Wal-Mart "Bicycle Special" for Parts

BUMBLEBEE BUZZ:

Was wondering if the parts on the cheapest Wal-Mart bicycles ($45 in a recent sale) would be
worth buying just for them. Save the wheels, which come with tires and tubes all new, save the
new chain, save the crank stuff, save the new cables and cable housings, save a lot of little
parts that cost a bunch separately such as the freewheel, and toss the frame plus other small
parts as junk.

The hubs on the wheels looked pretty decent at quick
glance on a recent visit, but it's hard to know. Would
the wheels stand up under load? Are their spokes good?

Balancing Engineer

 

Actually, scavaging parts from thrift-store bikes is even cheaper!

geo_engineer@yahoo.com (Geometric Engineer) wrote:
>BUMBLEBEE BUZZ:
>
> Was wondering if the parts on the cheapest Wal-Mart bicycles ($45 in a recent sale) would be
> worth buying just for them. Save the wheels, which come with tires and tubes all new, save the
> new chain, save the crank stuff, save the new cables and cable housings, save a lot of little
> parts that cost a bunch separately such as the freewheel, and toss the frame plus other small
> parts as junk.
>
> The hubs on the wheels looked pretty decent at quick
> glance on a recent visit, but it's hard to know. Would
> the wheels stand up under load? Are their spokes good?
>
> Balancing Engineer

 

On 30 Nov 2002 19:04:32 -0800, geo_engineer@yahoo.com (Geometric Engineer) from
http://groups.google.com/ wrote:

>BUMBLEBEE BUZZ:
>
> Was wondering if the parts on the cheapest Wal-Mart bicycles ($45 in a recent sale) would be
> worth buying just for them. Save the wheels, which come with tires and tubes all new, save the
> new chain, save the crank stuff, save the new cables and cable housings, save a lot of little
> parts that cost a bunch separately such as the freewheel, and toss the frame plus other small
> parts as junk.
>
> The hubs on the wheels looked pretty decent at quick
> glance on a recent visit, but it's hard to know. Would
> the wheels stand up under load? Are their spokes good?

Don't do it. You'll lose your soul.

--
http://home.sport.rr.com/cuthulu/ human rights = peace I have seen the FUN --
10:26:47 PM 30 November 2002

 

In article <eedf05f0.0211301904.12662c6c@posting.google.com>, geo_engineer@yahoo.com (Geometric
Engineer) writes:
> BUMBLEBEE BUZZ:
>
> Was wondering if the parts on the cheapest Wal-Mart bicycles ($45 in a recent sale) would be
> worth buying just for them.

Maybe. I just bought a new freewheel & new chain for about $40.oo. The last of the Shimano
6-speeds, and a Made in China clone of a Sachs/Sram chain. I didn't have to drag home a whole bike
attached to them

> Save the wheels, which come with tires and tubes all new, save the new chain, save
> the crank stuff, save the new cables and cable housings, save a lot of little parts
> that cost a bunch separately such as the freewheel, and toss the frame plus other
> small parts as junk.

It's good to have some spare parts kickin' around. Trouble is, they can accumulate faster than
you'd think.

Any stuff you don't want, if you've got a local community- oriented bike shop, maybe they'd take it
off your hands. Or at least, maybe than can dispose of frames in ways that are better than
committing them to the landfill.

If it has one of those steel handlebars welded to a steel stem, feel free to junk that part. Steel
seatposts can make good extensions for wrench handles, though.

> The hubs on the wheels looked pretty decent at quick
> glance on a recent visit, but it's hard to know. Would
> the wheels stand up under load? Are their spokes good?

It's hard to say without actually looking. I wouldn't be surprised if they were nondescript Joytek
3-piece hubs, and nondescript 36-holer Araya rims, and plain, straight- gauge, rustable spokes.
Those can make adequate wheels for a city runabout.

cheers, Tom

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Not only that, but you can ride the thing whole. Use your other bike for parts. Sometimes this is a
discovery to people.

When the cheapo needs enough new parts, get another whole cheapo.
--
Ron Hardin rhhardin@mindspring.com

On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.

 

Ron Hardin wrote:

> Not only that, but you can ride the thing whole. Use your other bike for parts. Sometimes this is
> a discovery to people.
>
> When the cheapo needs enough new parts, get another whole cheapo.

This makes a lot of sense IMHO, when the price is as low as the original poster stated.

Your time is worth some money too! The effort at stripping parts, then reinstalling them elsewhere
seems to counteract the benefit of the cheap parts to begin with.

At $45 for a bike, even if it lasts only 6 months, it might be a deal getting 200-400 dollars worth
of them. Don't know you'd be that far behind the vaunted LBS starter bike.

Even more true if you're the "typical" American bike owner, and ride less than ~100 miles a year!

SMH

 

"Stephen Harding" <harding@cs.umass.edu> wrote in message news:3DEA42A9.C0F9082@cs.umass.edu...

> Even more true if you're the "typical" American bike owner, and ride less than ~100 miles a year!

Based on the Pacific MTB I once owned, I suspect that figure is true. Either you'd get killed in the
first 100 miles from faulty brakes or some other failure, or find the thing so uncomfortable to ride
that you'd swear off cycling forever.

RichC