Freepers,protect those arms!!!
It’s worth the money to buy a good bike, even if most of the Treks are still built in China.
36 spoke wheels are worth the extra money.
I had a Kia bike in the 70’s. Now they make cars!
Chinese bikes are like Bic pens.
Cheap and disposable.
Rule #1. If its made in China its cheap.
Rule #2. If its durable, well built and easily repairable it didn’t come from China.
I took the foot pedals off to see if I could swap with pedals that had two straps.
Should have been: TOE STRAPS
The good news is that you will get well soon.
I broke one ankle once and the other one twice.
I understand your pain.
I’m sure a lot of other freepers do too.
Walking is good and you don’t have to buy a thing except maybe
a good pair of walking shoes.
Good luck.
Sounds like a bike that I bought at Tesco (British version of Walmart) This was in central Europe.
In my first trip along the Danube, in the first week, one peddle fell off, stripping the threads, so I could not put it back on.
The gears never worked as they should, and the sprockets
bent.
Fortunately, it was beyond repair and they refunded my money.
I then went to a real bike store and bought a Czech made bike.
It has been great, no problems at all, and is still like new, even after numerous road trips in Slovakia, and shipment to the Philippines.
I ride it every afternoon along the beach road.
You thought it was defective and unsafe but still rode it. Trust your own judgement.
Comparing a Walmart bike to a real bike is kind of unfair. You should not expect to get what you don’t pay for... Replacing the tires and tubes on a good bike costs half of the Walmart price of a bike.
Almost the same thing happened to me about 20 years ago on a Schwinn if I remember correctly. My buddy and I were being dumb kids and riding on a trail in the woods way beyond what our experience could handle.
Hit a stump, the wheel bent and I flew over the handlebars. My elbow came out the back of my arm and I walked home to mom in complete shock.
To this day I have about a 10" railroad track scar, my left arm is full of metal and won't bend straight.
Won't get on a bike anymore, now I switched to playing with firearms in my spare time, much safer hobby.
Who assembled the bike?
If Wal-Mart was unionized, they wouldn’t have these cheap bikes.
I have a Schwinn from about 2004, and have beaten the living daylights out of it on mountain trails. It seems to hold up just fine. I’m 175 lbs.
A generally good rule to live by...
If it costs more than $100, or if you’ll want it to last more than a year or two, don’t buy it at Wal-Mart.
In 1974 I used to “Mountain bike” on a modified Raleigh ‘english’ 26” racer with 20” BMX wheels.
I even made my own handle bars.
But I would never consider a Walmart Mountain bike suitable for off road use, and I think they may even have tags that say just that.
I ride a Trek salvaged from a spare parts pile.
Aren't Chineese products metric?
Cannondale or Specialized.
Full Disclosure: I"m doing the MS 150 in Minnesota this weekend.
Forecast is for rain.
Cheers!
LOL - why waste your dough at QallyWorld?
When I last visited Tucson, I went to the local Pawn shop
Got a nice Cannondale for 50 USD. It’s a college town, eh?
no brakes and no seat. Redid the brakes and put a new seat on it.
Rode the living snot out of it for 6 weeks of my vacation and sold it for 400 USD.
I don’t bother to ship a bike anymore, I buy one at a pawn shop, put a few dollars and a bit of labor in it.
Sell it when I leave.
You might consider for the bucs you spent at wallyworld, a pawn shop special just might be the better ticket.
Have fun and Ride On!
I bought the infamous NEXT NITRO mountain bike at Walmart. It’s a “shocker” in bike parlance, which means the frame is articulated with a shock absorber under the seat. It has 18 gears and a pretty green paint job. I needed a ride to work when I had my car in the shop last March, and I resolved to get the cheapest bike I could find, so I knew where to look.
The bike rack was rather disorganized, and most of the bikes were $100+ , but it was hard to match prices with the merchandise in many cases. I liked this one, but figured it would be more expensive. I found a clerk to scan it for me and he said it was $70. I asked, “$170 ?” and he said, “No, $70”, so no-brainer.
I haven’t had any real problem with it, although it does seem a little suspicious. I certainly wouldn’t go mountain biking with it. It rides OK, though, and it shifts very nicely. The chain did come off once, but that was because I overshifted past the lowest gear. I bought some metric Allen wrenches so I could tighten some things up and adjust the handle bar height. It was super tight, and I had to work hard to loosen it, so I was afraid it would just break, but it didn’t, and the adjustment worked as expected. ( BTW, I suspect your pedals are metric. )
Of course, I read the horror stories such as yours on the net, but I ride it pretty easy, and it seems OK. If I keep it up over the summer, I might get a real bike. The last few weeks the roads have been torn up, so I’m waiting for the coast to clear.
I really enjoyed riding, which I haven’t done for years. The first day it was quite an exertion to ride 4 miles, and the merest undulations made me feel like I was riding in a mountain stage of the Tour. After only a few round trips, I shaped up considerably, though, and I really felt rejuvenated. Amazingly, I didn’t get stiff and sore.