Walmart MTB Street Beatdown

So now there’s only one thing left to find out. What can I do on this bike before it fails violently and catastrophically? Time to ride some street.

Now, keep in mind, an experienced rider can do pretty gnarly maneuvers on even an entry level bike. It’s when you start crashing and taking hard landings that you can really tell what a bike is made of. This bike is made of pure, liquefied garbage. It must be. The parts bend very easily, but you can just bend them back. I’m not sure how I feel about that.

We kept subjecting this bike to increasing levels of abuse, bending and tweaking it back into place as we went along. You’ve gotta admit, it shouldn’t have survived this drop.

The chainring can’t take a hit, but we’ll let that slide.

After getting the Mongoose running again, I was pretty sure that any more damage would require tools to correct. So, I decided to attempt a 360 on it.

After dicking with the wheel and front brakes, I was able to limp home on this bike, but I think it’s safe to say you shouldn’t be riding street trials on a Walmart Mongoose.

There actually exists a discussion board all about buying, repairing, and modifying department store bikes. That’s cool. These guys are hobbyists and they know what they’re getting themselves into. As for the average joe or jane who’s looking to start mountain biking, you’re probably better off at a bike shop that can stand by their assembly. Even in the short term, it’ll save you money and frustration. Thanks for riding with me today, and I’ll see you next time.

If you have a department store bike, and need some ideas on keeping it maintained, here’s the best resource you could possibly use: http://bigboxbikes.com

If you want that Mongoose for some reason: http://amzn.to/1GF4UFP

Hustle by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100793
Artist: http://incompetech.com/