Walmart & Target Bikes
 

Hi,

I'm in the market for a very cheap bike for commuting to class and errands. I'm looking through walmart and target and they have some incredibly inexpensive mountain and road bikes going for $100 - $150. In general, what is the consensus around here in terms of walmart bikes?

Obviously they won't be as good as a trek or fuji. But how are they if I lay off heavy trails and use it for only about a couple miles a week on mostly paved roads, and sometimes a little dirt?

I've tried searching all day, but the database seems to be corrupted, which is why I'm posting a new thread. Sorry if this is a saturated question. I also looked through the stickes and found no mention on mainstream bikes.

Thank You.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=237231
The above is a link to the "Review on the GMC Denali bicycle" (a wallmart bike) thread in the commuting forum.
It goes on for close to 30 pages, and covers the owners experiences for the last 1,500 or so miles, along with more opinions than one can shake a stick.

IMO you'd be much better off spending the same amount of money on a Craigslist bike. You have to be a bit careful and do a little research (Google etc.) but you can do so much better.
Beware though. I've seen some Wal Mart bikes on CL that were priced higher than in the store.

You can always ask here if you have any questions about a specific brand/model. If you post your city, we can help look for you.

WHAT THE HECK IS UP WITH THAT? :mad: :mad: :mad:

Do people think they can cheat other people or something? No offense to Wal-Mart bikers, but selling something higher than what the store sells it for is just incredibly...well, I don't have the adjective to describe it. It's just wrong, man.

Sorry, I've just seen happen too. Plenty of times. On CL :mad:

A rather cheap friend has had good luck with schwinn rangers from target. If there is a problem, they usually can't fix it and just give him a new one. He is on his third. bk

^^^There's your answer in a nutshell^^^

No.

yeah, i'd pick up something used before I bought a walmart bike

you can post an ad in your area and see what pops up...lots of people are sitting on nice bikes that never get ridden

Here's a bad example-
http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/bik/312447732.html
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...uct_id=2061609

And the new one has pedals:D

hehehehehe. you couldn't get consensus here in terms of is the earth round vs. flat.


i'd say, go cheap. you mention commuting to class. the more "beat-up" and worthless your bike looks, the better on a college campus (if that's the type of "class" you're referring to).

a few miles per week without mashing should be ok for most (some) xmart bikes. i had a huffy when i started riding. at the time, i was riding 15 road/path miles every day. bike lasted about a month before i started having routine, mechanical failures. so, a $150 bike lasted about 500 miles for me. a $200 bike from a chain sporting goods store lasted 2000 miles before it started falling apart (however, it needed constant warranty work during that time).

no major problems with my $400 trek 7300 after about 500 miles. however, it has been relegated to "back up" status now that i have a "real" bike.

That GMC Denali is a great bike for just beating around campus or commuting. As long as you overhaul/check everything before you start riding it. Bonus if you know how to do all this and have all the tools.

$100, the shimano tourney derailleur would've been 1/5 the cost of the bike right there. Good deal if you know exactly what you're looking for.

If you're only going to do a couple miles a week on paved with a little dirt thrown in, and if you still want some sort of professional service done to your bike, I would lean towards purchasing a bike from the LBS. Spend a few dollars more, get something like a Trek 3700, for around $300 dollars, which should hold up fairly easily to the type of riding that you described.

Well I guess I'll go to the bike shop and test out the Fuji Odessa 2.0. What do you guys think about that for $230? Thanks.

For the level of riding you're planning to do, I say it looks good from my view spectrum. Be sure to start saving the bucks because riding a bike can be very addictive, and before you know it, you'll be finding yourself riding further and harder than you originally planned; necessitating more and better bikes. :D

You know, the components on that bike aren't all that much better than the GMC Denali/Schwinn Varsity that wal mart sells. If you can work on the bike yourself, you could save a few bucks by going the wal mart route. Based on the GMC review linked to above, this would be a pretty good option if you're mechanically inclined and have time to spend tinkering.

Used bikes are also a really good option if you don't mind getting your hands dirty. Other than the bike my parents got me as a graduation present, all my bikes were purchased used and were more than 10 years old at the time of purchase. Many have been dumpster finds. It's important to remember that the cost of repairing an old bike can quickly become greater than the purchase price, particularly if you don't have access to used parts. Make sure that everything is in good working order when buying a used bike. I'm sure there's a checklist of things to look for when buying a used bike on the web somewhere.

On the other hand, if you can't/don't want to work on the bike and the Fuji comes with a warranty, the extra money will be well spent.

I really hate fixing things. I'm not a mechanical person at all. But even so, I really can't see myself breaking a walmart bike down after two years. I've owned 24" walmart bikes as a teenager and those lasted me many many years. And we were pretty brutal with those things.

You must be easier on bikes than you might think, my son can toast out a Walmart bike in an afternoon. I'm now fixing up the last bike we bought for our son, a full suspension Mongoose we bought from Target, but I still have to either true or replace the rear wheel and make some component upgrades before I begin riding it.

I haven't looked at them lately, but in the past, these bikes had VERY low quality bearings, many times the bearings didn't even have dust covers. The crank bearings were often open, and dirt gets in and they quickly start to grind, and that causes the pedal effort to go sky-high. If you ride when it's wet and there's no front fender, the front tire will throw water up into the lower-headset bearings, quickly rusting them out.

These bearings will end up wearing out or rusting rather soon, and often these parts are not standard types--so a "real" bike shop will not be able to get you replacement parts and Wal-Mart will be absolutely no help at all. When the wheel bearings go bad, the local bike shop often can't buy new bearings from anywhere--they will only be able to order you a whole new wheel (a lot of people suspect they're getting scammed when they take a wal-mart bike to the local bike shop for repairs and they hear stuff like this, but this is true). And the crank and headset bearings often can't really be fixed after they go bad at all.

My advice--don't buy a department-store bike.
You would be much better off looking in the want ads or craigslist for a 5+ yr old used bike that was expensive when it was new. If you do this--don't get one with shocks at all! A lot of old shocks you can't get parts for now, and they may be already worn out. Try to find one with a solid frame (no shock absorber) and if possible, get one with a solid fork too (although you can get a new fork put on for not too much money, if the rest of the bike is good but the suspension fork is worn out).
~

Fujis are great bikes. My son just got a Dynamite 1.0 (kids mtb) and loves it. Xbox bikes are disposable, if that is what you are looking for.

IF you are looking for a low cost bike, avoid any suspension. It's just going to probably cause problems in the future. Let your $ buy bike, not "frills".
IF you mostly plan to commute, you might want to get a bike that has tires more appropriate for pavement. Knobbies are MUCH more work to pedal. Bigger knobbies also give you a weight penalty. Every time you take off from a start, you have that much more weight to accelerate. It is noticeable.

+10 on everything Bill said. If you're going for a cheap bike, suspension adds an unnecessary cost AND unnecessary maintenance on top of it, too! If you're grabbing a mountain bike and ride mostly on paved asphalt, switch them to slick tires for easier pedaling and speed.

My brother picked up an 86 RockHopper (now my main bike) and it had Panaracer "Smoke" tires on both ends!
I get going as fast as I could and coast about 25 yards to a near stop!

http://www.nashbar.com/nashbar_photo...m/PA-SMKCK.gif

I was looking at something like that too this past summer, I was going to get an inexpensive mtb/hybrid, something under $300. Several bikes later, I realized I hate mtbs and hybrids, and both of my road bikes cost me less than what I was looking at.

http://velospace.org/node/2834

Used road bike. $225 for bike, $15 for new bar tape.

http://velospace.org/node/2335

Used road bike converted into a fixed gear. Bike was free. $165 for new track wheels, $50 for parts and labor at a shop, and $20 for the plastic BMX saddle.

You don't sound too interested in dealing with the mechanics of a bike, so maybe a conversion is not for you. Just realize that if you buy a Walmart bike that you're going to need to go to a shop anyways to get maintainence. You're better off just learning how to wrench on your own bike, and if you can wrench you can make a cheap old bike rideable. Or, just hang out on Craigslist and catch a bargain on a newish bike.

Granted that knobbies take more pedaling energy, but the OP is about 2 miles a week on pavement and some dirt, definitely not TdF territory, and I have ridden over 5 times that on a daily basis with knobbies(and lived). If the dirt portion of the ride has any steep incline to it and is going to be ridden when wet, I would rather ride 2 miles on asphalt with knobbies than try to climb several yards on wet dirt with slicks.