Ouch. That bike hurts my arse, back and wrists (and fillings) just looking at it.
Full cheap aluminum? No thank you.

Yea. It's definitely not carbon fiber. But still. It at least made me look twice.

Before you go to a bike shop, call first. A great many bike shops will not work on Walmart bikes.

Assuming that you know what size bike you need(you know right? or do you need help?), the specialized looks promising, followed by the diamondback(someone here recently did a 200k on one iirc) and then the trek.

No, I don't know... I tried the Walmart bike and liked it, so I guess whatever size that is.

My neighbor is very nice and has promised to help me learn about bikes, but I'm not sure I can drag him on a 2 hour field trip out of town to look at a bike!

Caroline

I felt obligated to reply. I also felt obligated to reply only to your post (not the stupid anti walmart ones to follow). I don't know if this is because I'm listening to a norah jones song or just me

There is nothing wrong with a walmart bike for a starter bike. Walmart has devoured so many industries that the bike industry is putting up resistance. You can order a high end carbon fiber road bike through the walmart website. This just shows how they are trying to overtake the market. There are many feelings on this issue.

The truth is, a bike is not a complex item. Unless the person you are conversing with is bike minded, your bike could be a huffy and they could care less. This is not an automobile. Bike makers would have you believe otherwise. There are no bmw's, no benzes, and no lamborghini's. There is only "that person looks like a casual biker" and "that person looks like a serious biker". Now a bike person or a local store wants you to believe otherwise. They want you to believe your new Trek is a 400 hp beast. Sorry but our culture just has not reached that level yet. No one you work with or socialize with will care that your bike came from walmart.

Now if you become hooked, addicted, a serious enthusiast, whatever word you choose, you will want a bike that is up to par with the next guy. The truth is by that time even with a nice bike, you would have been wanting to upgrade to something most righteous. A walmart starter is not a bad choice. I will throw this in there. If you are going $300 or up, there are some sweet bikes at local bike shops that are quite the sweetness. Anything less, I myself have done walmart.

I believe the bike you are looking at will work, but you will have maintenance issues frequently.

How about we ask you a few questions:

1. what is your target budget, and your absolute max expenditure? (you need a helmet too)
2. Given your commute mileage, how many miles per week do expect to log? (read weekend adventures)
3. What is the nearest major city?


Here in Seattle we have a cool shop that specializes in used bikes. They carry new too, but...
http://www.recycledcycles.com/sales.php

Not sure where you live, but you might look for a shop like the above.

Is this the bike that has mountain bike shifters mounted in some kludgy way onto drop handlebars? I actually considered a bike like this but one look at the shifters and I realized that it was not for me.

Shipping weight is 36+ lbs. What is the actual weight of the bike? If it's over thirty pounds then it is heavier than a lot of lowend road bikes from the 70's. Those bikes from the 70's were steel and would likely ride much smoother than the Denali.

I can understand somebody wanting a road bike and not comfortable buying used but I would consider a bike like this to be a short term trial. It is not worth putting decent components on. Buy this and save your money for a better bike down the road.

I agree with below 100%. I am sorry to upset all you Walmart lovers but most of their product comes from China and is crap. Check out some of the old cruisers and also some of the old 10 speeds from the 80's. These bikes were made as good as some of the custom bikes that you pay $1000+ for today. There is no reason you have to spend $500 to get a quality bike. I guarantee if you picked up a used 80's style lugged steel bike it will lasts multiple years beyond your Walmart special...and potentially end up cheaper.

THANK YOU!!

Honestly, I really really really think I WILL get into biking again, and in a couple of years we'll have the $$ to spend on a really nice bike (I make a lot of money, but my daughter's medical situation is eating it up right now). When that time comes, I'll hopefully know a little bit more about bikes, what I liked/didn't like about my Walmart bike, what I'm using it for, and I'll be coming here a lot more educated asking about $600 bikes!

I just kinda wanted to know whether I should wait and not buy a bike at all, or get this one. I'm toying with the idea of a used bike after some responses, but I'm a little leary and just overwhelmed.

I DO understand the sentiment about Walmart generally, and I don't shop there very often. I buy food at the farmer's market and local grocery stores. But sometimes Walmart just has the best deal :o

1. Not over $200. I bought a Bell helmet for $40, a pump for $10, and a lock for $20 already.
2. 10-15. I expect to bike to/from work most days, but not if the weather is bad or I don't feel like it (probably 80% of the time except in the winter and then not at all). I expect probably 1 weekend a month we'll go biking at a local park with a nice flat bike trail along the river. Maybe every 2 weekends or so I'll take the kids around the neighborhood for a few blocks. So not much!
3. My city has 300,000 people in it, Dallas is about 5 hours away.

Most of the anti-walmart posts are speaking to the piss-poor setup of their bikes.
Just recently there was a thread about a guy's wife who was riding her wally world bike down a hill and lost all brakes and crashed and hurt herself pretty bad. :injured:
Stupid, huh? Not when my life is at stake. :rolleyes:
What's bad is that the cheap prices attract newbs. But it's the newbs that don't have the foresight or mechanical skills necessary to make these bikes road worthy.

I disagree STRONGLY. Many friends of mine have been turned OFF from biking after having trouble with their walmart bikes. Like previously stated, most small bike shops will refuse to work on walmart bikes. I've had to fix a few of them myself and most of the time the parts to repair the bike is worth more than the bike itself.

To the OP: Let your neighbor know you want to buy a used bike and need to find out what size is right for you. If I was your neighbor, I would be more than happy to help with sizing and picking out a good bike for you. There are many sizing guides on the internet as well.

I would suggest you go for it and buy the bike at Wal-Mart. I would also recommend you pickup a copy of
http://www.amazon.com/Bicycling-Comp...rdr_bb_product
or a similar book.
Assuming you have a screwdriver and a wrench, you can pick-up other tools as you need them. This will give you the opportunity to learn to maintain your bike. Perhaps your neighbor will provide guidance when you get stuck. If you break something then the cost of replacement will be minor. If you do decide to upgrade down the road, you will know through experience what to look for, what to avoid, and most likely feel more confident.

Good luck with your acquisition, and your daughters health issues.
Hope this helps.
g

The Trek looks more than a little bit promising, jump on that fast.

Thanks! I'll get the book. My husband has a pretty good tool collection and when I get the bike, I'll have my neighbor look it over for assembly issues and to teach me about it. I'm sure I'll be back with other questions and to learn more from everyone here as I get more into biking!

Caroline,

This question has come up from time to time and to my surprise never really sparked much debate. But, as a fellow noob (newbie) here's my take.

1. I never have really quite understood all of the bike snobbery that is so rampant. I would think that most cycleists would be glad that there is "one less car" and someone is joining the ranks.

2. I have looked and looked on Craig's List without ANY Luck. All I have seen are bikes that flippers are listing, they are marginal bikes and listed at what I consider ridicuolus prices.

3. Not everyone cares to, or should drop by the LBS and plunk down $500.00 or mor eon a entry level bike.

4. Buying used might sound like an alternative, but then you end up buying something that needs alot of attention and the noob becomes disillusioned and quits.

Now, here's what I did. I bought my commuter from Target. But; I did ALOT of reading and research into what went into box store bikes and what went into LBS bikes.
The way that I shopped, I compared frames and components and decided not on the top of the line. But the best that I could afford.

You'll notice that alot of folks are eager to spend someone elses money!!

I read all I could get my hands on for the type of bike I was looking. Also, I read ALOT on as many bike parts store such as Nashbar, Jenson USA, Price Point and Performance Cycle. You'll quickly get a feel for what is top of the line, what is mid grade and what to avoid.

So, for $200.00 I got a Forge from Target (Forge framesets are made by Giant). It has Shimano drive train, Tourney RD, Shimano FD, Suntour crank , Kalloy adjustable stem, Pro MAx V Brakes, Kenda Tires, Shimano Mega Range gearset, Suntour Front Fork, Kalloy suspended seat post, Quando 36 spoke Hubs front and rear with 14 guage stainless spokes.

Is it the best? No, I have just over 500 TROUBLE FREE miles on it. I ride it to and from work. I have added some other items to it and feel that I have just as good of a bike as anyone. SO, do your due diligence, shop wisely and buy the best that YOU can afford and then enjoy yourself.

If your neighbor is willing to give it a good going over then I think that's half the battle.

From a safety standpoint, I don't think it's like the frame is going to suddenly implode or anything like that. It would mostly be inconvenient things like the chain dropping (falling off the gears) because a derailleur is out of adjustment. My son had the cranks (the arms that the pedals attach to) come loose on his Walmart bike. So if somebody who knows bikes checks it out then you should be OK.

At the kind of mileage your talking about the Walmart bike will probably do fine. You have to remember that some folks on this forum put thousands of miles on their bikes a year and ride in all kinds of weather. Having a component fail on you when you're miles from home when it's pouring rain or below 0 isn't something you really want to have happen.

I disagree with the poster that implies that buying a Trek vs. a Huffy is really about image and that it doesn't matter anyway since most people don't know the difference. This is a real difference in quality. But I also think that a big part of the difference in price is in the markup. Walmart can afford low margin products in a way that bike stores can't. So while there is a real difference in quality, you're paying a lot extra for the increased level of quality you're getting. That's why to me the real value is in buying used, but I understand that that is a risky proposition if you don't know much about bikes.

5 hours from Dallas? I will say this - our Texan members are some of the most bike-knowledgeable people who frequent this forum. There also seems to be a high proportion of Classic & Vintage bike enthusiasts from that state. If there are good quality, older bikes to be had (off of Craigslist) near you, they are going to know about them.

You might consider starting a thread in the Texas regional subforum. They're very community-minded. :)

With all due respect, it's not always about "snobbery".

That maybe very true, BUT do they have STP? :-) Are you riding it this weekend?

C162, I will level with you:

Generally, WM bikes are trash; there are just enough bikes sold by WM (between the stores and the '.com') to count good ones on fingers of one hand. On the upside, you have picked one that isn't trash.

The Paver is surprisingly sturdy (btw, you must be kinda tall!), and while I don't care for the ride, it would serve you. Detailed tuning is mandatory; most WM's do not have competent assemblers. If you have a neighbor who can help, by all means....

1 mile for a commute is irrelevant; you want to ride, ride!

I'm never going to celebrate someone buying a disposable product, whether it's a bicycle or a blender. I don't buy my bikes from a LBS, and don't recommend that anyone else do the same. I buy them used from other people. When I sell them, I get at least as much as I paid. Try that with your bike.

Yes, I am anti-WalMart, but mainly I'm just anti-cheap disposable goods.
If something is "all you can afford", you should probably NOT spend the money.

I agree with you Donna, to a point.

Maybe my choice of words was a bit heavy handed. But this is my point. There are MANY, MANY folks out there that want to get into riding but just can't drop the coin for the nicer harware you see at the typical LBS. I know, I went to three of them before I ended up making my purchase at Target.

I have seen posts by other folks asking similar questions only to get the standard, "avoid the box stores at all costs" speech.

My LBS is a decent shop, the first were cliqueish and if you weren't known or haven't bought you bike there, they didn't want to deal with you.

I live in an area that is frequented by quite a few Roadies and by all appearances, some damn good cyclists. I have yet to have one of these guys even give me the time of day. They seem to look down on my Box store monstrosity.

I'm just a guy who happens to really like riding bikes; I wish I could afford to drop some major coin on a new bike. But can't. It seems really unwise to spend $125.00 to $200.00 on CL for a 10 year old entry level LBS brand bike.

Hope this adds some clarity.

These are just a sampling, but as you can tell, many people hate anything associated with WalMart.

Caroline, talk with your neighbor as he is willing to help you get started. The one you had picked is a good bike for the price. Yes, yes, yes, you get what you pay for. But in your situation, it looks like a fine bike to start with. Especially since you are not sure you'll want to really continue. If they know of a good used bike in your price range, then go for it. But the Mongoose looks fine for what you want right now.

I do NOT support my "local" LBS, they won't give me the time of day - and yeah, I bought a bike from them. But at the time they were the only choice around that I knew of. I drive 20 miles (2 towns away) to another bike shop now. But I'm also not a WalMart basher - but I don't shop at WalMart because it is a pain in the a** to go there. I support free enterprise. My neighbor just got a WalMart bike, and that's fine with me. He now rides and that's what's important. I'm more than willing to help him with it.

I would recommend you pick up a copy of "Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance". It has a heck of a lot of good detail to maintain your bike yourself. It isn't cheap - $24.95, but it is very good. It can help you greatly when trying to figure out what is going on with your bike - and if your neighbor is a 'hard core rider', he may have a copy he'll let you use.

Get what you are comfortable with - $$$ and physically. It is a starter bike. Get out and ride it and after a few months or a couple of years get a better bike if that's what you want.