New here... Need Advice...

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by madmom
My question is this... Has anyone else encountered this problem? Do you think the problems are indicative of poor assembly (I'm guessing some 'mook' at Target was hired to put bikes together.) or it's just a sub-standard bicycle to begin with?

A little from column A, and a little from column B.

I'd recommend going to a local bicycle store and seeing what they have in terms of kid's bikes .. it may end up costing a little more, but given your recent experiences with the Target bikes it should be easy to appreciate the peace of mind that comes from dealing with a specialist bike shop that knows what they are doing, and will stand behind what they sell.

If anyone can, a good local bike shop can adjust these bikes out and make them usable again. Poor quality and poor assembly.

Again, shop the local bike shops, they often take trade ins, and might have a good bike close to your price range. I got a really good mountain bike that way!

It's a shame, Schwinn used to make good bikes, but now they are walmart / target quality. Jamis and Trek both have Good bottom end bikes for 500-600 hundred.

Go get a Giant MTX. There are sevral types, but any will last your kids a long time. The MTX 260 is a full suspension, 21 speed mountain bike for kids. It's really cool. I'm not sure the price off the top of my head, but it's a quality bike. The MTX 250 is a less expensive alternative. It has the same feature as the 260, but in a hardtail form. These bikes should be in your range, and if your buying two, ask the LBS if they can cut you a deal on 2. You may be able to take anywhere from 20-40 bucks off the total price.

Try looking at Specialized. You can't really go wrong. They make lower end bikes as well as expensive ones and they always seem to pack a lot of value in all their bikes. I've had a cheap Specialized as well as an expensive one and I've been very happy with them.