blickblocks

It's interesting that I'm at the point where I just ordered a crank that costs as much as that bike...

As a designer, I get really frustrated at the kind of bicycles that these stores seem to be selling. Clearly the marketing departments at these bicycle companies are too focused on delivering image and not product. Even at $150 it should be possible to build an adequate bicycle if choosing parts intelligently. Make a singlespeed coaster brake bike, have a version with drops and road tires and another with promenade bars and cruiser tires. Use the money saved in derailers, suspension, assembly, etc. for higher quality parts.

A lot of cyclists that ride out of necessity are simply looking for the least expensive vehicle possible. Why bombard them with poor quality parts that you know are going to break?

making

Quality is not what people who shop there look for.

blickblocks

Clearly you didn't read my post or are just belligerent.

gpsblake

wahoonc,

I'll agree that's bad. I've never seen that model at Walmart but I'm assuming that's where they are sold at. Did that horn come with it???

If I saw one like that at any store, I would immediately notify them to remove them from the shelf.

wild animals

wellll, i told a friend of mine, "i'll help you find a nice used bike that will be awesome for you." and she said, "i saw one at target for like $120 that has shocks and suspension and like 30 speeds so i am going to get one of those." she would not be deterred! her criteria were as follows:
*shocks
*lots of speeds

so i think walmart and target are really giving people what they're lookin for. whether it's the best means to people's desired end (heh), i am not so sure. i'm not saying that i know what is best for people, but i am saying that some (many?) people buy a bike with a checklist of parts instead of a checklist of function. instead of "i want a bike that's comfortable," it's "i want a bike with shocks." so they might find the bike they were looking for, but it might not do what they wanted it to. it doesn't matter if there's a simple, high-quality singlespeed there or not; my friend, for instance, wouldn't have looked twice at it.

it does suck because a lot of the bikes (all of the cheap bikes i have owned) have problems. that can be really discouraging, especially for someone who doesn't know anything about fixing, adjusting or maintaining a bike. i wish more people knew more about bikes, because then if you DID get a cheap bike, you'd be better able to take care of it, but you'd also see through the fancy features that seem nice at first but actually don't suit what you want to do. there'd be a bigger market for practical bikes. without those insane shocks all over, the bike could be cheaper, or the derailleurs could be nicer. or the bike might come with a book telling how to adjust the derailleurs and brakes, how to change a flat tube.

i know a lot of people are happy with their walmart bikes, but i know a lot of people AREN'T happy with them, too. i think there'd be more of the former camp if people knew enough about bikes to pick what they need, and fix the little adjustment & maintenance problems that come up (instead of thinking that the bike itself is crappy). it'd probably be in pacific bikes' best interest to attach a pamphlet about bike care to each bike. then again, maybe it's a lawsuit waiting to happen. aside from that, it'd be educational for a lot of people, and probably up their satisfaction level.

making

I am sorry, I did not intend to be belligerent. I dont believe anyone that shops at Wal*mart is looking for quality. Occassionally I can find quality stuff real cheap but it is pretty rare. My wife makes me shop for food with her there all the time.

wahoonc

No the horn and flag (long white pole on the left rear) were add ons. The local WM's and the Super Kmart both carry this bike or one very similar to it. For whatever reason the Kmart one has a different name and chrome fenders. I did tell the store manager about the ones with the broken welds, but I am willing to bet that they are still on the rack. FWIW the plant has another slightly older fleet of Huffy Cranbrooks in black that are better built. I suspect that WM must have lowered the price point and the Chinese responded, with this being the end result. I have been riding and wrenching for over 35 years and this has got to be one of the cheapest built bicycles I have ever seen. Every year it seems they stoop to a new low...wonder what next year will bring?

Aaron

making

700c Men's Technica Flat Bar Road Bike

$250.00
Was $477.00


The Techinca Alumina offers the most practical performance package on the market
Free shipping to your store.

These were in the toy section of the sale add I just got on AOL mail. what do you think? Actually look like OK bikes for the money.




26" Mens' Technica C5 Carbon All Terrain Bike
$300.00
Was $477.00

totoroben

I actually saw a road bicycle at Target a few years ago. It was all chromed out. Apparently the shinier you can make the sprockets and chain, the more expensive they appear? I guess that was their reasoning. I forget if it was a Huffy or not.

blickblocks

If you read my post, it's clear that my point is that the people who shop at Walmart simply look for the lowest price. It is possible to build a simple, reasonable quality bicycle at those prices, and it would behoove Walmart to offer one.

gpsblake

300 miles on Mongoose so far after 20 days of ownership. I had to make a small adjustment to the rear derailuer cable and greased the chain (normal maintenance). Other than that, no problems.

Catweazle

I recently went for a ride on a five or six year old example of one of those 'target bikes with shocks'. It'd been sold for a higher price back then than now, but it had the same standard of shocks that really cheap bikes from there sport now. It'd been looked after enough that the wheels were still straight and the gears could still change smoothly, and after taking it for 25 miles or so around the countryside I have to say that the only thing "not comfortable" about it was the fact that the saddle didn't suit my arse-bones. Sure, it was a slowish ride, but hey. Plenty enough people around who never get their bums off the seat.

I have trouble comprehending the vehemence of opposition to the "any shocker is better than no shocker" approach to shopping.

Years ago my old Dad used to race bone-rattling Indian motor bikes, in which the only 'suspension' was maybe a few springs under the saddle. He'd scoff at the idea that everybody should choose a bone-rattler over a bike with cheap, ****ty suspension. Years later (but still a long time ago) I used to regularly swap in decent after-market suspensions to any vehicle I planned to keep for a while, in days when cars were nearly all sold with ****ty suspensions.

And if people today want that softer ride in their budget pushbike then so what? Far as I'm concerned it's the quality of wheels and gears which is the biggest problem with them. The challenge, to my way of thinking, isn't to change the mind of all those potential customers regarding what it is they want. Instead, the challenge is to ensure that those cheap bikes with cheap suspensions have decent enough wheels, gear changes and so on to ensure that they remain rideable after the first few rides!

Trucker_JDub

I have a friend of mine that for the first time decided he wanted to go on a ride with me. He said he had a nice bike he hadn't ridden in a few years. When he showed up at my house I was finishing up my pre-ride checks and cleaning when he pulled in. Out of his truck came a full shock 'Next' bike ( I barely contained my comments). It was as Wally Mart as it gets. We road for just over 2 miles and I stopped to make a couple adjustments to his bike for him. After I adjusted things it worked great for him but as we road I'm watching all of the suspension flexing under his 150 lbs and listening to the bearings creaking. The grip shifted derailers miss shifting. The chain rattling against the chain stay. And a ton of other things that can't be fixed with my under seat tool kit. At one point he told me that I should look into a full shock bike because it rides so much smoother down the road. I was on my Specialized Allez tipple and we where only on pavement. I have owned my share of box store bikes (there is a full shock Mongoose WalMart edition in my garage right now; not that it ever gets ridden) but I always understood that what I was on was garbage when I was riding those bikes.

I-Like-To-Bike

Heavens! It would be shocking, shocking and so uncool for you to ride that full shock Mongoose WalMart edition in your garage. No, far better that you inform your friend, and the world that you consider their bicycles garbage and unworthy of being blessed by your butt.

gpsblake

Update. 600 miles on Mongoose Paver now. Haven't had to make any adjustments since 3/28 update. Oiled the chain using transmission fluid.

One flat though, ran over a nail like object on a dirt road about 10 miles from house, was dumb enough not to carry spare during that ride so had to be rescued. I simply replaced the tube & checked rim for damage finding none. Riding on dirt roads is also when I miss not having any front shocks.

Going to do a simple overnight tour on this bicycle soon, around 100 miles round-trip, nothing big. I'll give another report at the 1,000 mile mark.

ConstantRider

Check the serial numbers on those. Huffy recalled a bunch that were sold through Wal-Mart a few years ago.

Rogue Leader

Aren't these wheels and tires worth more than the bike in total?

https://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...uct_id=3663046

I just cant imagine a road bike this cheap....

atbman

We've just bought 4 650c 18" frame road bikes from ToysRUs for £70 apiece (reduced from £120) for our kids club members to try road riding. Basic shimano tourney rear shifter, triple chainrings, indexed downtube shifters. Some minor problems when assembling them (rear brake cable too long in some cases making braking a bit hard, but easily rectified), one wheel not properly trued, etc., but for the price, remarkable value.

We'll use them to seduce them into riding them on our purpose designed road circuit (just under 0.5 mile). It saves the parents from having to splash out on more bikes, until their kids get the racing bug. We've already done this with some 24" wheel Decathlon brand bikes and the kids love the speed, compared with the heavy mtbs that manyof them ride. Wonder if that's why we took 8 competitors to the national schools roller racing champs and came back with 2 golds, 2 silvers, 2 bronze and 2 fourth places, including a clean podium sweep in the U12s inc. a new national schools record. (Sorry, irresistible smugness outbreak)

It's not my fault if their mums/dads/grandparents find themselves spending their hard-earned bread on Trek, Giant, etc. as they begin to learn what really good bikes can be like

gpsblake

Check out the Treks also if you buy used, they've had several problems with frames falling apart and government backed recalls.

And Trek recalled a bunch of girl bicycles due to frame failure.

Or how about this high end bicycle recall?

Giant bicycle recalls... (noticed the made in China)

or this Giant recall


Cannondale also has a history of recalls for defective bicycles...

I'm sure they all can.... my point is regardless if you buy a Huffy, Cannondale, Giant or Trek.... it can be defective.

-----------------------


Atbman,

I bought a road bike at Walmart for $99, something called a Dekra... and it works well (great actually) although I don't like the harsh ride of a roadbike. Is that what you got in your deal with them?

abmtnbkr

Gpsblake, thanks for the steady updates on your Mongoose and good point about major bicycle manufacturers having recalls too. Now,... how in the world did you apply the transmission fluid to your chain?

atbman

Can't remember the brand name on the bikes, but they seem ok. Haven't ridden them myself - 18" frames are a bit below my size. We'll find out more when the kids of the right size start using them in practice and competition. I suspect that ToysRUs bought them expecting rather more sales at £120 (about $240 at current rate of exchange) than they had, just as Decathlon (French-based sports superstore chain) dropped their prices for the 24" from £119 to £62 to £31. I think they were just a bit before their time as kids road bikes are now beginning to be more popular and circuit racing for U8s, U10, U12s is becoming increasingly common.

It has certainly picked up since our little 0.5mile circuit was re-designed and rebuilt.

As I said, quality isn't brilliant, but is reasonable for introducing the 9-13 age group to the delights of cirucit racing and time trialling.

gpsblake

I try to give the bicycle a real good bath after 250 miles or about a months riding at the car wash. Then I take a rag soiled in transmission fluid & a pair of latex-like gloves to grease the chain using transmission fluid.

flameburns623

The vast majority of people who made New Year's resolutions this past January barely remember those resolutions now. The vast majority of people who went forward for a Billy-Graham type crusade last year have not lived up to their promises to God. The vast majority of people who lost 10 or 20 pounds last April on the Cabbage Soup, Atkins, or Weight-Watchers diet have since gained 15 to 25 pounds over their original starting weight. And the vast majority of people who bought bikes at any price last year, intending to 'get in shape', have not so much as looked at those bikes since about 60 days after buying them--and never will again. Unless fuel prices drive them to give up their cars, which may very well begin to happen the way things are looking.

So all of this angst over crappy bikes sold by X-Mart is so much sound and fury. Most folks, in Western culture are faddist who drift from one 'newest, greatest thing' to another. Most of them are poseurs and wannabes who will move on to the next 'newest, greatest thing' as soon as the freshness wears off the current thing. Given that, one cannot be overly concerned that folks are buying low-end, low-quality mock-ups of serious bikes: they don't need 'serious' bikes, will never need them, and would be wasting their money buying them.

That said, is is nice that the OP has found one bike that most of the 'serious' riders on this thread are reasonably impressed by. After all, while the majority of folks will never take up cycling seriously, some will, and some of those folks need to know that if their budget is really tight and they can't readily find a used quality bike--the local department store may have one or two bikes that will fit their needs for a time.

My thoughts.

Feldman

Sports Authority is showing a commuter-ish bike in their Sunday paper ad inserts. Could we be seeing a response to the rise in gas prices already? The Target helmet display is a GREAT thing to see!

gpsblake

1,007.81 mile update on Mongoose Paver. To the disappointment of cyclo-supremacists and narcissists, the bicycle is holding up just fine, just like I knew it would. The only problem, which I discovered just today, is a crack in the left pedal of the bicycle.



So I'll have to fork out a few dollars and spend about 10 minutes replacing the pedals later today.

It's also due for a washing and lube job.. Stuff any bicycle requires.

Bicycle does exactly what it says it will do, makes a fine commuter, nothing fancy and it's slow compared to a bicycle costing 10 times more.

The new Target in Lexington SC also has the nice helmet display.