

I ride a department store bike, and I guess I could believe that they break. But they aren't meant to be mountain biking. Just for fun on the road. But still, don't "real" bikes frame break? I mean I bet theres a ton of them, but more department store bike failures are more looked forward to rather than seeing an 820 crack. So there are more department store photos. My friend has gone mtbing on his supercycle and even through downhill 1-2 foot drops it didn't break. And I know like 4 people who are still riding their old d-ment store bike on road and off road, and they have never failed. Maybe it's just them.

I know that non-d-ment store bikes are generally better, but how much is your friend going to use that bike for until he gets better. His father is of coruse wrong, and I don't want anyone else to make the same mistake that my father made me do.

I just don't like posts that flame bikes. Bikes are bikes.

funny very funny, but the truth is i started out with a dept store bike, but then upgraded to a kona roast then to a norco six :D

http://www.atonaltrek.com/BerlinonacloudySunday/images/22.jpg
http://www5b.biglobe.ne.jp/~mmiura/image/brokenBicycle/brokenNeck02.jpg
here's some dude has a fetish on broken cranks
http://pardo.net/pardo/bike/pic/fail/000.html

etc.. use google images

i'm looking for 1 picture in particular.. its a Next bike with the frame snapped in half.

Actually, department stores aren't that bad. In fact, my $1,100 Giant Rainier broke WAY faster than my old $300 infinity bike bought at Costco. I have done 5 foot drops to flat with my infinity and it still has no problems. On the other side, a rider I know already folded more than 1 kona DJ series frames in half !

<offtopic> Kona Roastbika, you only had your roast for what, a couple of monnths, and now you have a norco 6?? Why are you doing this? Have you rode your roast to the limit yet?? Don't you feel that the money is sort of being wasted? Or do you use both for different purposes?

http://www.just****inggoogleit.com/

thanks for the input, i don't know what i would have done without your help. if you ever have anymore enlightening advice, please share.

http://www.just****inggoogleit.com/

hahahahah thats a real site. Thats freaking hillarious. :)

alright, im not trying to be mean, but I just heard from a very respected source that the CPSC is about to issue a notice claiming that those huffys/crap department store bikes can't be considered "mountain bikes", mainly because people buy them thinking their a "dowhill" or "freeride" bike and kill themselves, so "bikes" are not necessarily bikes

Okay,

If it is respected, can you please tell me who it is?

I haven't heard that. But I am surprised something hasn't been done sooner. So many bikes being sold in dept stores look like good bikes...but really aren't...damn tragedy if someone ever get seriously hurt. Dept store bikes are crap for real trails. Suck it up people...

They can and some do last...but the chances are greater for breakage on a dept store bike than a full fledged mtbike.

actually 3 of 5 dept store bikes i saw closely enough there is a sticker somewhere around bottom bracket that says something like "not for actual mountain riding" :D

Hahaha...even low end non dept store bikes have that. Companies realized years ago the liability for selling crap bikes and people using them. Hence the neat little warning sticker. Norco, Specialized...all of them.

My friends Mongoose DH, the one with 7-10 inches of travel has in its bike manual, "not for off road use, wheels should stay in contact with ground at all times."

This is in the part about the DH, not some low end mongoose.

I haven't heard that. But I am surprised something hasn't been done sooner. So many bikes being sold in dept stores look like good bikes...but really aren't...damn tragedy if someone ever get seriously hurt. Dept store bikes are crap for real trails. Suck it up people...

They can and some do last...but the chances are greater for breakage on a dept store bike than a full fledged mtbike.

thank you! i think you people with crappy dept. store bikes are just afraid to admit that your bike is dangerious on a real trail. sure its got a sweet flame job and a hardcore rear shock on it, but thats it. its all for looks. they are unsafe and unreliable. there is a reason why bike shops dont sell the same bikes as dept. stores. now, since most of you would agree with me, drop the debate and post some pictures of some broken crappy bikes ;)

my friend just bought a trek 820 because he's just getting into the sport, but his dad keeps raggin on him for not getting a department store bike. im trying to find pics of crappy department store bikes that are BROKEN. i know i've seen em floating around on the net before, so if you got em, please post them so i can show his dad what those things are really made of! thanks a ton.

First of all, I don't have any pictures of a "broken department store bike." I don't think you need any either. What is that going to prove? You can find pictures of broken LBS bikes as well. If you are really interested in making the point the LBS bikes are better than just search this forum for some of the Walmart threads and print it out. Hand that to the kid's dad and be done with it.

It is hard enough to convince people that ride bikes that LBS bikes are better, i don't think i would waste my time trying to convince a rider's dad. If he can read any of those posts he can draw his own conclusion. If he is like most dad's he is probably an a-hole anyway so what is the point? ;)

yeah i agree. i think he knows that dept store bikes sucks, but i wanted to send him some pics all in good fun. its a pretty lighthearted issue. thats a good point about trying to convince a riders dad, though.

Don't even bother with the guy. He already bought the bike. So have the kid tell the dad to shut up. And if he goes to hit your buddy, he should ride away :). No seriously though. It doesn't matter. I don't understand why the dads being a jerk. But wouldn't he be happier knowing the bike his kid is riding isn't going to fall apart?

Beyond the inconsistent frame quality issue, look at the components. Light duty brakes and cheap drivetrain parts will require constant adjustment (or replacement) if ridden regularly on real trail conditions. Even at a level above most DS bikes, think about all those MTBers who have upgraded their Shimano gear from Acera and Alivio to XT and XTR because they wanted better shift quality and the fewer adjustments. Even my present (and older) Deore rear is smoother and more reliable than my wife's newer Alivio despite the fact that I ride ALOT more miles (and more aggressively) than the does.

BTW- There is a huge range in dept store bike quality- from literally $60 "MTB's" to relatively better bikes in the $3-400 range. A few larger upscale sporting goods chains sell some recognized brands (e.g. Many Galyans stores in the Midwest carry some decent Haro and Marin models- some over $1200).

$53 walmart bike...lasted me one month and less than 200 miles before failure.

$200 LBS bike lasted me 6 months and nearly 4000 miles (claculated by my cyclocomputer, and trip calculations I done at the end of each day), and I still ride it (I rode it to work today actually, the BB is a bit worn, but it still feels solid....even more so than the wally world bike brand new). That bike is on month 8, but I havent rode it as much since I got my talus to replace it, but still any bike lasting that long and being ridden that hard for 6 months and still working fine is testament to what putting down a little cash can do for you.

Look at it this way....wallyworld's finest $175......my cheap D B Oulook on sale....$175-180....my DB Outlook at normal price.....$200-220. Is $50 difference worth that much in durability to anyone? now if you could get it on sale for the same price as the wally world one...why the heck would anyone NOT go for the LBS bike?

my brother has a ccm m375 or something like that and he and his friend built a jump in the backyard....it starts by you goin down a big hill get your speed up then you hit this wooden jump it was 5 feet high and the landing ramp was 8 feet away but his bike after about 10 jumps was trrasshed.. his handle bars where bent his crank fell off and he cracked the frame.....the bike costed him like 200 and it was no good already..the bikes are not designed for any kind of jumps or mountain biking

Actually, department stores aren't that bad. In fact, my $1,100 Giant Rainier broke WAY faster than my old $300 infinity bike bought at Costco. I have done 5 foot drops to flat with my infinity and it still has no problems. On the other side, a rider I know already folded more than 1 kona DJ series frames in half !

First off the Giant Rainier is not a freeride bike, it is XC.

Second, if your friend has folder a Kona DJ Series Frame in half, then your friend is a major major hack. I've been beating mine up big time lately but I'm being smooth.