Walmart selling bents
 

I went into Walmart today, and found that tyhey were selling two flavours of
semi-recumbents called Quetzels
(http://www.mikadobicycles.ca/en/rand...bikes.asp?id=4). The bikes in
Walmart are branded CCM and come with the same quality of grouppo that most
department store bikes come with.

The small adult sized bent is called the Inca and comes with a 20"/16"
setup, plain V brakes and 18 gears. It has a comfortable seat, the steering
feels smooth and well balanced but it is a little short for anyone over
about 5'10" or 11". It looks like it's built out of mild steel tubing and
feels a little heavy, but no more so than a department mountain bike. Best
part is it's only $90 Cdn. Not great quality, but it would likely be more
than robust enough for the kind of bike rider that goes to Walmart to buy a
bike in the first place.

The kid's size bent (forget the name) is the same design as the Inca, but
has a 16"/12" setup with single speed and a coaster brake. Not sureon the
price of it, but obviously less than the Inca.

Again, not great quality, but a semi-bent is closer than an upright, and
maybe CCM is just using these as feelers to see if more would sell out of a
department store. They only had a couple of each right now. Hopefully, if
they sell fast enough, it might be a good thing for bents in general if the
majority of the sheople are ready for them. The price of a "real" bent
might be a bit of a shocker for the general populace though . . .

On 2005-05-08 21:38:07 -0500, "25hz" said:

I went into Walmart today, and found that tyhey were selling two flavours of
semi-recumbents called Quetzels
(http://www.mikadobicycles.ca/en/rand...bikes.asp?id=4). The bikes in
Walmart are branded CCM and come with the same quality of grouppo that most
department store bikes come with.

Yesterday I went to a new Wal-Mart Super Center that had just opened in
the next town over from mine; actually the store had just opened the
day before. Everything was shiny and new. Of course I checked out the
bikes and accessories. . . They had quite a few, but they were
practically all mountain bikes. I saw no Quetzels, nothing resembling
a recumbent bike.

While I was there they made an announcement over the intercoms about
May being National Bike Month. They didn't mention this being
Bike-to-Work Week, though. :)

As is typical of Wal-Mart, the biking section of the store offered all
the basic necessities of life for mainstream tastes, nothing exotic.
Where others lead, Wal-Mart follows, and I suppose that's all we can
realistically expect from their business model.

--
Tony Belding, Hamilton Texas

Actually the bikes are made by CCM under the name of Evox. As the bikes
were only $88 they sold out fairly fast up here in Canada. I rode one at a
velodrome and they were pretty comfortable little bikes, but even with the
plush seat, my butt was used to a more reclined position. They were
reasonably fast too despite the low PSI tires.

I went into Walmart today, and found that tyhey were selling two
flavours of
semi-recumbents called Quetzels
(http://www.mikadobicycles.ca/en/rand...bikes.asp?id=4). The bikes
in
Walmart are branded CCM and come with the same quality of grouppo that
most
department store bikes come with.

Yesterday I went to a new Wal-Mart Super Center that had just opened in
the next town over from mine; actually the store had just opened the
day before. Everything was shiny and new. Of course I checked out the
bikes and accessories. . . They had quite a few, but they were
practically all mountain bikes. I saw no Quetzels, nothing resembling
a recumbent bike.

While I was there they made an announcement over the intercoms about
May being National Bike Month. They didn't mention this being
Bike-to-Work Week, though. :)

As is typical of Wal-Mart, the biking section of the store offered all
the basic necessities of life for mainstream tastes, nothing exotic.
Where others lead, Wal-Mart follows, and I suppose that's all we can
realistically expect from their business model.

--
Tony Belding, Hamilton Texas

I was talkin to an owner last week. He told me about his seat back and how
it is bending to the rear as he rides. I made a few suggestions on how to
remedy that problem. $88 is almost worth getting a custom seat made.

"25hz" wrote in message
...
Actually the bikes are made by CCM under the name of Evox. As the bikes
were only $88 they sold out fairly fast up here in Canada. I rode one at
a
velodrome and they were pretty comfortable little bikes, but even with the
plush seat, my butt was used to a more reclined position. They were
reasonably fast too despite the low PSI tires.

I went into Walmart today, and found that tyhey were selling two
flavours of
semi-recumbents called Quetzels
(http://www.mikadobicycles.ca/en/rand...bikes.asp?id=4). The bikes
in
Walmart are branded CCM and come with the same quality of grouppo that
most
department store bikes come with.

Yesterday I went to a new Wal-Mart Super Center that had just opened in
the next town over from mine; actually the store had just opened the
day before. Everything was shiny and new. Of course I checked out the
bikes and accessories. . . They had quite a few, but they were
practically all mountain bikes. I saw no Quetzels, nothing resembling
a recumbent bike.

While I was there they made an announcement over the intercoms about
May being National Bike Month. They didn't mention this being
Bike-to-Work Week, though. :)

As is typical of Wal-Mart, the biking section of the store offered all
the basic necessities of life for mainstream tastes, nothing exotic.
Where others lead, Wal-Mart follows, and I suppose that's all we can
realistically expect from their business model.

--
Tony Belding, Hamilton Texas