sbhikes

Better would have been for you to hand your card out to the patrons there or clip your card into the spokes, and offer your bike mechanic services for a fee.

cooker

You definitely should not do it. If anybody buys a bike at that store, gets injured due to faulty assembly, and sues them, they might turn around and countersue you trying to claim you tampered with the bikes and caused the failure. The appropriate thing to do (IMHO) would be to point out the problems to the staff, and if you are very concerned write the manager a letter and keep a copy for yourself - WITHOUT touching the bikes.

sgtsmile

I also think you should not adjust them. Liability issues aside, if people see what lovely bikes (see the sarcasm?) they sell, perhaps they will go and support a local business that sells real bikes instead of that monstrosity which sell boat anchors disguised as bikes. Anyways, as a loyal Canadian, shouldnt you be looking at disposable bikes in the local Canadian Tire instead of waldomart?!?

Here is a link to a hilarious article (https://www.trophybikes.com/catalog.p...d=34&prodid=90) which nicely sums up the reaction most decent bike mechanics have towards the garbage sold at big box stores.

trackhub

Canuck, you had good intentions, but most other members here are right by pointing out that you should not be fixing or adjusting anything in any store, unless you are an actual employee there. That goes for bicycles, computers, consumer electronics, or anything else. I saw a man tampering with a snow blower once in Sears. I thought they were going to call the police. What gets me is when these box stores charge ten bucks (or whatever they charge.) for "Professional Assembly".

Here is something to try, if you feel the need: Express interest in a particular bicycle, but ask to speak to the department manager or supervisor. Then, in your most serious manner, ask the manager if the store's professional bicycle mechanics (And this is my sarcasm) were trained by the Barnett Bicycle school in Colorardo Springs, or the United Bicycle Institute in Ashland Oregon. Finish up by asking several questions about frame size and material, whether or not the spokes are double butted, and what tire pressure, in terms of BAR number, they recommend.

I'm not sure what reaction such an experiment would generate, but I doubt it would be pretty. Heck, they'd probably just ask you to leave the store.

Oh heck, just go into your local Radio Shack, and ask where they keep the Flux Capacitors.

becnal

1 POINT 21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!?!?!?!

scarry

I had to laugh at the Harley chopper look alike bike. I tried to pick it up, almost got a hernia.
And this monstrosity is marketed to kids who don't weigh any more than the bike.

huhenio

They are great bikes for kids who happen to suffer from obesity. They ride that thing and they become megafit in a matter of weeks.

mlh122

It doesn't sound like such misfortune,

it sounds like you did it yourself

Monoborracho

You were in WalMart working on their bikes? Do you do this at the car dealership also? Go in and start working on their cars?

You had no right to do what you did. It was your opinion they were unsafe and how can we judge that? Who put you in charge?

As to the merits of their bikes, I'll bet they sell a lot more of those in North America that all of the LBS put together. Parents living near the poverty level aren't going to buy a $500 Trek hybrid at the LBS for their kids.

sgtsmile

The general opinion of this thread is that canuk should not have touched the bikes. It is obvious to anyone who knows a bit about bikes who is looking at those bikes in the stores that they are just slapped together. I cannot count the number of times in big box stores that I have found poorly assembled and misaligned bikes (my favourite was the brake handles pointed BACK at the rider instead of away from them on a mtn bike...)

Selling a lot does not mean selling good quality. Chrysler sold a lot of k cars. This does not magically make them good.

Falkon 

As a bike mechanic, walmart bikes are the bane of my existance. WHY WOULD YOU GET AN $80 TUNEUP ON A $50 BIKE?!

Knudsen

Regardless of who's right or wrong, you just got your ass kicked by the Walmart dude.



touche`

Knudsen

Hey, if they are going to ride real Harleys when they grow up, it should be good practice. The only thing more embarassing than dropping your bike at the root beer stand is when the girl scout troop has to do a good deed and help you pick it back up. Save face, offer to pay for their root beer floats.

KrisPistofferson

Don't be too hard on the OP, he lives in Saskatchewan. You'd be starved for entertainment, too.

0_emissions :=)

Yeah, I got to agree, this is liability, big time. I know your heart was in the right place, but you have to think with your head. What I would do: wait outside until someone makes a purchase, thereby making it their product. then offer a tune-up. They(wal-mart) might ***** cuz you're on their property, but do that and see where it goes.

trackhub

Some shops in my area (Boston vicinity) have a policy of not servicing department store bikes. The reason is the one you just gave. They simply are not designed to be serviced. As a very smart man stated, department store bikes are used for about 70 miles total, from the time they leave the store, until the time they make their final trip to the landfill. The companies that make them know this, and they build them accordingly.

Oooohh!!! Good point.

Falkon 

They're terrible! Spin the wheels and watch the hubs and freewheel wobble. It took me half my day just to get one of those walmart bikes going again, because it was just so bad.

You get what you pay for no doubt.

Knudsen

I still think it's a local problem, the assembly quality. The bikes might be disposable, that I don't doubt, but they are adjustable. I bought one. It shifted funny. I read through the adjustment process and looked for the cable adjustment. It is up at the shifter, not on the derailer. So I figured someone messed with it. It seemed to be turned all the way "loose" (CW I think). It took about two full turns, then the bike shifted well into each gear, matching the indexed shifter.

Now, if it makes it through summer, I got my monies worth and I got to see if biking is for me without dumping $500 on a good bike and I got a rainy day bike to keep the good one clean. According to you guys, I also helped support a fellow American for about 1/10 of an hour

If it does not make it through summer, I give you 10:1 that Walmart will dispose of it and not me, as they will give me a new one. Or I guess fix it, but then it's not disposable

banerjek

Which makes it fair enough to build them cheaply and just have the stockboys put them together.

I don't think anyone should mess with store merchandise they don't intend to purchase. First of all, how's the manager or security supposed to know that you're not sabotaging it? There are enough weirdos in the world. If you have a serious safety concern, talk to the manager directly.

Also, cheapo bikes do not stay adjusted for long. All the neighborhood kids ride dept store bikes. They used to wait for me literally every day when I got home with things that needed fixing (could be anything, but mostly bikes). Partly due to things I taught them (I don't fix anything unless they'll assist and hopefully learn the process) and partly because the parents eventually felt bad because of how often they came, they mostly come only to borrow tools or play with the dog now.

FLBandit

While definately not my first choice of a ride, I do have a Wal-Mart bike that has seen alot more than 70 miles. I know I put 1500 miles on it the first year I had it. It's now 13 years old and I still have it. Heck I even still ride it sometimes. While I would generally steer someone toward a quality used bike, a Wal-Mart bike is better than no bike. As far as working on them in the store, bad idea. They might try to say you ruined one and charge you for it!!!

Knudsen

Good man teaching kids life lessons in mechanical repair. These forums are riddled with questions about how to oil sumpthin or turn a screw. The answer is learn by wanting to learn and by doin'. People always askin me how to solder. Practice, thats how.

古強者死神

Those guys get paid by the bike not the hour as far as I know (also why he would be in normal cloths) so they just rush thru them and put them together so that they stand up not so that they function properly.

X-Mart definitly sells some cheap products but I admit that as a kid and even a teenager I had bikes from there that lasted and lasted till I outgrew them and I was very agresive with them.

Maybe I am lucky and my X-Mart actually just does a better job puting them together... I even tested about 6 of them the other day when I was getting baby diapers and stuff... all the brakes were working good, hubs in alignment, wheels in true.. I was amazed... still this jump to 98% of there mountain bikes being full suspension is stupid since at that price range the components for shocks are just garbage and probably break very easy.

They should stick with no suspension bikes.

Patriot

The damaging effects of the NHL strike still haven't fully worn off.

Cyclist0094

2manybikes

+1