A Walmart bike I don’t hate…could it be true?
As much as I dearly want to hate everything Walmart, especially their sorry excuses for bikes (or bike shaped objects), this bike, the Mongoose Paver, actually seems halfway decent!
It doesn’t have any of the typical heavy worthless suspension, has 700C wheels, nice swept back bars, simple drivetrain with single chainring up front and a rear rack. For a little over $100 bucks, this may be a good choice for extremely frugal bike buyers; whatever it takes to get someone on a bike I say.
Despite this bikes advantages over previous bike models sold by the big box stores, this bike will still suffer from the drawbacks. The first glaring deficiency of this bike is that it will still be assembled by minimum wage cashier jockeys at your local Walmart store who, in all honesty, have no CLUE how to put together a bike properly. I’ve serviced bike shaped objects at my shop that have had forks put on backwards, fasteners mysertiously missing, brake pads that are a mile apart and derailleurs that cant even shift because the limit screws are all wrong. Although this bike has potential, it ultimately is only as good as the lackie at Walmart who is putting it together.
Link to Walmart product page for Mongoose Paver
24.Aug.08 
Editorial
The bike might be alright but advocating buying anything from Walmart seems pretty unreal to me. The corporation have to be one of the major factors in creating sprawling concrete suburbs only accessible by car. In fact at many Walmarts you’d get the ironic situation where you’d have to walk out the front doors and stow the bike in the boot of your car just to get home.
I realise the options for some are very limited, especially in certain parts of the US, but buying a bike is a major purchase – if not in cash, at least in use and consideration. Surely its worth hunting around, driving a bit further to a real LBS, or even purchasing something online from some of the many great bike company websites.
I think wal mart sucks…HOWEVER this bike for a little over $100 seems like the perfect commuter for me not to have to mess up my expensive mtb tyres to get to work(in case some of you didn’t know knobby tyres wear out on paved road FAST)anyway while I do agree that walmart does tend to sell things better left in specialized stores (guns medical supplies bikes sporting equipment auto parts and jewelry to name a few) I still think this bike would be a good option for the TYPE OF PEOPLE WHO BUY WALMART BIKES (getto people who never leave their street on the bike or whose “mountain bike” will never see dirt) or the average Joe looking to save on gas and thus is good FOR WHAT IT IS
Thanks for the good laugh guys! You’re so anti-corporation that I literally laughed my ass off. Tell your occupy buddies hello for me.