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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.