could it just be me why my bikes break?
 

MY dad and stepmom think so .then i started to think maybe it is me. every bike i have breaks down now i only have had walmrt bikes lately and usaly the rear freewheel just quits engaging the rear rim or the breaks tear up i was putting like 300 miles per month on them and never went off road

I'm going to have to side with the stepmom on this one.

Ok then plese tell me what i could be doing because i sure dont want to kill another bike

Not just you. Walmart bikes are like paper plates. They're practically a one-time-use item. I've had several and never got more than a few weeks out of one without mechanical failures of one kind or another.

It is weird im so carefull with them i store them in my liveing room and will walk if it is raining

>.< the green machine must be beaten to death in the rain, make it so.

when i was a kid we had something called a green machine it was like a big wheel but way more cool

Have you been getting the bikes fixed or just throwing them out when one part breaks?

Do you perform regular maintenance on your bike? Are you too heavy for it? Ride it when the wheels are not true or brakes not adjusted? Try asking specific questions in the Mechanics section. This type of question doesn't really give enough information about what's going wrong.

I am hefty i think im at 154 pounds but im only 5 foot 5 so i sure need to lose some weight. i tune my bikes up as i go and replace the cables.last thing that went wrong was the calipers little arm that turn the nut to engage pads to disk stripoed out

here is pic http://imageshack.us/a/img198/1020/dsc01456h.th.jpg

Yep, he's riding them past the expiration date...

I agree. These bikes aren't built with components that last. Most people buy them, ride them a few times then let them sit.

A friend bought a bike from Sports Authority for $150. Same thing happened- little parts on the brakes and other components broke. He trashed it, fixed up his '80s MTB and is good now.

Popup and a video advertisement, remind me to never click another imageshack link ever again.

Time for you to get ABP and Ghostery for your browsers.

Based on your posts ("freewheel quits engaging rear rim"???), I'd surmise that you're buying cheap bikes, riding them long/hard, not doing much preventative maintenance, and then when something breaks, trying to fix it with a pair of pliers. With predictable results.

If you're serious about this, you need to up your game. Buy a little better equipment, buy a good basic book of bike mechanics (I like the Park "Blue Book"), buy a few good tools, and and learn the basics of how to maintain and repair your bike, including knowing the proper names of components so you can describe problems on forums like this and get back good advice. Basically, start doing your homework.

Another approach is to start riding relatively bombproof bikes - heavy steel frame, rugged wheels, single speeds, coaster brakes, etc.

- Mark