Kabloink

The pawn shops here sell used Walmart bikes for almost the same price as new. They never have any nice bikes.

wahoonc

Same thing around here. I stopped by a pawn shop in Charleston, SC the other day to check out the bikes. They had one Gary Fisher MTB for about 70% of retail, but it was beaten up and I suspect probably stolen, serial number was partially defaced. They had several WM cruisers, on was listed for $129...and I know you can buy that bike all day long at WM for aroundd $100. I think they are trying to take advantage of the local non drivers in the immediate area. Another thought on the matter; as the market is flooded with WM "classics" fewer of the good ones are being sold, so there will be fewer available to buy used and the pool of quality bikes continues to shrink.

Aaron

mark9950

Those wal-mart bikes are built for children and people under 5'5".They are small frames and I have rode them before all cramped,Yes the quality is substandard but what do you expect for $50.00(cheapest bike).

If you live where I live in the south side of chicago where they will even bike jack you on a wal-mart bike costing 50.00,its advisable to get a bike out of the trash can and rebuild it.

I bought a trek with a 19" frame and despite the problems that I have had with it the frame is just great.so far in 6 months I have put 2000 miles on it.

Its one of those classic cruiser bikes that no one would want.No one wants it,so no one will steal it.I look silly riding it and thats what I want.Thinking about getting another classic cruiser girls bike painted pink with flowers and streamers on the handlebars on it so it looks gay and I look silly riding it even more.

Neil_B

Gresham's Law applied to bikes.

RHoude

In Amsterdam, there is a 30% probability that a bike will be stolen at any given time. This has created a culture of 'ugly-sizing' one's commuting bike so that no one will want to be seen riding it. This gives some original and interesting results.

Ron

Roody

On globetrekker (or wherever) they said that the number of bike thefts in Amsterdam every year exceeds the number of bikes that exist there. IOW, each bike is stolen more than once a year. Those are not good odds!

RHoude

Indeed! And that number of stolen and abandonned bikes create another problem. The abandonned bikes clutter up the streets and sidewalks, when they are not dumped in a canal somewhere. Some cities have addressed this problem by periodically tagging bikes within city limits. The tag states that if it is not removed by a certain date, the bicycle to which it attached will be removed and taken to the city pound to be auctionned or recycled.

It is said that there are four bikes for every Dutch citizen. Typically, two of those are day-to-day commuting bikes, one is used for errands around the home and the fourth is the recreational (and generally most expensive) bike.

Cheers,
Ron

E-quality

I just sreamed.

I bought a bike from Dick's last spring/summer and it was a complete nightmare. Those people shouldn't sell bikes. They don't put them together properly and are too incompotent to fix them. I asked for a bike that works properly after many months of having issues with it and they gave me a refund...after waiting 1.5 months for their corporate office to finally ok it. I got a gift card and had the bike manager order a bike stand and tool kit for me. A month later he tells me that the order didn't go through because they changed the way they order stuff and he had to re order it. Two weeks after that I get an E-mail saying that they can't order the stuff for me because "they don't order stuff for customers". Wow. I called the corporate customer service to express that I feel they should care for their customers better (they knew all the details of my situation already) and they blew me off after interrupting me over and over and acted as if I wanted a million dollars for my troubles. I only wanted to express my feelings about their customer service. This situation has led me to never want to spend another dollar at their stores.

Good bike shops sell better quality bikes in the same price range and they put the bikes together properly and can fix them properly. Even for those who can do their own work, why buy one of these bikes over a LBS bike?

EDIT: Oh, it was a Diamonback that I bought.

crhilton

Sounds like a small claims case. In the end they took your money and you got nothing but trouble and a couple months use of a bike which failed to live up to advertisement.

Mr. Jim

Well i have been using a walmart MT bike as a winter commuter for a few years now. Here's my experience and take on them. First of all I bought the most expensive MT bike the local store carried, it was $160 two or three years ago. I got it for $80 because it was a close out, all of the bikes in this range were placed on closeout because according to the clerk no one would buy a bike that expensive.

Components are really low level Shimano, with more plastic in them than I would like (alivio maybe). Though I had walked to the store i did not ride the bike home, I walked it home and then went over it. Brakes needed adjusting, shifters needed adjusting and almost nothing was tight enough. Got it fixed up and rode the heck out of it straight through michigan winters. Added a front fender and a rear rack for commuting plus lights.

Overall it has held up good, probably has 4000 miles on it. However, I stripped the freewheel first year and replaced that ($15). I* would never take this bike on a single track, it isn't built for it although it looks like it is. For sidewalk riding and winter street commuting and a bit of gravel it is ok. In the summer I swap it out with my old fuji touring. Fuji is close to 30 years old and a much better bike, got it at a garage sale for $10.

So if you take a look at what you are buying you may be ok, but remember where it came from and what it is for.

E-quality

I did get a refund...I wrote that in my post above. Well, I got the money for the bike ($330) back but not the tax or the warranty ($80). It's not even about the money though. It took forever to reach any sort of resolution. Many months of trying to get them to fix the bike properly. 1.5 months to get the refund after that process was initiated. 1.5 months to find out that they can't order the stuff for me because they don't order stuff for customers...after being told they can, paying for the special order items, finding out that corporate requested that the store place the order a different way so the order could go through properly and being told that the order was placed properly and that I should definitely recieve it within two weeks. It took two weeks to find out they "couldn't" actually order it. Then, I get rudely interrupted every time I tried to finish a sentence and blown off as if I was trying to get something out of the situation when I called and talked to Dick's customer service manager to politely express how I feel their customer service could be much improved. She told me to move on with an attitude.

The good thing about this situation (in retrospect) is that I learned how to service my own bike (I just need tools!) and to only buy bikes from reputable bike shops. I will never deal with a big chain/corporation again.

Chetti

I worked in a Dick's as a ski technician and found myself being a bike tech in the summer. Our other bike guys were all part time and paid attention to details when building, but when stock got low, some jack@ss from receiving, would show up in the shop cross threading the pedals. ignoring tight bearings on the cranks and signing everything off. Dick's Corporate communications are a pain in the @$$. We ordered things and from other stores for customers, and would find out 3 weeks later that its still waiting to be shipped....

E-quality

Yeah, I had some boots transfered over from another store and the manager told me it'd be 1-2 weeks. I thought that seemed like a long time but whatever. After 2, 3, 4 and 5 weeks I'd ask where the boots were and was told "I guess it's taking longer than expected because it's the holiday season now" by the footwear manager. I gave up thinking about it after 2 months after seeing no progress. I still haven't heard anything about it. I wonder if they're still waiting to be shipped.

I don't know who put my bike together but the guy in charge of the bikes was pretty much always the one to work on it. He removed the chain to switch out the front derailleur and reused the same pin instead of using a new one. The shifting was always off and he never noticed that that derailleur hanger was bent. I asked him about the play in the cranks and BB and he said it's normal. I got sick of their incompetence and got a repair book and took a repair class at a LBS. The LBS noticed the bent derailleur hanger quickly and said that there shouldn't be any play in the cranks and BB. These things can cause bad shifting. The guy that worked on my bike doesn't seem to realize this though.

I'm glad I sold that bike a week ago.

Roody

I guess Dick's a ....

E-quality

The name sure is fitting.

cman

Look at this department store bike. https://www.bikeofdoom.com/2007/03/14/the-bike-of-doom/

He has now logged 3,500 Km in a year.

Dr.PooLittle

Now who the hell is this intended for?
https://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...uct_id=5751048

Neil_B

It's intended for discriminating folks who want a high-end carbon fiber bike backed by the superior quality. top-notch support, and air of superiority the Wal-Mart name carries.

Lente

Dick's "corporate customer service" is probably a call center in an under-used area of a mostly abandoned downtown, staffed by a temp agency. That was my experience with chain store customer service phone work, after I realized that my four year liberal arts degree was essentially expensive toilet paper.

Jason Latta

I have a Roadmaster model something-or-another I bought at Wal-mart, and it's a wretched little machine compared to any kind of name bicycle. But I love it.

I love it because it's currently the only bike I have, so she's my little angel of freedom.

I'll probably keep her around even after I save up enough and buy that super amazing ride I want at the bike store, if only for a back up, and probably because I first rode Blanco canyon on her painful seat. That ride got me interested in cycling, and is indeed why I'm writing this post tonight.

So I owe her a good home, like she's an ugly cat.

ModoVincere

Went to wally world yesterday (needed an ink cartridge for my printer at home) and in the bicycle section, they had a reasonable nice looking schwinn hybrid with an internally geared 3sp and a rack. Not my style, but looked like it might make a reasonable commuter for not too much $. Didn't check out the price on it, but since it was in the store, I'm guessing $200 or less.

littledog

Was it this one?

https://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...uct_id=8399249

Artkansas 

Yes, and now having spent more on repairs for it than on the original purchase he says "unless you’re willing to put in the time and money to keep one of these things roadworthy, don’t buy one!"

The Bike of Doom after one year.

It's worth a read. Check it out.

ModoVincere

Yep, that's it. Even at $250, it seems like a reasonable deal if the frame fits you.

mark9950

Yes these bike are steel and steel dont bend like alum does,i know a guy who was 400 lbs who rode a roadmaster 2 years ago,that was me.

I rode these bikes but the frame is too small I am cramped and hunchback on these bike,compared to a 19-22" frame which fits me well.

They are strong and the spokes dont pop even when I was 400 lbs.

I lost 150lbs riding a wal-mart bike.Oh the back pains were hideous,and I broke a few nice seats too,but the bike now is garbage,never replaced the chain.too lazy.Just rode it and rode it.

i dont live in amsterdam, I live in the ghetto in chicago,not to be racist here but i live in a majority negro neighborhood and they do not like the bike and laugh at me when I am riding it.They like the wal-mart bikes better.