............

China has the worst QA dept ever, if at all...

fiy...i bought one chinese Flying Pigeon Roadster for a photoshoot project. It's been a very frustrating experience to assemble the thing... (stripping screws, poor quality parts, buckled wheels, Rust, and the list goes on and on...). The quality is the same as any other low-end walmart bike.

I bought a Chinese made electrical device from Aldi. It didn't work. I suppose that reflects equally well on what is "wrong" with a Walmart bike.

sadly, it's only walmart, but virtually everything is now made in china. It's just that walmart will not hesitate to sell you something that would be considered the "bottom of the barrel" quality or safety wise. I never had any issues with chinese products, but they are just out of control now. Even on Ebay, most sellers are all shipping crap from china. wth!!! very frustrating. Cheap products may seem to be worth the savings at the begining, but really, you get what you pay for. China does make decent bicycles, but those bikes will also cost you $400-$500.

As someone who actually LIVES in China and experiences Chinese quality (or lack thereof) every day, all I can say is that the Chinese ARE capable of making high quality products. Unfortunately, they make a lot of crap too, but to claim that everything Chinese is automatically crap is incorrect.

That make a lot of sense,good post

I bought an American made Craftsman drill... Died at day 87. Guess that illustrates the quality of American made things, amirite?

My iPad is made in China and so are a lot of other nice electronic products. I think it's more a question of cheaper products tending to be lower in quality. There is a sweet spot you can aim at to get a good 'bang for the buck' and there are more diminishing returns the 'higher up' you go. For example, a $10,000 bike is marginally better then a $4,000 bike, but a $600-$750 bike is significantly better than a $100 X-mart bike.

+1

This laptop was made in China. . . 7 years ago. Still going. . .

just throwing this out there,

i am still commuting on my wally world $79 special. it hasnt turn to dust or changed to a giant robot and kick my in the special place yet.

so far i had to tighten the handle bars (hopping curbs in a beach cruiser is fun in theory) and once a week top of the tires with air. yep thats it! (crap now i jinxed myself)

had it since april commute 3-4 days a week, the thing is a tank heavy as all heck but it works and i dont have to think about it just ride. and for $79 i lock it up anywhere i want with a cheap cable lock.

the bike paid for itself many time over and i am going to ride it into the ground, which by the looks of things will take a long long long time.

Oops i did change out the saddle but people do that with $3000 bikes

High five and fist bump !!! Ride that thing until the wheels fall off, literally.

Will you please oil the chain? That's the other thing I find wrong with Walmart bikes -- there chains are never oiled. Never.

You are correct. I guess I've got a high end Walmart bike, Shimano rear, Suntour forks, Kenda tires, Quando hubs, but yes I had to disassemble and reassemble and oil and grease. So far so good for $174.00.

thanks, i plan this january taking things apart and re-greasing everything.

learned the hard way about chain inspection/maintenance, on my other bike had a chain snap during a hard sprint from a stop light lost control a bit, recovered and coasted to the side. so happy it didnt get caught in the spokes. it was a full on standing sprint hands in the drops weight over the front wheel and SNAP.

luckily it was at the end of my fitness ride and only had 2 miles to walk home.

I know this is an old thread. I inherited a "Next" mountain bike from the previous owners of the house I bought in Hawaii. I believe Wal Mart used to sell these. I just started riding it and am working myself up to riding it from my house to Hilo and back. This is a distance of 25+ miles. So far it's been just fine. It's a 21 speed and both derailers work very well as do the brakes. I may decide to get something different later, but at 59 years old and retired I wouldn't want to spend over $500 or so. This bike is fine to get me into biking again and to see if I'm going to stick to it. I am having fun riding this bike for now and have ordered a new helmet, multi tool, water bottle cage for the handlebars, and small air pump. I don't flog the thing. I ride mostly paved streets, but regularly ride on gravel roads also.

i got a next avalon comfort bike i paid 119 dollars for 2 yrs ago and i got 4 to 6 thousand miles on it and all i have done is changed tires and tubes then i also got to huffy cranbrooks beach cruisers that i have gas motors on here are my motorized bikes and here is my bike i use for touring the avalon by net it is the one with 4000 mile minimum nope it isnt a 500 to 1000 dollars either and it is from wally world to in fact all three of mine are.

here is the avalon

Good for you! Anything that gets you riding is fantastic. You'll lose some weight, reduce your chlorestorol, decrease blood pressure, live longer. You'll be more inclined to try your own maintenance (instead of fearing you'll damage a $700 bike). That will save you a lot of money and make you more comfortable working on an expensive bike if you ever get one. You'll also be more inclined to ride it places where you have to lock it up. Same principle: you might be afraid of losing a $700 bike. Getting experience with lock-up strategies will make you more comfortable with an expensive bike (if you ever choose to get one).

The only downside I see to a discount-store bike is: without significant care in the assembly (reassembly of factory assembled components) these bikes can be unreliable. Bearings may fail soon due to overtightened, insufficiently greased axles and bottom bracket. Tires may flat frequently due to sharp edges inside the rim. Some of the hybrid/comfort bikes come with 20-24 spoke wheels which I've seen spokes come loose after 1000 miles. That leads to wheel failure unless the rider is checking for and retentioning loose spokes.

Things like that could lead a new rider to have a negative experience, deciding bike riding isn't for them. But, with a little "sweat equity" they can have a very positive experience for 1/3 the money.

I did much the same thing with a Mongoose Paver from Walmart. $120, but I got it for $70 because it was damaged in transit. It got me into riding. I "moved up" to a Walmart Avenue, then Target Trailway (both much the same bike, subtle differences). Ended up picking up a used Specialized Sequoia ($800 road bike when new). And, I picked up a broken Dahon folding bike, rebuilding it, converting the rear derailer to a 7-speed internal-gear hub (lacing a new rim to the new hub, with custom length spokes! Wow, that was a learning experience).

All roads lead to Rome. This site isn't too intolerant of our kind. But, there are a few riders everywhere who think it's not possible to have a good experience with a "Walmart bike." If you find yourself stifled by such, there is a forum specific to people who ride these bikes. www.bigboxbikes.com (It suffers a little from the opposite problem: ridiculing people who spend a lot on a bike. It's good to remain exposed to the larger world of non-Walmart riders, find a balance, etc.).

I find it pretty easy to find an excuse to go on a ride. For a few weeks I had to go and feed the chickens and cats at my daughter's and son in laws place. A round trip of about 11 miles. I rode from home to Keaau to pick up the mail at the Post Office. A round trip of about 12.5 mostly on the main highway. The higway here has a nice big shoulder. There are no freeways here on the island of Hawaii. Saturday I rode from home to our weekly Saturday chess club II play and compete in chess tournaments--it's called stress for fun ((a joke)) ). That was a distance of about 17 miles. The ride to Pahoa was a bit tough due to long, but not to steep, uphills, and a constant head wind. Coming back was much easier.
I also have a 150cc scooter that gets about 80 mpg and can cruise at 50-55, and a Toyota pickup that gets 24.
My plan is to work up to a Hilo round trip with the first destination to be my gym--Aloha Fitness--and a workout. Probably won't do any gym cardio that day, but will hit the weights.
By the way, I find that pulling up a hill DOES give some workout to the arms. I have flat mountain bike bars and can feel it. I work out my arms a lot with weights so there is no soreness from the bike riding, but I can feel some arm muscles working. Great for the legs, heart, etc and just plain FUN!! When I can combine riding with doing an errand too it's a win/win situation.

59 and really enjoying riding my Wally World special.

She rode a hilly 50 miles Saturday in Conroe Texas.



With her 12 year old daughter and 260 other riders.

Just get it, save money, and enjoy riding it! Walmart bikes are meant to last and be tuff since thier built for children, and when they do have a problem, it would be something like a flat tire. If that!

Also with these things, you have to put up with some weirdness. . mixing of standards.