As kids we got our bikes from the local Hardware store. Gotta love the small town; Hardware doubles as sporting goods store. Anyways, I recall Rialto Hilltoppers...I think...that would be ridden mere blocks at a time, never off road. Within the season (4 months) they would be destroyed. My handyman pop always tried piecing together the 'good parts'. I think he realized they were just ****e when he recently bought his Jamis.

For my part, one of these survived from a complete lack of use until about 2 years ago. I started riding it to work in Saskatoon here, and the thing shat the bed on little curb hops...gentle ones. The bike was my bro's, who freaked out that I was wrecking his bike, so after a few repair jobs and subsequent breaks, it was time to save some coin. Picked up a Trek 4100, simple little starter, and I've put that thing through hell. It's survived many a crash with my old 240 lbs coming down on it in terrible ways. Now that I've lightened up a bit, and ride a bit smarter, the thing is still ticking along great.

X-mart bikes...nothing but a painful way to learn the true value of a real bike.

-RotD