Insightful.

I'm actually kind of impressed with the some of the bikes being sold by WM and others these days - ten years ago you could only find pure crap - I mean seriously crappy. If you think the Denali is crappy - then you have never seen a truly crappy bicycle before.
My K-Mart "All-Pro" 3 speed has endured 30+ years of use. It's had a new seat, new tires (duh), new pedals, new front brake assembly, new rear brake cable, and a complete new front wheel. Not bad for three decades for any bicycle. If you care for an X-mart bicycle like you would for a more expensive machine, it'll last forever. Just keep things tuned, clean, and lubed.

Just FYI:
Surprisingly, the majority of PT Cruiser bikes are sold through bike shops. Target (Plus Amazon.com and a few other online merchants) only offers them for online sales only (no local pickup or assembly). One person at work wants to try out one of those AWD Jeep bikes (two models $1500.00 and $2,000.00). At 43 lbs, it's not exactly lightweight...lol...For that kind of money I would get a good brand that already has a good track record/reviews among users or buy a used bike with known qualities and components (and lighter/stronger).

Poorly adjusted brakes can turn any bike into a death trap, especially since most people who buy a bike there won't know how to adjust the brakes themselves. Poor assembly is one of the biggest complaints about Wally World bikes.

But it was a good, balanced review.

I reckon my mountain bike would weigh about 29 lbs.

This has to be one of the finest trolls I've seen to date. I tip my hat to CigTech.

The Denali I bought was bad, as far as the assembly goes. I went over everything when I got it home and find the breaks not set right, spocks where not tensioned at all, The seat clamp was lose, The Handle bar where off to the left side of center, The front wheel nuts was lose, The back wheel was not centered and the shifters cables where out of adjustment.

If this is typical of how Walmart assembles bikes, it's not surprising that people buy a bike, ride it once, then leave it in the garage to rust. Poorly assembled and poor fit doesn't turn people on to biking.

Incredible that in such a litigious society, that such a huge company would sell bicycles with such poor quality control. Seems like a number of these poor adjustments would be safety issues.

Actually, who needs quality control when you have a big ole disclaimer on the box/bike saying biking is dangerous. Much cheaper to print that than to make EVERYONE who assembles a bike actually try to put it together correctly.

Cig, I think you're doing a great thing, and I thank you. I dont think I've ever seen a road bike at walmart, but I would certainly be curious about it if I saw one there.

Back in the 80's. I seen a few in K-Mart and Target. But never seen one in Wal-Mart ever. So when I seen on the internet, that War-Mart had these in the store. I just had to go take a look at them. This one was the only one in the store. And it was up in the rafters. The sales guy said that they put it up there becuse every one want a MTB and they need the room in the raks for the MTBs.

I doubt many people buying a bike at Wally world would show the care you did. Part of what you pay for at the LBS is for someone to do it right. But an LBS assembly could increase the cost of this bike by a third.

I will admit that some of my distaste for the Dinali is that it is marketed by Wal-Mart, a company that I find thoroughly without redeeming social, economic or consumer value. Cheap junk in a baffling big box store sold by a corporation that I find unethical doesn’t do it for me.

That admission out of the way:

The issue of assembly does seem a major problem if you assume that the average GMC Dinali buyer is not as bike savvy as our Cig. My cousin was badly injured by a defective bike assembly. I also do not find the value of the bike to be that stellar. $150 goes a long ways if you are a crafty bike miser like me and are looking for a commuting bike (though local markets will vary in availability of reasonable used bikes, it is clear).

The admission that stock parts are likely to break seems odd in a forum on commuting. Commuting is an area of biking where I put a higher premium on durability. I would not like to be in a position of betting on what major component would fail on my way to work. The lack of variability in sizing also seems a major strike. There is only so much you can do with seat posts and stems, and I certainly wouldn’t buy one aftermarket in order to get a better fit on a Dinali.

I am, however, glad to see that there is a market for lower end road bikes out there. I suspect like many of you a cheapo department store bike was my first. The fact that no road bikes were available at such stores when I was younger (all mountain bike & BMX-esque thing at the time) is what largely kept me off of road bikes until I was quite a bit older than I would like.

When I first got the Peugeot I asked the LBS how much it would cost hime to go over the bike. He said $150.00. I gave $10.00 for the bike. There was no way I give hime that much just to adjust the bike.

I hate Wal-Mart as well. Just because of the lines there. It took 5 min to fine the bike and 5 min looking it over. Then stood in line for 25 min just to check out. I do go there 2 times a year, and hate it very time.

You can get it off the net. They have 3 sizes. 48mm, 57mm, 63mm. If I had more time I would have order the Denali from amazon.com. But I needed it now.

Interesting to see this 'review' though and hopefully will follow-up with updates. Sounds though like the OP has less and less good to say about the bike in reading his last couple of posts on this page. The deal with the handlebars worries me as well as the brakes; even though they seem like a quick fix that's not a good sign and for someone who's not mechanically savy or unaware of what to look out for could spell big trouble. I've been looking at the GMC Yukon, also thru walmart but also on amazon for 298. The price is tempting considering that includes shipping plus no tax but then I'd have to have a LBS do the partial assembly and adjustments (as simple as they may be, I'm no mechanic) which would cost at least 50 bucks and if something else needed tweaking that would be more not to mention the brakes- so basically add 100 to the price and now I'm up to 400 with no backup on the warranty other than shipping it back. So I figure if i could find something like an 06 Trek 1000 for maybe 25% off I'm at around $550 for that along with a shop to stand behind it. I know the idea of the GMC Kent bikes is the affordability but if I was short the $150 and that's all that was standing in the way of my getting the Yukon or the Trek (or another $525 bike) I'd go out and cut lawns if i had to to raise the extra $150. I have to admit though I have thought about it...just the idea of clicking on amazon for 298. is tempting...I just don't think it would be wise.

No just about Wal-Mart.

OK I bought the Danali on Saturday (10-14-06). So far I have put 118.7 miles on the bike. The only thing I had to adjust is the shifters. Oh BTW, I did a high speed stop on the way home tonight. I was running it at 19mph and the bike stoped with in 6 foot. It was dark and I almost hit the crub when the street turned Iand I did not is it (it was 1 a.m.). any ways stoped about .5 foot from the curb.

I do hope you mean cm.

LOL yes CM

So I saw a homeless guy, riding one a denali the other day, before i saw the thread. I had never seen a poor person on a newish road bike, I thought it looked pretty good. He had a rack with a ton of gear on the back. Proably would work a lot better for tooling around the city than the "mtb"s that Im used to seeing them on. I am worried about the breaks not working with it loaded down. If I had some spare time / energy I would think about running a bike repiar clinc at the local homeless shelter.

C'mon, Ciggy, come back to earth on that one. No way did you come to a stop from 19mph in 6 feet. Denali or Madone, Not Gonna Happen.

Regardless of the overstatement, I am happy that the brakes are much better after adjustment. To be honest, I think all modern brakes rock. At least the ones I've tried. They all have major clamping force compared to the stuff I remember as a kid.

I think the Denali might be an attractive value at $150, Cig will prove that (or not). But $300 for the Yukon is too much, IMO. For the same $300 you could have a slightly slower bike from a LBS that would have warranty and the folks to support it, as well as hopefully not be so much trash fodder when it's used up.

That's the allure of the Denali. Use it, use it hard, and it's not hard to get $150 of value out of it if it lasts awhile.

The Tektro road calipers on my Rush Hour really sucked... so I think you can still buy bad brakes.

Try replacing the pads with Kool Stops. You will see a big jump in braking power for $8 a pair.

Now there's a good cyclist advocacy idea!

Curious. My Giant Bowery had Tektro dual-pivot's and they were massively powerful. They weren't anything special in the spec department, but they were absolutely fabulous.

:D people tell im quite the philospoher

Now I have 153.4 miles on the Denali. I have to say that the stock shifters are crap. I looked them up online and there sale them for 7.95 for the set. I will be replacing them next weekend. I have a set of the Saro 3300 7sd Shifter/break levers that I'm putting on the Denali. I just wqant to see how bad they really are. After 153.4 miles I have adjusted them 3 times and they jsut keep driftting up and down the range.