Fairmont

It seems fishy to find a beach cruiser for 99 bucks (Wal Mart, Target, Kmart).

Are these actually decent bikes? Will they last? Are the frames and forks strong?

sathor

check the tires, some of the walmart bikes have tires with 200 lbs weigh limits. You get what you pay for, and lets face it, you're not going to upgrade that bike into a envy inducing, street eating speed demon. At least, not if your sane. And not if the LBS is sane enough to know not to let you.

Would it work just to go around on short rides and stuff, probably. Are you going to have people with $2k+ bikes tell you to stay away from that BSO? yup. but if you like that bike, then who the hell cares what anyone else says?

abdon 

Do you really have to ask?

Sheldon said that the average lifespan of a big store bike is 75 miles, and that's from showroom floor to landfill. Manufacturers knowing that build them accordingly.

The base exchange has an assortment of Wal-mart-like-bikes all the time. The effort I see some owners to keep them going (noises, things grinding, parts failing) is sad.

sathor

He has more post here than either of us, he likely would be able to push it well past that 75 miles. Buying a bike from Walmart is like buying a used car, like getting one from a LBS is like buying a new car, people often treat used cars like crap, but people with new cars treat them a bit better. Add to that, how many of the bikes from WM are used by kids that take any opportunity to make their cheap bike fly?

I actually debated buying a WM bike last week to have a better choice for pulling my son's bike trailer, though I decided they all would not make me happy. Heck, my Bike Shop Schwinn has a derailleur on it that I could buy a new replacement for under $20, or I could spend more and have a better one.

oban_kobi

I bought a bike from Target, $250 Schwinn Trailway, and I rode it to death within a year. Everything but the frame has been replaced, and now I'm looking to replace that. So you can expect two fifths of what I got out of mine. As for forks, no, they're crappy. Mine was a cheap suspension and it developed killer flex, I had to replace it.

VegasTriker

A couple of weeks ago I participated in a half-century ride along with a middle aged adult who rode it on a single-speed beach cruiser. His 12 year old son had completed a 25 mile ride on the same bike a few weeks earlier. Normally I wouldn't recommend anyone buy a bike from a box store because the components on them are so mediocre and the workmanship and bike setup is often very iffy. In this case, there are few things to go wrong on the bike. It has no shifting mechanism and the single brake is the typical hub brake. Personally I wouldn't ride one of those things if somebody gave it to me for nothing but if it meets your needs, go for it. Anything you will ride is better than not riding at all.

I was going to suggest the Atlanta Craigslist for a better used bike. The problem is that you need to know which brands are worth considering and which are utter crap. Pretty much anything that came from the mass merchandisers isn't worth bothering with. I looked briefly at bikes between $90 and $130 and at least a few that would be worth calling about did pop up but they aren't beach cruisers if that is all you want.

sathor

That is a challenge in itself. Schwinn, for example, has a line of bikes for bike shops, and a line for department stores. I used to have a nice mongoose, from just before mongoose was taken over, I don't think I would buy a modern mongoose. There was a time huffy made nice bikes, all the while making crap bikes. I've heard bad things on here about cannondale recently, but I have only seen them for sale in actual bike shops. The cops in the next town over ride them. I have a Royce Union that I got used from a LBS, and I have had a few pros say it is a department store bike, and a few say that it isn't. My conclusion? F it. Ride whatever the heck looks like a sweet ride to you, and "Illegitimi non carborundum"

1FJEF

Service, lube, & adjust the hubs, bottom bracket & headset before you ride it. Pull a wheel and turn the axle with your fingertips & 99% of the time it will feel like a pepper grinder. They are underlubed & overtightened. The worst crap shoot is the wheels. Spin & check to see how true they are. Squeeze the spokes on one side in pairs & see if they are evenly tightened. (I bet they aren't). If I paid $90-$100 for a bike & rode the heck out of it for a year I'd think I got my moneys worth. If you're a light person & service as above at least once a year I'd bet you'd get two or more years out of it.

1FJEF

How much are you going to ride it?

Fairmont

I have other bikes, but I was going to ride it daily after hooking up an electric bike kit.

I have experience building E-bikes, but have never done it with a cheap bike.

nuhtowel

Building a walmart bike into an E-Bike is almost as bad as putting a huge spoiler and body kit on a honda civic. I would go for something used that is higher quality

abdon 

Of course he will push it well past the 75 miles, just like a few people I know. The fact remains that the bike was built with the 75-mile life span in mind.

sathor

I saw a boy wheeling out a Schwinn from walmart today, and I wanted to point out that it was a girls bike, and it wasn't one of those slanted top tubes that get into grey area, no, it was one of those uber low bar girllie bikes. The crank on it, one piece with the front gear cast as a part of the crank. Looked liked easily broken shiny metal to me. It wasn't one of the better Schwinns from Walmart, and I knew that was a bike that he would regret quickly. To be fair, he was happy with it, but I doubt it will be for long.

Runner 1

I probably put 1,000+ miles on my cheap $70 Huffy before switching to a CAAD. Great little bike.

ChiliDog

I bought a ladies Schwinn Delmar beach cruiser last year at Walmart for $119. I stripped the chinzy looking fenders and rack off of it, but on a quick release seat clamp, added a wire basket, some black foam handlebar aka "beach cruiser" tubing, and find it to be a fat-tired, rather nimble little cruiser. Nice frame geometry rides smoothly and soaks up the bumps on the fat tires too.

It has a coaster brake and no gearing, so little to "break". So far, so good. The frame is decent and the paint job is nice enough. The seat is the most amazing-it is quite comfortable, which surpized me!

I plan to ride it casually and at some point may upgrade to a wheelset with skewers and better fat tires. I've been thinking about some black half fenders too.

For now it serves it's purpose, is decent quality, and is quite stunning.

FWIW, I will never make another Walmart bike purchase, but this one has turned out to be quite nice when I was on a severe budget crunch. Plus I loved the pink color when I first laid eyes on it!

Stay away from K-Mart's Schwinns and stay away from all Huffys, Roadmasters, Next, and Mongoose crap at big box stores is my opinion.

gcottay

A $100 big box bike is pretty much junk but can be okay for a rider who will ride very little, has no expectation of any speed and lives next to a skilled and willing amateur bike wrench. As noted, the more basic the bike the better.

sathor

I think that is why my MIL wants a new one of those, she just learned to ride a few years ago, and has never used hand brakes or shifters.

ChiliDog

My Schwinn is running on Ebay as I am running out of room to store with a recumbent in the house now. It is located in West Union, Ohio, if you are interested in it for her. I am Whimscyclethings on Ebay.

sathor

too far acually. Why West Union is so far east of Union I will never understand.

KD5NRH

You mean just like any other beach cruiser.

mac61

I used to work for Walmart and the bikes were, for the most part, just thrown together to get them out on the sales floor. If you buy a bike take it home and tighten and adjust EVERYTHING. One story -- a guy bought a bike and was going to ride it home -- the handlebars fell off before he cleared the parking lot. Remember - you get what you pay for.

TrailViewMount

Check to see which bikes are made in China. My Schwinn Comp was made in China. $200 from Walmart. Shimano 21 speed shifter. Promax alloy linear pull brakes. Also depends on how hard you ride it as to how long it will last. If you ride it hard what do you expect? I just cruise on paved trails. No street riding.

joewey

Pretty much this...

trestlehed

mac61 wrote:
A few years ago there was a post showing a pic of a big-box store bike. The front fork was reversed, as in the front reflector was pointing inward toward the frame along with the v brake. The poster pointed out the fact that teenagers are assembling these bikes, not trained professional bike mechanics.

Also several years ago I was in my LBS. A guy comes in with a cheapie big-box bike and wants it tuned-up as he claims it had never shifted properly. The bike mechanic took one look at the bike and told the guy they don't ever touch those bikes because within 2 - 3 rides it will again not shift properly. Then to save money, he should go throw it in the dumpster behind the shop. He then explained to the man that the mass produced Chinese junk bikes are all heavy steel frames with the cheapest components ever produced. The guy starts looking at bikes on the shop floor and is pissed-off that an entry-level bike is about $250.

So would you go buy a $500 car then take off on a long cross country trip? Trusting it to get you there and get you there safely?

Not.

Merlin Coffee

The 100 dollar wally beach cruisers are single speed. I bought a 6 speed schwinn and have run it hard. 10 plus a day for a year. I have lost 120lb and replaced the wheels and many tires. I am going to ride the Katy trail here in Missouri next spring.