New bike at Walmart... this is... ummm... bad

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yoothgeye

yoothgeye

I build stuff.
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What caught my eye about this bike? was it the colorful rims and tires? The flip flop hub with a track gear and lockring? Nope, how about the fact that not only does it have big signs on it that say "FIXIE" but that it also has decals on the frame that say "FIXIE." Wow, how embarrassing.

0825111204a.jpg


Yep, that's right folks, it's a FIXIE!!!!! Yay!

Now, I have nothing against fixed gear and track bikes, but the label saying "FIXIE" on it is a bit much. I admit, I bought the Mongoose Cachet single speed from Walmart and added a fixed gear, but at least it didn't start out gaudy, plus, they never even advertised the fact that it had a flip flop hub. This bike is just a bandwagon bike for Wallyworld, and at $99 each, they will sell, I guess.

0825111204.jpg


This bike is heavy, if I could've found the bathroom scales in the store I would've put a number with it, but it's heavy. The wheels are painted and look cheap, can't tell if they are alloy or steel because of the bad heavy paintjob, plus the wheels on these bikes were not true. The stem is ugly. The pedals are of lowest quality and not even clips/straps for skidding, haha. The fixed gear ratio looks too low. The frame looks too compact, the saddle is all wrong, it's just something pitiful that was thrown together last minute to try to squeeze what's left out of this fixed gear fad.
 
Good Lord that has to be one of the single ugliest paint schemes I have seen and more to the tires and wheels. Yeah I wouldn't have a problem with it saying fixie on it I mean I'd be grabbing the old heat gun soon as I got home though :mrgreen:
 
The fad is to make your fixed gear bike colorful, but I don't think it counts when you buy it that way, JUST like everyone else's. I think Ronald McDonald had something to do with this one.
 
Do they have messenger bags to match?

Being hip has never been so affordable!

:mrgreen:
 
Rat Rod said:
What kind of Matchbox cars did you buy?
Click to expand...

My 4 year old loves trucks and had $2 to spend so he got the yellow Matchbox logo Rock Shocker (looks like a Toyota desert racer with no fenders/bed) and the Dune Dog, which looks like a lifted FJ40. While I was looking I saw an old school 4Runner, looks like about an 86-87 with white wagon wheels and stock paint job/graphics and a sunroof. So cool.

I'm usually a Hotwheels guy, but the realism is in Matchbox now.
 
I don't like the wheel painted and those tires look ugly mixed matched like that but if two people got one of those bikes they could trade one for the color they want, I like the rest but I'm not one of those too picky guys.

I don't agree to lighter is better especially when a bike is used for exercise, a light bike makes those guys that race bikes with seem like wimps that don't know how to handle a real bike, also why would I race with a bike because if I have the need for speed I would rather race in a powerful car.
 
I don't really see any scenario where it is okay to buy that bike. If you want to do a conversion, you'd likely want at least a slightly better quality for your components. If you want cheap transportation for around town, a fixie aint it. If you want a good looking bike, that aint it. If you want something different, that will only be different from the other bikes in your garage. But hundreds of walmart shoppers will have that exact bike. Maybe it would be okay for practice and to see if you'd like the real thing. That's about it. Although I'd be curious to watch one perform in a velodrome. It's like watching nascar just to see the wreck.
 
OK... that's about as crappy as they get! I thought that Walmart was already at the rock-bottom of Chino-Junk..... but this sets a new low, even for them. I guess the only thing that could make it worse would be if they slapped a "Schwinn" headbadge on it!
 
kngtmat said:
I don't like the wheel painted and those tires look ugly mixed matched like that but if two people got one of those bikes they could trade one for the color they want, I like the rest but I'm not one of those too picky guys.
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You couldn't do but so much swapping of parts since the wheels are both painted different colors, unless you wanna relace wheels. :shock:

If you see this bike at your store, check it out, I didnt' sit on it, but the distance from saddle to stem seems too short, I like to be a little stretched out, especially on a bike that is for "speed" and they even call it a "road bike" in Walmart and have a big sign on it talking about speed and long distance trips.
 
How long until some hipster wannabee kid that has no real clue how to ride a fixed gear gets splattered on one of these and his parents sue Walmart? I can't believe their army of lawyers let this one through.
 
bmxerpete said:
How long until some hipster wannabee kid that has no real clue how to ride a fixed gear gets splattered on one of these and his parents sue Walmart? I can't believe their army of lawyers let this one through.
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It's set up on the freewheel side from the store, you'd have to flip the wheel on your own, that's how they can get around the liability.
 
yoothgeye said:
bmxerpete said:
How long until some hipster wannabee kid that has no real clue how to ride a fixed gear gets splattered on one of these and his parents sue Walmart? I can't believe their army of lawyers let this one through.
Click to expand...

It's set up on the freewheel side from the store, you'd have to flip the wheel on your own, that's how they can get around the liability.
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I can't imagine that stopping any decent personal injury lawyer, bike manufacturers have been sued repeatedly (and successfully) for much less imaginable situations........ :wink:
 
Might be some cool parts to use once these start showing up at yard sales next year.
 

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