“That fact that we’re at Walmart is pretty irrelevant. It could just as easily be Target, Amazon.com, or even Canadian Tire. They all offer the same thing—bikes built and assembled to the lowest spec possible.”
A cheap bike is a cheap bike no matter where you buy it, but can a $149 “mountain bike” withstand the rigorous punishment of 5000 feet of elevation change in mountainous terrain? The dude’s at Seth’s Bike Hacks decided to find out:
“We settled on a pair of Genesis V2100’s, which had front discs, threadless headsets, and half decent saddles. As we checked out, reality started to set in. We’d be relying on these bikes for over 5000 feet of elevation change. We’d need all the help we could get. Back at the house I packed everything from sockets to gorilla tape, to zip ties, to extra food, lest we get stranded on the far reaches of mount Mitchell.”
After completing their test ride of the Walmart special this was the pair’s concluding thoughts:
“Playing around on department store bikes might be fun and games, but I found that riding one on an actual mountain bike excursion is not fun, and most definitely not a game. Still I’m amazed that Alex’s bike survived. Although he was using a lot more restraint than I was, everything from the gears to the brakes were working at the bottom. To Walmart’s credit, there are warnings on these bikes that tell you not to take them on mountain bike trails. After our journey, I’d have reason to believe that on a flat dirt path, the Genesis V2100 would inconvenience you at the very most, not kill you.”