Sometimes you get more than you pay for! Walmart.com special

There was a Decathlon store in the Bay Area but it was “lost” - it wasn’t able to compete against REI/Sports Basement on the high-end and against Walmart or Target on the low-end. The store was next to a Target and Sports Basement was 2 miles away.

However, from my impressions, it’s surprisingly decent for the price.
 
Decathlon is the largest sporting goods retailer in the world. Their bicycles are of high quality and offer outstanding value at non-US prices. Well known in Europe and Asia.
2 year warranty on components and lifetime warranty on non-carbon frames and forks.
 
Decathlon is the largest sporting goods retailer in the world. Their bicycles are of high quality and offer outstanding value at non-US prices. Well known in Europe and Asia.
2 year warranty on components and lifetime warranty on non-carbon frames and forks.
Suspension forks are exempt from the warranty.
 
This is a Walmart bike.. think I paid a little over $200 back in 2020. I don't commute on it a lot just when my body needs a break from the terrible roads. Probably 500 miles on it. Even though it does have cheap components once their adjusted properly no issues at all!

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Perusing the app I came across a rollback I could not refuse.
Decathlon Rockrider ST100, 21 Speed Mountain Bike, 27.5", Unisex, Red, Extra Large https://www.walmart.com/ip/211706952
Little known brand but pulled the trigger. $98! Now it is $198, the other day it was almost $400. Frame is surprising quality,

Nice deal! This is exactly how/where I've been buying my kid's and my own bicycles for years now. You can buy the whole bicycle for near the cost of a replacement wheel/tire, etc.

At the onset of the Rona, I mail ordered a Mongoose Dolomite fat bike through wally for $299. Soon after, they wanted $600+ for them. I used that bike for 2yrs and sold it for $300, turned around and mail ordered a Schwinn Axum 8spd 29er for ~$300. Those are $450+ today. Super nice riding bike.

The only thing that makes the 27.5" like yours terrible for me to ride is those lousy hand grip, twist shift combos. There's only enough hand grip to fit a few fingers on. Obviously you can change all that out with cheap mail order parts. Two of my kid's bikes have hand grips like that.

I scored a $98 dollar deal on wally's hyper bicycle men's 26" shocker mountain bike 4-5months ago for one of my boys. I didn't realize it was damaged until I was well into the assembly process. The rear derailleur was smashed into the spokes. I was able to remove/repair it, but I should have returned it. This particular bike isn't worth $100. Point being, there's OK ones and there's less than OK ones.
 
The only thing that makes the 27.5" like yours terrible for me to ride is those lousy hand grip, twist shift combos. There's only enough hand grip to fit a few fingers on. Obviously you can change all that out with cheap mail order parts. Two of my kid's bikes have hand grips like that.
I had SRAM grip shifters on a Fuji MTB and put over 40k miles on them, but yes I may source some trigger shifters from fleabay at some point.
 
Probably OK for a casual neighborhood bike, but I'd upgrade the rear derailleur at least to the Tourney.

For a few bucks more you can get the Schwinn Sidewinder or the Schwinn AL Comp
I found a Video of some crazy guy testing it out on some trails .....skip to 6:15

 
Most if not all department store bikes are quickly disposable, junk. But if buying a non bike shop bike gets you into riding, then I think it is great!
Most if not all bike shop bikes will have the proper quality and amount of grease in places it is supposed to be, and parts will be appropriate and best for durability, safety and function. Also parts on a quality bike are found and replaceable at many bike shops unlike the department store bikes.
I was one of many that started with a department store bike 40 or so years ago. I since have worked in bike shops, raced, and realize a quality bike, and what a lot of none cyclist would think is crazy expensive bike is worth it in joy, safety and longevity.
As usual a cheap bike is exactly that!
 
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