Well I managed to taco the rear wheel on my el-cheapo wal-mart bike. Big surprise, right? I wasn't. Anyway, I was getting off the bike and lost my balance, and without thinking, stepped hard on the bike, which was pretty well sideways. The rear wheel thought that was silly and it bent over quite a bit. I bent it back, enough that I could disconnect the rear brake and ride home. Upon further inspection I also broke a spoke (it may have been broken already, and I didn't know it).

Would that have happened on ANY wheel or is it just the cheap ones that can't handle this kind of load? I've never had it happen before. Thanks!

Hard to say. A better built wheel may have been knocked out of true, or taco as well, but I would hope it would hold up better!

L8R

I've done worse to my radially spoked front wheel and its rarely out of true... maybe true it once every 2-3 months really... the wheels on Walmart bikes are one of the "weakest links" on those bikes.

Well that is good to know! I found a 1992 Specialized Rock Hopper L frame (should fit, I'm 6'2") for $100 that has just been serviced and I'm going to go buy that, its a good deal.

definately a better bike... its old but at least its servicable and should have quality components relative to the time.