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Walmart asked not to sell bikes

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My suspicion is it's worse than that. I have one of them here, and I just remembered I left it outside. Oops. Last week we got 3 feet on snow. It had been parked in my neighborhood with a "free" sign on it for a few days.

Watching bike mechanics rail against them on youtube, you might think the main problem is the assembly. Things like no grease, misadjusted or misassembled bearings, forks on backwards, etc. Maybe at some point I will figure whether it is just terrible assembly or if it is rotten to the core. I have a sample here. It is a 24" full suspension mountain bike.

I had never heard of the brand, and I can't remember in now. At the time I got it home I looked it up. It turns out to be a Walmart exclusive from around 2008(?), and IIRC some of them were part of a CPSC recall for fork breakage. Mine was not part of the recall, either a little too new or too old.

At first glance it looks OK. I figured I would true the wheels, grease the bearings, etc and see what its like, find out if they are really that bad for myself. One obvious flaw, the saddle is a spandex one in shreds, no big deal.

When you look closer, some things are a bit off. The front wheel just looks too far back. The rear suspension at first glance did not appear to have a good enough pivot to be stable under weight and in motion. The suspension fork does not look terribly stable either. I think it's bent. Maybe the frame too. If the fork is bent, I wouldn't expect it to still move up and down, but it does. The bike has twist shifters. That's bad enough, but they are crappy ones and I have my doubts they can even be made to work. As I recall, nothing about the gearing was functional. I probably won't find out any more until spring. Maybe I'll get some pictures then.

Apparently this one was too cheap for Walmart to even put a Huffy badge on, but at least it doesn't have a plastic stem. 🙄
I understand everything you're saying BUT 24" might account for the wonky not quite right dimensions?
I bought an ex 1 which was clearanced out; I think it was a 24" something in a baby blue/teal color. Disc brakes & decent looking bike for like $80 or less on sale. Normal price was probably around $139+. I rode it, I even did light wood trail riding with it, jumped a few downed limbs/trees & it seemed to be decent for a Walmart bike. Only real quirk I found was the gears didn't quite like shifting during motion & they were off some on the twist shifters. Of course then I don't think I was a CABE'r so I didn't check for grease etc. Just jumped on it to ride. Now I bought a Specialized Hot Rock I think it was for $8 in 24". Had the front tire off but it just needed seated / aired to ride. It had the same issues of shifting but rode the same. Not Horrible for a smaller framed MTN bike.

There's a BIG Difference in a Bike Owner, a Bike Mechanic, & of course neglect.

I mean I see ordinary people selling bikes with the forks turned around backwards (I even tell them on FB Market) so that bike just p!ss poorly buyer assembled vs a bike mechanic (trueing, lubed, greasing & torquing) makes a big difference once it sets outside in the almighty weather. New vs pre-owned as well. I guarantee you can't take 1 of your well loved up but not expensive bikes vintage or not out & they won't succumb to rust or issues.

I don't agree with using plastic for stems etc but he'll I don't even like plastic pedals anymore. I'd be weary of carbon wheels but I never owned something expensive like that new.
 
I know you older guys will remember back when magnesium wheels were a thing for cars & maybe bikes too? They were prone to issues like splitting or cracking ridiculously easy & weren't to be trusted. Some things aren't meant to last forever if they aren't taken care of ..... Even these old steel things we ❤️ & 🤤 for
 
I understand everything you're saying BUT 24" might account for the wonky not quite right dimensions?
I bought an ex 1 which was clearanced out; I think it was a 24" something in a baby blue/teal color. Disc brakes & decent looking bike for like $80 or less on sale. Normal price was probably around $139+. I rode it, I even did light wood trail riding with it, jumped a few downed limbs/trees & it seemed to be decent for a Walmart bike. Only real quirk I found was the gears didn't quite like shifting during motion & they were off some on the twist shifters. Of course then I don't think I was a CABE'r so I didn't check for grease etc. Just jumped on it to ride. Now I bought a Specialized Hot Rock I think it was for $8 in 24". Had the front tire off but it just needed seated / aired to ride. It had the same issues of shifting but rode the same. Not Horrible for a smaller framed MTN bike.

There's a BIG Difference in a Bike Owner, a Bike Mechanic, & of course neglect.

I mean I see ordinary people selling bikes with the forks turned around backwards (I even tell them on FB Market) so that bike just p!ss poorly buyer assembled vs a bike mechanic (trueing, lubed, greasing & torquing) makes a big difference once it sets outside in the almighty weather. New vs pre-owned as well. I guarantee you can't take 1 of your well loved up but not expensive bikes vintage or not out & they won't succumb to rust or issues.

I don't agree with using plastic for stems etc but he'll I don't even like plastic pedals anymore. I'd be weary of carbon wheels but I never owned something expensive like that new.

There is a member here that can fill everyone in on these cheap two wheeled pieces of junk. @rickpaulos deals with these daily and posts many of the flaws he finds on the Schwinnbikeforum. I've read his assessments and seen his pictures on quite a few of them and they are shocking and disturbing. Here's an interesting one. Rims intended for lawn equipment used on 16" Huffy juvenile bike. http://www.schwinnbikeforum.com/index.php?topic=42456.0
 
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Interesting 1895 Salt lake Herald article..
1549912
 
I have been to a lot of Wal Marts, K Marts, Targets, Korvettes, Grand Ways, etc: all over the Country. I have yet to be forced into one and have never been forced to buy anything.
 
As far as those rims go; what's the big deal about it being on a 16" bike? I mean 1st off if you're on a 16" you're not likely that heavy, not likely using it to do hardcore Evel Knievel stunting, and honestly I have 1 of those wheels in a 24" or 26" somewhere that used to stay aired up as a ready to go spare. Never seemed to have any issues riding with it slapped on anything. Anything is prone to failure if you push it's limits & quality. Like saying Mack, Snap On is The Best tools compared to Craftsmen & Kobalt vs Harbor Freight. Most people ride that name but Will NOT test it's 🦾💪🏻 the same way they wanna throw shade at the generic budget stuff. Besides we all know you 200+ lb guys aren't losing any weight & already close to the normal 250 lb max of most bicycles + if you add being hard on it .... WTF do you expect?

If you're using them within reason & common sense the HF tools are capable of the same jobs. Jus' example of Price points & Quality. Along with what I said prior about maintenance etc vs out the box

I think the BS is just people set in their ways, hearsay & opinions are like donut holes Everybody has 1.
 
I think the BS is just people set in their ways, hearsay & opinions are like donut holes Everybody has 1.

You could be right, or not. There is some of that going around. As I mentioned in my earlier post I intend to find out with the one sample I have whether it can be made into a working bicycle without replacing major parts. I can't even attempt that until spring. As I mentioned, it doesn't look promising, but until I dig in I cannot possibly know.

I've seen this wording stamped into rims. This is on my 1980 huffy scout with sun metal 26" rims

What is a 1980 Huffy Scout like? If love to see a picture. I'm really curious because I thought Huffy Scouts of that era were bike boom tenspeeds until the mountain bike craze hit in the mid 80s, and I wasn't aware Huffy had anything in 1980 with balloon rims like that. Were they using middleweight tires instead of balloon? That may deserve it's own thread because I don't want to derail this one.

Back on topic, I have some Sun rims like that and they do not have the stamp. I have seen identical ones on Ebay with the stamp and just assumed the ones with the stamp were newer. My rims are dated 3-81, and have been in my possession since 1981. Are yours dated?

Here's an interesting one. Rims intended for lawn equipment used on 16" Huffy juvenile bike. http://www.schwinnbikeforum.com/index.php?topic=42456.0

I've seen this wording stamped into rims. This is on my 1980 huffy scout with sun metal 26" rims
20211112_152334-jpg.jpg

Are we sure this is the same stamping? In the schwinnbikeforum link you can't tell because it is broken up too much. In J-wagon's link, if you read the lines clear across. you get:

Warning of danger and improper use. This rim/wheel is intended for use on bicycles, carts, wheelchairs, and lawn-garden equipment only. Any other use could result in personal injuries due to the rim/wheel breaking or crumbling under loads stresses or impacts greater than those arising <rest of text is unreadable>

And if you try to read the halves separately you get:

Warning of danger and improper use. Bicycles, carts, wheelchairs and use could result in personal or crumbling under loads <etc.>

And:

This rim/wheel is intended for use on lawn-garden equipment only. Any other injuries due to the rim/wheel breaking <etc.>

None of it makes any grammatical sense when read separately.

As you can see, bicycles are an approved use on J-wagon's rims. My best guess is the ones on the 16 inch sidewalk bike on schwinnbikeforum are also approved for bicycle use, but the pictures don't quite tell us if it is exactly the same stamp.
 
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You could be right, or not. There is some of that going around. As I mentioned in my earlier post I intend to find out with the one sample I have whether it can be made into a working bicycle without replacing major parts. I can't even attempt that until spring. As I mentioned, it doesn't look promising, but until I dig in I cannot possibly know.



What is a 1980 Huffy Scout like? If love to see a picture. I'm really curious because I thought Huffy Scouts of that era were bike boom tenspeeds until the mountain bike craze hit in the mid 80s, and I wasn't aware Huffy had anything in 1980 with balloon rims like that. That may deserve it's own thread because I don't want to derail this one.

Back on topic, I have some Sun rims like that and they do not have the stamp. I have seen identical ones on Ebay with the stamp and just assumed the ones with the stamp were newer. My rims are dated 3-81, and have been in my possession since 1981. Are yours dated?





Are we sure this is the same stamping? In the schwinnbikeforum link you can't tell because it is broken up too much. In J-wagon's link, if you read the lines clear across. you get:



And if you try to read the halves separately you get:



And:



None of which makes any grammatical sense. As you can see, bicycles are an approved use on J-wagon's rims. My best guess is the ones on the 16 inch sidewalk bike on schwinnbikeforum are also approved for bicycle use, but the pictures don't quite tell us if it is exactly the same stamp.
Right now I'm without power due to an ice storm in SC but when I have my phone fully charged I'll see if I find more info on those rims.

As far as a single speed goes Maybe I need to toss a box store parts bike together using the parts I don't care for & just simply grease it back together. Take all of my 160 lbs put it through some Hellacious Riding Abuse .... I'm NOT lacing or trueing wheels or anything beyond a common buy it, ride it & abuser could do.

I think people will chew crow or admit they expect way too much out of a budget Taiwan made bike Especially when they won't put their more Vintage bikes in those same situations.
 
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