Originally Posted by
crhilton
Bikes can't survive in a "buy it as cheap as possible" market. And Walmart hasn't done anything but that in the last 15 years.
So how does one change this mindset?
About a year ago, a friend told me he wanted to start cycling, but because he didn't know if he'd like it, he wanted to buy a Wal-Mart or Canadian Tire bike rather than sink a lot of money into a decent bike. I knew he'd be disappointed so I looked around and found him a well-built used mountain bike, 20 to 25 years old. He has enjoyed it immensely. If he hadn't listened to me and let me find him a bike, he probably would have ridden a poor quality bike for a few months and then given up.