debunking myths about walmart bikes

Several times WallyWorld jeans have come up in this thread. I won't buy pants there anymore. My complaint is 5 belt loops. Pants just need 7 at least with the best pants having 9 belt loops. With 5 you get the pants sliding under the belt with the belt digging into your back plus they look like crap (or a seat full of crap).

When you leave off something so simple as beltloops you have to wonder what other corners are going to be cut....

bairdco said:

it's almost 2 in the morning, and i'm typing out freakin arguments to someone i'll never meet, don't care what kind of bike they ride, and who'll never take my advice anyway...

what the heck do i care if you buy a bike at walmart, anyway? knock yourself out.

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Heh, my wife sent me this a couple years back, lol.

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oldtimer54 said:

Look Ive tried to stay out of this as Ive chated (lol) about this with you before but the cheap lazy comment is just to far over the line! Iam nether cheap or lazy and to say that any one who buys from wally world is cheap or lazy is just wrong. Ever think about keeping this b* to your self untell you sober up? Might be a good idea? Peace

PS by the way I just dont get the lazy comment? Seems to me that trying to install an engine into one of these tiny wally world bikes is WAY more work. LMAO

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walmart is the definition of cheap. it's the reason it exists. it's low prices on everything.

and since everything's in one place, it's a great place to shop for lazy people. you can make one trip to the store and buy everything from bicycles, televisions, fruit roll-ups, socks, and motor oil.

that's an undeniable fact.

but, i do understand the way my comment could be taken, and for that i apologize. you're right, building a motorized bike isn't exactly easy.

on the other hand, we are building motorized bicycles. that kinda makes all of us lazy, especially in the eyes of people who have to (or like to) pedal around.

and i thought i did pretty dang good at getting my point across whilst drunk...

Paul's right, though. i dunno why i've been in such an argumentative state lately. i need to relax.

Hang in there bairdco,

We all get humped up over things sometime, and we say things that we really dont mean to be taken in a bad way but they are sometimes, that's when we do just what you did, we take a step back appologize if nesseccary and then just regroup and move forward.

I know many people just LOVE wally world....personally I dont like it at all, I had to sit back and watch all the really good variety stores with really nice home town people close up shop and go away for ever when we got the BIG BOX Store in our little 20,000 pop town, the old stores had much better products with plenty reasonable prices that nost were happy with, but wal-mart moves into a town with the goal of knocking out all the competition if at all possible, thats their game and they've done a very good job of it around these parts, now we are forced to buy online instead of shopping local because we cant hardly find anything we want anymore because wal-mart just sells the 2 bit junk and all the older good stores are almost all gone, we have 1 hardware store left the opened back in the 1800's and it is now about half the size it was 20 years ago.

If you are a wally world lover that is fine with me....you have that right but I aint because I think they have doen way more harm than good in the small town of America

Peace

Peace

I know the South Park cartoon is always a little rough language wise. The cynicism fits tho kinda funny. Could not resist linking this one..

Something Wall Mart This Way Comes (Season 8, Episode 9) - Full Episode Player - South Park Studios

I go to wall mart for dog chews.

And to pick up my OP Roller after I ordered it online.

Nothing else.

I generally find there are two types of people, those that smile while going into Wally World and those that moan, groan and b*t*h all the way through the door. Me, if they got what I want, at the best price, I get it. They're the top dog in supply chain management, they know what they're doing.

In the end, "it's not personal, it's strictly business".

Ok i picked up a huffy Nel Lusso for 119 at walmart straped on a grubee and no real problems welds are good i did have to grease everything as everthing is supposed to be when it is put together but the boobs at wal mart neglect to do during assembly. the fender an mounts are rather weak other than that its great i purchased it so i could upgrade as i go i am not nice to it an everthing is still fine. However i just purchased a schwinn clairmont (step through) for my wife got a deal i paid 99.96 but it is normally 159.99 one problem i attribute to again the boobs putting it together striped the bolt that holds the derailuer to th frame the frame threads are good just the bolt was bad. Sure these bikes are cheap if you plan on up grading as you want it will end up cheaper than paying 500.00 thas still made in china for one an still endup changing rims, forksm,etc. what ever you do dont trust the worksman ship. people will still cry garbage an go an spend 500.00 on a high end bike but in the end im into my mb for only 270.00 total and have been clocked on radar at 33mph

I recently bought a Trek 820.

A decent, but not fantastic, low-end entry level mountain bike. 320 dollars. Pretty good value and I am happy the competition from Wally has kept prices of the competition low.

I like it. Unlike other Treks it has steel frame with 36 spoke wheels and that's basically why I bought it.

Meanwhile there is the Roadmaster Granite Peak 26"... $80 dollars.

Comparison:
* Wheels. Probably similar

* Brakes probably similar.

* Front fork. 820 is far stronger and also has mounting points to panniers. Has quick release.

* Frame:
820 has stronger looking Head tube
Top tube and down tubes are similar looking
820 has stronger seat tube. The quick release for the seat is bigger, stronger.
820 seat stays and chain stays are bigger, beefier.
820 Welds are better
820 has mounting points all over. 4 on the rear drop out, 3 on the seat stay, 2 on the seat tube, 2 on the down tube. The Roadmaster only has the mounts on the down tube.

* Headset: 820's headset is much stronger.

* Handle bars/controls... break levers on both are functional looking. 820's shifters are much better. Better grips on the 820.

* 820 has better seat tube attachment.

* 820's saddle is better. Those cheap 'comfort seats' are ok for a while, but will eventually squish up into the soft parts of your butt and will cause lots of uncomfortable soreness instead of supporting the hard parts of your butt correctly.

* The crankset is probably similar on both bikes. Cheap. The Roadmaster has a guard on it, which is a good thing. Pedals on the 820 are much better. Hard to say on the bearings, but the Roadmaster is obviously going to have the cheapest possible.

* Derailleur. Both have cheap parts. 820 has extra "very low" low gear which is actually very handy.



The Verdict:

The Wally World bike is the cheapest of the cheap. It uses outdated and inferior components in order to be so inexpensive. It's not just that it's made by the chinese, it's the cheapest the chinese can make it.

Is it going to kill you? No. Liability concerns are good enough that it has obviously adequate brakes. The frame is not terrible either. It's average and probably won't cause problems. Stronger then your average road bike.

The 820 is not a good bike either. It's painfully adequate. Trek is a average brand and 820 is their entry level offering. But it's decent and will get the job done and it's stronger and built with better components then the Wally bike.

With the Wally bike at 80 and the Trek at 320 is the Trek worth 4x the amount of the Wally bike? No, probably not. But that is not all your buying. With the 820 your getting it assembled and inspected by a real bike mechanic and no some 17 year old.

Your not going to get damaged head tube. Your not going to get shallow welds, a headset that is going to come loose after 40 miles and start wiggling and rattling. Your not going to see stripped bolts and derailleurs that are all out of adjustment. Your brakes are going to be correctly adjusted and it's going to be properly setup. Bolts are not going to fly off and go missing. These are all common problems with Wally bikes and you are spending money to avoid this. Your going to get a good warrantee and a place you can take your bike too to get fixed and worked on professionally.

So say that's a hundred bucks....


Can you spend money on upgrading the Wally bike and get something better then 820 for the same price?

NO you cannot. A fork costs a minimum of about 150-200 bucks. You'll end up with a BETTER fork then the 820, but that's just one of dozens of cheap pieces. And no matter how much money you spend on it you will always have a inferior frame.

If you are willing to drop 1K on a bicycle (ignoring the motor) you can have just as good components as if I spent 1K on my 820. The difference is that my frame will still be better.

If you want to build up a frame you can get ones for 75-150 dollars that are better then my 820 by a long shot....


Is the Wally bike horrible? No.

Is it going to kill you or break on you? All bikes break eventually, but if you keep the wally on the road and avoid potholes and accidents then it should last for a long time.

But there is are very good reasons why I shopped at a real bike store...

nate-m said:

I recently bought a Trek 820.
But there is are very good reasons why I shopped at a real bike store...

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A fair analysis (won't quote it all) both bikes you can get on and ride down the street, no problem, the question for each is how long. Most department store bikes end up being used a few weekends for pedaling around and put away when fall comes. The manufacturers know that. Many motorized bikes the same.
The point is: Usage, how much and how long does the user expect vs the overall investment.

another reason i buy bikes at wal mart .....

95% of the bikes and parts are made in china anyway ...

Where was my bike made? - The Bike Pedlar, Nashville, TN

Although 95% of all bikes may be built in China, not all Chinese factories are equal. I've run into this countless times in other sports and industries and brought up this point before. Although I did buy a bike from Walmart that was made in China, I can immediately tell it wasn't a particularly well built bike. But for $150, it will hopefully be good enough.

I've never bought a walmart bike, and honestly, I just never will. Granted, I will never buy a 2000 dollar bicycle from a bike shop either! Though I don't have a problem at all with buying something off someone who has no idea what they've got at a killer price. And I'm always going to be that way.

Granted, my perspective on a bicycle isn't that of a recreational sundays hang it up in the winter kind of thing. I've ridden nothing but a bicycle for 11 years, busting out 30 miles daily pedaling up until 3 years ago when I motored mine. A bicycle to me is an actual source of transportation, not just a luxury thing that sits next to the kayak and badminton net or whatever people like that keep in the garage.

I'm just saying - take a look at the bikes that are hanging. Now, count how many there are. What percentage of those are kids bikes? They're throw away bikes that aren't designed to be daily drivers. They're for riding on the greenbelt once a year and then being hung in the garage, or to be thrashed by youthens.

i have ridden bikes for 35 years , and rode all the great USA made huffy{Huffman } , Schwinn , Murray, Kent , western flyer ...etc .... Schwinn was the pinnacle in my day , every kid wanted a sting ray , and i remember all the trips to the local welder to have frames repaired all the time on all of them , believe it or not the new bikes that come from walmart with aluminum or chromoly frames in the $150 to $300 range are better than the bikes i grew up with, and i hate saying that , the only point i was trying to make was , that felt , trek ,specialized , Schwinn , and the rest , have their frames made by one company .......by GIANT in china , walmart bikes use cheaper hardware but the same frame as a $1000+ felt , trek ,specialized bikes do , the $89 huffy from walmart is about the same quality as the USA huffy of 35 years ago , they were always cheap bikes , and marketed as such , the only real American bike left that's worth investing a grand in is a Worksman , i just can't make myself spend $800+ for a felt cruiser or any bike for that matter knowing that its made in china , one of these days i will save up my pennies and buy a custom order Worksman to put a ez motor bike tranny and a Honda engine on and call her done.

Of course, even Felt had a recall for defective forks just a few months ago.

My first build was a old made in the usa huffy high strenth tinsle steel frame mountain bike ,it is holding up good.My next build was a diamondback 6160 heat treated alloy frame and that is also taking a pounding and use that off road.

I purchased 2 bikes from wall mart for just peadling on the old railroad bed that they just finnished last year putting nice crushed stone on and goes for 30 miles in both directions.They are the Next full suspention bikes,I took the bearings apart and greased them as recomended on here,next I gave them a full cable tune up and test ride.I have put over 300 miles on these,ride them daily for exersize and had no problems.

I think if you take the time on a wall mart bike to tune it up and lube it it should last just fine.If you just strap a motor on it and pound it to death then ***** about it that is your fault not the poor china man getting 25 cents a day for slave labor.That is just my 2 cents worth.Bye cheep chinese made bike put a cheep chinese made motor on it and have fun doing it.

I can tell none of you guys are Harley riders. Harley riders expect to replace every part on the bike with better parts. Sometimes the new parts aren't even better, they just look different.

I'm a Harley rider. When I look at the new bicycle I just look to see if it has enough parts I like, to justify replacing all the parts I don't like.

Walmart might ask the factory to build a cheaper bike, but they don't ask for shoddy welding or workmanship, or thinner tubing. All they want is cheaper components on the bike. That's a good thing for me, because then I can come along and buy a bike that I like for cheap, and replace the components I don't like with ones I choose.

That makes a lot more sense than buying an expensive bike and replacing the components with ones I like better, or just want to be different.

My guess is the elitist crowd that advocates expensive bikes are too stupid to build a better bike themselves.

biknut said:

...Walmart might ask the factory to build a cheaper bike, but they don't ask for shoddy welding or workmanship, or thinner tubing...

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They might not be asking for it, but maybe they are getting it anyway.

rohmell said:

They might not be asking for it, but maybe they are getting it anyway.

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I haven't seen any evidence of it. I built a MB from a OP Roller, one WM's cheapest bikes. Yeah all the components were cheap, but the frame welds, and frame looked great.

biknut said:

I can tell none of you guys are Harley riders. Harley riders expect to replace every part on the bike with better parts. Sometimes the new parts aren't even better, they just look different.

I'm a Harley rider. When I look at the new bicycle I just look to see if it has enough parts I like, to justify replacing all the parts I don't like.

Walmart might ask the factory to build a cheaper bike, but they don't ask for shoddy welding or workmanship, or thinner tubing. All they want is cheaper components on the bike. That's a good thing for me, because then I can come along and buy a bike that I like for cheap, and replace the components I don't like with ones I choose.

That makes a lot more sense than buying an expensive bike and replacing the components with ones I like better, or just want to be different.

My guess is the elitist crowd that advocates expensive bikes are too stupid to build a better bike themselves.

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Right !

Look at reviews for any bicycle. It does not matter how much it costs.

In fact look at the reviews for bikes that cost a lot.

Some people will say the brakes are trash or the seat or wheels are trash and need replacing.

My favorite bike is this.

26" Schwinn Meridian Adult Tricycle, Blue Customer Ratings & Reviews - Top & Best Rated Products - Walmart

Look at he ratings for this bike. As good as any ?

Bike stores are for people that don't know how to fix their own bikes or have not heard about craigslist ?

They are OK for parts sometimes but eBay is better.