Hi,

Just thought I'd share my story with a department store bike. When I brought it I didn't quite realise what I was in for (I spent $118 AUD). It was a front-suspension MTB, 18 speed. It was made by Dunlop... Dunlop seemed like a reputable brand, its suprising that they actually damage their reputation selling this junk.

The bicycle itself was not fully assembled. It was packed in a box and all that had to be done is attaching the front wheel.

The bicycle did not come with a warranty and had a few mechanical problems to begin with. First, the locknut for the one-piece crank kept on coming loose. There was a bulge in it which prevented it from fully tightening. I rode the bike with the locknut loose for a while. I got buy with tighting the cone and the locknut with my fingers every few km for a while. A friend also pointed out to me that the fork was installed backwards. That was quickly fixed.

After these minor issues, the bike worked for about 2 weeks and then things started to disintigrate. First, the one-piece crank bearings somehow got crushed :/. After inspection, I noticed that I could bend the retainers with my fingers. The replacement set that I brought from a LBS was much stronger and did not suffer from this problem.

At around the same time, the rear derailleur (I didn't even use it!) started rocking back and forth. I couldnt fix that weird problem by adjusting it, so I decided to dispose of it. I took off both rear & front and put them away.

I also brought a new handlebar because I didn't like the flexy one with ultra-hard grips that made your fringers numb in 5 minutes of riding. It was an odd swap (riser bar to drop bar, without modifying brake levers. I managed to squeeze the MTB brake levers on it somehow.).

In this condition, the bike ran for a while (about another 2 weeks). Then, one time I was going quite fast and noticed loud clunking sounds coming from the rear. I ignored it, and later that day the rear wheel disintigrated. I carried the bike home and inspected the hub. The bearings somehow ate a hole through the cups and you could see the hub casing through the huge pits. The axle was badly bent, you could see it by just looking at it. What is even more odd, is that the rear hub had only 4 bearings on the badly pitted side... I didn't expect the quality to be that bad.

I un-did the front hub and to my suprise there is no damage. It must have been the odd bearing count that caused a huge wear.

Right now, all I have left from this bike that is functioning is the:

• Frame / Fork (Frame is dented)
• Seat Post and Saddle
• Front Wheel
• Brakes

I spent at least $150 up to now on stuff including tools, replacement parts, etc etc

I did read comments on department store bikes before, but I did not expect it to be THIS bad.

Share your stories

What a bargain!

I have to explain to children why their bikes are unfixable. "Listen little buddy, bikes sold at toys'r'us are pieces of ...hem... doodoo."

Yowch! That IS bad. I never knew the quality was so poor...

My main problem with dept store bikes has always been that they try to make them look "fancy" like more expensive bikes, but they end up just being heavy and having unnecessary knobby tires and suspension and such. I never knew the componenets were as abysmal as you've found, yech

A friend of mine is an avid collector of department store bikes he finds in the trash, and he said that he's noticed a marked decrease in quality over the last two years. Whatever they are making in china has deteriorated severely. He saw his first deformed cone recently. It didn't 'wear out', rather, it got physically deformed by the bearings. Not cool, even on a cheap bike!

The headset on my tall bike is off a department store pixie bike from about 10 years ago, and it is quite beefy. Actually surprisingly beefy. Its not precision by any means, but it is made from thick machined steel, and adjusts up nicely with no complaints.

Cheap bikes used to be decent quality, just heavy and featureless, but now they've removed the first part, and we are back down to 'completely useless'. Its a shame, really.

peace,
sam

Ya, I agree. In the late 80s my dad got a rigid steel light mountain bike from Sears so that he and I could go ride around in the hills together. It was awfully sturdy on rough dirt trails in southern California and I don't remember any mechanic problems...

Dont blame Dunlop completely, they very likely had nothing to do with building the bike, they probably paid for their name to be on it for advertising. Just like how you can buy a walmart HONDA bike, it has nothing to do with honda though.

Look on the bright side, you could have ended up with brakes like those on the cheapo dept store bike I bought last week in addition to the rest of the problems. The calipers bent on those in less than 1 mile.

It's like the old saying goes, something like "spend a little more and buy once or spend a lot more and buy cheap". Someday I'll listen to that one...

I do'nt know, I bought the Schwinn S-30 MTB in a box, assembled it myself & have had no problems with it.
7005 frame,
Sram 3.0 rear derailer,
Shimano front,
Sram 4.0 shifters.
Not the best but it works for me.

Thanks for your comments guys

U seem to have higher quality stuff than me. I don't think any of the department store bikes that Big-W sells here are aluminium... they are all some kind of thick steel, very thick steel. At least 4mm thickness around the fork tube.

one of the main problems with dept store bikes is that they're assembled by people who don't know bikes. I've seen tons of backwards forks, brakes adjusted so they clamp onto the tire and not the rim, and end up in bent calipers, loose stuff, over tight stuff, quickreleases done wrong, etc, etc, etc, etc. For a simple machine, a bike has many things that need to be done right to be safe. Yeah the quality isn't as good. but if the stuff is attatched right, and adjusted properly, they should last a few years with moderate use and care. The ride won't be great, but it'll probably get you there in one piece.

P.S.
If you're into biking enough to be at this forum, I'd spend the extra couple of hundred to get a decent bike and enjoy yourself. If for no other reason than for peace of mind that while you're riding that the thing won't fall apart and kill you when you hit that next crack in the pavement.

I, like many others, have had their fair share of experience with cheap department store bikes. I had Huffys, and Roadmasters when I was a kid. Those things were heavy and the quality of the parts were so-so. The bikes required a lot of attention to keep them ridable. Still... as bad as they were, they were nowhere near as bad as what the original poster described. I'm not questioning the authenticity of the original post either. I had always assumed/hoped that some bit of trickle-down was in effect from bikes found at LBSes to those found in deptartment stores. I guess I'm sadly mistaken.

A major source of the problems. I almost took a job pasting these things together, but I refused to do the slovenly work required to make any money when paid on a piecework basis of $3.00 to $5.00 a bike. I was out of work and starving, but that's another story.

Doc

The high-end wally world bikes now are aluminum. But you are paying bike shop prices for a biek without any customer support...so actually it's more costly than a bike shop bike.

They used to be cheaper, but they caught on to the bike shop pricing and jacked theirs up to match, since they knew bike shops couldn't get any cheaper.

X-Mart = All things to all people.
LBS - Bike things for bike people.

Jack of all trades; master of none.

In part you can blame the federal government. These are some of the minimum requirements. And they are minimum. I am sure that the major bike distributor's (I think that there are 2) are making big bucks off of these federal standards and walmart customers.

Some of my favs:

A rider weighing at least 150 pounds must ride a
bicycle at least 4 miles with the tires inflated to
maximum recommended pressure. The rider
must travel five times at a speed of at least 15
miles per hour over a 100 foot cleated course.
See §1512.18(p) for this test. During these tests,
the bicycle must handle, turn and steer in a stable
manner without difficulty, the frame and fork,
brakes, and tires must not fail, and the seat,
handlebars, controls, and reflectors must not
become loose or misaligned.

and

A sidewalk bicycle loaded with a weight of 30 lb.
on the seat and 10 lb. on each handlebar grip
must be dropped (while maintaining an upright
position) one foot onto a paved surface three
times in the upright position. Without the
weights, the bicycle must be dropped three times
on each side in any other orientation. During
these tests, the wheels, frame, seat, handlebars,
and fork must not break. See §1512.18(q) for
this test.

I bought my daughter a 20" Huffy mtb at a garage sale last fall. It is a 6-speed (rear derailleur, no front). When I bought it, it was a three speed. I am very proud of my mechanical ability; I have got it to shift to 5 of the 6 cogs. The most effective form of adjusting the derailleur is to grab it and pull it very, very hard.

On the other hand, it cost $20 and will last this year. I will sell it for $15. It is heavy, but safe. She'll be ready for 24" wheels next year, if not 700c. I have never told her it's a POS, and she rides it a lot and likes it. It's sourapple green, which is important.

You don't need to spend a lot to get a good bike. Get a USED BIKE!! I paid 80$ for a used GT (pre pacific cycles) that is better than any department store mountain bike, and better than any lbs bike priced under 200$.

Quality doesn't have to be expensive, if you don't mind not having the shiniest newest bling from the LBS. A great bike 5 years ago is still a great bike today, and it will be working well today, because it was made well then. Department store bikes are a false economy.

Anyway, keep buying them, keep throwing them away, and we'll keep pulling them out of dumpsters and making them into tall bikes.

peace,
sam

I wished they let me test those bikes...I could kill a wally world sidepull brake by the second stop.

As far as killing suspension forks...heh...give me 30mins, no drops at all, I'll kill it just by a combination of violent mashing and aggressive braking.

Cranks...heh that violent mashing will do a nice job on them, I'm sure.

Basically they should get a big guy to really wail on those bikes...no jumps/wheelies/curb climbs/etc, just aggro pedaling/braking/shifting...make sure teh bike doesn't screw up when pushed. It's easy to destroy a BB on a cheap bike in a single day if not a single hour, if you mash violently enough to lift the front wheel off the ground with every downstroke. Then destroy the caliper brakes in a single stop by gently putting them on to heat the pads at those speeds, then clamp down, not to the point of loccking the front wheel, but enough for a proper power-stop..then watch that metal bend! For bonus points every few mashes, do a quick backpedal, then continue mashing....actually...I think that's just a bit too mean-spirited...even by my standards.

...but you know kids will do crap like that....

Dunlop bicycles have a warranty so I'm not sure what you got here ?

It seems you have over-tightened the cup and this has caused the bearing retainer to be crushed (they are not meant to be strong particularly, they are just there to hold the bearings when you put them in). Normally Chinese bikes have free-running bearings, not in retainers ?
If the locknut was faulty then you should have replaced it - tightening it by hand is not a solution.

The derailleur will rock back and forward if the chain is clogged. This also happens when someone puts a new chain over old sprockets or vice versa.

Yes, the bearings will chew right through the hub if the cones are too loose. They can become loosened when you ride off-road on a rough track, or ride up kerbs (a common practice on hardtails).

The fact that you have dented what is a heavy and solid frame, and induced handlebar flex indicates to me that you aren't exactly a 'gentle and considerate lover'.

Bicycles do need some maintenance.

It also seems you turned the handlebar around the wrong way (it is flat in the box, you have to turn it around and tighten it), hence the 'forks being the wrong way around'.

I once worked for Kmart, and believe it or not, this was a very common mistake !

When I was young (late 1960's), my father could only afford the Sears Spyder imitation Stingray Bicycle. It was heavy, but safe especially after we took it to the Dutch owned bicycle shop down the street. After that, we only purchased new or used bicycles with quaility based on being properly educated about bicycles at that shop. Now I would not even look at a department store junker.