Well, how about Aubrey, Texas?
Yes, and old is a relative term. I give you an example of what I mean though. When we LIVED on our bikes (seems like a in previous life now! ;( ) nothing but center-pull brakes would do. Now look what happened to side-pull since!
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You don't have to be embarrassed to admit to buying one. Only shows good judgment!
That should be easy. But why would one?

Hey, we used to have our shifters screwed onto any part of the frame. And those shifters did not have stops, like they all do nowadays. You had to work them from memory, the way a string musician used his grip hand. It all works though, when you LIVE on your bike.

One would think so, but if you look at internet reviews (there are a LOT of them), complaints about the brake not working or rubbing is a recurring theme. I thought it was common sense, but it's surprising how many people are afraid to make adjustments without seeing a mechanic, even something as simple as tightening the clamp on the brake cable. The same holds true for adjusting the shifting.

I think it's important to emphasize, just in case, so that people have realistic expectations. If a person can't or won't do this themselves they need to get someone else to, before getting on the bike.

Thread title needs "GMC" or "Walmart" in it. This is what I think of when I see "Denali" in a bike forum:


Denali Drive Side by bobbiemartin, on Flickr

Not really. Try to google "denali" and see what you get. Walmart are not the only retailer who carries it.

I guess that makes since for someone who didn't ride mountain bikes in the 90s. But for someone who did ride mountain bikes in the 90s. Denali without a modifier should reference the Bianchi Denali, IMO.

Other possible modifiers for the GMC Denali: big-box-store, road bike, BSO, Department Store...

Just for fun I did and much as I figured none were about either Denali bicycle.

Of course, back in the good ol' days, let's say 1996, a search for Denali wouldn't likely return hits that relate to the lumbering SUV. - Pretty much a bunch of hits for the mountain and a handful of hits for the mountain bike.

All you need to do is go down top the bottom of the page and select "denali bike", and you will get this as your top choice: https://www.google.com/search?q=denal...w=1440&bih=700

Ahh, of course. That's essentially performing a search for "Denali bike", and since the last Bianchi Denali was produced in 2004 and search results are weighted toward more recent pages then of course you'll get GMC Denali hits.

I guess the aging thing points out another possible modifier for Denali. One could say "new" Denali and let it be known one was talking about the pedestrian road bike and not the vaunted mountain bike.

Is there only one Walmart in Aubrey? Is that the only department store in the world like this?
I'm honestly just asking about department stores employing good mechanics because I consider it valuable information, for my self and others. Please don't let that be a cause for argument or pointless responses.
Nothing wrong with center pull. I'll bet some of the old center pulls work better than the single pivot side pulls on the Denali.
What?
Thank you.
Who said anything about being embarrassed? Ok, I might be embarrassed to admit to buying a bike purely out of curiosity when I have a dozen at home, but if you missed it I was even recommending another department store bike I would regard in the same class for people to look at.

My daily rider is a 1975-76 J.C.Penny's Foremost with friction down tube shifters. Over 35 years old (and definitely not the oldest bike a BF member uses as a daily rider) and everything works just fine. The aluminium rims are the only thing on the Denali that I may have to regard as an improvement (assuming the quality is decent, not all the Denalis are speced the same, but the wheels don't seem to be a common problem).
The Shimano Lark RD on my Foremost may be heavy, but it's very durable and works very well.

I am happy to have not entered a Wal-Mart in over a year! Or ordered anything online to get around that entering the store fact. I try and keep my money going to folks that live and work near me, even though its not possible 100% of the time.

If you keep asking for higher and higher wages, more companies will continue to move your jobs elsewhere to keep costs down, and you will buy into it. Too late now though, we made our beds, good night.

My RD cost as much.

That SKU is the Large/22.5". The SKU I was requesting was for the 20".

I had one. In three months, I bent one of the crank arms, the bottom bracket squeaked constantly, and the rear derailleur broke in half going up a hill and completely trashed the rear wheel. This was in 2-3000 miles.

I don't regret buying it though. I still have the frame and and may build it back up some day. The frame is actually a pretty decent frame, esp for the cost.

Well, as I said before the specs on these bikes can vary. Sounds like you got screwed on the parts. There are enough really crappy derailers that I'll just say people should pick derailers of known quality. I would be interested in knowing what crank set it was. It would seem like it either had to have been seriously damaged before you received it or frighteningly poor quality. Any indication it was previously damaged? If not I'll add it to my list of things that are better as scrap metal.

Just wanted to let you all know that have a concern with the GMC Denali brakes being junk, I beg to differ. I am a 247 lb. guy (lost 3 pounds since last week) and while biking today on a bike trail at roughly around 22.5 mph a huge tree branch blew down to right of me and up the road a few feet as it was quite windy today and I squeezed on the breaks and stopped rather quickly with no problem and within in 1 or 2 seconds I was completely stopped.



Again it all depends on how they were installed and tuned. Just wanted to let everyone know, that it is in your judgment to replace brakes, but for me since I have had the bike and now logged over 40 miles, they seem fine. If that changes, I will replace them. Happy biking!

Ask Texaspedaler, he was the lucky buyer there!
I was just going by your comment 'I don't expect to keep one, but I'd be curious to check it out, and Walmart has a liberal return policy', which sounded like an apology for buying it.

That is why it may be good value to spend the extra $20 for a 2-year warranty at Walmart!

There are several Walmart stores in the North Dallas Texas area. The one near me is in Little Elm, Texas. As far as getting lucky, maybe you are right, but I am loving it. I do however, like the Triace 24 speed road bike Walmart has to offer as well for $399 price drop from $449, but will think about that next year since my company has a get fit reimbursement program up to $300. In fact they just paid for my bike and riding gear. The Super Walmart out where I live in Texas, stocks already assembled mountain bikes of many forms and seems to have on the hanging racks 4 to 5 of the same model for GMC Denali, Schwinn Varsity, Triace, and many more in the 500 to 600 dollar range for drop bar road bikes. Will the next person who buys a road bike there get lucky like me? Maybe, I hope so. Is the worker who put mine together still there? I don't know, but hope so as he cared! As to why they have so many on the rack, could be the offer them due to high biking events here. The GMC Denali, to me is a diamond in the rough ( love the color scheme) and I personally think it can perform just as well as a 600 to 700 dollar road bike. My top speed on flat pavement has been 24 mph for 3 to 5 minute sprints, and down hill it has hit 29 mph.

Now for local rising events for tours, that will keep up with the pack as what I am told. I haven't done any yet, but will soon. Been conditioning for the last 3 months and the Denali has upped the game for me. Actually thinking about creating a custom jersey for the GMC Denali, but all depends on pricing. Look forward to reading more of everyone's posts!

"If you are competent enough to assemble and tune it properly there is no reason it won't serve its purpose"

That, to me, is the big bugaboo, and also one of the major issues in buying a cheap used bike- specifically, if you know enough to use it well, you're probably not the kind of person who would buy one anyway. It's like saying Car Model XX is great, if you're a mechanic.

I think I was the main one talking about the brakes, and I don't think they're junk. I don't think they're GOOD, but there is a big difference between not being good and being junk. I think the brake PADS are junk. Good pads aren't expensive and make a dramatic difference in brake performance. The brakes on the Denalis I've seen weren't long enough to leave them underpowered, and from what I've seen and read they don't seem to have an issue with flex. They are just basic single pivot side pulls. If Again had referred to this as outdated I would have agreed. Cantilevers, Linear pull cantilevers, good center pulls, and dual pivot side pulls all work better. I still have this type of brake on my Foremost and my wife's Miyata. Properly adjusted, with good pads, they work fine. Just with the options they had when designing the bike, and how this compares to other new bikes, I consider this a weak point.

Thank you Nightshift for the feedback. Really Appreciate it. Yes I agree pads are inexpensive if you compare it to saving your life.

I am not in the location of our lucky Texan, with his store stocking the Denali and the store mechanic being a dedicated pro.
Our local Walmarts don't even carry the Denali line, and would probably do a lousy assembly job.
Consequently I ordered mine online, sight unseen, and opted for shipment to my home instead of to the store.
The extra work of putting it together myself may pay off in satisfactory tuning, and long-term peace of mind that nothing was damaged by some store employee.
I had bought my off-road bike in a carton on Ebay and did all the work myself. At least one gets to know the specific characteristics of the make. Never had a problem with it in many years of use.

If you take a look around C&V you will find a great many people who by used bikes cheap (which I guess is a little different from buying "cheap used bikes") who are clearly competent enough to assemble and tune almost any bike. I buy all my bikes cheap, mostly used but not exclusively. I may not know how to rebuild a IGH or a Headshok, but I would have no problem taking the Denali completely apart and assembling and adjusting everything properly. Most bicycles are pretty simple, and the few specialty tools need aren't that expensive. If you don't like tinkering with things I can't recommend this approach, but it's not like saying don't buy this vehicle if you don't own a ODB 2 scanner and an engine hoist. And a lot of these people probably do buy used cars, do their own oil changes, change their own spark plugs, and do their own brake jobs. It's just a matter of knowing if you're getting in over your head or if it's something you can handle on your own.