What's wrong with department-store bikes --- v 1.0 Dec 7, 2010

[this info is collected over many years--any of these issues MAY have been resolved, but it's not likely that all of them are]

1) No frame sizing.... Usually department store bikes only have one frame size available, and getting the proper frame size is important to maximizing comfort. Bicycle store models usually have at least three or four sizes available.

2) Poor hub construction.... Many department store bikes have bearings where the balls roll inside a groove cut right into the hubs. Vintage bicycles all did this and they still lasted a long time, because they used quality steels and hardened them properly. Modern cheap bicycles usually do neither. When the [cheap, soft] ball-bearings go bad, they ruin the hubs as well. Since replacing the hubs alone is usually not economically justifiable, you basically end up buying a whole new wheel just because the bearings went bad.

3) Lower headset bearings.... Many times I have seen with department-store bikes that there are no seals or covers on the lower headset (fork) bearings. If there is no front fender, the front tire will throw water and dirt up while riding, right into the lower headset bearings, quickly rusting them out.

4) Poor shock absorbers.... The shock absorbers used on cheaper bicycles are not very durable, usually their only form of dampening is a plastic bushing that relies on mechanical friction. When that wears out, the shocks spring-spring-spring up and down all the time and usually squeak too, and replacement parts are usually NOT available from anywhere. You can grease them inside to get rid of the squeaking, but that just makes the pogo problem worse. Additionally, even if you decide to spend the money for a better shock, a better one usually won't fit--because bicycle shocks are getting longer over time, and all the name-brand bicycle shocks tend to be significantly longer than the generic ones used.

5) Overall lack of quality.... In order to offer the lowest-possible price, Wal-mart has lower-quality BRANDED products made specifically to sell at its stores. Such items do not have the same overall quality as what you would get spending the same amount for the same brand of item from other smaller stores. Independent bike shops would not tolerate carrying a brand if they saw that Wal-Mart could sell the exact same thing for a lot less. The reason real bike shops don't care is that they know that the Wal-mart stuff is priced much lower because it is a much lower quality.

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This is not to say that Wal-Mart bikes are totally useless, they aren't. A lot of people only buy a bike to use it a few times a year at most, and then only over fairly short distances. But keep in mind that if you ride it very far or very hard at all, stuff is going to fail that wouldn't have happened with a better-quality bicycle.
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