Originally Posted by I-Like-To-Bike
Agree with your comment that Walmart and other inexpensive "department store bikes" are not for the Stylemen, or road racer/fashion types. I think you will find that a large number of the BF posters do fit into that hot shot grouping and are not the "us" who are looking for either value or practicality for typical recreational/commuting/utility/fun bicycling scenarios. Hence the constant drumbeat on BF about "stupid Walmart people" and the "stupid people" who buy there, and the "stupid people" who ride such bicycles. Also explains the constant rant on BF to get thee only to an LBS to buy bicycles that the "real/true/serious" bicyclists use.
People who ride walmart bikes or the equiv are not stupid. It depends on what you want to use the bike for.
1. want to go fast? want to do some "real" off roading (like surviving on the local trail system we have)? want to go on long road rides at any kind of speed? then forget walmart bikes. That is not what they are made for, and using them for that is like trying to use a k car on the autobahn and then complaining that you get dusted by bmws.....
2. on the other hand, want an inexpensive (notice I deliberately did not say cheap) bike that you can use for in city commutes? a walmart bike might the just the ticket. They are disposable - which is good if you live in a northern climate and ride year round and operate a car. Salt ruins bikes. It makes no sense to buy a 1000 dollar commuter and ruin it in a couple of winters. Buy a 250 dollar lump and ruin it instead. Personally, I would buy the 1000 dollar bike and ruin it IF I did not own a car too since for me, the pleasure of riding a good bike outweighs the benefits of saving a few dollars - especially if I have no car payments or maintenance to cover. The reality is that most (many) people who commute by bike also own a car so it is not cost effective to ruin a "good" bike and maintain a car, but grinding up an inexpensive bike is more justifiable. Only caution I would have is to make sure that the brakes work on the department store bike! (coolstop makes pads for almost any application, and can fix it if the brakes are otherwise sound). However, if your commute is like mine - 60km round trip - a heavy bike is not on. (Yay for schools with staff showers and indoor bike lock ups for staff!!!) That commute starts next week when the jake the snake gets the rack and bags... IF it ever warms up!!!
3. As well, a department store bike makes sense for kids. They grow. My daughter will likely go through a series of bikes from such places as she grows. If she decides she likes it, I will buy her a really nice bmx and install some xtr v brakes on it (a track not trick bike i mean) so she can actually stop. I will then teach her to ride off road on it. The beauty of it is that this would be a long term bike, so a little outlay is ok. It gives me the opportunity to teach her to care for something special. This is not a bike for locking up outside. However, I am not willing to dump over 1000 dollars a year into a bike she will outgrow in one season. Her "hack around bike" can just be that, a hack around bike, which costs less..... When her size stabilizes, if she wants to, we will go shopping....
4. Some cannot afford "good" bikes (it takes me years to get one, so I can relate to this! steal my car, ok, I wont care much, touch my bike? I will go ape! It comes out of my very limited discretionary money, and is not insured as heavilly as my car is). Fine, glad walmart is there then. Better to ride those than nothing! This does not make them "wonder bikes" by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a perfectly legitimate use for them!
This does not address the OP problem though, that of crappy assembly. There is no excuse for that. If a department store cannot assemble them right, and cannot or will not pay someone properly and see to their training so that the bike is safe to operate, then they have no business selling them. People who know nothing of bikes buy them and assume they are safe. Often they are not. This is like selling a car and claiming it is safe when you cannot be bothered to hire a licensed mechanic to ensure it is sound. If that happened, the shop would be closed and fined. I think it all comes down to how bikes here (north america) are viewed by those making laws, as just toys.