Originally Posted by Machka

Well, let's do the math.

A bus pass for a month is $66. The bicycle in question is $70. Will a Walmart bicycle last longer than a month? Yes. Therefore is buying a $70 bicycle "throwing money away"? No.

And BTW - I rode my Walmart mtn bike for approx. 15,000 km over a period of about 5 years ... commuting year round, and doing the occasional winter century. I paid a little more than $70 for it, but when I added up all the bus passes I did not have to buy, because I commuted on my bicycle instead, I came out something like $3000 ahead. It's the only one of my bicycles to have actually "made" money for me.