The average bicycle coming to the Big Box stores are made in mainland China and cost on the average of $18 wholesale (source: Bicycle Retailer and Industry News).
Quality and lowest bidding are not compatible.

The bizarre thing is, although Wal-Mart might pay the communist factory $18 for the bike, it may have Shimano components on it that wholesale for $30 or $40. That suggests the bikes have frames and forks that cost only $5 or so to build...even with the ten cent an hour slave labor. The shipping on these bikes costs more than the bikes.

The European Union has barred the entry of low-cost communist made bikes. Their "experts" say that the communists are selling the bikes below cost. The bikes cost about $50 to build, but wholesale at $18. The goal of the communists is to destroy the bike building industry in Europe (which still builds millions of bikes per year) by underpricing German, French, and Dutch factories. After those factories have been destroyed, the Chinese will "own" the market, and can charge substantially higher prices.

In the USA, that strategy worked. First, communist-made bikes took over the $25 to $75 market. Than the $75 to $200 market. Now, they are becoming dominant in the $200 to $400 market. Inch by inch, they have destroyed American companies and American jobs. American bike makers went from building more than five million bikes per year in 1980, to far less than one million bikes per year today.

The way I see it:

you want a toy, go to a toy store

you want a bike, go to a bike shop

...you want a toy bike?...how nice a toy do you want?

For transportation, some of those x-mart bikes are scary...at least some of them have v-brakes now.

I remember my old Huffy from 20 years ago... sidepull calipers pushing against chromed steel rims. :eek: And I took that thing offroad. I really did learn to plan ahead for stopping. :D I also got to learn a lot about shadetree bicycle repair since I spent a good day every week overhauling one part or another.

..

By reading first third of this thread, it becomes obvious that no one talks out of experience, instead people talk out of their ***es.

A lot of it is psychological... just another stereotype. You get what you pay for, ignoring the possibility of a good deal, or other economical aspects of retail business or labor costs in Asia.

Another psychological trend, however, is that once person used a high-end bicycle, it is very hard to agree to buy a simplier, less comfortable or worse-looking bicycle that is sold at a department store.

So, my bottom line is, there is no objective information to this day about how reliable or well-built Target (or Wal-Mart) bikes are, simply because no one bothered to buy one, maintain and use it to observe and test its real capabilities.

Anyway, from my experiences, I would suggest you to save some disappointment and try to find a name brand used bike in bicycle shop or elsewhere, as opposed to new bicycle from Target.

P.S.

I currently don't own any bike. ;)

I have some experience with "department store" bikes and it's not good. 25 years ago I had a part time job in a department store. An upmarket one by the way and since I had the experience of working on my own racing bike I was given the job of assembling these cheaply made bikes. Now the first thing that left an impression on me was that in the scheme of things I only assembled a fraction of them and most of them were assembled by people who had no more experience than they new which end of a screwdriver to use. I took my own tools to work and the area I put most attention to was adjusting the brakes properly. Out of the box they were pretty bad.

Apart from assembly issues I had a number of reports from the sales staff that a number of bikes were coming back because pedals had snapped.

Now I have ridden some pretty cheap bikes in my time but they were solidy built in quality factories. Malvern Star, Speedwell and a Protour for the Australians and they soldiered on.

These day's I ride a Giant and other Tiwanese built bikes and they run superbly so it's not anything to do with the Chinese people. It's about what our western captains of industry are prepared to pay for. Oh and the customers of course.

Regards, AnthonyG

Why don't you just go to an LBS and buy one of their cheaper bikes? At my LBS's, they sell some bikes for about $200-250. Personally, I'd rather pay $50 more for a bike with a better frame and components that is made by a company like Trek, Raleigh, KHS, etc. with the assembly quality and service of an LBS.

Well at least you aren't talking out of your azz.

>>So, my bottom line is, there is no objective information to this day about how reliable or well-built Target (or Wal-Mart) bikes are, simply because no one bothered to buy one, maintain and use it to observe and test its real capabilities.<<

Well, I, for one, am busy doing some research for you folks. ;) . For more background you can see my unpopular comments on Target Schwinns (and "Schwinns" only) in the "Why X-mart Bikes Suck" thread in the Mountain Biking section. We have four that have been running like champs. I promise to report it here when the first one self destructs or bends all out of adjustment or falls victim to any of the other scary things some members of the LBS Faction have been spinning 'round here.

I dont see what you are saying with it? :o

My Schwinn Traveler Road bike got stolen 6 days ago...

I had it for 2 years and rode it daily

Anthony, thanks for sharing your experiences, but I think this is a bit outdated.

Technology changed significantly.
Think of a typical carburated car of the 1980 and a car of 2005 with VVTI and teptronic transmission, satellite navigation/radio.dvd player.


The bicycle chain design changed since 1980, not to mention brakes, derailleurs, etc...

My huffy lasted for years, but then again, other generic ones that I've gotten have died pretty quickly. My friend has a full suspension one that he's had for a couple of years now. The suspension actually works quite well, but the rims are soft, causing them to bend super easily, the calipers are messed up, and the shifting is clunky (when it works). He still uses it though, and enjoys being able to ride. He's frustrated with it, but can't afford anything else. An X-mart bike is better than no bike, IMO.

I'd do as another mentioned in a previous page......look for a good used vintage road racer. You can find one in the most unexpected of places. If you dont mind putting an extra 50.00 (if you dont mind twisting a wrench...it isnt rocket science) into fresh tires/tubes/tire repair equip, new handlebar tape etc this will be a very rewarding experience.



Olds

Well things have changed for sure but I haven''t seen the changes making the bikes more reliable.

I will say that on the plus side cheap bikes with v-brakes and alloy rims is deffinitely a step forward but cheap cranks and pedals are just as bad as they ever were. Back then drive trains were 10 speed max with thicker chains and childrens bikes in paticular were single speed coaster brake setups that were pretty solid except when cranks and pedals would break on cheap models.

These day's cheap front suspension units can be a paticular source of concern and I've seen a number of recalls of these poorly built units.

Regards, AnthonyG

aint that the truth i tell people how much my selle itallia slk costs and they flip :)

Well as far as arse-talking...here are some of the issues I found with my x-mart bike (bought it back in december 2003, died in january 2004).

the cables would jam up, making the indexed shifting screw up.

chainring was easily warped by aggressive shifting under load (no chainring should ever do this).

front caliper brake warped under heavy braking, resulting in loss of front brakes.

Rims wouldn't stay true.

The bike, even thought the largest in the store, was so small that my kness hit the handlebars on occaision....and at 5'8" I'm not exactly the tall either.

Overall it was the worst $53 I spent (bike was a roadmaster Mt. Fury). When I took a faceplant into the road after having the chain blow off the rings due to warpage, I threw the bike into an alley and went to the closest bike shop and walked out with a brand new diamondback outlook. That bike was $200 even, and superior in every single way. I could safely say it's only weakness was the handgrips left some to be desired...not much of an issue if you ask me.

:eek:
Are you gonna ride your outlook the same way?

Those bikes are not meant for severe braking or agressive shifting. You can bend and break most drivetrain components by shifting carelessly, regardless of brand name.

You blame the quality of the bike for being too small for you? Shouldn't have you thought about size issue before buying it?

Why exactly it id die? Was it non-repairable?

I think bike is officially dead only after the frame is damaged beyond reasonable repair.

The bottom line is,

that bike was not designed to be abused, just like no other bike.
If you didn't like it to start with, and didn't bother to maintain it in good working order, it is no surprise that it didn't give you good service.

Bikes don't have souls, they dont retribute, they are just a bunch of metal, plastic and rubber, which provide amount of service proportionate to amount of maintanance, care, and love given to them. ;) :p :)

My point is some can't afford it, particularly for growing kids.

I do sense occasional snobbish elitism in these forums. That's not the point though. Getting on a bike is the point, any bike.

Since ALL LBS employees have been heard from by you on this topic, I will take your word for it that none will defend department store bikes.

I ride a Specialized Roubaix and have no children to buy bikes for - Thus I will comfortably remain obtuse. :)

[QUOTE=Inoplanetyanin]:eek:


Those bikes are not meant for severe braking or agressive shifting. You can bend and break most drivetrain components by shifting carelessly, regardless of brand name.

that bike was not designed to be abused, just like no other bike.
If you didn't like it to start with, and didn't bother to maintain it in good working order, it is no surprise that it didn't give you good service.

QUOTE]

Personally, I'd rather not worry about destroying my brakes if I pull the lever too hard, or bending my chainring by shifting aggressively. Bikes in the $100-$300 range should be bikes that can take a reasonable amount of abuse, especially since many of the riders are small children, who can be really careless with bikes. My old low-end Giant has taken countless curb jumps, "aggressive shifting and braking," a few falls, not having the chain oiled in two years, wheels never trued, etc, and still rides like new (despite a lot of paint being taken off the frame and a lot of rust).

I spent the weekend tuning up my parents' fleet of x-mart bikes so they could go riding together and maybe bring some friends/relatives along. The cheapest bike was absolute garbage. It was so heavy it almost broke my bike stand. The cable braze-ons didn't even have pass-through slits so the cables could be removed and cleaned, and the nipples on the rear wheel were completely frozen. So the rear brake is shot, it won't shift right no matter what I do and the wheel can't be trued. I would have thrown it in the garbage if I could lift the damn thing! I can't believe I blew $13 on a new chain for it! Regardless of my complaints, my parents refuse to ditch it and want me to look for replacement parts.

However, a couple of their x-mart bikes were reasonably well constructed and easy to work on (for what they paid). The shifting and braking still weren't nearly as smooth as an enthusiast level bike, but they were fun to ride, anyway. Isn't that what it should be about?

I used to work at a shopko store (similar to target and walmart) when I was in college. My second day
on the job, they had me work with another guy putting together bikes. I really had no idea what I
was doing.......

or...

large multi-national corporations moved their operations overseas where labor is cheaper. those darn
capitalists....

China is no more Communist than America is Democratic.

Amazingly enough, when compared to America, China is pretty communist. Conversely, when you compare it to China, America looks fairly democratic.