Anyone ever work assembling dept. store bikes? I have had a quite a few kids (friends of my kids) come by recently with dept. store bikes that are literally falling apart. One kid got the bike for Christmas last year and rode it 2 times before the stem came out of the bike.

It amazes me that this many bikes are being sold in this condition. I won't even start a discussion about the parents.

Anyway, I'm considering looking into taking a job (holiday rush) with one of the local dept. stores assembling bikes. I just have no clue if that is even something they would consider. I don't expect that the money will be worth my while but I don't see me giving my time to the store just so they can make the money. Maybe 3 or 4 hours 2 or 3 nights a week until Christmas.

I would view it more as a charitable thing than a money making thing.

Does anyone have any clue how Walmart, Target. et. al. get their bikes assembled and would they pay someone specifically for that?

I have seen the walmart assembler in my area. Yikes.....:)

I really do not know how much assembling they have to do. Maybe throw the front tire on. I doubt it is all that much.

They wont just let you do it. There is too much liability involved. The Store can sue the assembly company or pass the legal buck to them. The bikes are usually not assembled by the actual Target or Wal-Mart employees. They contract out a company ( it used to Huffy Service First) who comes in and assembles their bikes, gas grills, fitness equipment etc.
My mom used to work at Sears and had to deal with unhappy bike customers all the time because of the crappy assemblers. The problem is that the assemblers come in one or two days a week and build a bunch of stuff in back and then they move on to a different store. They dont have to worry about facing the unhappy or injured customer like a regular shop employee would.

Just stay away from it. Hundreds of bikes will probably be sold for Christmas presents in your city alone.

Around here a local LBS rebuilds donated bikes for kids for Christmas. I help them in November every year..

There is a guy in Houston that buys a huge number of bikes that are donated to underprivileged kids. He buys something like 5,000( no exaggeration) bikes and the local cycling community helps build them.

Around here a local LBS rebuilds donated bikes for kids for Christmas. I help them in November every year..

There is a guy in Houston that buys a huge number of bikes that are donated to underprivileged kids. He buys something like 5,000( no exaggeration) bikes and the local cycling community helps build them.


don't go to the stores, but it is generally known throughout my neighborhood that I am that "cycling" guy, and I've had kids come over with their bikes when they weren't working well and I have been happy to make adjustments and help them. BTW, those friggin twist shifters ought to be illegal. On another note, the new Schwinn road bike that Wally is carrying has shifters that look sorta like Sora level with that funny little thumb thingy. Don't know how well they work. Just offer to help in your neighborhood, that would be help enough, and if your neighborhood is large, could keep you busy.

Alright Then! I work for Target, granted i live in AUS so it may be a little different here. All of our bikes are sold in a box. If you walk in one day and see a bike you want, then you have to buy it, take it home and build it yourself. The only other option is to buy it and leave it with us, as well as a $16 or sumthing fee to assemble it. Once a week, just as someone said we have a company that visit the various different dept stores in the area and assemble these bikes. They wouldnt spend more than 10-15 minutes on any bike. By getting outside companies to assemble them it prevents Target from getting the cr*p sued out of them. Granted there are a couple of ppl who dont understand why they cant buy the pre assembled display ones.

I personally know that they arent the best quality. Last toy sale we had i saw a bike that had a hole where you could see straight through the welding, great target quality if i may say so myself. My honest personal advice is that these bikes only be bought for under 10 year olds. Get someone who knows a bit about bike to assemble them and they should be sweet! They arent going to go and ride these things on centuries or race them, thus i doubt they will fall apart as they ride them if they're assembled right. If they're not used in a manner that they're designed to be used in then they may fail. So yeah, thats my opinion

I am the bike guy in my neighborhood. A replacement derailleur for a walmart bike will cost me about $10 at the LBS. The little girl across the street needed a RD so I replaced hers, but it also needed a new cable. Now there is a department store bike on my street with campy cables. It was all I had. I keep 20, 24, 26" shraeder valve tubes on my shelf as well. $3 for the tube including installation. I live on a dead end street, nothing makes me happier than seeing it full of kids on bikes. My kid has the coolest bike though.

Hey Bill,
An A1 mechanic and a proud father :) I also try and help out around the neighbourhood. We have about 10 kids with various size bicycles from up to 16" and more. I'm not a great mechanic, but I do my best just so that the kids won't get hurt.
Cheers, Wayne

Hey Bill,
An A1 mechanic and a proud father :) I also try and help out around the neighbourhood. We have about 10 kids with various size bicycles from up to 16" and more. I'm not a great mechanic, but I do my best just so that the kids won't get hurt.
Cheers, Wayne


While I'm not quite up to the task of replacing cables and derailers I do try to get the kids bikes ridable. About 75% of the time it involves air in the tires, oil on the chain and an allen wrench to tighten the stem. Of all the things I see it is the loose handle bars that scare me the most.

And yes my kids have to coolest bikes going as well, even if I'm the only one who notices. Often it is easier to loan out the extras I have vs make a fix of theirs.

I once did a temp job for a week assembling bikes at a major sports equipment retailer-one that is still around. This was 10+ years ago.

We were paid about 25 cents above minimum wage, and we (me and some loser off the streets) were expected to assemble 3-4 bikes per hour. We were temps hired through one of the major "industrial labor" temp companies. They gave us an assortment of cheap tools to do the job with-a couple T-handle allen wrenches, a chain tool, 2 crescent wrenches, and a big rubber mallet. My co-worker always used the mallet when putting stems and cranks on.

Frankly, not one of those bikes was aligned properly, we didn't have one torque wrench to check torque, and "Thor" probably brinnelled half of the bearing races he assembled. We never once added any lubricant to any part-not even the chain.

I worked at a Wal-mart for 2 years starting in 2001. They had an "assembler" that built all the bikes, as well as the furniture, patio stuff, scooters, etc. I never asked, but I'm sure he was paid the same lousy wage as myself. I never heard about alot of complaints about people bringing bikes back in, but I know their stuff is out of tune (shifters and derailleurs). Maybe each store location has a different policy, but out guy was a full-fledged employee.

Does anyone have any clue how Walmart, Target. et. al. get their bikes assembled

By someone who's clueless. I was leaving a Sears store one day and was walking past the bikes and couldn't stop myself from looking. I really loved the MTBs they had on which someone had mounted the brake/shifter combo not only on the wrong sides (i.e., right-hand lever on left-hand side), but had also mounted them facing backwards--you'd have had to operate the brakes with your thumbs. The salesman just shrugged when I pointed this out. Wotta confidence-builder....

I once did a temp job for a week assembling bikes at a major sports equipment retailer-one that is still around. This was 10+ years ago.

I took a job at a toy warehouse for a few weeks (not a temp job, I just quit) about 10-15 years ago. I can pretty much echo what you were saying.

I would just add that the minimum wage, illiterate workers that they had were never given any instructions, They had the crescent wrench, a screwdriver, and a hammer. Parts get put on backwards and get bent. Nothing is lubricated. There is no thought of safety. The store managers do not care or they are just as unaware.

I took the job thinking that for a part-time job it would be more fun for me to handle bikes than work in a restaurant or something else. I ended up being annoyed and frustrated.

The added problem is that they bikes which are sold boxed-up are bound to be assembled similarly by a frustrated parent who does not understand what is safe and what is not. Would they let their 16-year-old out on the road in a car with the steering wheel flopping around or the brakes not working?

I am the bike guy in my neighborhood. A replacement derailleur for a walmart bike will cost me about $10 at the LBS. The little girl across the street needed a RD so I replaced hers, but it also needed a new cable. Now there is a department store bike on my street with campy cables. It was all I had. I keep 20, 24, 26" shraeder valve tubes on my shelf as well. $3 for the tube including installation. I live on a dead end street, nothing makes me happier than seeing it full of kids on bikes. My kid has the coolest bike though.

Big Bill, the world needs more good people like you.

I am the bike guy in my neighborhood. A replacement derailleur for a walmart bike will cost me about $10 at the LBS. The little girl across the street needed a RD so I replaced hers, but it also needed a new cable. Now there is a department store bike on my street with campy cables. It was all I had. I keep 20, 24, 26" shraeder valve tubes on my shelf as well. $3 for the tube including installation. I live on a dead end street, nothing makes me happier than seeing it full of kids on bikes. My kid has the coolest bike though.


I knew I liked you for more than your ability to block alot of wind.....

I too keep most of my kids friends bikes in safe and proper order as well as most of the bikes in the neighborhood.. My youngest daughter's current boyfriend rode over 1 day (22 mile round trip) and mentioned that his back brake wasn't working so good...well it was...TOO GOOD it was not releasing, the cable was kinked in the housing. I replaced the cable and spent an hour tuning it all up....guess what...HE NOTICED THE DIFFERENCE. 22 miles is a lot easier without the brake on!

as always....safety is KEY

If you want to "so dome good," you could also volunteer to help with your local charity refurbish bikes for children for Christmas. We have a few local charities that do this, and they are always desperate for people to help.

I worked with a guy about 5-6 years ago that had done this job for awhile. He did not work for Target, it was for an outside company. I am pretty sure he got paid by the piece. I remember he used to complain about it all the time, because he actually took a bit of pride in his work, but some of the others he worked with did not care how the bike was assembled, as long as it "looked" assembled and they could get paid for it.

Having worked for an LBS, it was quite amazing to me at first how many bikes rolled out of Target, etc, got one or two rides, and then ended up in our service department for propoer adjustment. The parents were usually just dumbfounded. They had paid less then $100 for the bike and now I was telling them they had to spend $40 for a tune up. But, usually once I pointed out all the things wrong, they could do nothing but shake their heads in disbelief.

They wont just let you do it. There is too much liability involved. The Store can sue the assembly company or pass the legal buck to them. ....
The (grocery) store where I work has an outside company clean the floors every night. The reason is that most of the slip-and-falls occur when the floors are being mopped, and (by some means) the store is able to pass the liability of that onto the other company.
-but,,,, that's not all the story-
The floor-cleaning company hires eastern-European people who are in the USA on work permits, and many of those expire in a year. So the workers have to leave the country after that long (or go "underground" to stay illegally). But it usually takes more than a year for any case to get to court--so when it does, by then,,,, the person who was cleaning the floor (whenever the slip-and-fall occurred) usually cannot be located.....
~

While I'm not quite up to the task of replacing cables and derailers I do try to get the kids bikes ridable. About 75% of the time it involves air in the tires, oil on the chain and an allen wrench to tighten the stem. Of all the things I see it is the loose handle bars that scare me the most.

And yes my kids have to coolest bikes going as well, even if I'm the only one who notices. Often it is easier to loan out the extras I have vs make a fix of theirs.

Uh, maybe this is a little rude, but if you can't do these tasks, you probably shouldn't volunteer to assemble bikes for anyone. Do you think that you have more skills than the poor guys that get paid to do it?

On the other hand, it really isn't hard to learn basic repairs. Zinn's book is great. cheers!

i do the neighborhood bike fixes, too. actually gave someone an old wheel i had built up after her mom drove over the wheel and tacoed it. doin brake and derailler adjustments are the worst on those things.

i have also been known to fix bikes while still on shelves in the local target/walmart.

I knew I liked you for more than your ability to block alot of wind.....

block or break? :D

"here's To You Mr. Department Store Bike Assembler."

"here's To You Mr. Department Store Bike Assembler."

That would make a great commercial...with cuts to kids crashing on poorly assembled bikes. :D

"here's To You Mr. Department Store Bike Assembler."


LOL

That would be cool!