magohn

I realize that big box bikes are usually less than stellar but for $101 shipped to your door this seems like an interesting bike even if you only got a year out of it.


https://www.walmart.com/ip/Thruster-7...er=CPqWkHwkNyo

Thruster 700c Men's Fixie Bike:

Riding Style: fixed gear bike
Frame: steel frame
Gearing: fixed or single-speed
Steel fork
Rims: alloy
Brakes: alloy side pull brakes
Dimension: 70"L x 25"W x 45"H


They charge me $10 at the LBS for the box it would come in

Yo Spiff

I know someone who recently bought one of those. He does get a lot of Ronald McDonald comments about the color scheme. I would guess a fixed gear being relatively simple, it might be ok. I wouldn't buy one myself, though.

Wolfwerx

I hate to be disparaging of other's bikes... but those are actually kind of scary. From what I've seen of those in the stores, it would probably be a good idea to go over it with a fine-tooth comb (especially the wheels) before you go on any kind of ride.

CJ C

I almost bought the Black and white mongoose one the had about two years ago.

I bought a different walmart bike that cost $75 that I used for a commuter bike 4 days a week for a year and now is regulated to family rides around the hood. Solid bike only thing that broke was the pedals, which i assumed since the were cheap plastics.

If you understand what your getting you will get your moneys worth.

fatpunk

For 100 bucks and you know what you're buying, why not? If nothing else it's a cheap why to find out if you really like fixies. If I knew the wheels wouldn't buckle under my fat butt i'd buy one just to see if it's something I could get into. My best friend and riding buddy has a Wal-mart bike and outside of the initial setup and making sure everything was set correctly he hasn't had any issues.

lethalrabbi

I picked up this fixie about 2 months ago, I am although a novice when it comes to bikes as far as all the techincal jargon. Although thanks to google I am learning more. For me it wasnt a bad investment for my use, I have started using for the purpose of exercising and have logged around a 160 - 200 miles on it so far. I've changed out the pedals with metal ones and added straps recently. Picked up some extensions for the handle bars to shift my body position when riding some distance. Also replaced the seat to rid myself of the numbing sensation in my prostate. So far I have been pleased with it, it feels pretty solid and cannot really find any thing to complain about. Would like to upgrade in the future, but for now it works great.

magohn

Thanks for that. It does seem like an OK deal to me too. I recently spend $100+ on a set of speedplay pedals. Seems kind of a deal to get a FULL bike for cheaper.

However, single-speeds wont work for me in the Seattle/Redmond area. Doing hills at 280lb with ONE gear doesnt sound like fun . However, if I was mainly focused on bike path riding - Id consider it.

Myosmith

I have seen this bike in the stores and "less than stellar" doesn't begin to describe it. Find yourself an old Schwinn 10-speed with more or less horizontal dropouts and do the conversion yourself for the same price and you'll have twice the bike.

squirtdad

I have wrenched on too many cheap bikes for neighbors, relatives and charities to support buying a cheapie big box store bike The components are crap, don't work well at things like braking, break down fast and are difficult to keep tuned and working due to the low end parts.

That said the simpler the bike the better chance there is of it working, and it should be noted that according to the web site it has a flip flop hub so it can be used as a single speed.

I paid a $100 for wheels for my sons fixie alone (and they are not terrible high end), considering the stress put on every thing by any sort of agressive fixie use (skids, not brake breakin, etc. I would expect things to start breaking fast. If any one gets one I would reccommend riding as a single speed (better for clyde knees also)

mcrow

I think that if you flip the rear wheel around an make it a single speed and can pedal break then I can't see how you couldn't get $100 worth of riding out of the bike.

Maybe the ride won't be great, the saddle will probably eat your rear alive and the pedals are probably plastic but if it has no derailleurs and you don't have to depend on the cheap handbrakes I think it can be a decent bike.

If they had a fixie with more a mountain bike build for the same price I'd buy it and use it for my winter bike.

Rowan

Sorry but you can't ride a single-speed and pedal-brake it.

mcrow

What I meant is that if you flip it to whichever side allows the pedal-brake. Techincally Fixies are single-speed bikes as well so I wasn't totally off in my error.

squirtdad

Understand that when riding fixied, the "pedal brake" is your legs...there is no mechanical device to help out. This is poor substitute for having good reliable brakes.

YMMV but for me as a clyde and and a guy who has had some knee work down...this puts a lot of strain on the legs. Fixies are simple, but take a bit more skill or dare I say youth to ride so would not be a good choice for a newbie ride or for people with knee problems.

lethalrabbi

I just reached around 250 miles and the bottom bracket is starting to knock. Have not taken it apart yet, but from what I am guessing it is probably the bearings or spindle. I let you know what I find. Going to try and do it myself as soon as I pick up the proper tools.

Spoonrobot 

No.

There is nothing specific to riding a fixed gear drive-train that precludes using brakes. Did you click the link? The bike is question comes with brakes, as do the vast majority of bikes sold as fixed gears. It's not like you flip the rear wheel over to the fixed cog and the brakes just disappear or stop working.

Fixed gear ≠ brakeless

Mithrandir

They call it a fixie because you're going to be fixing it up a lot!!


In all seriousness; I think it was Sheldon Brown who pointed out that during the 90's, the Powers That Be realised that the average big-box retail bike gets ridden 70 miles in its entire lifetime, from showroom floor to landfill. Thus, in order to maximize profits, bix-box retail bikes are now only designed to last approximately that long. Not good.

I suppose if you are good at wrenching and are ok with replacing most of the components within a month of purchase it might be worth it. But otherwise I would personally stay far away.

nfmisso

I saw two of these on VTA earlier this week.

The frame is not very well made, and I would not be surprised to see cracking around the rear drop outs in a couple of years. As another poster suggested, there are better alternatives for the money if you build your own.