Newbie here.
 

Hi im new here. And im new to bulding bikes and stuff. But today since spring is approaching, i figured i should do my spring checkup on my Walmart bike..:twitchy: And i find out, my back wheel is tweaked badly, and my back brake cable and both deraileur cables are trashed... At this point i am wondering, since the frame is really solid, should i just overhaul the bike with new brakes, wheels, hubs, etc. since dont have money for a new bike, or should i just replace the cables and wheel and be done with it? And if i redo the whole bike, what would give me the best bang for my buck?
Sorry for all the questions

i know walmart sells sets of cables/housings for like 5 bucks. so you could fix that real quick and easy then decide on the rest later.

as far as the wheel. it maybe smart to look for a decent used wheel thats true then to spend money to fix a crappy one. though you could buy a cheap spoke wrench, watch a couple youtube videos and try to get it back to workable yourself.

Depends which Walmart bike you have. A lot of them are throw aways. Some are worth overhauling. If you can't afford something new, start looking for used bikes.

What model do you have? Brand, etc.

+1 Pretty much any bike is worth new cables. You can buy a cable set at Walmart for less than $6.

But that list you have, I can't think of a single Walmart bike that is worth putting on new brakes, wheels, hubs, etc. That's a fairly costly list you have.

Frame might be solid, but good used frames can be found cheap around here.

Its a Mongoose full suspension mountain bike 26". I love the thing, it hasnt let me down and i like the frame because it makes it hard to rack yourself and most of the bikes i can afford dont have that convienence. I found cables that look nicer than stock, how are jagwire cables? Are they gonna cause less trouble than the stock ones?

Jagwire is usually a little more expensive than what you would get "bulk" at the bike store. Cheap bike store cable housing bought by the foot is all you need. different stuff for brakes/ shifters. Remember that.

But would they last and be trouble free for a long time? assuming the bike doesnt get sunk or buried in sand...

Hey mate, I also have a walmart Mongoose Mtn. Bike, I think they are good bikes for being walmart bikes. As for your situation, I think its fine to keep the bike and repair it. Walmart Sells brake cables so you can buy that, IDK about derailler cables from walmart, but I am sure you can buy that online for cheap. As for your wheel, I suppose its not that hard to true it yourself, buy a cheap spoke wrench and use your brake pads, there are many tutorials on youtube to help you true your wheel. As for your jagwire, that will be allot better than the wires that come stock, trust me. Go for it, like I said the frame is pretty good, like you already now, it wont cost much to fix your stuff. I am going to install a like new freewheel taken off my busted denali road bike and put it on my mongoose. I already changed the chain with one Pacific mailed me when my denali broke its chain. I also have to change the cables, IDK much about cables yet, but I will learn it, I also want to change the crankset, for something nicer and new.

I believe they would. I dont believe in precision cable systems for non precision components. I include very nice high end vintage components in the non precision category. your ten speed indexed road bike might benefit a little from special cables a, 21 speed "wall mart" mtn bike does not. Especially if the person using it make an effort to make them last, like occasionally greasing the cables and not leaving the bike outside to rust its entire life.