I found this website the other day. Don't know how up to date it is, but if you care about "made in the USA", this is helpful: http://www.stillmadeinusa.com/sporti...s.html#Cycling

It's too bad that as a child your parents bought you the cheapest bike they could find. The flip side to that is when I was a kid, my parents who couldn't afford much at all, bought me the best bike they could afford at the time.... even if it was a used Schwinn. Perhaps buying the best one can afford gives that item a special meaning. I really take care of my bikes because to me they aren't disposable.

(Please don't hate my reply... it's just something that caught my attention in your post.)

Also, "Consider the cost of shopping at Walmart."

Hope you find a good bike, ride safe and enjoy the ride and spend the extra money for a good helmet.
-3bikes

What is the cost of shopping at Walmart? The building is there, the merchandise is on the shelf, much of it the same as at Target and other big box stores, and the employees earn about the same as other big box merchandisers.

To me that means taking money away from whatever small businesses are still around. It also takes money away from manufacturers that actually produces quality products to strengthen their hard earned brand name. Walmart just *****s an existing brand name with products designed solely for profit margins that are either functionally deficient due to cost cutting for profit margins or completely designed to fail within a designated timeframe. Target does this but to a lesser extent but all big box stores are kinda evil in the same way. It's very hard to avoid shopping at these stores if you have low income or low patience.

Every single time you shop at these big box stores, it supports them and everything they stand for. Profits for them and the way they do business.

Over my 59 years, I've dealt with the small shops and large box stores. Frankly, I've never understood the nostalgia some have for those small stores. Many had crappy employee relations, paid poorly, and treated employees as slaves. My experience often was that they were way over priced and some owners were down right rude. Most went out of business because they over charged and did not serve the needs of customers. As for local bike shops, a few are quite good, others need to be dissolved. Many are nothing but part of a chain of stores that provide poor service and no better putting together of bikes than the big box.

I shop where I can get the best deal and/or what I need. Sometimes, that may be Walmart or other big box stores, other times its small locally owned shops. But, in the end, its my pocketbook that matters. Life's too short to worry about big box stores raping the earth. After all, we were ***** by mom and pops for much longer. Frankly, that 15% I save on groceries at the Nieghborhood Market grocery (a Wal-Mart grocery only store) makes a nice jingle in my pocket and is a great help.

About being paid poorly and treating employees as slaves, the big box stores are no better. There is no "nostalgia" because small service and product based stores still exist in almost every consumer sector. I agree that some small stores still treat customers like crap and mark up their products a ridiculous amount. That's why I mentioned the need for patience. Sometimes it takes a while to find the best bike store. Sometimes you will have to travel farther than you wanted to. In some cases it will be impractical to shop at that small store and your time will have been wasted. But sometimes, you find that small store that treats you humanly and has fair prices. The kind of store that when you walk in, they know your name, what bikes you ride and might even offer you a beer. That's my LBS.

I know that bike store. Unfortunately, its 35 miles away and, on a limited income not somewhere I can visit often. The two bike stores nearest me either cater to the spandex tecnoweenie crowd and look with disdain at anyone who rides steel, or to the family types who think that by paying $100 more they're getting a better bike than at the box stores...sometimes yes, sometimes no. The mechanics at the latter store poor excuses for that title. Fortunately, I've found a fellow who operates out of his home, repairing bikes and selling used ones. Fine fellow and good mechanic. As for the beer at the LBS, hopefully, that's after hours. Don't want someone drinking and messing with my bikes.

There's little difference in retail in the way employees are treated. Most retail employers treat their employees with little regard, big or small. My son and daughter-in-law both worked for Wal-Mart. Both found Wal-Mart to treat them reasonably well and the pay was what one could expect anywhere at their stage in life and education/experience level.

I bought my first bike from Wal Mart when I wanted to learn how to ride a bike (I was 17 years old). It was a Roadmaster mountain bike that cost only $55 including tax. I crashed it into a fence a few times while learning how to ride. It took me only 2 days to learn how to ride a bike. I rode it to school for a few months.
The brake cables got loose and then the rear brake cable snapped. The front brake still worked. Then the bike started to have shifting problems. The bike had been ridden less than 200 miles, but it half-paid for itself in gas savings, back when gas was $2. I then went to the LBS and bought a hybrid bike for $350, and a u-lock for $40, and that still works to this day with over 3000 miles on it. I left the Wal Mart bike unlocked outside, it took a week for it to disappear, and then after it was stolen, it came back to a different bike rack a day later, and the next day it was stolen or thrown out for good. Wal Mart bikes suck so much, thieves don't even want to steal them.

Don't listen to the cork sniffers! Buy what you want!!! I rode a cheap, $70 bike from Sears for 6 or 7 years. I went thru rims which I replaced with used rims I got for free. It wasn't the best ride in the world but I was never stranded.FWIW I rode the paver in a china-mart around a couple of isles and thought the bike felt real cheap. The bike I had bought from Sears years ago felt better from what I remember. They had 2 paver which had adjustment issues with both front brakes but the back brakes worked well. The rack looked cheap as hell and the big plastic pedals, which have been a con in the reviews, looked to be accurate. I thought about buying one after reading some of the reviews at my local china-mart but was told they no longer carried them as it was a manufacturing problem. I went to another store and they had 2 of them at $118? I can't remember for sure. It did feel lite for the style bike as that really surprised me.
Like what has been said before, if you can buy a bike now instead of waiting months to save for a better bike, go for it. You'll be out $100+ if things don't work out. I thought this might be good to ride in the winter here as I like having atleast a couple of bikes around.
That's a good thing!


Edit to ADD: The wheels turned. I didn't like the feel of the handle bars(subjective) but I didn't wipe out. I like more of a BMX or riser feel, not a crusier. For me, I would prolly change the handle bars. I was alittle underwelmed but you do have 60 days to change you mind. You might want to asked about that! They did say, "anything after that, you need to deal with the manufacture yourself."

Caroline,

I was in a similar situation to you. I had Walmart/target bikes when I was growing up and when I moved to VA all I could afford was a cheap Target bike for $80. I rode it around for years and never had a problem with the bike. As others have said the potential for problems is greater since the parts are cheap but if you have someone that can show you how to maintain your bike then you should be ok. Just check the bike before you ride each time to make sure it is tight etc and you will be good. A more expensive bike is great (I certainly love mine now that I upgraded) but for what you want to do (which is get something to get you going until you can afford later) it will do just fine. In my opinion Walmart/Target bikes are designed for running short distances around town not long country rides since they can be bulky etc (though I took my target bikes out in the mountains for 30-50 mile rides sometimes). I hope you find a bike soon so you can get out an enjoy it. Start small, get some mileage in and when you can upgrade to something a little better you will be able to enjoy it even more!

.. and if your Son/Daughter-in-Law greeter team both worked at Walmart for career's at "40" then they would be as Respected and "Honored" as much as ANY 40 year old that Shopped Walmart 7 days a week.

It's humiliating alone walking into a Walmart past the filthy disgusting greeters to buy inexpensive garbage for low LOW PRICES but actually WORKING there? Lots of school skipping, test failing and ultimately the "Dropout's" choice of work.

Who knows, the Walmart failures might get another chance if Obama gets elected and Socialism kicks in. Then all my accomplishments will mean diddly since the playing field will eventually be leveled.

It's not about whether or not people at the store are nice to you. It's about everything in America being owned and manufactured offshore. It's about politicians lining the pockets of those who would have Americans earning less, building trade deficits, and ensuring that the common American can no longer start a small business and compete locally. If you find that 50 cents savings jingling in your pocket is worth the destruction of the American dream, so be it.

It didn't take me long to learn to be ashamed to ride a Huffy. Kind of a bummer, really, because I got my first new bike on my 9th birthday (as did my brother of the same age). We took off and rode like crazy, making motorcycle sounds and having a blast. We went from Bigwheels to bikes in one day and nothing was the same after that. Good times.

Then, as soon as I started riding that bike to school I learned that it was a "piece of shhhhh".

That's what everyone else called it. I still remember getting harrassed and teased because I had a "crappy" bike, and all the other kids were riding Redlines, Diamond Backs, etc.

One day I got so upset that I let it ghostride down a hill and then all the local kids smashed it with rocks for fun. When I got home I told my dad my bike had been stolen, but he didn't believe me.

I forgot to mention: In my town we have Walmart and Target. They sell the bikes they sell, but can't service them.

On the other hand, one of our local bike shops has an excellent (and larger) selection than Wallfart and Farget combined.

Oh, and they're very helpful and informative.

Plus they have mechanics. Target and Walmart don't.

I'll never buy a bike from Walmart or Target. Nope. Nada. Never.

Wow, I hate to see what you would do if the kids said you needed to jump off the water tower.
Grow up! Its "was" a ggod bike til you kids started to make funof you. Cry me a river. Bet they took your lunch money also.

Jerry

Caroline,
I did not read the entire thread, I have a short attention span and sometimes I don't finish what I
But unless someone else suggested this already: Since you have the friendly neighbor to help, why not order something decent from bikesdirect or similar? He could then help you put it together and problem solved. Otherwise the cheap wally bike is better than no bike, as long as someone can help you make sure it is reasonably safe.
My wife and I recently bought two of the cheapest bikes our Performance Bike shop next to our house had. The chain occasionally rubs, mine is a heavy *******, we stop and tweak every once in a while, but you know what? WE ARE HAVING A BLAST! Yesterday we did a 23 mile loop on the trails in the DC area riding very fast, do you know how many pints of ice cream that took the guilt out of?
Enjoy.

I commuted for 2 yrs in a Murray mtb (no longer made), a Huffy cloned. Little by little started to decay and fall apart until I saw the light. Now I just buy quality, and there's no comparison, like day and night, never went back to crappy bikes. But...you gotta start somewhere, just like me.
My .002

Corsaire

Nearly every bike in any given LBS is also made offshore. Should we boycott the LBS too? At a certain point, we need to accept that the only thing the US readily produces and exports is weaponry. Our economy is designed to import everything else at low low prices; this is the natural output of good old capitalism.

Then why not target the politicians who embrace the "free market" and start voting into office people who don't believe corporations know what's best for us? Claiming to support local development and voting for parties that champion oil and auto giants is rather self-defeating. Yet we keep doing so.

The American Dream never existed. The rich start out and end up rich. The poor start out and end up poor. The average person doesn't ever go from rags to riches, regardless of how often the rich encourage this fantasy to keep the working classes working for them.

If OP were still here, I'd tell her that my LBS has bikes for $250 and up, and the big difference to me is that the LBS stands behind them. Even the young guys know how to put a bike together, and if they screw it up, I can come back and get the problem fixed.

Adjustments and maintenance are a fact of life, and I'd really like to have that bike shop relationship, however tenuous.

I'd also tell her not to be so sure she can't ride soon. The tricycle-kid will be ready for a trail-a-bike soon. :)

Go talk to the employees. The pay is similar, but Wal-mart is consistently understaffed on purpose.

Most box stores are understaffed, Wal Mart no worse than many others. As for talking to the employees, I can do better, I'm related to two former Wal Mart employees and hope to be related to a third in the not to distant future.

Everybody and their brother seems to have an opinion, Well here is mine. My wife and I just started biking about 2 months ago and bought Wal-Mart Schwinn MTBs. we enjoy it so much we ordered Specialized Crosstrail elites on friday, But if it was not for the Wal-Mart bikes we would have never started so they do have their place. I would suggest starting that way if that is what you can afford just like we did.

:thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb:

I own 3 bikes, none of them were made in the USA. I agree with you about bicycles, and if you go back in this thread, I told the OP to buy the Walmart bike if it was what she really wanted.

My recent reply was to a post that had nothing to do with "buying a cheap bike", but was about Walmart being good because he had some change jingling in his pocket. For that reason, I stand by my comments.

I agree with you about backing up what you say on election day. I do, and I hope everyone else does too.

I do NOT agree with you about the poor not being able to rise up, but I do get your point and agree that 75% or more of the extremely wealthy got it from their parents. However, I don't think having the dream to open a local hardware store that gives good advice, teaches people, and wants to be a part of the community is looking to get wealthy...and this is the kind of store Walmart has killed and I loved.

I can take you to a half dozen of those kind of stores, all within 5 miles of a Wal-mart. Wal-mart isn't the killer of local hardware stores. If they died, its more likely to be the result of Lowe's, Home Depot, and other big box lumber/hardware stores. The ones I'm familiar with that survived stock difficult to find items and specialize in the needs of their neighborhoods/areas. Most of those that failed failed not because of Wal-mart or the big box hardware/lumber retailers, but for many other reasons, mostly self-inflicted.