Agreed. I made a mistake. I thought it was $200. I'm pretty sure it was $200 actually, maybe on sale? I don't know...

You can not compare the Mercier Kilo TT with that bike. Haha. My bad!

What's interesting to me is that CFG is producing the commuter bikes (maybe all of the models) in 2 sizes: 18" and 20". Walmart's selling both. That's the first time I'm aware of that Walmart has sold multiple sizes.

If Walmart can manage that, that could be a big deal. They could start competing at a serious level with local bike shops. Two sizes isn't the same as 3-5 sizes. But, it's 100% better than one size.

I'm not sure Walmart can manage it. For them to make a step toward serious cycling they'd have to separate the adult bikes out from the "toys" category. (Not that the category makes a big difference. But, it just contributes to the sense that Walmart isn't serious.). Move it to sports/fitness, and offer size choices. Provide more details about geometry. (Also separate space in their store for adult bikes, in different sizes.). Basically distance the toy/juvenile character of these big-box bikes from the adult models. Make them more specifically adult even though nothing changes much concerning quality, components, etc.

Another thing that tells me Walmart won't get this right is how they converted CFG's inch sizes to metric. There was no reason to do that except to make it sound "high end" or something. (Snooty european sizes?). Walmart's demographic is going to be seriously confused by that. There was no need for it.

It will be interesting to see if this becomes a trend. For example, if Pacific Bikes follows suit.

What size frame would I need? I am 6'1" and wear 34" inseam pants. I could get by with 33" though, 32" is a little too short and 34" just a little too long.

What bike or bikes are you considering? You might be to tall for most of these, but alot of the bikes have compact geometry so that might help them fit you.

I just bought 2 walmart MTB Roadmasters and came around this thread. I have read all of the pages! whew! I'm happy i can spend time outdoors with the cheap bikes i purchased. One main advantage I see in purchasing el cheapo bikes is that you won't be afraid tinkering with them and when the time comes you get more serious, you will be more confident! :D

I've learned how to adjust brakes :D and I think i need to learn how to grease stuff :D

THis is my first post and i'm a newbie I hope I learn a lot here.

That's the right kind of attitude. Work with them, learn what you like and don't like, learn to wrench on them, ride the bikes for as long as you can, and when you're ready to upgrade, you'll have a better idea of what to look for.

Congrats. That's a nice bike. The good thing about cheap bike is cheap maintenance. You wont have to pay premium to replace parts or fixing it.

It seems the Roadmaster is a huge hit. You can't find it anywhere anymore. Nor in-store or on the web. It's a very good deal.

Welcome to the forum and Happy Cycling. TGIF! :thumb:

thanks for the warm welcome guys.! One of the bikes I got has tire wobble. I know its the tire because the rim shows no wobble. I'm going to deflate and inflate the tire and see what happens. Its the front tire by the way... You guys have any other ideas?

Yes. I have the same problem. It was a bit of both. I had to tru the rim, but I wasn't able to get the rim perfectly aligned or centered. Wheel building can be a tedious work if you dont know what you are doing, and it's easy to damage the rim. A spoke tensionometer can help to achieve a consistency when adjusting spokes.

Anyways, I agree the tire itself is not perfectly round, but i dont notice anything when i ride. The other thing, you may want to invest in couple of tire liners. It will save you the hassles from flats. (and trust me, it's no fun replacing flats with bolted on wheels).

Thanks sonnetg,

I noticed that you used to have or are still using the roadmaster walmart bike. Yu did the video review right? Anyway, what do you think I should look out for?

I noticed that both my bike's brakes were not aligned properly. So I had to learn to do that. Do you think I need to re-grease everything?

I wanted to start a new thread that says, I bought a walmart bike, now what? But I am not sure that it will reflect good on me since I am a newbie :D lol

I just want to experiment with a cheap bike first and test the waters. I don't want to spend good money and then find out that I am not going to bike later on...

Anyway, thanks for making me feel welcome :)

Right now there is a X-mart Roadmaster on my local Craigslist for $25. The picture of it looks like new. I would buy a bike from a garage sale or thrift shop for that price before I spent $100 on one new. Most of the time people who buy X-mart bikes don't ride them much anyway, so a used one would be like new. Or if you are any kind of mechanicaly adept, you might find one in the dump for free.

I don't see the point of your post sir. :) if you are discouraging me from buying the bike, then you are too late. or telling me I made a mistake then point taken.

I have read the whole thread and I know everybody discourages these bikes, but I bought the bike anyway. I am just looking for encouragement and support from you guys...

Thanks...

Biking one mile is going to be worse exercise than walking. Atleast get a unicycle.

Ride it and enjoy it. If you're like most of us you're going to be getting another bike since one bike is not enough. Just keep note of what you like and dislike about the bike for when you purchase your next bike.

That's how I felt about it too. I would have been reluctant to disassemble a $500 bike. But, $200 and Walmart's 90-day warranty.... what's to lose? I got a great education.

A similar motivation was that I would have been more fearful about securing a $500 bike. A Walmart bike is less likely to attract a thief. Less to lose if I miscalculate the safety of an area, or the efficacy of a cable lock (for 15-minute run into a store), etc. Again, a good way to gain experience and confidence.

Nope, I have not done any video reviews, but i did bring up few issues earlier in this thread. If you scroll through you can find it.

The brakes go out of alignment if you push them hard, (eg: braking hard downhill when mountain biking) so be sure to check the alignment periodically. The brake levers seem weak. This is something I would like to replace at some point.

As for re-greasing, you probably should, but it can be a fair amount of work and you will also need specialized tool. You can still ride it and enjoy it for a while without having to re-grease everything (the wheel hubs, bearings & bottom bracket does come with a tad bit of grease).

No need to start another walmart thread. One thread can serve as a good repository... :)

Yeah. Nothing against cheap bikes. It's a good way to experiment and learn. you can upgrade to better quality bikes down the road.

There's an article in the Costco magazine I got over the weekend about how "bike snobs" (their words) look down at big box store bikes, and how their's are better.

I was just pointing out to anyone who might be reading this thread and was thinking about buying a X-mart bike, that they could find one at a garage sale or on Craigslist for less money. I would not discourage anyone from buying an inexpensive bike. Hey, if that's all you can afford, it's better than no bike at all.

Update!

Notice how almost no one talks about these bikes after they get them?

The $32 Huffy lasted about a month before the crank bearing -shattered-. That's a new one on me. Also in that time the brake pads melted about half-way through. For comparison, it took me about a year and a half to wear down the cheap pads I put on my 3-speed.

I've taken it apart, and I'm going to use some of the bits to put on a Giant frame I've had kicking around. I like the alloy rim wheels, brakes (aside from the pads,) and the Falcon derailleurs. However, by the time I regreased, adjusted, and repaired everything, I might as well had bought a higher quality used bike and done the same thing. On the other hand, I'm definitely getting my money out of it by reusing the components.

The store I bought the bike at now has a $28 bike which is a 5-speed with a 3-piece crank and full fenders. I think it would be an ideal starter commuter bike because it would be hard not to get your money's worth out of it. However, I can't for the life of me imagine spending $200 on a higher end BSO when you can get a very nice used bike for that price. It might be different these bikes worked out of the gate.

Wow. This is a new one from me too. Do you have pics? :D

As for the brake, I had the same problem while going downhill, the brake pad lost it's alignment, which caused it to wear off on the corner, but I don't anticipate this to happen when riding on flat trail or roads.

I have seen good deals on bikes, but never anything less that $64. Where do you live? :)

Walmart doesn't fix bikes. They hope you use it up and throw it in a landfill a year later and come back in and buy a bike. It's the same for people who buy their ammo at Walmart instead of the range. Walmart doesn't have a range. Keep buying from Walmart and there will be no places left that provide the added services. We'll just keep filling up the landfills with cheap Walmart junk.

Found it, what they describe, their bikes don't sound bad http://www.costcoconnection.com/conn...term=bike#pg84

My First Post Here! (so be nice)

I rock a wally world bike, for about three weeks now. and have commuted to work 3 times so far. Its 4 miles one way. and roll around on it on the weekends for simple errands and to the fruit and veggie markets.

yes i wish i could afford a nice bike like my old GT and specialized mountain bikes i had in my 20's, but finances are tight and gas prices are crazy here in chicago. which is the reason for the purchase of a bike. and i had a 20 dollar gift card and a 10% coupon, the bike was originally $89.00

the trick to a target/sears/walmart bike, is to AVOID the geared dual suspension nobby tired beasts. just KISS (keep it simple stupid), the less cheap components the less there is to go wrong. a wrench and some grease will keep the thing going.

Now will i eventually work up to a good bike, yes. and i have a old 80's schwinn 10 speed that will be slowly making into a SS (or fixie if i need street cred) for the commuting bike. but looking at the price of componets and comparing it to the wally world Mongoose Cachet, wally world is looking financially better.

I would hate to agree with you, but i can understand your point, and would agree with you at the same time. Even few days ago a colleague came up to me asked where he could buy bikes for himself and his family. I recommended he should buy his and his wife's bike from an LBS, but he can probably bike his kid's bike (age 3 and 10) from a department store. At the same time I also explained, how he should have those bikes tuned up at the LBS, since xmart won't provide the service. At the end, it will probably cost him the same if he buys from LBS or xmart. At least with the LBS, you will have piece of mind (hopefully). I also did recommend he learn a few things or two and bicycle maintenance. (because it's not going to be cheap have to take all 4 bikes to the LBS for yearly maintenance.)

That's it. I don't remember seeing any road bikes there, I'm going to have to look next time I'm at a Costco.