Mark4

Unfortunately, I think it's the "fancy" dept. store bikes that break more often than not. The cheap mtbs (no suspension), and the beach cruisers may be more reliable because they're simpler and closer to a 'basic bicycle'. There's not as much that can go wrong with them. If I had to ride a Walmart bike, I'd get one of their low-end models, and upgrade the derailleur.

SamHouston

That GT will ride like a dream compared to a Walleyed mart bike. If you want a ride that will be low maintanence and dependable spend a few hundred on a steel bike as mentioned above (Trek etc) with No suspension. Try to find a used one, it's not too hard to see the difference, all you have to do is look.

Look in a local landfill. What you don't want outnumbers what you do want in a bicycle at a 100 to one or better.

Sammyboy

You might try ebay. Thrift stores also seem to be a good source of cheap bikes if you shop around.

gpsblake

Rode my Walmart bike from South Carolina to Texas this past March and not a problem with it all except for flats, which any bike will have. My suggestion is to buy the Walmart Schwinn Sidewinder HARDTAIL (no back shock). It's a solid bike, weighs a ton, but built rather well. That's what I used. As with all Walmart bikes, you'll have to check the assembly and perhaps adjust the bike yourself. No biggie.

And I agree with you on LBS, they are pricey and I think part of the reason is LBS's don't want to deal with low end bikes with minimum profit margin. But if you are going to buy from an LBS, shop around. You'll be surprised how many of them have grossly high profit margins while you'll find some that have reasonable ones. It can save you 100's of dollars to shop around.

And beware of the LBS's that treat you like car salesman.

gpsblake

Our local Walmart starts at $8.00 and hour plus benefits. The local LBS pays high school kids $5.25 with no benefits to help out.

I rather support the Walmart.

tomcryar

Like I said.........My little roadmaster has given me three good years worth of service...Yes, a little heavy, but with the gears I can go as fast or slow as I want. The only things I've had to do is when I walked it out of walmart, I had to go through and make sure everything was tightened, the brakes were adjusted correctly, and it had enough G28.......I have alot of city miles on mine, and I would buy another one!

gpsblake

I rode one of those (Roadmaster) from Columbia, SC to Raleigh, NC on a bike trip back in 2001 almost straight up US 1. 250 miles in 4 days. $58 bucks plus 20 for the rack and 10 for the cyclometer. Mechnically, the bike was fine. The seat was uncomfortable for me though, which is an easy fix by just buying a new seat. Now if I were going to do technical off road riding, I wouldn't use this bike. But to use on the street, it's good. When I was done with this tour and had to catch Greyhound back to Columbia, rather than ship the bike back, I gave it to some guy in front of the state house. Cheaper just to buy another one then ship it back.

gudel

They have great prices on everything and ammunition. I buy winchester white box, 100 rounds value pack for my 45ACP and 9mm needs. You cannot beat $19.97 for 100 rds of 45 and $11.97 for 100 rds of 9mm ammo anywhere!

I bought my brother a mountain bike from Kmart for $100. No problem. Of course it doesn't shift as good or as smooth as my $600 Sirrus. but for a little kid, he's quite content with it. The bike made him go play outside as opposed to playing with the computer.

mike

gpsblake and tomcryer have had good experiences with the department store bikes - proving that they are not all bad.

My experience is that the bikes SHOULD be acceptable for light use as our two friends explained. You just have to be very careful when picking out your bike at the store to make sure that the components at lease visually look OK. Sometimes the workmanship is really shoddy like the rim I mentioned that was barely welded together at the seam - that was a failure waiting to happen to be sure. Often, the assembly is not good. Howeer, the department store bikes can be acceptable.

Has anybody had any experience with the new Schwinns? I am hoping they will be of the affordable and good quality catagory as is the tradition of the earlier Schwinns.

awunder

My buddy bought a Gary Fisher about 3 years ago. I don't think he paid more than $300 for it. He's had a lot of luck with it (other than a broken deraileur the first weekend he had it - but totally his fault!), and likes it a lot.

gpsblake

I assume you are talking about the Walmart Schwinn's. My tour to Texas this March took place on a Walmart Schwinn Sidewinder. Again, I had a great experience with the bike. 1950 miles on it with the tour. And when I was done with that tour, I simply gave that bike to charity in Abilene Texas and took the dog back home.

The one bike from Walmart am I not impressed with is their GMC Denali road bike for around 150 bucks.

Walmart bikes aren't for everyone. If you want to ride in pelotons, ride technical trails or fit in with roadies, these bikes are not for you.

Now at Dick's Sporting Goods, I see they are carrying some Schwinn road bikes again. Between 300 and 400 bucks. I might consider buying one of them next year but more for long distance day rides than anything else. I ride mostly for the exercise and the love of bicycling but once in a while, I do get the urge to actually see how fast I could go on a road bike. But the important thing is to ride and have fun.

And I agree with Mike, you need to check the assembly and quality of the bike before buying it at Walmart.

tomcryar

As with any purchase, you really do need to know what your looking at and be able to tell crap from stable........depending on what you want to do with your bike, do a little research and you'll be satisfied....It really does not matter what other people think--what's best for you is what you'll get the most satisfaction out of. (sorry for ending in a couple prepositions!)