Oh, how the mighty have fallen...

bairdco

bairdco

a guy who makes cool bikes
I was in a bike shop last week and the owner knows me from my numerous purchases of tires, tubes, chains, mostly basic stuff to put together custom cruisers, which is what I've been doing since I haven't built (and barely ridden) any motorized bikes in a while.

He's seen my bikes, knows I know what I'm doing, and asked me if I'd like a part time job building bikes.

For walmart.

At first, I laughed, said "No way, " then he told me how easy it is, as the bikes are mostly pre-assembled, you just gotta put the bars, front wheel, pedals and seat on, some bikes a little extra, and it's done.

Takes about 5-10 minutes per bike. Hardest part is getting it out of the box.

So for the last coupla days I've been assembling "bikes."

At walmart.

It's Christmas time, and some stores need a thousand bikes. The first day I "built" 30, the second I built 50.

Everything from 12" kid's toys, mongoose fat bikes, 20" bmxers, cruisers, and mountain bikes.

I get paid per bike, and even though I can slap one together in 10 minutes or less, I make sure it won't fall apart... err... at least not from having loose bolts, and I toe-in brake shoes, tighten a coupla spokes so the brakes don't rub, adjust the derrailuers, etc. So your $79 bike is rideable.

It's easy money.

To justify my loathing for all things walmart, at least I'm taking there money, instead of giving it to china. People are gonna buy that junk anyway, so why shouldn't I make some cash from it, right?

So why do I feel like a drug dealer?

I'll tell ya this much. I used to make fun of china bikes before, but seeing first hand how they're built, packaged, shipped, stored, treated by employees and customers, I will never condone the use of these bikes for anything motorized, and wouldn't recommend anyone buying one to ride.

If you do buy a walmart bike, take it apart, regrease everything, tighten and tension your spokes, check everything for defects, then throw it away.
 
Baird glad to hear your building bikes for xtra $$. I feel much better knowing that someone who knows about building bikes is assembling those big box bikes, other than ‘SFB’ who doesn’t know the difference from a socket wrench to a screwdriver.

I feel you can buy a china bike depending what you use it for. If you buy a first bike for your 3 year old, then I think it is OK. He’ll use it for a year then throw it away or donate it. Many people buy bikes that will only use it to ride to the beach 1-2 days a year, that’s OK also.

My son had a 14” and 16” Nerve ‘made in china’ I completely tore the bikes down, lubed trued, reassembled and they fulfilled their purpose. Now he is on a 20” mini BMX w/ freewheel taking laps at the Orange Y bmx track, not ready for racing yet.

What about bikes ‘made in taiwan’?
 
Welcome to the club Bairdco, awesome, init? That's how the big box stores treat everything. The whole reason I shop local, is so i know who to yell at.

And to be fair, I have to agree with Magrider. Most of the adult bikes bought at Wal-Mart get ridden once or twice, EVER. Most just collect dust and get shuffled around the garage.

A handful of folks will appreciate your effort though, just tell yourself your helping them. It helps kill the pain.
 
At least your wartmart doesn't have a trained monkey that doesn't know which end of a screwdriver to hold putting them together.

Most do.

Congratulations!
 
I've been reminded of Samuel Johnson, a literary figure in Britain's past who had this to say:

"It has been a common saying of physicians in England, that a cucumber should be well sliced, and dressed with pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out, as good for nothing."
 
And now I have a cold. I haven't been sick in at least 3 years. My boss called it "walmart-itis."
 
Yep. I know the story well.....

I used to own a small town hardware store. The 'blue' big box came to a town 18 miles away and sealed my fate.

Many years later, I'm now on the management team for the 'orange' big box. Oh, well, at least it keeps the mortgage company happy.
 
We used to have an independent grocery store here in my little town. Started in 1947, I think, as a general store. Grew into a small supermarket over the years. The nearest competition was a Kroger a few miles away. And both seemed to do okay.

Then in the late 90s they started to build a W-M supercenter just a stone's throw beyond the Kroger. During construction a sign went up on the doors of the IGA saying, in effect, 'thanks for being our customers for fifty years. But we're outta here. The new owner will be taking over on Monday'.

For something less than a half a year all seemed pretty normal. Then one day I noticed that most of the meats in the cooler were expired and looking pretty gray. Some shelves were looking kinda empty. It was that day or one near it that an employee started telling me what an idiot the new owner was. I suggested that maybe he was in a hard spot due to competition. The moron employee dismissed that. I think it was only about a week from then before the place went belly-up.

Now I'm not the most savvy businessman in the world. But I'd smell a rat if the local IGA goes up for sale right when they're building a superstore just a few miles away.

I've often puzzled why the guy who bought that place didn't think of this. And my heart really does bleed for him when I picture the moment when he realized that his goose was cooked. Who knows how much debt he ended up defaulting on?

But he should have done better due diligence. They don't call Wal-Mart "the Beast of Bentonville" for nothing.
 
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Our local hardware store (TR Saylor's) just closed several months ago. It was the real deal. Opened in 1903 and operated by the same family. Silverbear and FastEddy had the pleasure of visiting there last summer. We have three Walmarts and all the others within 19 miles. Still have a locally owned lumberyard/hardware within 5 miles and that's where I try to do all my business. Hopefully they will outlast me.
Dan
 
In some smaller British towns, lessons have been learned by observing the disasters of others, and the big supermarket chains have been subject to severe restrictions on size and location by the town councils.

They remain as proper towns, with high local employment, and a healthy prospect of success for those willing to take a chance on a business.
 
Baird,

I don't see that the mighty have fallen. The mighty box stores got really lucky though when the bike builder extraordinaire took the job. No more sullen stock boy stuck in the corner slapping bikes together thinking that the manager screwed him.

Your not responsible for the crap they sell but now it's better because someone competent is doing the job of putting them together.

Steve.
 
Baird, I've worked for Walmart too, years ago. I've met and known (and had trouble liking) some of the jerks who did piecework in the bike section. Some used a portable mini-compressor and air tools, and slammed those things out. We ended up with bikes where either half the bolts were still loose or half were stripped. We had handlebars that weren't even close to perpendicular with the wheel. We had one that had a stripped crank because, when the assembler noticed that the chain had come off the front sprocket while in the box, he tried to wrap it back around while it was on the stand. I'll never understand how that yahoo did it, but in getting the chain back on he stripped the crank. And the manager didn't want to write it off so he "fixed" it with JB Weld! That bike was returned. I had griped and protested to the general manager about the subcontractors they hired to slap those so-called bikes together, and I warned how the unsafe assembly issues could cause legal trouble later. But it wasn't coming out of his pocket so he didn't care.
That store was becoming a "ship of fools" and a bastion of idiots. When they screwed us out of our promised bonuses by putting the money toward (largely unnecessary) renovations, I had to go.
Baird, parents buy their kids those bikes. I'm glad you're building them. Who knows how many young folks are walking around without a scratch because somebody competent and caring put together the bike they ride.
 
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