A pdf version of why this Walmart has a bicycle shop

https://www.retailingtoday.com/upload..._Highland1.pdf

I think it's a great gesture by Walmart.

1) Having a bike shop keeps customers from pestering the guys in the auto tire shop.

2) I have noticed that some Wal Marts have non walmart stores like nail salons and other stores in their buildings. If someone were looking for a place to open a bike shop, maybe walmart is worth a look.

My guess is it's so they don't have to accept as many returns on the pre-assembled bikes in their stores.

No they are NOT the same product. Talk to the Scwhinn area reps and find that out. Talk to Levis and they have 501 bluejeans made for Walmart with different materials. Same label, different product. The CEO of Snapper lawnmower pulled all their products from Walmart for that reason. Walmart even told him where they could have their decks made a little lighter and sell them for less. He refused. (There was an article in either Inc. Magazine or Entrepenuer Magazine interviewing him) For that reason, I don't trust anything that comes from Walmart. I don't know that or if it's the same product.

Wal-Mart allianceSchwinn bikes sold at Walmart have a Walmart SKU, not Schwinn. Same as Sears Michelins. If the SKU/Model Number is the same, it's the same.

The Snappers sold at Walmart were EXACTLY the same as those available at local mower shops. Their CEO did not take them up on their suggestion to build them cheaper, but the ones sold were identical. The thing is, most mower shops would up sell to higher end models. They generally only ever have a couple low end ones in stock.

Are you or any any of the cited mechanics "certified"? That was the question, not could improvements or adjustments be made on a bike if reexamined after purchase (from anywhere), by someone with an ax to grind or profit to be made.

Do you honestly think the bikes from X-mart stores all come assembled to the same level as the average LBS? Do you also think that the average purchaser thinks that they do?


From an X-mart ad.

Maybe you should take better care of your gear???

The ONLY new bike I've EVER owned was a Walmart Huffy... I bought it with my first paycheck from my first job. I rode that bike EVERYWHERE for 2 and a half years... putting many thousands of miles on it. When I went into the Navy I gave it away.

Last time I was back home (over 8 years later) the guy was STILL riding that bike. It had a new seat and drivetrain, but he was still riding it. :shrug:

To save BF members vast amounts of time spent typing, couldn't the powers that be make a smiley with the following message.
"WalMart is evil blah, blah, blah."

I honestly believe that a handful of bike enthusiasts and/or LBS connected personnel who obsessively wail about the evils of $69-$129 bikes sold at Big Box stores not meeting the same standards as mega dollar bikes sold at their favorite LBS are not exactly an unbiased source of info about the relative value of bicycles.

Nor are the enthusiasts and LBS connected posters' interests and needs identical, or necessarily even close, to the typical purchasers/users of inexpensive bikes purchased at Big box/department stores.

If putting a shop in the Wal-Mart helps them to assemble bikes more safely (a cousin had his spleen ruptured when the front wheel fell of his new x-mart bike), I am all for it. Like it or not, and I am certainly a not, Wal-Mart and other big boxes are where the majority of bikes are sold in the US. It would be nice if more of those bikes were more carefully assembled and maintained.

That said, my major objection to Wal-Mart bikes (and most Wal-Mart stuff) is that are really not all that good a value in my estimation. I doubt a new display will change that much.

Care to address the backwards fork in the big box ad? Is that part of a conspiracy too?

Fwiw, the x-mart bikes where I live often have backwards forks, brake cables which go into the rear spokes, brakes which don't work properly, and QR skewers which aren't tightened correctly. It's frightening.

This is the most naive and ignorant thing i've read so far. Walmart employees (not trained bicycle mechanics are paid piece work to assemble as many bikes as possible. You bet your ass nothing is going to be adjusted properly and only the shoddiest of assemblies done.

Sure you could say the same for some LBS's. But at least they have REAL mechanics who do this job. There's no such thing as "relative" value. The $69-$129 bicycles will get people around maybe. Assuming something isn't so far out of whack as to render a repair uneconomical given the cost of the bike.

Walmart and big box retailers were never interested in servicing their bikes - because they know they are ****. The cost of doing a repair on a CCM or a supercycle with even basic problems will be too much for anyone who thinks "real bikes" can be bought for $100 new.

If I go into any LBS and ask for a 3spd bike with aluminum frame for a buck and a quarter, they won't be able to touch it, even if I offer to take a boxed one they haven't put a minute's worth of labor into. That's how Walmart should sell their bikes too. In boxes with "some assembly required" instructions. People who can't do it, can take it to their LBS (or neigbor's kid) and pay the freight for assembly.

BTW, I was sold a "real bike" with a loose BB by an LBS who wasn't so local. You think he could at least sell me the wrench to pull it apart for a decent price?

Posted like a Real Cyclist who thinks he knows all about the needs and capabilities of the Untermensch who don't have the smarts like himself to get their Real Bicycles from a Real Retailer.

You don't need to know jack**** about needs and capabilities to realize that a poorly assembled cheap bike is a poorly assembled cheap bike.

Maybe you are too much of a moron to know that. In that case I truly feel sorry for you.

What a hoot. Years ago I was told the department store bikes were "cheap" because the frames were made in Taiwan...

And a selection of over priced bikes, inappropriate for the casual riding of most bicyclists, that will never be considered for purchase, let alone ridden by the public is just the ticket for the Real Bicyclist Crowd and the Jacks who worship US LBS Retailing Concepts - Cheap and/or inexpensive bikes are spawned by Satan; only a baptism by an LBS wrench can redeem them, eh?

You mean Yugo, don't you? I don't know what a Hugo is. Maybe I'm just out of the loop. Or maybe it's the walmart version of a Yugo?

One issue is that GE sold their small appliance division a bizillion years ago to Black and Decker, who has had some Chinese company make them for them. Black and Decker bought the GE small appliance name for a 25 year period which is about to end, so GE small appliances will disappear soon just like GE\RCA TV's did. Your right though, they do have some products made specifically for them by the big names just like many other places, only instead of putting the Walmart name on it, they leave the manufacturers name on it for better marketing.

One thing you'll find is that Walmart doesn't sell "tall" bikes. Frames all tend to be on the small end. I ran into this at Academy as well. They had a nice cruiser-type bike similar to the one above. I'm 6'-2" and it was just too small, regardless of seat adjustment. In other words, of zero value to me.

As for having a bike shop in a Walmart, I don't think it's a workable idea with the way they do business. If they pay experienced people a decent wage to assemble, they won't be selling $39.95 bikes like other Walmarts do. And if they have a "bike shop" with some guys marginally able to fix a flat, it doesn't count for much.

Over here we have a company called Halfords. They do sell a few higher name brands aswell as the cheap fallaprt when you sit on them "Starter" bikes. Unfortunately- The staff are are in the cheaper fall apart bracket. They have no knowledge of bikes-Have no inclination to sell the right bikes and the preparation of the bikes does leave a lot to be desired. What is more- The prices are not that cheap and no possiblity of a discounted price.

My LBS is not far from a Halfords store and they found that they were not selling many bikes and nearly closed. That has now turned round and the dissatisfied Halford customers have realised that they are not getting the product, information or after sales from Halfords and are going to the LBS.

Wallymart have a long way to go before they can beat a specialist shop and although it will hit the local traders- They will realise their mistake and get back to where- knowledge and service counts. Problem is how many LBS will close in the meantime.

You probably have at least 3 times as many avid cyclists in Sussex as we do here. When I was a kid, I lived on my bike. Wherever I was, my bike was there. Not so with kids here today. I don't know why, but that's reality. We've also transformed into a "throw away" form of consumption. Quality comes after function and low price. I can't blame manufacturers for building this junk, or retailers for selling it, because that's what our fickle consumers demand.

Our LBS are generally opened by enthusiasts who like to cater to others who appreciate quality equipment, but there aren't enough to of them to keep the shops in business. So, they also carry lower end stuff to keep the neophytes coming in. Trouble is, they obviously can't compete with the big box store on price, and these low end consumers don't care about quality.

IMO, the consumers really do get what they pay for in a Walmart bike. They're purchased as a kid's first or second bike, which is quickly outgrown, or they only ride at a leisurely pace, once in a while. Even cheap bikes can last for many years under those conditions. Until more people around here take to riding bikes, and our consumers start to care about quality, our local bike shops are going to have an uphill battle.

I wish they would start selling "cheap" bikes like the Raleigh Sprite again. There are still tons of those things around, as they were heavy but well built machines. My girlfriend rides one from the 70s, and it is a great bike for getting around. The bikes at department stores often include too many non-functional and problematic "features", such as pogo stick, steel coil "suspension" systems. That kind of bike is just junk, and won't last all that long.

My Raleigh Sports cost me $137.00 in 1968, so they weren't particularly low cost. Mine is still functioning today, though. Frequently, it is cheaper to buy quality once, than to buy inferior products over and over. Especially when you finally end up buying the quality product anyway! But, sometimes it doesn't work out that way. I bought a small saber saw from Sears about 30 years ago for $8.88. You can imagine, it isn't the greatest "quality", but it's still performing intermittent duty today, and it has been used in a few renovations.