I had a dept store bike back in the 80's and it worked for over 5 years before selling it at a yard sale... (boy I wish I hadn't now... ) it was some no-name brand k-mart bike. I loved that bike. Unfortunately, I wasn't too mechanical and when the spokes started to break on the rear wheel, I didn't know what else to do... (now I would just buy some spokes and try re-lacing it... )