Are thruster fixie bikes good quality?

Is that supposed to be a joke? What part of $99.97 spells quality?

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Thruster-700c-Men-s-Fixi…

Price tells all.

http://www.masibikes.com/bikes/fixed/fixed-riser-2…

http://www.masibikes.com/bikes/fixed/fixed-uno-ris…

Thruster Bike

It is only as good as the person who assembles it. The materials are acceptable FOR THE PRICE. Remember, you are buying a bike that costs less than two good quality 700×23 bike tires. Then figure out how the price was so low.

If you do buy it take it to a bike shop and pay them to assemble it — if you don’t know how yourself.

The problem with the flat tires related in another answer is most likely due to the person assembling the bike not checking the tube being installed correctly before inflating the tires and probably resulted in a pinch flat.

That is why you pay more for a bike at a bike shop. Things get done right the first time.

This Site Might Help You.

RE:

Are thruster fixie bikes good quality?

No they have very poor quality of materials that go into making them.(you Can Make It into a good bike.) If you buy one. rebuild the bottom bracket and free ball the cups cage bearing always break and they have no grease. . Then open the hubs if cage bearing free ball them if free balls then you will note the the clear grease is pretty bad stuff repack the bearings with a anti rust grease.

. Most problems that happen with that bike is actual chain wear when it does wear the brakes no longer contact the rim correct. so keep a new chain. for the fixed gear cog replace it when you get a new chain the cogs are pretty low quality metal. That said. Buy the bike it is cheap. and relay what can go wrong.

O brakes. be careful these bikes are massed produced and some time most of the time the wheels are never dished or trued. And make sure the correct brake levers are used I see many of them come to me that are built with wrong brake levers so you have incorrect leverage to stop.

Just google Dynacraft child deaths and sued Dynacraft defective bikes.

For a $99 bike it is not good quality.

My friend picked up a bike like this from Wal Mart, got a flat tire as he left the parking lot. They replaced it but it went flat again and he just returned the bike. There are other concerns with a bike like this.

You may be better off picking up something like this http://www.aerofixcycles.com/

Or a good quality used bike (something that cost $300 but you are picking it up for $50 in perfect condition)

another option is picking up something like a Peugeot and converting it to a fixie, there are a few searchable articles about this

On the other hand it is so inexpensive that there’s no reason not to try it.

Its a good bike for $99. I bought one a couple of years ago and have put over 1,500 miles on it. The other people that answer this post will have a bicycle in mind that they deem “good quality” and compare it to that so you can’t really trust anyone one here including myself.

Jake F

Do you have any reconmendations on where to find a good quality used bike in the southbay area?

700c Thruster Fixie Bike – Walmart.com Thruster fixie bike Single Speed Wal-Mart walmart.com Bike bicycle Review By Carlos Becerra (bike shop owner and Bike Mechanic) of Live4bikes.com and Shop.live4bikes.com

Thank you for tuning in to another Bike review Form Live4Bikes.com. Our goal of this review is to help you make a wise decision about your Thruster Fixie bike purchase. We will go over the pros and cons about the $100 Thruster fixie from a pro bicycle shop owner and bike mechanics prospective. We will be objective, fair and informative about the Thruster Fixie from Walmart.com or Big 5 sporting goods, its benefits and down falls.

Pros:

The best this thing about this Thruster Fixie bike is the initial price of the bike, I say “initial prices” for a reason but we’ll get into that later. $100 or about $100 is an amazing great low price for this bike. The Thruster is usually bought at Wal-Mart, sometimes Big 5 or other department stores and not found at your normal Bike Shops. The Thruster fixie bike is a great commuter bike because of the speed and simplicity of a single speed bike that you get in any Fixie bike. The Thruster fixie is also is a relatively light bike. Although it’s a steel frame bike because you have no gears, meaning shifters, derailleurs, cassettes etcetera the Thruster fixie bike is relatively lightweight. The thruster fixie like most fixies come with a standard flip-flop rear hub wheel. That means that you can choose to ride it fixed gear or free wheel. Lastly, for the low price of $100 or so you get your Thruster Fixie from Walmart.com delivered to your house for free, that right Free Shipping.

Cons :

As a Bike Shop owner, and professional bike mechanic we are very familiar with the Thruster Fixie. We have worked and repaired these bikes several times. Lets begin with the cost; As I mentioned in the Pro section the initial cost is low but there are a lot of hidden fees. First, the crank and bottom bracket are very low quality and will give out on you eventually. Maybe not in a month or two but they will go bad. The bottom bracket (bb) is a ball bearing system and by nature they require yearly maintenance. Most bike shops are going to charge quite a bit to pull the crank and re-grease or replace the bearings, some where around $30, plus parts. Sealed barring bb are the way to go, they have better performance and little to no maintenance and a new sealed bb is going to run about $20 plus installation witch we recommend upgrading to. The Thruster fixie also comes with an iron cast steel crank and the problem with that is that they are not usually fully round or a perfect circle creating a chain tension problems that will require a chain replacement more frequently. Next is the wheels, the Thruster fixie comes with single walled 700 x35c none deep-v wheels. The first problem with that is that most people like the fixie because of the cool look that comes with a deep-v wheel set. We find that lots of people that purchase a Thruster fixie from walmart.com or Big 5 Sporting Goods will upgrade the wheel set to a deep-v after market wheels that usually runs any where from $100-200 . The Thruster fixie has a single walled wheel set which makes them very sensitive to bumps and curb jumping. Truing (straightening the wheels) is a constant maintenance issue that gets most owners flustered and in search for an upgrade or solution. So now your $100 fixie is up to $330 + with the bb maintenance and your new deep-v wheel upgrade, but wait, you are not done spending yet. Next are the tires, the stock tires that it comes with are 700×35 and are not very good for many reasons. The main reason is that the stock tire on the Thruster fixie has a vey low TPI count. TPI is threads per inch, witch protect you from flats and also gives the tire the ability to hold its PSI or Pounds of air per Square Inch, to a high number and usually the higher the PSI the better. Granted most entrée level fixies are not going to come with a great set of tires but the Thruster fixie just come with a subpar set. In other words, the set of tires on the Thruster fixie are going to give you lots of flats. Again, bringing the cost of your Thruster fixie up even further. Due to the size of the wheel of 700×35 you are not able to fit small sized tires. The reason for this mention is that the most common high performance tire on road bikes or fixies is 700×23. This smaller size has more of a verity of brands, qualities and price where as the 700×35 have fewer options.

Next are the forks, the head set and gooseneck style. To save money and keep cost down of the bike a 1” size forks and headset are used. The problem with this is that the 1” size is an older style system that has limits, is harder to work on and more costly to change or upgrade. Meaning that a 1-1/8 size is more modern and more commonly used for fixie, road, BMX or any modern bike. The gooseneck is also a one piece style witch makes it hard to install any other style of handlebars. The best thing to do is to use and 1” to 1-1/8 “adapter (cost about $20) so a threadless stem can be used. Finally the biggest problem with the Thruster fixie bike from Walmart.com is that you have to buy it from a Wal-Mart not a bike shop. Wal-Mart has no easy way of fixing or adjusting minor problems to your bike. More importantly without getting to political, buying anything from Wal-Mart in my opinion is morally questionable. There are many publications, documentaries and groups that oppose Wal-Marts because of the economical effects that they have on ones community. The price of buying cheap is very costly to you and your family. I recommend that you do your own research on the matter and see for your self-why buying anything from Wal-Mart is very expensive in the long run.

In Conclusion, we do not recommend you ever buy any bikes from Wal-Mart or departments stores. You think your saving money but in reality you spend more. Wal-Mart or department store bikes are deposable and have planed obsolescence, meaning they are meant to break or not last long. The over quality of the Thruster fixie is not good and will cost you more than it would if you bought another brand and at higher price point from a real bike shop. I will leave you with this: The good feeling of buying a cheap inexpensive item is quickly overcome by the lingering remorseful feeling that a poor quality product leaves you with.

Hey!, I’m one of the owners at Venice Fixies (http://www.venicefixies.com)./

Fixies have been around as long as bicycles themselves, with the freewheel coming a little later. “Fixie” comes from Fixed-Gear, meaning as long as the wheels are moving, so are your feet. They’re usually singlespeed, but there has been some experimentation with internally-geared fixed hubs (but that’s for another day!)

If you’re looking for some super fresh fixies, come check us out! Affordable Fixie Bikes from the Heart of Venice

If you’re looking for a bit bigger of a selection, Fixie Bikes for Sale has plenty.

Cheers,

Simon