Are Costco bicycles any good given their prices? (Ironhorse, Infinity, etc).

Its okay for occasional use... e.g. commuting short distances, once in a blue moon recreational ride.

You'll notice cheap bike traits... Cheap feeling pedals and crank. Brakes might not be well adjusted to start off with (bunch of non-bicycle mechanic employees throw them together in the back). low quality components, and heavy frame.
Pedals might even crack or break depending how you treat the bike.

I have nice bikes... But I do have one $99 Canadian Tire bike. Thing fell into pieces after 1 year of commuting. This commuting included locking the bike up outside in all types of weather... Even with regular oiling it couldn't survive the 10km per day I put it through, and the weather just destroyed it quickly. Brake cables snapped! They popped out of the levers. Pedal got chipped. And the frame started rusting.
I imagine after 2-3 years of this type of routine riding it'll completely fall apart. They make em pretty cheap...

I used this back when I was studying @ york u. I parked my car in an industrial street with no restrictions and free parking... I kept a bike in the area so I could get from my parking spot to school quickly. It was handy, b/c york u campus is huge... I got around so quick with that bicycle! Then when I'm done class... I have a leisurely bike ride back to the car. I used the beater b/c it was such an isolated area. Someone could steal the bike with a shot gun blast and no one would see or hear. lol


edit: There's another thing about cheap department store bikes... they break easily! I was always fixing that CAnadian tire bike. My $600 bike... NEVER gets fixed... Nothing has ever broke on it. Just lubed up regularly and an annual free tune up @ norco. (life time free tune ups when you buy a new bike @ norco). So a new bike from a quality store is worth it in that sense... Norco @ Yonge and Eglinton has great customer service.

With that cheap CT bike... I was ALWAYS fixing and tuning the gears. Soooo annoying. They never wanted to stay proper... I just attributed to very poor quality parts. I got frustrated and converted it to single speed with a $20 chain tensioner... After that it ran well... Until the brake line snap

UrbanPoet wrote: ↑Its okay for occasional use... e.g. commuting short distances, once in a blue moon recreational ride.

You'll notice cheap bike traits... Cheap feeling pedals and crank. Brakes might not be well adjusted to start off with (bunch of non-bicycle mechanic employees throw them together in the back). low quality components, and heavy frame.
Pedals might even crack or break depending how you treat the bike.

I have nice bikes... But I do have one $99 Canadian Tire bike. Thing fell into pieces after 1 year of commuting. This commuting included locking the bike up outside in all types of weather... Even with regular oiling it couldn't survive the 10km per day I put it through, and the weather just destroyed it quickly. Brake cables snapped! They popped out of the levers. Pedal got chipped. And the frame started rusting.
I imagine after 2-3 years of this type of routine riding it'll completely fall apart. They make em pretty cheap...

I used this back when I was studying @ york u. I parked my car in an industrial street with no restrictions and free parking... I kept a bike in the area so I could get from my parking spot to school quickly. It was handy, b/c york u campus is huge... I got around so quick with that bicycle! Then when I'm done class... I have a leisurely bike ride back to the car. I used the beater b/c it was such an isolated area. Someone could steal the bike with a shot gun blast and no one would see or hear. lol

Thanks for the feedback.
Do you think that your more expensive bikes would have stood up to the abuse from the weather or lasted much longer than your $99 bike?
If I spend $350 every year rather than $1,500 every 3 years, I think I'd rather go with the Costco bikes.

Nuprapture wrote: ↑Thanks for the feedback.
Do you think that your more expensive bikes would have stood up to the abuse from the weather or lasted much longer than your $99 bike?
If I spend $350 every year rather than $1,500 every 3 years, I think I'd rather go with the Costco bikes.

a $1500 bike will last you much longer than that. You can keep it around for 30 years if you want... lol.

I bought (used) a Bianchi Road bike from the 80s... Bianchi makes quality bikes. It still rides amazing. Its super speedy and all components are very crisp.

The quality bike will also have better re-sale. I flip these old road bikes , and they move quite quickly in Toronto... Just a month on Kijiji and its gone.

Nobody really buys those cheap bikes used... they do, but not for much.
That old Bianchi I bought for $300... Will easily sell for $300 right now.

You get what you pay for.

Better than CT, but still crap for the most part.

I looked at the bikes at Costco recently and they looked heavy and cheap. If you want a good bike at a good price, I'd recommend going to Royal Distributing. They have a tax free sale until Sunday and have some really good Marin mountain and hybrid bikes on sale. I plan on buying a new road bike from them tomorrow.

I bought my first bike from CT for $150 , a piece of crap
the second one from sport check $430, better crap but still a crap
got the last one from bike depot for $850 and then I realized the difference buying a bike from a professional store than those junky super stores

I would highly recommend have a visit to one the bike specialist stores before purchasing

I am in agreement with the "You get what you pay for" side of things. My first bike from back in the 80's stayed with me till the mid 2000's when I just felt like buying a new bike. That was an aluminum frame Velo Sport road bike...no rust (of course) and I kept it tuned regularly. I loved that bike...it took me all over Toronto.

My current bikes are from Cannondale - one road bike and one hybrid. They are miles apart from the basic box store bikes. But of course, I was willing to spend the $1000 to get each of these...but I do expect them to last me another 20 years. I still ride them all over GTA, but I don't ride them in the winter and I keep them in the garage or in my basement when not in use to protect them from the elements.

My cousin bought a cheap CT bike to commute to university from his dorm. That was the perfect bike for that task...it got stolen one night, but at $99 he was not crying over it. If it was a nice bike, that would be a different story.

In the end, cheap bikes still have their place in society...

I would avoid them if you can, yes they will work for very light use (provided that they are adjusted properly by Costco, which is a big maybe). There are a bit better than the average Walmart special but not that much better.

If you can, definitely check out the bikes at Bike Depot as suggested, for a bit more money you can do better for both your bike and wife's commuter.

For general all purpose city bike, the Giant Escape for $500 is usually my first recommendation for anybody who rides on paved paths or streets

If it's something you are going to use regularly visit an actual bike shop. If it's just for casual riding then its fine.

Geez.. A 39lb hardtail is hella heavy.