mtnwkr

My local Walmart now carries Bell brand bar tape for $6.75! Great local resource for flips but only comes in black.

old and new

Good to know. I live next to W.M, rarely go but at that price, I'll do it. Sure beats eighteen bucks. Or seven PLUS freight.

that_guy_zach

Dang. I need to head up there. I wish they could drop there 27" tire price.

mtnwkr

I asked my lbs what was the cheapest 27" tire they had and they pulled some out of the back room for $9 each! Looks like it's getting cheaper to get some stuff locally now.

Oregon Southpaw

Walmart is evil.

Every dollar you spend there, an hour is deducted from your lifetime. And a kitten is tortured.

Carry on

that_guy_zach

As long as its on the crappy end time when a pooping on myself thats cool. I hate cats.

banjo_mole 

Taiwanese slave labor is fantastic. I can get bar tape for $6 because of them! Haha, it's good to see them going hungry.

I'll buy black cloth tape from the LBS for the same price.

EjustE

+1

and Niagara Cycles has cork blue tape at $3.63, 27 inch tires starting at $5.04 and 700c tires at $8.00

VintageTrek85

+1. I've found good bar tape many places for less than $6.75.

wrk101

+2 My last bar tape cost $3.75. I backed the truck up, so I have a healthy inventory. I have not bought flip parts from ebay all year. Their prices are significantly higher than other options (mainly Niagara and Pricepoint, last bar tape was from PBK).

noglider 

I recently got some very nice handlebar tape from Lickton's at a very good price. Not sure if that was a sale or something.

cycleheimer

Every time I check out the bike stuff in Wal-Mart, the parts and accessories are much more expensive than deals at Nashbar, Performance and Niagara. Some of the complete bikes, though, are priced pretty low. Not for our tastes, but good for people who just want a "Garage Queen".

not_jason

I try to buy local as much as reasonably possible, but I've yet to find a better deal on cables than I can get at the department stores. 5 bucks for 2 shift and 2 brake cables and housing, as compared to about 4 times that at the bike shops.

wrk101

Niagara is a better deal than that. My last cable buy was 71 cents each for the cables, $6 for 50 feet of lined housing.

mkeller234

I wouldn't be so fast to mount this high horse, I bet we all own something that is a product of unfair labor practices. For one... you would never buy diamonds for a loved one... that is a pretty evil industry.

USAZorro

OK folks. The social consciousness chatter belongs in another forum. Let's drop it in here please.

GV27

Heck, these days good luck buying something that's NOT made with labor paid nearly-slave rates. Doesn't mean you have to like it!

macwild

Yes I wont buy bike stuff there (or anything else really) but the LBS tried to sell me a kevlar 26" tire for $44. That seemed amazingly expensive. Maybe I'm just a tightwad.

mkeller234

Sorry

sciencemonster

No one is perfect, or rich, but you do what you can, when you can.

Walmart, and other national chains, are the cause of small business disappearing and everyone getting $7.25 jobs at the mall, with no health insurance. Here in California, the chains are even taking over Chinese food restaurants - that is the LAST thing I expected to ever see in my lifetime.

If you appreciate service and selection, you should throw some business their way when you can.

I do not speak to this from a political standpoint, so please to not let this devolve into another he said/she said knock on your favorite political flavor. I spent over 20 years running a small business. I appreciate what local retail and 'local' manufacturing bring to the table.

And besides, that is high for cheapo bar tape.

RobbieTunes

I don't want to get political, but I wrote in Sheldon Brown for president, and they didn't even mention it in the results.

Jracer6

Here here. Im victim to that myself. Im 25, and work at a restaurant at the mall because theres no job market in my area. I just finished school and its back to school I go to hopefully lead to the promise of a better career, but of course thats going to entail relocation. At least I can ride my bike and take my mind off of the state of the situation.

Have to say, the lbs I found in my neighborhood is amazing. They've been around for 40 years. And they stock massive amounts of original parts. I went in for cable housing a couple days ago and they asked me if I wanted the original Fuji labeled stuff from the 70's in the unopened package. I was pretty impressed. Plus they had some really nice reconditioned old skool raleighs out front. I'd spend a few more dollars to get the parts I need today from people who know what they're talking about. Shipping is a huge kick in the wallet.

sciencemonster

We're lucky around here in that we have a local hardware store and a toy store (with bike shop inside) that have stood up to the onslaught. I can get everything I need to work on bikes local! But of course, I can't always afford that...

The hardware store, Winsoms, has THREE Home Depots and two OSH (Sears) within about 15 miles, and I don't even know where the Lowe's are - these Corporations mean business! Winsoms just got bought out though - by another independent hardware store from Palo Alto!

It takes a stronger man than me to stand up to that...

miamijim

Everyone needs to shut the f@#* up with the social commentary.

DiabloScott

OP's obviously a Walmart shill anyway.