Why doesn't Wally-World have Road Bikes?

This is a low tech layman question... maybe it will turn out to be a commentary about society, legal issues, etc. Why is it that Wal-mart, Target, K-mart, etc. have HUGE racks of bikes of all shapes and sizes and they are all MOUNTAIN BIKES? Everybody rides these bikes primarily or exclusively on pavement. 20 years ago, the same types of stores had tons of bikes with high-pressure skinny tires and road type saddles and handle-bars. You'd think you would at least see one el-cheapo road bike there. I just bought a brand new $57 mountain bike at Target that is not a stripped-down one-speed bike with coaster brakes. It has all the general components that a road bike has like multi-gear sprockets on front and rear, hand brakes, nice paint-job, but with the mountain bike tire and wheel configuration, etc. It was even available in a lighter stiffer aluminum frame with shocks for $20 more! You can't even get most accesories for a road bike for $57. Why isn't there a $57 - $100 road bike at these stores for the regular person who wants to ride on the pavement? I'm new to this forum and this is my first posting so maybe this issue has been discussed in other threads, but I don't know why a mountain bike is the only option for the common pavement rider who should be able to enjoy the practicality and efficiency of a bike to ride to college, etc. like it used to be 20 years ago. Those huge mountain bike tires and wheels just don't roll efficiently and they take a lot of work which puts many people off from bike riding... and they must cost more to mass-produce since they use more rubber and aluminum. Many people in this generation have experienced bike-riding, but they have never had a ride on a regular road bike because of the total lack of availability in the common marketplace. Why is the local bike shop the only option with bottom-end road bikes _starting_ at $600? Why has this become an elitist expensive sport when bikes are such a practical invention and were refined into the road configuration many years ago? Why are we going backwards in technology? Is this a legal "liability" issue nowadays? Are the big general merchandise stores shying away from traffic-accident lawsuits that may be generated when a bike is ridden on the road by classifying the bikes for "off-road use only?" I'm sure someone out there who is smarter than me knows the answer to this problem that is keeping many non-rich folks from enjoying the freedom and practicality of riding a more efficient bike on paved roads.

[pale scotsman]

I'll bite on this one. WalMart sells what sells, and right now it's anything but skinny tire road bikes. I too remember the days of the freespirit, murry, huffy, and other dept store bikes. Heck I was weaned on a huffy aerowind.

But I've got to say I think you are right about someone offering low price dept store type bike. I can't even count the # of people that have asked me where they can get a road bike for low dough. I for one don't give a rats ass how much it costs because I see it as an entry point. They may stick with what they have, or they may really get into it and step up. I like to see new riders though I may not want to ride a paceline with 'em. Bottom line is you have to start somewhere and the entry point today for something decent is steep.

My .02 AlabamIan

Wow...a $57 bike. Not to sound elitist or anything, but I'm pretty sure my front derailleur cost more than $57.

A lot of price issues today have more to do with inflation than anything else. I was recently thinking of all the bikes I've owned that I paid for myself, way back to my first 10-speed, a Concord (anyone know anything about Concord bikes? I couldn't find out anything about them on the web). I paid $140 for that bike in 1975. Sounds pretty cheap, but $140 in 1975 is worth about $489 today. Still an entry-level price point, so I'm not sure that, taking inflation into account, bikes are any more expensive now. In fact, I bet a $500 bike today is a much nicer machine than my $140 Concord was in 1975.

But just for a little perspective, $57 today was worth about 16 bucks in 1975. I don't think you could get any kind of bike for 16 bucks in 1975.

But back to the real question, i.e., why aren't there any cheap department store road bikes these days? I think it's because bikes, like most consumer durables, are to some extent creatures of trendiness. Ten years ago, mountain bikes were where it was at. But today, people have finally realized just how inefficient those two-inch-wide knobbies are for getting from point a to point b over pavement. So now, bike sales are swinging back more towards road bikes. But trends always trickle downmarket. Department store bikes are probably ten years or more behind the cutting edge. (It's been a while since I've checked, but are department store mountain bikes even 8-speed yet?) So it will probably be a few more years before you see skinny-tire road bikes back in your local Walmart, Sears, JC Penny, etc. But they'll get there eventually.

[Tony Edwards]

One particularly ironic aspect of this is that the mountain bikes sold at Wal-Mart et al are dangerously ill-suited to actually being ridden off-road. Riding a Huffy or equivalent on anything more challenging than a perfectly-groomed fire road will foreseeably cause it to break into pieces within a half hour.

I can't seriously claim to have shopped for a department-store bike since I was a kid, but I do remember my sister and me having Free Spirits or some other very cheap ten-speeds as kids, and on balance they were almost certainly better for getting from A to B than today's 45-pound dual-suspension Huffies.

[Dude]

The fact of the matter is, a lot of people don't like "leaning over" the handlebars. They would much rather sit upright on big cushy tires (that are pumped up to about 20 PSI anyway). The shocks look pretty impressive, and when cruising around the neighborhood actually do work.

If i had never ridden a bike or hadn't ridden one in 20 years, upright would sound pretty appealing. We all know skinny tires, on a road, are faster and handle well. But if you had never done it before, it can be pretty freaky.

Thats why Wally world sells crap mtn bikes. Thats what people want - and you can't play the "people want it because thats what they offer" card because every town in america that has a walmart also has a bike shop. So there are other things on the market.

[Elefantino]

does that mean that it's probably not a real Serotta?

[Sandy]

I certainly hope that none of the other Ottrott owners read this thread. They will be as disgusted as I am to think that people buy and ride $57 bikes. I usually pay that much for some kid to watch my bike when I go into a local convenience store to buy a or a bottle of water.

Simply Snobbish Serotta Sandy

I asked a local bike shop in Carbondale, IL this same question and they told me that they do a pretty fair business in getting some cheap almost-quasi-road-bikes on the road by A) improving people's mountain bikes by putting "better" (ie. slightly thinner, slilghtly higher pressure tires) on those awkard wide 26 inch rims and by B) repairing old yard-sale 10-speeds for customers. Ericmurphy, about your gear question, yes, they have upped the number of gears on those cheap mountain bikes. The $57 adult-sized bike has 15 speeds and another adult-sized aluminum frame mountain bike with shocks that I got new for under a hundred bucks at Target has 21 speeds. They don't compare to a road bike when riding but, all the basic components are there with the complex derailleurs and all... they just take a horrendous amount of horsepower to roll those fat tires... The higher gears are next to useless with all that rotating weight and they offer the 21 speeds more as a sales gimmick than anything, because nobody is strong enough to use those higher gears on a flat road with the big knobbies. Dude, I think you also nailed the issue of "leaning over the handlebars" which doesn't sound appealing to the layperson rider... so the road bike doesn't look comfy and cushy to the average yuppie that wants to have a couple of bikes parked in the garage just in case they may want to get on a bike some day... I think you hit the heart of it as far as mass marketing goes.

[Dekonick]

True - and sad. Ill bet alot of people are duped into buying 'mountain bikes"

While a bike with aggressive geometry wont appeal to most, a relaxed touring geo could make a nice cheap road bike...

and there is nothing wrong with a cheap cruiser type bike. In europe you dont see many mountain bikes, but do see alot of relaxed geo bikes with 3 speed or 5 speed internal hubs. Why cant you find them here???

Call me crazy, but I would rather have one of those than a mountain bike with a suspension...any day!

[Russ]

Originally Posted by Elefantino

does that mean that it's probably not a real Serotta?

No Elefantino, you are OK.... The CSI you got was the one they forgot to put the Huffy decals on.... BTW, do you know that Andy Hampsten got his 1998 Giro winning bike at the Wal Mart too?

Don't feel bad....

[Russ]

I have been told that many people feel more comfortable on a mountain bike position than a road bike with drop bars. They also think that the fat tires are more comfortable and resist more beating than a skinny road bike wheel/tire.
Also, mountain bikes are the real 'merican design!!!!

But at $57, I wonder how good is any part of these bike

Now, just wait for Lance to retire.... You will see how most bike shops will start facing out road bikes, as when LeMond was not racing. Road bike sales in the US, saw a low period between 1991 and 1999. Coincidence? I don't think so...

Originally Posted by lucas223

Ericmurphy, about your gear question, yes, they have upped the number of gears on those cheap mountain bikes. The $57 adult-sized bike has 15 speeds and another adult-sized aluminum frame mountain bike with shocks that I got new for under a hundred bucks at Target has 21 speeds.

Oops, I should have clarified. When I said "8-speed," I meant 8 cogs in back, which with a triple crankset means 24 gears total (most moderate-to-high-end bike shop mountain bikes have 9 cogs in back these days). So it sounds from what you've said that the answer is no, department store bikes do not yet have 8 cogs in back, and in fact some of them still only have 5 cogs in back.

Sorry for the confusion.

[victoryfactory]

Your friendly neighborhood LBS should be happy that the "Wevil Wempire" has not yet fixed it's gaze on road bikes. When they choose to, the LBS will dissappear just like most small food markets, hardwear stores,
electronics stores, paint stores, lumber yards, plumbing electric and building
supplys, book stores, record stores, etc, etc....

VF, not that that's necessarily a bad thing.

[Vancouverdave]

Probably because of the larger proportion of the bike market that consists of entry level "mountain bike shaped objects" and childrens' bikes. The numbers just aren't there in road bikes and for the most part the price points start too high. Seriously, I wonder how a $250 urban track bike/single speed would sell, made in mainland China with no-name components. I have no inside knowledge that anything like this is coming down the pike, but it is possible........

[BumbleBeeDave]

Once Lance retires manufacturers are either going to have to find a new, equivalent hero who has cheated death, or try something else. Heroes who have cheated death AND who can with the TdF in a runaway are just not that common, and the American Bicycle industry does not have a good record of finding other things that work, aside from outsourcing all their jobs to Taiwan. (And note that mountain bikes don't qualify as that "something else." They were invented by Gary Fisher and friends, not the industry.)

BBDave