Mountain Biking - WAL MART Bikes

Me and some friends have started a mountain cyclin club.

Some of us buy cheap wal mart bikes like MGX mongoose, and some other aluminium shimano equiped bikes. Those bikes costs among 100 and 150 bucks. Whats better:
WALMART aluminium bike for 150 US dollars
or
Chromoly Giant, or trek or specialized $250 bike?

Very easy to answer, the giant, specialized and trek are much better than a ****ty mongoose

Wal-Mart bikes are junk. Any Giant, Trek or Specialized is better than any Wal-Mart bike.

Man, you're kidding me, right??? If you want to buy a shirt, go to Wal-Mart. If you want a real bike, go to a bike shop. I've bought my share of department store bikes and I will never ever go back. I wouldn't trust those guys to install a light bulb much less put my bike together.
-BT

What is your intended use?

Are you just riding around the neighborhood, running errands, cruising to a friends house or are you planning on intentionally abusing/destroying the bikes? Like jumping them into a lake. Get the Wal-Mart ones!

Are you going to start racing, riding moderately rough off-road trails, jumping logs or small obstacles, and will consider upgrading? Get the Giant or Specialized or Trek or "other" bike shop bike and replace components as they wear out. When you destroy the derailleur, upgrade to LX or higher. If you taco the rear wheel by landing wrong, replace it with a new wheelset ($150-200). When a suspension fork goes on closeout for only $175 from $400 buy it! When your chain breaks replace it and your cassette (rear cogs) with better ones. Buy stuff on sale or used! Pretty soon you'll have a really nice bike with a good solid frame!

I don't want to sound like a snob, but $250 is still entry level for a decent XC mountain bike. Is it one that will take the abuse of off-road riding, yes and no. Even at $250 the suspension will be non-adjustable and the bike will not be considered "lightweight" and the components will be durable, but not super precise or light. A $250 shop bike will outperform and outlast ANY Wal-mart bike. The Wal-mart bikes have full-suspension and look nice. BUT they're heavy and the parts are cheap and they won't take any serious riding! I've weighed a MG40 (I think it was) and it weighed over 45 lbs. THAT'S a TANK!!!

Heck, I've got a front fork that costs $450.00. Just for the fork!!!!! It's all a matter of what you want, how much you're willing to pay and how you're going to care/maintain it.

If you are starting out and don't want to spend a lot of $$$ up front, it's a toss up. I'd still buy the beater and get good at your bike handling skills, while you save your money for a mid-level bike (between $500 - 800) depending on what type of riding you intend to do!

Check out www.mtbr.com and www.bikesrnottoys.com for more info.

L8R

Originally posted by a2psyklnut
I don't want to sound like a snob, but $250 is still entry level for a decent XC mountain bike.

ha, i dont think anybody is going to call you a snob for that comment, I would have said you cant get jack **** for $250 :D

I was trying to tone down my "true" feelings for X-Mart bikes!

To me, I'd rather see someone on a piece of junk than nothing at all!

We tend to forget sometimes it's the riding itself, not WHAT we're riding! Granted that has a lot to do with it, but I can speak from experience, my first bike was a hunk of poop!

L8R

I agree A2psyclnut. The question was which is better a Walmart or a Trek, without any further information from Abeloco I can say with 99.9% confidence that Walmart bikes suck. And good luck finding someone in Wallyworld who knows anything about bikes.
-BT

Below $300, the best option is a mid-quality used bike.

Before buying any bike, get educated by going to a real bike shop and test-riding a few real bikes under the supervision of someone who knows, understands, and loves bikes. Include in your test ride stable at least one sample retailing for $600 or more. Then go to *-Mart, and if they permit you to do so, try riding one of their $150 klunkers. Alternatively, borrow a *-Mart special from a friend. You will quickly understand the ride (acceleration, handling, braking, smoothness, shifting, etc.) quality difference between a throwaway bike and a mid-grade one. Factor in the difference in durability, and $400 or 500 suddenly no longer sounds so outrageous for a decent mid-grade machine which will serve you efficiently, safely, and enjoyably for many years.

Originally posted by a2psyklnut

We tend to forget sometimes it's the riding itself, not WHAT we're riding!


Amen brother!

Rich