yashinon

6 Reasons to Avoid Department Store Bikes | Bicycling

NormanF

Mail order bike companies offer competitive pricing and free shipping.

And you can buy a LBS-quality entry-level bike from them for slightly more than the cost of a big box store bike.

Buying cheap is never a good idea; buying smart is far better.

Good advice is here - leetists need not apply:

How to Buy a Bike | Bicycling

NormanF

Nine great bikes on a budget:

Cheap Bikes | Bicycling

TheLibrarian

What kind of budget is that? I've known serious professionals (mtn bikes) who do not ride anything over $1k outside of a race. Above that and you dont get anything significantly better. The price to replace light weight delicate components would be ridiculous for any daily rider paying for their own gear. To call those cheap bikes... Department store bikes have problems but we all survived our childhoods on them. Maybe they dont make stuff like they used to.

NormanF

You have to spend up to a $1000 to get a decent LBS-quality bike today.

Big box store bikes don't offer real value; they're junk and its like throwing away your money.

giantcfr1

I recently purchased an MTB from a supermarket chain here in Australia, and its components, frame and paint jobs beats my Trek Marlin hands down. It required no adjustments to the disc brakes or gears, and only required the same assembly that the so called mechanics at bike shops do. ie. pedals, handlebar to stem and front wheel.
The bike has 650b wheels, mechanical disc brakes, oversize bars and stem, and integrated headset. $350 Aust.

CliffordK

There is a place for both Dept store bikes and bike shop bikes.

As the article points out, kid's bicycle needs change rapidly, so it is pointless to pay hundreds of dollars for a bike that will be outgrown in a year or two.

How bad can the assembly be of a little 20" one-speed bike?

On the other hand, one has to realize that those dept store bikes aren't intended to be "lifetime bikes" for the older generation. It isn't just assembly, but everything is just made cheap.

giantcfr1

But some of the bikes sold in many LBS have cheap crappy components too. It's entirely up to the purchaser to wisely purchase a bike for their needs.
The components on my Big Box Bike, are equal or a higher grade than some of the lower Name Brand Hybrids people get excited about on this very forum.
It's all relative to the purchaser's knowledge of quality.
I'll also point out that countless times I've read on here about LBSs selling incorrect sizes, because they aren't willing to order. They aren't all angels.

Johnny Mullet

I agree. New big box bikes are total junk compared to the USA made stuff back in the day. I have a few older big box bikes that serve me really well, but the new bbb I bought for the wife it a total piece of crap even after fixing all the assembly issues.

AU Tiger

This ^^^^^
It's true for bikes and most other big purchases. Informed consumers tend to make more contended consumers.

Grey.

100% Wrong.

yashinon

IMO it may not be the actual bike or components but the person building the bike. I bet 20-30 (which is just about what I can remember given my age), department stores hired people who either cared or had mechanical skills. I would agree with the statement in the article that parts may be hard to find for department store bikes.

zoom26

I still have a Schwinn Ranger with 26" tires on it purchased about 5+ years ago and still running great. I really haven't ridden it that much, except for occasional grocery errands and short trips. It is on the heavier-side at about 35+ pounds! I believe i paid around $150 around that time, if my area wasn't that hilly i would have ridden it a lot more.

TriDanny47

I have both ends of the spectrum - an $11K road bike all the way down to a $200 big box aluminum frame Mt bike with low end Shimano components - bought it kinda as a lark and also because "it's gonna break down a lot and I want to learn bicycle mechanics and repair - and if I F up a $200 bike no big deal."

A couple minor upgrades - seat and pedals and grips - then started riding it.

Jokes on me - used and abused it in 2014 quite a bit, found it really nice to ride and to date the only thing that I have had a problem with was the grip I installed

overall, I would say if you need a good reliable bike look up the food chain at something better than big box mass market unless that is literally all your budget allows. I know my one experience proves nothing in the big picture. But I cruise the bike aisle at the big box stores at times - n + 1 and all, I would buy another one if I found something that intrigued me.

giantcfr1

This is me also. I have the "good" bikes, but lusted over having a BBox bike too.
I always enjoy looking at the bikes at Target, KMart etc. and managed to nail a fantastic BBox bike.
I suspect that our experience is not isolated, and many riders have well maintained BBox bikes.

dynaryder

The problem with mail order is you have to deal with the issues. I build brand new,name brand bikes four days out of the week at the warehouse,and I see numerous issues. Bikes take real beating in transit,and we've got a good half dozen bikes lined up waiting on warranty parts. I also have the tools to do things like properly realign a bent derailleur hanger,and I have spools of cables/housing to fix damaged ones. All these issues get taken care of before the customer gets the bike,if you buy mail order,you have to deal with it yourself.

Nah,we've got perfectly serviceable Bianchi and KHS hybrids for half of that. They're not pimp,but they'll make reliable daily commuters.

NormanF

My bike arrived at my LBS and I had them built it up the way I wanted. There are three LBS in my small town and they don't stock everything I want. So I had to go online to buy a bike that I couldn't buy from them. It all worked out. And I didn't have to deal with build issues since I arranged to have the work done by a shop mechanic that would have to be done anyway.

I wanted a bike with IGH and the ability to accept wide tires so I was willing to pay the discount for a discontinued model. I've bought all my bikes online and I'm happy with them.

usedbutnotup

I can't imagine buying a bike online [Does it fit? Will I like it?] but that's just me. I get that alot of folks are ok with it and happy. Buying a bike from a BBS? That would be unchartered waters. I've seen bike shaped objects for sale at Wally World and a few sporting goods places. The difference in quality could be seen by Helen Keller. Although while buying some gifts at REI they did have some decent bikes. Whatever makes you happy.

TriDanny47

REI is a big step up from Wal-Mart- their bikes are decent. Their store label Novara clothes and accessories are pretty decent.

Jeff_Caul

At least for our shop, we offer free life time tune-ups on all bikes purchased from us. I know a few shops that do something similar. It's one of the benefits of coming to us and getting something. Even if you pickup a $250 hybrid, with low quality components, we'll still honor it. We have bikes coming in daily from the box stores for repairs and tune ups (some are practically new bikes) and they're paying close to the cost of the bike for repairs, at which point we suggest getting a cheap bike from us so they at least don't end up in the same mess over and over again buying $100 walmart bikes.

gsa103

I call BS on this. Most full-suspension bikes start at $1500 and go up from there. Even the cheap BikesDirect FS bikes are $1000. Bikes prices have gone up significantly recently, so people's calibration of a "budget" bike may be off. What used to be a quality $500 bike is now more like $1000 for a similar level of quality.

corrado33

I disagree. Both of my "expensive" bikes were less than $1000. One is a aluminum frame/carbon fork 105 equipped Felt which I bought for less than $1000, the other is a hardtail Raleigh mountain bike which I bought for significantly less than $1000. Both are VERY quality bikes that would last me indefinitely since I care for them properly. Buying anything more expensive is personal taste. I may want to buy a full suspension bike, on which I will spend significantly more than $1000. But you do not NEED to spend more than $1000 to get a good quality bike.

As for the original article, I agree with everything. I'd honestly like to take a job at wal-mart assembling bikes for a weekend to see how everything actually works and the type of people doing the assembling.

travbikeman

A neighbor of mine many years ago, had bought a dept. store bike for his daughter. He couldn't understand why she kept wanting to ride it with the handlebars backwards. Until I explained to him because they installed them wrong. The dept. store put the handlebars on the direction they should be, but didn't look at the fact the fork was pointing inwards. So the girl kept wanting to turn the handlebar all the around to make the ride easier.

That was an incompetent assembler.

I'm still a firm believer that the retail bikes are good for kids to see if they are willing to take care of the bikes and actually ride them, or just to have as another toy. Then the parents can make a better choice of whether to purchase a better LBS bike for these kids in the future.

elmore leonard

If it were not for the $100 to $200 bikes families buy at Walmart and other big box stores a lot of kids would have nothing to ride.
The Big Box Stores, like McDonalds, which feeds a lot of the worlds people these days, provide a badly needed service for many families.
The other thing now is the Big Box Stores are getting better bicycles to sell just like McDonalds is selling better food now..

yashinon

Excellent point of view! Many people fall in love with cycling once they start riding. Dep't stores have a lot to do with that.