Wow, old thread!

It is a good summary though. I see kids with these things, and also strip and rebuild bikes at a co-op for inner city kids. We get a lot of bikes like this. Bottom line – most of the stuff on these bikes wears out and brakes pretty fast, and 99% of the people don’t have the time or inclination to fix it. So it goes in the trash. I cringe when I see people riding new bikes that can’t be ridden because they won’t even stay in gear.

That is great if you have the time, but it is still going to take some cash to keep the thing running and replace parts that brake quickly.

As for the Trek FX, I would rather get a used one off of craig’s list (or one of the many 20% off sales at LBS) than the Walmart special.