slewfoot

Count me among those who've got a beef with x-Mart bike safety. This afternoon I went riding with my 55-year old mom and not fifty feet into the trail, she veered off the left edge of the ashpalt. She wasn't out of control, mind you, just rode off the edge of the pavement, but wasn't in any danger of hitting anything or eating it in any way. She corrected her course back toward the asphalt trail and when she should've ridden back onto the surface, I watched the bike seem to trip over itself and throw her to the ground. The trail isn't raised or anything like a sidewalk; it's just a thin layer of asphalt that tapers off into dirt. After making sure she was more or less OK, I checked out the bike and realized that the front wheel was parallel with the handlebars. The headset bolt was loose enough to allow the wheel to turn 90 degrees when she treid to steer it over the edge of the asphalt.

Knowing this was a Pacific bike, assembled by an unqualified person, I feel lousy for not having gone over it as best as I could before letting her on it. I don't live real near her and she'd been riding this bike for a little while now, alone on her road (yeesh). But that's not the point at all; the bike shouldn't have to be checked over. It should be assembled correctly in the first place. My wrenching skills are semi-competent at best, and only then for less complciated repairs. Not everyone has access to a semi-competent mechanic, and I don't think they should have to.

The rub, of course, is that I tried to talk her out of buying this, using all the standard arguments. I tried to get her to get a Bike Store Bike(tm), but she said she'd use it so infrequently that she couldn't justify the $250-300 minimum. I told her to try used but I'm not sure she had time to look, and she wouldn't have known enough to separate the good from the bad, to not get taken. She settled on this thing, which was at least a top-of-the-Walmart-line Schwinn. Not great, but definitely better and sturdier than their $50 Roadmasters or whatever it is. Even with the "upgraded" components, the assembly sucks. Their process demonstrates a stunning lack of responsibility or concern for the consumer. Not that I'd have expected anything more out of them.

Ironically, I was riding an '80s Giant Quasar road bike, an eBay find which cost me less than her Schwinn even after new pedals, tires, cork tape and a new, swapped-out Bontrager saddle.

I've been going through the same argument with my girlfriend, who wants to ride with me. I said on multiple occasions that if she wanted to spend $150 on an x-Mart bike, I'd much rather pay the difference for her to get a cheap hardtail Trek MTB or something similar. I may get her to take me up on that now.

My mom was OK and only has a gash on her knee to show for her trouble, but I still didn't like watching her spill off the bike that way. Wal-mart sucks.

silversmith

Glad your mom is alright. You never know what you might break in a spill.

My father-in-laws cheap, and brand new, Walmart mt bike's stem was too loose, too. He ended up with some nasty road rash.

Like you, I had warned him about Wally bikes. He just couldn't wrap his head around a $350 bike, even though he's fairly well off and could easily afford a decently assembled LBS product.

My daily ride is an 82 LeTour frame that I found on the curb on trash day. I added curbside found components and painted the bike with paint from the shelf in the garage. I did buy decent tires, though.
https://s77.photobucket.com/albums/j7...nt=letoura.jpg

operator

I think it'll be hard to rid people of the mentality that bikes = recreation only and thus spending more than $200 on a bike is ridiculous.

As always, walmart bikes are ok if you basically reassemble the bike yourself.

Katrogen

I'm so sorry about your mom. You have the right to blame WalMart for the responsibility of warding off those interested in cycling. They give the sport a bad rap!!! Can your mom find an old classic for the same price as the WalMart bike yet 10 times better?

slewfoot

Thanks for all the comments. Mom's fine, just shook me a little seeing that happen. Everything was OK for her but it certainly wasn't the worst thing that could happen. I wonder how many times something worse has happened. Surprised they haven't been held accountable in a significant way. I hate car analogies, but I'll make one anyway: what would happen to car mfr. X if they sold a bunch of cars whose steering fails?

paednoch

March the bike right back to x-mart and demand a FULL refund..their by-line is satisfaction guaranteed. I wonder how many ******** guys named hank assemble their bikes.

slewfoot

Handsome ride!

I grew up on a little road bike, a Schwinn Caliente. Not sure what the scale was, but it was a nice ibke for a ten year old kid. Last summer I bought a new '04 Trek 1000, got fitted and everything, but just never felt comfortable on it. It felt small, and jarred me around on the pavement. I'm 220#-230#, and don't ride competitively or anything, so a few pounds' worth of frame weight is pretty trivial to me. Anyway, I sold the Trek and recouped my money and went back to riding my Gary Fisher hardtail with slicks - couldn't justify keeping a $500 bike around that I didn't like. I picked up my eBay giant and feel much more at home on it. I probably just liked my old Schwinn too much, but I'm happier. Old bikes are cool.

josh7337

first you claim that the assembly was the problem. then you convince your mom to buy a more expensive bike at the same store, as if paying more for a different bike (which is assembled by the exact same people at the same store who assembled the bike she wrecked) is somehow going to be assembled better. this is a non-sequitur my friend. you should make a stab at obtaining some post-secondary education at some point; your reasoning skills are not as well-honed as your cycling prowess.

slewfoot

I'm going to quote myself here:

"Not great, but definitely better and sturdier than their $50 Roadmasters or whatever it is. Even with the "upgraded" components, the assembly sucks."

What I said is that the components are better on the Schwinn than on the Roadmaster. They are. I also said that, despite the upgraded components, the assembly of the bike sucks. The poor assembly is the issue, despite the quality or cheapness of the materials. I tried to sell her on a LBS bike; I would not, and didn't, sell her on anything at x-mart.

Your reading skills are not well-honed. Why come here and pick an argument in a thread about my mother falling off a cheap bike, anyway?

UmneyDurak

From OP post the argument about which bike to buy at wally world happened before the crash.

twahl

Again you are proving your worth. Reading comprehension isn't your strong point. He tried to talk her out of a Walmart bike, she instead bought a better than bottom of the barrel Walmart bike. Nowhere does he indicate that he talked her into the slightly more expensive Walmart bike.

And aren't you the genius that posted about how bike shop bikes are overpriced? Shouldn't you be defending Walmart here? Talk about non sequitur.

josh7337

I'm not picking an argument with anyone. I just find your blame-others approach to be unfair to the retailer. After all, one has to accept responsibility for one's purchases and subsequent carelessness; its like blaming McDonalds for becoming obese. Btw why did you not inspect her bike BEFORE she got on it, if you had reasons to doubt their assembly skills?

josh7337

you are proving your worth, i.e. you are not a very nice person.

i am not defending wal-mart. after all; they pay their workers in a most shabby manner. however, i am defending the following:

taking care of your mother: if wal-mart bikes are just HORRIBLE, then you should check them over before your elderly mother sits on one.

taking personal responsibility: if a person buys something, they should have enough common sense to take a look at it before they trust their health and safety to a minimum-wage employee.

twahl

I'm not very nice to people that constantly make inflammatory posts. That would be you.

Have you decided to address the point about your reading comprehension yet?

slewfoot

How can I argue with that? I've realized the error of my ways.

It's completely unreasonable (and unfair to that poor, poor retailer) for a person to expect that a product sold and advertised as a bicycle should perform to certain standards expected of a bicycle, such as not falling apart under the weight of a 95-pound woman on dirt and asphalt. I'm going to march right into wal-mart and apologize.

By the way, I'm certain that many 50-something people - probably some forumites - would object to being called "elderly".

josh7337

at your age, you should be able to deal with opinions that you may not agree with, without resulting to petty personal affronts.

next are you going to challenge me to some arm-wrestling?

josh7337

everyone is considered "old" by some other, younger age cohort. im 27 and high-schoolers consider me as "old".

twahl

Perhaps. My point here is that you read something that wasn't written, apparently looking to challenge the OP. You have challenged the vast majority of members here in the past, asking their justification for spending more than $75 on a bike when there are bikes priced at that price point at Walmart. You have suggested that it is fine to participate in an organized ride without paying the fee. You have advocated riding on the sidewalk. In short, you have challenged several of the things that cyclists have come to understand as normal, ethical, and intelligent decisions.

My petty personal affront is certainly no more insulting than yours. You've accused slewfoot of talking his mother into an unsafe bike and not caring enough for her to make it safe. Not to mention calling 55 "elderly." Since you're already offended though, I'll throw one more in. I think you're either a troll or a tool.

KrisPistofferson

Awesome.

josh7337

"asking their justification for spending more than $75 on a bike"

yes, i find interesting people's purchasing habits. its similar to a large number of people paying $100 for an umbrella. however, i could care less how people choose to spend their disposable income.

"You have suggested that it is fine to participate in an organized ride without paying the fee"

yes.

"You have advocated riding on the sidewalk."

no. i made a post mentioning my personal daily use of sidewalk instead of roads. in my area, there is little foot traffic and much road trafic and thus, it is safer for both myself and motorists.

"In short, you have challenged several of the things that cyclists have come to understand as normal, ethical, and intelligent decisions."

do you like real discussions, or would you prefer a mindless echo chamber? btw not everyone conforms to your ethical system, nor should they.

"Not to mention calling 55 "elderly."

what is the significance of this statement?

"I think you're either a troll or a tool."

these words must possess a dual meaning in which i am unfamilair.

twahl

I'm not feeding you any more.

Nermal

Original post was quite clear to the rest of us slewfoot.

Quite right, twahl.

catatonic

Sadly that is something that has to be factored into the price.

WHO is assembling them, and WHO can make sure it's right before you leave the store with it? Pretty much you aren't going to find that person in the store...so your trust in their mechanical skills should be minimal.

I really do wish those places would not even assemble the bikes. That would be more honest than how they currently do it.

If you had to pay for assembly, then yes it IS their fault, as at that point the assembly was "professional", and has to be performed to a reasonable standard.

Nermal

Disagree. If it looks like a bike and is sold as a bike, it should act like a bike, i.e. the front wheel should turn when you turn the handlebars, and in the same amount.

unkchunk

Glad your Mom's OK. Reads like she caught the edge of the pavement with her front tire. Getting caught in ruts and trolly tracks will do the same thing. You maintain balance by counter steering and a small ridge in the surface like that (parallel with your direction of travel) will limit your stearing, and therefore, your balance. So I don't think the assembly quality was the cause in this accident.

Please tell her that in the future if she rides off the trail to not stear back at a slight angle. She should try to stear back at a sharper angle, 45 degrees or more. That's kind of difficult for the inexperienced rider so it would be better for her to accept that she is off the trail and to stop. Then reposition the bike on the pavement by foot and then continue riding.