Jake: I agree with the poster in the Usenet thread: Department store bikes are much better than they used to be. I'm not for a minute suggesting they're competitive with $300+ bikes, but many of them are well equipped, well put together, and serve as a great way to get people into bicycling. People who get hooked will always want to trade up.

These bikes are certainly not the parts-shedding horrors being portrayed by some folks on this forum.