Has Walmart finally found a way to keep a the big bike companies on their toes with the release of the recent Ozark Trail line of bicycles?

With the introduction of  their G1 gravel bike ($258), M2 ridge pro ($398) and Trail Vibe ($328) hard tail models, as well as two quality full suspension models with the FS1 Epictrail ($268)and FS2 Slalom ($498), it seems as though Walmart has finally found a way to make the once expensive hobbies affordable for everyone with models available for every niche of riding.

Companies like Trek, Cannondale, Specialized, and Giant have completely disregarded their customers when it came to the pricing of their bikes with many of said companies pricing their “budget builds” from $700-$1,000 respectively. The people in charge of these big bike companies must be living under a rock because the majority of people these days don’t have an extra $700 to spend in order to get involved with a new hobby.

Many have called into question the build quality of the Ozark Trail line up but as an avid cyclists myself I can assure the general public that while these bike may cut some conners in the way of top of the line parts such a dual piston calipers, carbon rims and accessories, as well as a squared bottom bracket here and there. Yet even with  these small sacrifices the bikes still feel right on par with the some of their $700 counterparts.

In the case of the G1 explorer we found it to be almost as good of a ride as our staff owned Breezer Radar X which came with at a price tag of $1,700 before taxes. Excluding the stopping power of the Breezers hydraulic braking system and and the weight savings of its hollow bottom bracket the G1 was a great ride. New tires completely transform the overall feel and ride of Ozark Trail, while the squared bottom bracket may be a bit heavier than most would like it does not affect the ride in anyway and we think the bike is more than capable of handing what the vast majority of riders feel comfortable putting it through anyways.

For those thinking that they may be better of just buying used we would ask them to reconsider based on these reasons, do you really want to take a cha ce on a bike that may or may not have been properly maintained throughout it’s previous ownership. Or you could be like me and buy a top of the line bike from 2017 under the impression you’ll be saving a fortune over purchasing a new model bike only to find out a single missing bolt can leave said bike out of commission due to a lack of replacement parts as a direct result of a foreclosed company that no ships or stocks replacement parts.

It is also worth mentioning that Ozark Trail bikes come included with a limited lifetime warranty on their frames and parts, so instead of spending hundreds of dollars on someone else’s project you could just buy something straight off the shelf and ready to ride? One should note that it’s best to have the Ozark Trail bikes gone over by a local bike shop if you should happen to purchase one as with any big department store bike.

At the end of the day it doesn’t matter what you ride or where you are going so long as you take time to enjoy the journey, ride safe out there.