Are Walmart mountain bikes safe?
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Next Video: https://youtu.be/m3vI2bYhCrk?list=PL5S7V5NhM8JSRoe6ovF2fifd5L7BsyLRF I’ve been getting a lot of questions about department store bikes. These bikes are readily available at places like Walmart for as little as $100. Can a bike that cheap really be ridden on the trails? Is it fine for a beginner? What about bunnyhops, manuals, and other techniques? How much of that can one of these bikes take? Well, there's only one way to find out. In the name of science, I picked up this mongoose at Walmart. It's a full suspension, 21 speed mountain bike with lots of bells and whistles––oh and it costs less than my dropper seat post. With Florida State Sales tax and a Dr. Pepper, I still paid less than $150. The first thing I did was put the bike up on the stand for a comprehensive safety check. Whoever assembled this bike either didn't know how, or didn't give a shit. I think it may have been a combination of both. The gears and brakes were ridiculously bad, but I already expected that. I didn't expect the bars to be out of alignment with the forks, or the wheels to be completely out of true. Also the steering was indexed, which means the headset was overtightened during assembly. I tried to fix this to no avail, so I left it tight with the best case scenario being that it breaks in. The spokes were like spaghetti, which leads to bent rims. I tightened every spoke on both wheels, and then did a standard truing to get everything dead straight. After I did my 2 hour tuneup I brought the bike down Elmo at two& for a professional opinion. He greased the mechanism in the quill stem, and dicked around with the gears and brakes. Thanks to Elmo, I might not die on this bike. The things I found wrong on this bike were pretty serious. Most of the issues would have quickly led to mechanical failure or even injury. For instance, without greasing the stem, the bars were easy to move independent of the front wheel. Maybe this isn't always the case, but I can only base my experience on this bike. So if you're buying a bike from a department store, don't ride it without a thorough safety check. A bike you get at a shop, on the other hand, will leave in perfect working order, and usually include a free tuneup after it breaks in. So, yeah, keep that in mind too. There are hidden costs to buying a department store bike. Overall, the bike is pretty impressive for $140. Everything works now, the suspension is….plush…and the saddle is actually pretty comfortable. The bike doesn’t even look that bad. I can’t wait to beat the shit out of it, but one thing at a time. In the next video, we’ll take my Mongoose to Amelia Earhart Mountain Bike Trails to see what it can do. Thanks for riding with me today and I’ll see you next time. If you have a department store bike, and need some ideas on keeping it maintained, here's the best resource you could possibly use: http://bigboxbikes.com Get a Mongoose Ledge Here: http://www.sethsbikehacks.com/product/mongoose-ledge/
Comments
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Profanity takes away from the professionalism of your work.
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That's... a little scary! Like, I looked at them at our local Wal-mart before and thought to myself: "Something tells me you get what you pay for" and then decided to look into it. Well, I was right, but not in the way I thought. I was expecting just stuff like poor performance, not full-on safety issues. You know, at the very least something ride-able right away.
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"And he dicked around with the gears and brakes"
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I literally have this exact same bike, also bought it at Walmart xD
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I was an assembler for a large Midwest store chain and built the same type of bikes. As a former bike mechanic in a real bike shop I was appalled at what my predecessors had put on the rack at the store. I pulled every bike, did a safety inspection and tuned it. I even found bikes with the forks and handlebars mounted backwards! If you buy one of these bikes have it checked by a knowledgeable mechanic before you ride it.
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What kind of bike is that? 1:22
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can you fix my bike
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This isn't really relevant,but i looked online and it didnt help,are the reflectors needed in the day aswell or only if you ride when its dark?
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lol its hard for me to see that mongoose sells bikes like this!
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I'm saving up for a Walmart bike. I'm not old enough to have a job so I have not much of a choice.
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i don't understand why you are doing this ?????
like you said the bike is as we in the UK wud say is "as cheap as chips" so why beat the shit out of it it is not going to last 5 minutes. it is what it is. -
I a have a walmart bike that has front and back shocks. the problems are you have to fight it to get it in 6th gear and the handle bars come loose with every hard landing.
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I bought a Walmart MTB does anyone know if I can adjust the fork suspension?
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how much in labor to get it rideable? hours?
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inb4 80 dollar hardtail
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can u do a review on the mongoose dirt jumer
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You get what you pay for I was a bike assembler at walmart and i can tell you personally there are people there who dont know what there doing but that isn't the case with every bike you see. The bikes come pre assembled just like bike shop bikes Walmart sells a lot of bikes more than any bike shop could ever dream of I took pride in building bikes and made sure stuff was done right components are cheap bike shop bikes have better stuff on them if your looking for a fun bike to ride around the street and have fun with that's cheap it's the way to go at walmart but most people are not going to spend the money a bike shop charges but if you a serious biker a shop is the way to go.
Great Video Seth -
I have the same bike at home but I use it for a custom bike only
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If you don't have a car get someone to drive to the shop so you can get an actual bike
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those bikes are ass handle bars always break
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