I've noticed a lot of Walmart hate while browsing bike info. Is it just a meme at this point?

My local bike shop hates Walmart bikes not only because they are put together wrong, but also because they are often made with such inferior parts and materials they break in ways that shouldn't be possible. He's had people bring ones in that the crank arm broke after less then 160.9 kilometers just from pedaling. They are very poorly made for the most part and they don't have good quality control. You might get one that lasts a good long while, but someone else gets the same model and it falls apart. And it's not even that much more to get an entry level new bike from Trek, giant, or many other reputable makes.

Whenever I tell non bike people I spent $500 on my trek, (brand new when I bought it in 2013) they act like I'm an idiot who wasted my money. I simply ask them if they think I could have put over 12k miles on a Walmart bike. The answer is of course not. I would have replaced it a couple of times by now, which would have ended up costing me more in the long run.


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