Originally posted by D*Alex
The problem with department store bikes are these:
Firstly, a department store will often hire just any idiot to assemble the things. Secondly, since depatment store bikes are cheap, they use many inferior and non-standard components. A few dollars more spent at a bike shop will get you something much better.
Agreed. You are much better off with a high-quality used bike than anything new from generic-Mart. Wheel bearings, pedals, brakes, and frames are only a few of the critical weak spots on department store bikes.
Unfortunately, I can now speak from hands-on experience. In a bizarre incident several months ago at a nearby elementary school and public park, someone stole my son's juvenile-sized, semi-decent Peugeot mountain bike and left a Magna Glacier Point quasi-mountain bike in its place. Although I have built up a better bike which I plan to give him eventually, I have been making him ride the Magna as penance for his carelessness. He and his elder brother both comment about how balky and klunky it is, and when I regreased the front hub, I was appalled by its cheap construction. In its defense, I can say that the Magna makes a great beater for errand-running; if anyone is dumb enough to steal it, I will have trouble feigning grief.
With a little training and experience, the average person can easily determine why so many Forum regulars deride *-Mart bikes. Unfortunately, most people walk naively into *-Mart and walk out with a Magna/whatever, never learning that a bicycle does not have to be cheaply built, hard-to-ride toy, but can be an efficient, long-lasting, reliable, pleasurable vehicle for adult transportation, fitness, and recreation. I ride a full-Reynolds 1959 Austrian road bike several times per week; how many people in A.D. 2045 will be riding today's Magnas?