Caroline,

That is wonderful to hear. The best thanks you could give would be coming back and talking about your experiences and how everything worked. This includes both you and the bicycle. Of course just sticking with it and enjoying it would be the best result.

Best of luck to you!

My first (and only) 10-speed was from Zayres, too. I bought it in Portsmouth, Virginia in 1973 (my senior year of high school). I don't remember what brand it was, but it had Suntour gears & derailleurs and Dia-Compe brakes & levers. That bike lasted me until I sold it in the late '90s. One of the reasons I recently bought a used 15-speed Univega from the '80s is because it closely resembles a lighter, faster version of my old bike from Zayres.

+ kids.

There are some beautiful rides in and around LR, AR. I'm from Magnolia originally and lived in LR 89-90. I rode a motorcycle as sole transport then and used to ride for hours on the new, empty parkways (two lanes on each side divided by manicured medians) that stretched for miles between newly-developing subdivisions. I'm sure much of that is wall-to-wall development now, but I'm sure there's still a lot of great riding.

I was invited to the Clinton Library opening a few years ago b/c of a film I was associated with, so I got to spend a week in Little Rock (and a night hanging out with Kinky Friedman, which is a-whole-nother thread/forum) for the first time in years. I thought the city was doing great, a far cry from the crime scene I saw in the late 80s.

There are some killer hills in Little Rock. I used to get tired riding them on a motorcycle. ;p

I work in a bike co-op as one of two paid mechanics / shop facilitators... what this means as besides repairing bikes for re-sale, I also spend (more) time teaching and instructing people how to repair and service their own bikes in proper manner.

Today our Society president's son comes in with his friend who is having trouble with his new full suspension and disc brake equipped x-mart bike... after 2 hours I had the bike set up[ and working in a safe and proper manner as the brakes were poorly set up, the rear wheel had already gone badly out of true, it wasn't shifting properly (and it was more than a mere cable adjustment that was needed).

They were planning on going out and hitting the trails and had they done so without stopping at our shop, this boy could have been seriously injured as the bike's braking was pitiful.

The other young man has a bike that I built up at the shop...it's a top of the line Brodie hardtail that had been donated by my friend that originally sold for $1800.00... we sold it for $250.00 and it is a bike I would happily ride on any trail in the city with nary a worry.

The other boy's bike probably cost about the same amount of money and was not a bike I would ride or let anyone else ride unless it was professionally checked and serviced.

Our local LBS would have charged $120.00 for this work... I settled for an ice cold root beer that the boys bought for me.

Man 65-er, If only there were more co-ops like yours in all of our cities, it'd be easier for us to find what we wanted. Maybe there are, but only those who are connected with the cycling community, not us newbs searching for cheap bikes, know about them.

I was just in Austin (and I have several friends from Magnolia, but I've never been there). Yes, Little Rock has changed a LOT... I moved here 15 years ago, then moved away, and came back five years ago - totally different place! We now having a walking/biking bridge across the river that I can't wait to try out, plus a lot of beautiful new trails along the river. I live in HILLcrest, so yes, I'm a little intimidated by the topography, but like someone earlier in this thread said - I'll get stronger :)

Caroline,

I hope you know that those of us who expressed doubt as to Walmart's general competence in the bicycle quality and assembly arena are honestly trying to help. I believe we all want the best for you, and sincerely hope your experience with your new Walmart bike is a positive one.

Keep it maintained at your local LBS. You can't go wrong doing that.

LBS Mongoose vs. WM Mongoose -- kinda like the difference between jewelry-store Rolex and streetcorner Rolex. NO COMPARISON!!! And FYI, you can't get the same Mongoose at WM that you'll see at LBS -- the factory doesn't DO that, WM & the like has the exclusive rights to the cheap stuff.

Now....

Caroline, if you haven't already done so, buy the Paver; it'll serve you. It's a step above anything WM has sold in the last 6-8 years! The store I work out of got one returned last month (poor assembly at another location, no surprise), so I checked it nose-to-tail, got it right, tested it, and while it's not my type of ride, it's a RIDE!

Ditto on several people who've mentioned learning maintenance; while wheel-truing can be a black art sometimes, once the concept of how the parts work settles in, the fix will become clearer.

You can DO this!

And, lastly, for my own need to vent (this season has been extraordinarily rough!):

WHAT'S WRONG WITH WALMART BIKES?

1. Poorly welded frames;
2. half-dry and badly adjusted bearings everywhere;
3. single-wall rims that go out of true by inflating the tire (I am NOT kidding!);
4. stems so poorly welded, you can see how off-center they are;
5. stamped-steel V-brake arms that flex like a longbow;
6. caliper-style brake levers installed on a bike with V-brakes;
7. poorly cast wire-bead tires that routinely lift off the rim and explode the tube;
8. rim strips so badly applied that they leave a dozen spoke nipples exposed;
9. index shifters (almost always grip-shift knockoffs) that don't index, can be tuned for 4-5 out of 7 possible gears.

You get the idea....

I got my first "mountain" bike when I was in 6th grade...it was a cheapo $100 huffy from a walmart equivalent (although, as a 6th grader, I thought huffy was awesome and all my friends wanted to ride huffies...yeah, kids are dumb). This bike got a considerable amount of use; I even went on what seemed like "long" rides at the time -- 3 miles each way to friends' houses! I'm surprised I didn't die riding it, because after about 1 year, the rear derailleur wound up jamming itself into the spokes (chain jammed, bent the cheap piece of crap derailleur right into the wheel)...I can only assume that this is what caused the stress fractures in the frame my father discovered afterwards.

This bike was replaced with a low end bike from my LBS (like <$300). This bike is still in pretty decent shape over 12 years later; I had no problems during the 8 years it was heavily used. I actually used this bike to commute during college. The bike needs some love now and I actually plan on resurrecting it, configuring it as a commuter for my father (new chain ring, chain, internally geared rear hub, etc).

That's just my anecdote. But like many people have already said, assembly can be a serious issue and the components are usually really cheap, unreliable, and won't last (plastic derailleurs, really bad rims, etc). Having seen the quality of the welds (or lack there of) on some of the cheap bikes also scares me a lot...it makes me wonder about the quality of the actual steel used in the product as well (hey, I work as a material scientist, I can't help it). My overall opinion is that these cheap walmart bikes are perfectly acceptable if you only plan on riding your bike a few times, slowly on a bike path before losing interest in it and stowing it in a corner of your garage for 10 years.

It sounds like Caroline has already made her purchase.

If anyone else stumbles onto this post while looking for an inexpensive bike one other option is to check out police bike auctions. I've had a couple of friends pick up very nice rigs that only needed minor adjustments / part replacement. Consider asking the folks at your lbs what to look for in a used bike. Whether you buy a used bike or a xmart bike ( please don't buy an xmart bike ) you'll need to get it set up properly. You can be certain the folks at your lbs will be much happier to see you walking in with some neat, old school rig and I bet you'll develop a relationship with them on the spot.

Decent used bikes are everywhere. Sometimes you just need to go a little bit beyond craigslist to find them.:D

I too looked at this bike and tend to hold this same opinion. For the short flat ride she is going to do, this bike is probably OK. I second the recommendation to keep an eye on the brakes.

Other than that, if the OP really decides to start riding further distances, she might very well enjoy a better lighter bike with more gears, but in the mean time this one will work; especially in light of the fact that she is going to have someone look it over after she gets it.

I'd be curious as to how the bike is doing after a year or two.

Our city is pretty lucky in that our Commuter's Society has been working hard on behalf of cyclists for nearly 30 years and we have had some time to build up a good community prescence and have a great shop.

In that time our shop has gone from taking up some space in an unheated quansit shed to being one of the larger shops in the city with 7 stands, abundant work and storage space, and a wealth of new and recycled parts, bikes, and other cycling goodies.

We have been run off our feet since the start of May as cycling is really on the increase and a lot of people are pulling their old bikes out of storage and are either repairing and tuning them up or donating them to us.

I bought a wal-mart hybrid Schwinn bike for about $299 several years ago when they built the Perkiomen Bike trail. I have been quite satisfied with it. Yeah it's not as light & spiffy as a $700 bike but you gotta start somewhere. Then just recently I bought a used Schwinn road bike from craigslist for $75. It probably also came from wal-mart originally. I'm pretty happy with this bike too.

I'd love to have the $$ for a fancy $700 bike someday. (my son has one, but I can't afford it 'cause I helped him so much with college $$. Go figure!!!:() Till then I will be satisfied with what I have and ignore folks who sneer at it.:rolleyes:

I wouldn't sneer at anyone's bike. During lean times between good bikes, I have created frankenbikes that would truly frighten you. :D

When you gotta ride, you gotta ride!

Unicycle? :lol:

LMAO!!!

Not sure how all of this works, but I recently bought off craigslist a mongoose manuever that had been converted to a comuter. The guy bought it from an LBS (sticker still there), but now I see that WalMart sells the mongoose manuever. Looks totally different (mine was a rigid frame), but it seems kind of weird in light of your comments.

I was thoroughly entertained by this thread, Caroline. Your transparency, lack of an agenda, and willingness to participate in a litle good natured 'give-and-take' mads it fun... I'm sure a lot of other new riders learned a lot, too.

I'd like to chime in on a couple of ancillary issues that will crop up as you re-start your cycling journey:

First, not all bike shops are created equal. There are good ones and bad ones - and not a whole lot in between... Forewarned is forearmed.

Second, lean heavily on your neighbor - he'll help you over some of the initial rough spots. Once you've fixed a few flats and learned how to adjust your cables, you'll feel able to travel far and wide. He'll impart that knowledge - and you'll gain that freedom.

Third, welcome to your new family... We're a little dysfunctional at times, but we're here for you!

God bless and good luck!

DWR

Whats wrong with a walmart bike? Its not american made!

the Paver
 

I bought my paver about 3 weeks ago and so far around 200 miles, I didnt like the bars so I changed them out with the bars off my old Next MTB, I painted them black at work and baked the finish on, so they look like they came with it.
About the only other complaint now is the deraliuer skips 6th from 7th, I commute to work weather permitting 25.5 miles per day R.T. and that 6th gear is needed for maintaining speed up some of the slopes I contend with.
Being 6'+ and a little obese, I wanted a bike that would fit well, didnt want a used one, and really could not spend 500 or more on a bike shop jewel.
I raced BMX when I was 13 or 14 and did pretty good, so I kinda know what makes up a good bike, back then you could not get a good bike at X mart, they all sucked, now these days, they sell more respectable bikes at a more appealing price range than the mom and pop shops.
If I didn't have the usual bills most adults do, believe me I would more than happily support the LBS! But for now till the new jeep and suburban and house and school loans and home improvement loans are paid off, I guess a $100 Wal mart bike is going to have to make due!

Good for you. It doesn't matter what kind of bicycle a person rides, in my opinion, as long as s/he rides it.

You apparently never looked at where 99.9% of mass built bikes sold at your LBS are made. Few bikes are made in America and most of those that are cost an arm and a leg..

Shh...don't let facts get in the way of jingoism!

You should adjust your derailleur a little bit.