ArBikeGuy

Hey guys - new here - waves!!!

I can go into details if you need but here is the scenario.

Wife bought a WalMart bike - Roadmaster (against my wishes - I had a Klein at one time).
I got on it when she brought it home to ride it - about 2 minutes of riding to make sure
nothing was going to fall off. I adjusted her seat for her - and thats its. She rode around
about 4-5 times with seemingly no problems on level ground - no hills...remember no hills.

Well one day without me knowing she went to ride the bike (now about 2 weeks old) and walked
up a street with a hill. She got to the top - started going down and grabbed both
brakes to slow her decent - AND NOTHING....she went down the hill with both brakes grasped
completely down and no slowing down at all. She tried to take the turn at the bottom but
hit the curb - breaking and dislocating her arm and had many scrapes and bruises.

Fast forward -
Talked to Wal-Mart Corporate - had store take pictures and a report
Bicycle company called and had an investigator come out to look at it
I had a friend - a certified bicycle mechanic look at it - he said it looked like improper brake assembly.

To Now -

I am waiting to see what the investigator and company come up with on this thing. My guess is that
the brakes were not adjusted tight enough - you could squeeze them to the handle bar.
What are my chances of them actually saying that it was an assembly problem?
Do I need to get a lawyer?
My wife was in the ER twice and had surgery to put pins in her elbow...

Anyone heard of any other cases of accidents from Toy Store Bicycles?

Thanks !

goldfishin

uh. with their crappy bikes you ought to have tested the brakes first. considering the brakes worked fine for two weeks it was probably something you did though.

richardmasoner

Improperly assembled WalMart bikes make the news on occasion. In this instance, the handlebar wasn't properly installed -- the kid rode his bike for the first time and the handlebar came clean out of the steerer tube, according to the suit. In this suit, a kid cruised across an intersection and was hit by a car after his brakes failed on his brand new WalMart bike. And there was a group formed to get WalMart to stop selling QR equipped bicycles. More at

https://www.shokmoms.org/

Marlin

My brother assemble bikes for dept. stores a few years ago. Here is a comment he made about another assembler.

"I worked with one guy whose solution
to squeaky brakes was to put a couple drops
of oil on his finger and wipe it around the rim."

Something to be aware of.

RCordone

I'm sorry about your wife, and my sincere best wishes for her recovery.

However that $150 difference between a LBS prepped bike and one prepped by a moron doesn't seem like such a great deal anymore does it?

rower

I buy a lot of things at Walmart, but many of their bikes are substandard and put together buy folks inexperienced in bicycle assembly. I looked at A schwinn road bike at WM and it was scary to think about
riding it anywhere.

roadfix

I'm sorry to hear about your wife's accident.

But I'm puzzled as to why you didn't examine and test the brakes? My brother bought his wife a bike from Costco some years back and he asked me to make minor adjustments on it and the brakes were the very first thing I looked at and made adjustments to even before taking it on a test ride.

Mr. Beanz

Most manual say inspect tires, brakes and a few other things before each ride. Other issues like truing wheels every month or so. You might have a documented warning somewhere in the manual.

richardmasoner

I agree that a simple ride around is not an adequate test of a bike's safety, but most people who buy bikes from Wal Mart have an expectation that the bike they purchased is something that will work. When we buy a new car from the dealership we don't generally examine the working condition of the car, and most people have the same expectation of new bikes, even bikes purchased from discount stores.

StephenH

As to whether you need a lawyer- if you expect to get anything much out of it, yeah.

Also check with your insurance company (assuming you have medical insurance)- as they would probably want to file a claim to recover their loss.

The brakes may have been adjusted tight enough, but let the cable slip through when gripped harder. They may just never have worked well in the first place, and it didn't show up until then. It may be that something bent when they were pressed.

roadfix

But, we as bike enthusiasts who are familiar with the quality of these bikes, if a loved one went out and purchased one of them, I would think that most of us on this forum would be concerned and check things out.

teacherbill

Sorry to hear about your bride, will be praying for a quick recovery.

I bought a bike for my son from Target. I asked in the store who put the bike together, they said that it was the same person who puts the grills together, every Wednesday. Our next stop before riding was to the LBS and they went over it from front tire to rear tire. It had a few improper adjustments. But now I know that it is put together properly and is safe to ride. The kicker is that even after paying the LBS for the tune-up, I am still ahead in the money game if even only by a little bit, about $150.

Bill

GP

Car dealers don't sell toilet paper, stereos, clothes and all the other stuff that WM sells. But still, you're right, most people have an expectation that whatever they purchased is in safe working condition.

Hindsight is easy. I hope your wife gets better soon.

gpsblake

If this was the series of events, too much reasonable doubt for almost any lawyer to take this case on a contingency basis.

DallasSoxFan

I'm puzzled as to why you would post to an internet forum if you are looking to get something out of Walmart. The lawyer part is almost moot now. By your own admission here, the brakes worked fine for a couple of weeks. I'm not saying your wrong, but what you say here will be brought up by the lawyers.


(Mod Removed quote)

InTheTrenches

SEZ THE WALMART SHILL. This guy thinks the sun sets on the ghostly remnant of Sam Waltons ass. Keep that in mind when reading any of his posts.

P.S. Thanks for posting blake, I was about to look up your name as a a defender of the Mart. I should have known you would jump in to defend the indefensible. No doubt had a similar event happened involving a bike shop you would be laying fresh tar to the torches and sharpening the tines of the pitch forks.

PDXracer

Contractors, sometimes with NO bike experience whatsoever, are hired by WalMart, CostCo, Kroger, and a few other stores, to assemble bikes for floor when they come in.

(I know this because I checked into a job doing it, and they offered the job to me with absolutely no experience at all. I had another job, and was curious to see if they would hire me for *hits and giggles)

EatMyA**

You should know EVERYTHING about bicycle maintenance before buying from walmart, and when you get your bike it needs a COMPLETE TEARDOWN and re-build.

Or else you're not gonna have fun!

gpsblake

Did I defend Walmart on this thread? I said there isn't a lawyer who will pick up this case on a contingency basis. Good grief. I would have said the same statement had this happened to an LBS bicycle...

And of course, you only know one side of the story, the side of the poster. His facts could right, his facts could be distorted, or he could making the whole thing up just to troll. But yet, you make the irrational assumption that the side you heard is correct.

Now that's being a shilll.

I-Like-To-Bike

I'd say it's being gullible, and proud of it too.

Big_e

Sorry to hear about your wife's accident. I'm glad it wasn't worse and hope she heals up quick.
I had just picked up a Roadmaster at a garage sale for $15 dollars. I was going to use it as a commuter so incase it got stolen, it wouldn't really matter. I like the large frame and seems to be working ok for a junker. But after hearing the bad reviews, should I trash it or keep going with my plan to replace the old components with new ones ( it could use new brakes, cables, tires). Are they even worth it as project bikes or should I just move on? I'm not in the habit of throwing away bikes but I sure don't want a bike if it's gonna be unsafe.
Ernest

PS: if it is pure junk, this week is bulky trash pickup week and there is still room on the front curb. .

Clark Kent

I hope your wife heals true and fast. That said, does anyone remember when Dirt Rag (I think) bought some toy store bikes and did some test rides/reports? It was priceless. As I remember the MTBs just fell apart in the woods... WHoever it was,it was a great article.

bkaapcke

Ignore the bogus legal advlice being given here and go see a lawyer. Right away. bk

TalkingHead

Sorry to hear that your wife was injured. Roadmaster isn't exactly the epitome of quality. My dad used to own a Roadmaster from the early 80's though and they were better apparently back then from what he told me. I think he had the bike 8 years without to many issues.

You should have checked over the brakes before riding though

iced_theater

So your wife buys a bike, you ride it, yet you don't use the brakes? In the following couple of weeks she never uses the brakes either? If you knew the quality of Wal-Mart bikes and knew that most people don't put them together very well, yet you still just let her go off without checking at least the very basics of bike maintenance and tightening nuts, bolts, etc.?

I'm sorry your wife got hurt, but to me, you sound like the type of person who looks for things like this to sue about to make a quick buck.