Hi,

For certain don't buy a cheap bike if you don't know one
end of a spanner from the other and basic maintenance.

If you do, or want to learn, a basic cheap bike can be a
very good buy as long as you can spot the real lemons.

I have some sympathy with the idea bike shops make a
fair amount of turnover from the clueless with nice bikes.

Clueless and cheap probably means a bike always wrong.

Well-informed and carefully chosen cheap is very different.

rgds, sreten.

e.g. I bought a cheap steel folder at Christmas. Its certainly
no worse built and a much better bike than the 10 to 30
year old cheap folders I see around the town, still going.

If youre looking at long distance road rides or serious off road mountain biking, you'd be playing with fate using a bike from Walmart. The mass production, and low foreign manufacturing standards can make it seriously dangerous..especially for off road riding. I've broken several Mongoose MTB frames that I got at Walmart. Luckily they'll take anything back.

How about BECAUSE WALMART DOESN'T DO THAT, AND I WILL GET FIRED FOR IT. Damn.......

I missed that you worked at Walmart.

I mean it's Wal-Mart....A lot of people can only spend $75-$150.00 on a bike...If it gets you pedaling until you can upgrade, go for it....You might get a year or 2 out of it. that ain't so bad is it?

Here locally, Academy is pretty much like Walmart in the bicycle department, Dick's is not much better (and doesn't normally have a mechanic on duty that I know of). REI is way better, but be aware, they vary their instock merchandise regionally, so if you live in a place where hiking or skiing or canoeing are popular, they'll have more of that stuff and a lot less cycling stuff than their main store here in Dallas. Target is better than Walmart, it seems.

It is "bad" if a person has an economic or emotional attachment to an LBS whose financial lunch is getting eaten by the purchase of such bikes by the multitudes of consumers who have no intention of ever "upgrading" to the product offered by tonier bicycle retailers.

Most LBS's in the area already snub me for the fact my bikes tend to be older than their mechanics... I see nothing "bad" about not supporting an LBS that doesn't support riders of all stripes...

Race to the Bottom , you all are on the ride.. raise your hands and say Weee !

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE hey wait a minute... I don't have a BSO...

Then the LBS needs to carry cheaper bikes...WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! **** that was fun....

The arrangement of the punctuational stimulation in the trapezoidal area that caused my deviation in the capcity of comprehension to say i was flatulent was the fault of the big box store...There i said it...

Labor is already at poverty wages , hence no Expert mechanics ,

except like Sheldon ... The Wife was a Tenured Professor at a University.

so the LBS wage.. was not needed, so much to pay the Mortgage , send the kids to Uni, themselves, Etc.


get the serfs to fight amongst themselves,.. Its working perfectly.. ''You And Him Go Fight'' say the emperors..

My Diamondback poidum 2 hasn't fallen apart for what it's worth.

I volunteered at a little event today and it was pretty quiet...

The first patient was a 1961 Western Flyer 3 speed that was built by Raleigh and it had less than 300 miles on the stock speedometer / odometer. I told the young lady who brought it (she inherited it from her mom) that this was a very good quality bicycle that should serve her well for the next 50,000 km if she just performs regular maintenance. I checked the bike over and found nothing wrong and even the stock tyres were still in good condition which speaks to some good storage. All it needed was a little oil for the 3 speed hub to make that purr like a happy kitten and we scheduled a full overhaul just to refresh all the bearing grease. Replacing this bike today would cost around $600.00 if I compare it to similar quality three speed city bikes.

The second bike was a BSO that came from some big box store and it's owner said they bought this bike because they did not want to commute on a bike that they would miss if it was stolen (like their last nice bike)... the wheels were not half bad but needed some trueing up, the v brakes were pressed steel units and needed adjustment, and the shifting was a mess... this bike had very few miles on it and was bought on sale for $199.00.

The Giant that I looked at next was 3 years old and had been ridden in all conditions to the point where the brake pads needed replacement, the chain and drivetrain was still within specification and the shifting was spot on... the local shop that sold it provided free tune ups for the first year. The fit and finish was good, nothing was loose and the parts were decent on what was originally a $400.00 - $500.00 bicycle.

I charge $60.00 an hour in my shop for tune ups and repairs and good quality bicycles do not cost as much to service as they have better parts and are built to higher tolerances, most people with x-mart bicycles are better off buying a new bicycle as after you factor in labour and parts to service and replace the poor quality parts they came with it isn't worth it.

A friend of mine bought an x-mart hybrid that is a close cousin to the Denali... rarely have I had the opportunity to work on such a poorly made bicycle or see how badly it fared over a season of light use. If my friend had spent a little more on a nice entry level bicycle from a shop (I don't sell bicycles) he would not have had to deal with wheels that became taco- like after 100km, would not have had to replace brake pads that turned to dust after less than 1000km, and would have had tyres that would have lasted longer than a season where he only rode 1500km. This bike was priced somewhere in the $250.00 range and the work to bring it up to spec was enough that he could have bought a nicer bike.

Even after I swapped in some decent used wheels and replaced his brake pads and tyres he had a bicycle that may have been one of the nastiest riding machines I have ever ridden... I am sure the frame was solid aluminium.

If you ride a good deal and expect that your bicycle will be trouble free then I would avoid the x-marts of the world and go to a bike shop and would include REI among those, our counterpart here is MEC and they sell decent bicycles with a money back guarantee and have good technicians working.

We are not talking about spending thousands of dollars, but just a little more will get you a lot more.

On tyres and longevity... I have a set of Schwalbe tyres (Hurricanes) that have passed the 15,000 km mark and still have a long ways to go before they wear out, Schwalbe Marathon tyres do cost about $50.00 each but will run out anywhere from 6000 to 20,000 km depending on useage. The Marathons on my wife's bike have been lasting 16,000 km before they have needed to be replaced and her $800.00 Breezer has seen 30,000 + km and has been perfectly dependable while being ridden nearly every day for the past 5 years.

For the most part I ride nice bikes and have mad skills when it comes to working on them, I rarely have to do anything but ride them because good parts that are properly installed and set-up just work and keep on working.

If you are on a budget and have mad skills you can buy an x-mart bike and keep it working, if you don't have the mad skills a few more dollars buys a better bike and peace of mind and will save you money in the long run.

I would also agree that the quality level of an entry level bicycle has declined over the past 30 - 40 years... some of the bikes being sold at x-mart are just frightening and the simpler they are the better they are as it is hard to screw up a single speed coaster bike but when you start adding multiple gears and v-brakes and use the cheapest parts possible failure is inevitable.

Yeah, I've been convinced away from the box store stuff. I got lucky with mine and nothing more. For my next fixed frame, I am thinking Windsor...

M.

An LBS is not going to stock a new bike that only sells for $75-$150. They just don't have the quality. It isn't until you get at least to something like a Townie or Globe that an LBS would consider.

I swung by one of the bigger local shops and for around $500.00 (Cdn) and change you can get into a pretty decent bike from a number of categories and they had a lot of bikes in the $350.00 range as well.

The Specialized Crosstrail seems to do a good job of nailing both a good price point and features and costs $550.00 and up depending on how it is equipped and comes in at a little less than similar Trek... with this you get a pretty decent bike with a warranty and LBS support.

Bicycles cost more here despite our similar dollar values so would expect US prices to be cheaper.

You reckon there....

REI does their own assembly and has as big a bike service area as our better LBS's. Techs are trained at UBI and other schools.

& wally world sells "bikes" at a fraction of the price less.. So?

getting close to an Apples and Potatoes comparison..

The cheapest I've seen at a local LBS is $250, for last years Electra Cruiser. I really don't see them going down to the $75-$150 price point for new bikes.

Even for something like a $400 Globe, you get what you pay for.

DUde, i know....I bought one from Walmart and one from my LBS...It's ok....

So I said it before. I got a Schwinn OR2 (hybrid with the goofy hydrolics that i probably don't need). Cost 350 at Target and I bought it for astheticis and shocks like I am 12 (26)

That said - lots of riding over the last month. Don't judge cuase I'm real new and out of shape but around 60 miles later I went from 200+ lbs to 187.

I made it 10 miles in one ride for the first time 2 days ago and I love it. $1000 or $350 this things doing what I need it to.