txvintage

I hope the rider posts another update, even though I can understand if he doesn't.

If one starts at the beginning of the thread, a request was made that someone who owns one to please post a report. The gentleman met the request and has received some serious grief for having done so. Sad.

I generally try and steer friends to used bikes with the offer to help with fit and tuneup if necessary. I agree that if this bike has held up, it makes a nice alternative at a great price for an entry level commuter.

gpsblake

Update:

Haven't had a single breakdown at all with the Paver since my last report. No flats or anything else except for an adjustment here and there. Been riding both my Walmart Mongoose Paver (1,600 miles on it so far) & my Walmart Schwinn Skyliner (1,112 miles this year and over 2,000 total since last year on it) lately. Been using the Paver mostly for town errands now and riding the Skyliner for longer distances.

Switched the rack the Paver came with a larger one..... just out of preference, nothing wrong with the old one.

Just the pedal cracking has been my only problem with the Paver, which occured around the 1000 miles mark. Haven't had a single problem with the Walmart Schwinn Skyliner, **ever**. Rode the Skyliner a total of 60 miles this weekend.

Will have to replace the wheels on the Skyliner & Paver in a few hundred miles... something any bicycle on the planet needs from time to time.

wahoonc

Why so soon? I still have the OEM wheels on my 1971 Raleigh Sports and they have over 15,000 miles on them. In all my years of riding I have only replaced wheels for one of two reasons, damaged beyond repair due to a crash or worn a sidewall out from braking.

Aaron

txvintage

Quite possibly he means the tires. Just speculation though.

It sounds like the bike is holding up rather well, all in all.

Brian T.

this thing is still going????!!!!

gpsblake

Thanks, I did mean just the tires, not the wheels themselves. My bad.

I could just rotate the front tires with the rear tires but I've read many opinions that perhaps it's not a good idea to rotate them. Anyone else rotate tires here or just buy two new ones??

BarracksSi

If I buy just one tire, I put it on the front, rotate the old front tire to the rear, and get rid of the old rear tire. Keep the best/freshest tire in front for better braking and cornering security.

Beccaree

I have the women's version of the skyliner. I bought it a couple of months ago. I have over 200 miles on it. I haven't had a problem with it. It's a smooth ride.

HandsomeRyan

Wow, I can't believe this thread is still going!

My sister-in-law and another firend both purchased mongoose pavers from wally-world as it seemed to be the best value for their extremely limited budgets.

My friend commutes to work on his and I think he likes it okay. Sometimes I let him ride my greenway bike (Raleigh Detour Deluxe) and I think he is starting to understand what the differences between a $120 bike and a $800+ bike are. His deraileur keeps giving him trouble and even after another ex-bikeshop mechanic friend adjusted it it still is a little 'off'. Otherwise I believe he is pretty happy with the bike. I think some flat MTB bars would be an improvement for him as he is 6'2" and his knees almost hit the swept back handlebars that came on the bike. The frame is also a little small for him but otherwise I think this bike will get him through until he decided to stop riding or make an investment in a nicer bike.

My sister-in-law has not ridden her bike as much so I don't have much of a report to offer about her experience with the bike.

wahoonc

That is my general philosophy too when it comes to tires. One possible exception is on my expedtion bike where I run two different tires.

Aaron

gpsblake

That makes sense, thanks.

InTheTrenches

And the opinion of someone with such limited knowledge of bicycles that wheel=tire has validity?

This is the same as the guy that that claims his car runs great he just pushes it down the hill and it cranks right up after popping the clutch about half way down.

This whole thread would be a littel easier to believe if I had not spent the last month trying to make Schwinns(Pacific), Murrays, Huffys, Kents, etc work well enough to pass standard for an acceptable ride.

Which brings up another point. If you are happy with your lowend junkbox, great. Just do not compare it a quality bike that you have NO experience with. I was happy with my FreeSpirit until I got on a freinds Univega. WORLD of difference.

I am pretty sure, after rereading this thread, thatthe only guys left are those patting each other on the back for buying a cheap ****ty bike and the occsional sensible guy checking to make sure the inmates are not in charge.

In conclusion: A guy that does not know the difference between a tire and a wheel, probably cannot set up is bicycle computer correctly either. Your mileage may vary from reality.

chephy

If you want to go into running analogy, then if we're trying to discourage anything, it's not taking a rest when you need to. It's running in flip-flops.

TalkingHead

what the hell?

that can only be mail order.

you dare wont' find a product that expensive in-store at walmart. Except maybe, maybe in the TV's


looks decent, but better bike's to bad had elsewhere.

I can just see the faces of the avg joe wanting a bicycle who stumbles on that Carbon fiber bike in a walmart..

TalkingHead

gps blake why not buy some cheap platforms made out of something other then plastic?

i used the plastic pedals on my trek the first 50 miles, then i noticed it had a crack. And ordered a set of Wellgo ATB platforms, should last the life time of the bike for 25 bucks

wahoonc

They only have one...and it is going to be sold at that new upscale Walmart Bike Shop in Texas

Aaron

NJfolder

I just want to say I've enjoyed reading gpsblake's posts. Certainly has been educational. I avoided buying a Wal-Mart or Target bike because I thought they were junk so I bought a Specialized Myka MTB at the LBS for around $350 about a month ago. I'm very happy with the bike, but I might pick up the Schwinn Skyliner as just an extra bike. Does Mongoose make a women's version of the Paver? I searched online but didn't find anything.

HandsomeRyan

There is no female-specific version but the frame is uni-sex and unless you are unusually short you should have no problem riding one. My friend who is 6'3" is a little cramped but my sister-in-law who is about 5'5" is comfortable on the bike.

JPradun

I was in Target the other day and this lady and her husband were trying on helmets for their daughter. They had it on backwards. I went back and had to tell them how to put it on, and that the big foam thing goes in back...just look at the picture on the wall showing you how.

The husband goes "see, told you! I knew it!"

Make something idiot proof and someone will make a better idiot.

pianoman1050

I actually found this discussion helpful for the purpose if deciding on a purchase at xmart. ..
I picked up one of these 700c Mongoose Pavers and did so for one reason ....well , one reason that is two-fold.
After riding various 26" tire style mountain bikes...the last of which was a "quality" bike shop model,
I wanted a commuter type bike that took less effort and didnt sound like an off road 4x4 monster truck against the pavement.
I am on a very tight budget and since you cant install 700c wheels on a mountain bike...i figure i will work the opposite direction. Found the cheapest way to get into a 700c frame. And i can upgrade along the way...yes i know , just buy a good bike with quality components and be done. Cant afford it and i need a bike now.
So....130 dollars later ...i took all the decals off of mine.( looks much cooler that way ).
And wow..are these wheels plastic?? hahahaha that is scary. had to go to 3 walmarts to find the one with the truest wheels. i plan to replace the handlebars first with a flat style bar...hopefully the extra long cables wont stick out too much....then perhaps a longer seatpost. and when i can afford it 2 new wheels that are not plastic.

Sixty Fiver

I bash x-mart's bike shaped objects because most of them deserve to be crushed and recycled into something more useful.

It is nice to see that there are some efforts being made to provide higher quality bikes that should offer a good service life and not pose a safety risk to their owners and if they could also pay more attention to assembly and set up they would not get so much flak.

I was out for a ride with my daughters and nieces tonight and met a fellow with new Canadian Tire road bike... he asked if I had any tools as his brand new bike had a stem that was dangerously loose.

How does someone miss this ?

The lack of QC in assembly is one of my biggest issues...when I was in high school I assembled bikes for Canadian Tire and at this time their bikes were of decent quality and was paid to ensure that the bikes were set up properly as they arrived in a nearly complete state.

We were paid $10.00 per bike and my work partner would rush through his checks and put twice as many bikes out as me but if a bike was returned for failed assembly, this came out of our pay.

The owner of the store expected us to complete 1 bike an hour and never pressured us to rush anything... he was a quality guy and if there was a bike that needed more work, he'd pay us more even if he ended up losing a little on the final sale.

If a bike came back we had to service it for free... my bikes never came back.

JanMM

Plastic? What part of the wheel is plastic?

degnaw

The saddle on my cross bike broke after just 250 miles after crashing it at 30mph. It must be really poor quality!

stapfam

I went to my LBS last saturday to sort a new bike for a friend. Bike was sorted and as it was not built up yet- He will be picking it up next week. When he picks it up- They will be fitting the bike to him- as this is his first bike.

But while he was buying it- he bought a helmet. This was fitted to him in the shop. All newcomers get this fitting of helmets and bike. Experienced bikers only get this service if they ask.

And in the shop was a brand new GT mountain bike bought from a chain- store. It was in because it is unsafe. The bike has so many faults on it- that the owner did not want the chainstore to correct them. It will be costing him £75 to Correctly set up the brakes- the gears- and the front end. The headset was tightened so much that the Bearings have been compressed and they need changing.

It might be possible to find a good bargain at a chain store- but I would not trust that it has been assembled properly by a Bike mechanic- or even someone that understands bikes.

Doug5150

I don't wear a helmet, couldn't care less about that.

-------

I do not generally advise anyone buy a department-store bike unless I know that they will ride it very, very little.

I do know some older people like this; they occasionally ride around the neighborhood when the weather's nice. They go very slow and don't ever go very far. A Wal-Mart bike is very inexpensive, and could work very well for them. Even if the bike's pitifully-cheap wheel bearings only had a 50-75 mile lifespan, it would take them many years to put that much wear on it,,,,,,, Though I think they would be a LOT happier with a IGH, that cheapo places don't sell.

I am not 100% certain about how it's done in the UK, but in the USA, Wal-Mart does very little assembling of bikes.

I have ordered Wal-Mart bikes as cut-up projects before.
The last time I got one, I didn't pay the assembly fee (because I would be taking it apart and cutting up the frame anyway, to use the frame pieces). So the bike came in its original shipping box. When I got it home and pulled it out, the only assembly necessary was to attach the front wheel and handlebars. Everything else was already done; the handbrake and shift levers for example were already attached (generally) in their proper positions.

Most of the assembly of the bikes is done in the far East, China, Taiwan or wherever it is that the bikes were packed. To be fair, Wal-Mart employees aren't hired because they know anything about bicycles--and even if they did, they aren't given time to look the whole thing over and adjust it better than it came from the shipper.

It is an issue for the uninformed buyer, and warning them about it isn't out of line--but it's not really "Wal-Mart's" deficiency.
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