When I made some changes to my blog, I lost several images. In searching my hard drive, I found the priceless image that makes this thread so amusing. As people shop for bicycles this holiday season, many will (unfortunately) turn to the offerings of Walmart, Kmart, and similar purveyors of crap. If you know one of those people, please help them to see the light.
That kid looked happy. Cool article. It will never happen here. Our industry is to massive to be contained by government.
Never buy bikes from Walmart. I'm not opposed to Walmart to stock up on necessities, but you wouldn't buy a car form them right? So...
It's sad, but we do some of our grocery shopping there. My rule of Walmart is that you should never buy anything from them that has moving parts or uses electricity.
Buying at Wal-Mart/X-Mart is a hit-n-miss proposition. Some things are acceptably good, others are trash. And there is no categorization of these things. (Except bikes, of course -- across-the-board crap, and this is from one who assembles them) My buds and I have caught the photo-oops'es from several big-box store ads. Always good for a laugh. Last year, there was some talk about W-M opening clinics in some regions; we had a field day with that one, talking about the shaky-handed people greeters at the door hobbling your way with a latex-gloved finger extended.... Now, there is a segment of the population that really has to depend on W-M and the like for their bikes, as the 'premium' child bikes I see start at $190. A bit much to get lil Corky out on two wheels for most people.... My daughter is about to get her 5th W-M bike (massaged and upgraded by her mechanic dad, o'course), and I have yet to pay as much for all 5 as I paid for the frame/shock on the bike I ride now (which I got half-off). Nothing has broken or failed under her, and each one lasted 2-3 years (well, except for the last one, she outgrew it in like 7 months, but it still works like new). 3 have been passed on to younger children in our circle of family & friends. But what does get me is the crowd that comes in and thinks out loud that you can get a helluva good bike for $100. Sorry, but this isn't 1970. I corrected the last one, telling him, "No, you can't get a good bike for that -- what you CAN get is one that'll likely not fall apart under you inside of an hour."
