Might be worth taking that guy’s advice and hitting up your local bike store for some cheapies they have lying around too. As was mentioned, a lot of people just leave their flat pedals with the bike store when they upgrade to clip pedals so most stores usually have more than a few pedals lying around doing nothing.

You can see a picture of the pedals on my bicycles.net.au forum post
http://www.bicycles.net.au/forums/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=48802&p=742682#p742682

Metal ones from Kmart should be fine (pretty hard to mess up pedals) but the only thing I’d keep an eye out for would be rust.

I’d say coat them in anti-rust agent but that’d probably make them slippy and attract dirt. Last thing you want are slippery pedals!

Recently I was looking at buying a cheap Southern Star mountain bike and was about to buy it. As I entered the shop I looked at the bike. It looked really cheap and bad quality I then decided not to buy it. This was 2weeks ago.

Yesterday I bought an Apollo Exceed Flat Bar road bike and I am really pleased with it! Although the pedals broke the 3rd time I rode it I was going to buy alloy/steel pedals anyway xD.

Since I don’t have that much money left after the bike purchase do you think that metal pedals from kmart will do the job?

No matter what you say ozsoapbox, Huffy provides an economic alternative for low income individuals to use a bike.

In the same way that a plank of wood and some duct tape is an economic alternative to shoes for low income individuals.

Both do the job but the fact stands a Huffy severely compromises your riding quality.

And anyone who says otherwise simply doesn’t know any better or doesn’t mind, which is fair enough.

I on the other hand don’t like to torture myself and see the extra few hundred $$ as a worthwhile investment.

No matter what you say ozsoapbox, Huffy provides an economic alternative for low income individuals to use a bike.

Huffy and it’s counterparts are well suited to the demands of the “CASUAL” cyclist. An are more than adequate as a kid’s bike.

Now if you are an ardent cyclist who has a passion for the sport or activity you should invest in a high quality bike.

You stated: “And in the meantime, whilst the Huffy has stood up to the casual use of a beach run, your ride quality is garbage.”

Well that is your subjective opinion, I have ridden one for a year and it is ok, definately not a Rolls Royce but far from garbage. And joe skeptic agrees with me.

But for casual users, Huffy is quite ok, secondly a casual cyclist is not prepared in many cases to fork out 500 dollars.

Huffy fills this niche very well.

So one must decide what one is buying the bike for, the huffy is designed and priced for casual users, and caters for that need well.

ozsoapbox: Everything might be made in China but like Chinese citizens, not all are equal.

Shhhh! We don’t want to disturb Cross-Strait relations while the CPC is focusing on creating a harmonious (read as: entirely homogenous and drone-like) society. All Chinese are now being created equal… in fact, IDENTICAL!

Seeing as how this is an election year, and I wish to stay on topic here, my campaign promise is:

“Two Surly Long Hauls in every garage! And, two surly Chinese girlfriends to go with them!”

Just a guy who’s business if threatened by the economy of scale that large businesses have. Thus he exaggerates so that you will buy his overpriced bikes instead.

You heard it here first guys… I apparently now run a local bike store.

Based on the the price I paid I am content if it only lasts two years. then I will simply buy another, don’t bother getting them repaired just buy another brand new for 130 bucks, that it the way to go.

And in the meantime, whilst the Huffy has stood up to the casual use of a beach run, your ride quality is garbage.

Kind of like using a pedal powered go-kart to drive around vs. an actual car. Both get you from A to B and back, but that’s not the point.

Never mind the long-term landfill quota you’re contributing to.

Oh the cheap labor argument, well evertyhing is made in china these days including expensive brands.

Everything might be made in China but like Chinese citizens, not all are equal.

I have huffy and have used it to travel 20 kms to the beach and back (round trip). For a year and it has served me well.

Based on the the price I paid I am content if it only lasts two years. then I will simply buy another, don’t bother getting them repaired just buy another brand new for 130 bucks, that it the way to go.

Oh the cheap labor argument, well evertyhing is made in china these days including expensive brands. There is a certain clothes company that sell shirts in Australia for 100 dollars, yet the cost of manufactor in china was only 5 bucks. So these high quality companies not only ripp of the chinese worker but the autralian consumer as well.

I have not doubt that these EXPENSIVE cycle companies do the same thing.

i agree totally with everything written. you get what you pay for. I’ve bought $2 tools, bashed my head against a wall and vowed never again.

My wife has a bike hanging in the garage, hasn’t been ridden for 15 years, and probably only a couple of times. Now we camp at Xmas, the kids(9+5) like to ride, so instead of wasting time and money fixing up the bike, both tyres and tubes without looking any further, we bought $119 Cyclops as a replacement.

The Giant Roam looks like it’ll be a nice bike for you to ride, leaps and bounds over a Huffy.

I just wish Giant wouldn’t stick 1,000,000 decals on every bike they produce, if I were you I’d be hitting them with the hairdryer!

We all naturally like to defend the under-dog purchase option, especially in Australia, where it is almost a cultural trait to do so. Added into this a lot of us have had fun on cheapo Huffys.

Having got a Giant Roam for myself and then, realising how much more fun it made in cycling in all respects, one for my daughter, I now advise everyone to strike up a conversation in their local bike shop and consider $350+ as a good starting point for a bike worth having for a kid, and $500 for an adult.

The gear for my other sports costs WAY more rteally (even a climbing rope is $150+ on its own). I posted a review of what I eventually did at http://kingerzexperience.blogspot.com/

Good luck all!

The Hillman frame is sound with only a little rust on top tube where there is a scratch. Should be an easy enough fix. Rest of paint work is excellent. Rims and small Chrome mudguards have small spots of surface rust. Steel wool should remove that.

Rims are straight and true, gears function perfectly, front Derailleur is Shimano and rear is Stolark. Never heard of that make before ! I checked with Bike Shop and they quoted $10 per tube and $20 per Tyre, if I should need them.

Johnny,

I have only been riding this K Mart bike for a few weeks. Comparing it to my $10 early 90′s bike which came from a bike shop originally is like night and day.

My early 90′s bike has better quality components than the Southern Star. You can actually feel the difference in quality in the crank when peddling as it feels much stronger than that of the Kmart bike.

Gear changes are smoother, quicker and more precise on my $10 special too. The route I take each day has a section where I negotiate between Tree’s on the track and the Roots from Tree’s are growing up through the track. I ride on this section on my 90′s bike and it laps it up.

When I come to that same section on the Southern star, I actually dismount and walk the bike through it as I’m concerned that rims might not be strong enough to take that kind of punishment without being thrown out of true and buckling.

Don’t bunny hop gutters or take it off road on seriously rough stuff, you may damage rims.

Where to get a $10 Bike !

Your local Tip/Rubbish Dump should have what they call a recycle section. Here you will find Anything form Furniture to Fitness Equipment, Bathroom Sinks and those $10 bikes.

What to look for : These Recycle Centers are Home to unloved Huffy’s and Cyclops Bikes. Stay away from them ! Don’t even think about anything with dual Suspension.

You should be able to find 80′s and 90′s Mountain bikes there, perhaps some later models too ! Check frame for excessive rust. Make sure there aren’t any cracks in the frame.

Check forks to see if they are straight, if it has front shocks, check for oil leaks and any unsightly clunking.

Check all cables as they may need replacing if rusted really bad. Check brake function and make sure both front and back work.

Lift front up and spin wheel to see if it’s warped/buckled. Do same with rear wheel. Check gears too and make sure they all work. A $10 bike is only a bargain if you don’t have to spend money on it or as little as possible.

With any luck you should be able to find something that isn’t to shabby and as above if everything works, with a bit more luck all you will need to do is put air in the Tyres.

You may want your LBS to give it a quick safety check if you are not Mechanically minded.

Good luck !

Oz, Do you know anything about Hillman bikes ?

I’ve seen a few around but nothing specific.

There is one at my recycle center, A 10 speed Roadie. Seems from the 70′s or possibly 80′s.

If it’s in working order then yeah go for it. Just be aware of the practicalities involved in owning an older bike. 27 sized wheels require 27 sized tires and things like old brakes can be a PITA to adjust. Check it for rust too before you buy.

Having to buy new bike parts have a way of making second hand bike purchases lose their initial savings quite quickly.

@Johnny

Hmm are Kmart bikes worth it even when they’re given away for free?

…mate that’s still a tough call .

I also did a bit of research before going to Kmart… I went to K-mart, Big-W, Toy-R Us and the bike proffesionals.. prices? K-mart/Bigw about the same (~100), ToyRUs (~200) and the profesisonals (over 400)…

since I wanna get 2 bikes (boy and girl) my costs will double whatever my choice was… so since I was taking too much time to decide and the presure was on me (AKA my wife!! ) )I was going for my second round at K-mart and found the Souther Cross for 98 bucks. So I decided to get two of them and since I’m not a tool handler expert, I asked them to assembled for me (BWT, they only charged me $16.50 for both of them (2 for the price of 1

..now here is the best part…

they promise to assmeble them in 3 days..I ring them back and they weren’t ready yet… they promise it will be ready in 48 hrs.. and again..they didn’t delivery it!… so I Talked to the manager that promise to sort this out.. The sooner she cound get the ready was the week after!…

so it took almost to weeks to get a couple of bikes assembled!!… so to make it up for this blundler she offered me to get a fully refund for the bikes + take take the 2 bikes for free!!… So I went there, get my refund, collect the bikes (btw with a proffesional assemblers copy and signed for each bike) and everybody is happy!!…

Now How does the bikes go?… kids havent tested it yet… but thanks for your review.. it gives me some good hopes!!

now my Q for you is.. where can I get a $10 bike? … I want one for me too now!!..

Cheers,

You are absolutely correct ! I did a fair amount of searching on the net and discovered that Southern Star, Repco, Crane, Next and Huffy are all made by the same Chinese Factory. It seems they are painted different colours along with different stickers for each Dept.store outlet !

I still have my trusty $10 Steed from recycle center and am loving riding it. I have learned that it is around 92/94 vintage and still going strong.

I digress, I did part with $98 at Kmart and purchased a Southern Star Kodiak. I did it for pure Scientific and research reasons.

This bike is not to replace my trusty $10 steed, but to evaluate and see just how long the damn thing will last and what problems I encounter with it.

I had to assemble it myself, though K Mart do offer to assemble it for you by their Technician for the sum of $16.50

I was told if I assemble it, I wouldn’t get the standard 12 month warranty. Yeah right !

Out of the box: Place forks the right way, put front wheel on, put head stem on and tighten. Then Pedals, Seat Stem and Seat. Could not adjust brakes correctly until I trued both Front and back wheel.

Also had to adjust rear derailleur to get it to change into gears properly and stay in selected gears.

It will get you from A to B and works as it should after you adjust everything.I mean everything ! I ride my $10 Steed in mornings and the K mart BSO in the afternoon.

Would love to get a Pugsley ! They look awesome

Oz, Do you know anything about Hillman bikes ? There is one at my recycle center, A 10 speed Roadie. Seems from the 70′s or possibly 80′s. It is Mauve and looks in quite good condition. needs new tyres and that’s about it. Everything on it works ! Again it is recycle center price of $10

It is as light as a feather too. Wondering if perhaps I have stumbled on a bargain and should snap it up ?

As kids, we grew up riding Raleigh Fireball Choppers and Malvern Star Dragsters.

Sorry for the long winded post. Cheers

Well I don’t know many carparks that could leave you 90K from your car

With the extensiveness of rail tracks surely there are some longer rail trails out there? Nearly all of the ones I’ve ridden on are usually flat with only the slightest of inclines. Going uphill seems to be something they avoid when building train tracks so this is reflective when they’re converted to rail trails for bikes.

We all had Huffy bikes as kids and teens

I had a Trek MTB and then a Giant dual suspension MTB growing up. Never had a Huffy myself.

If you’re going to say this, then roads are even more like a carpark since they are actual tarmac! We all had Huffy bikes as kids and teens and they were okay then and probably are a lot better now too what can people expect for a hundred bucks that is less than my neighbour paid for just his pedals!

Mozz, the Southern Stars at KMart are basically the same as the Huffys just a different sticker. They have the same gearsets and accessories.