I just bought a bicycle a Target for my 12 year old son. They have a bunch on models on the floor that are preassembled that you can buy and take out. We bought a Magna mountain bike for $99.99. You can’t really test ride them inthe store, but it was the right size and price. So we bought it.

My son complained that he couldn’t get the bike into any of the 15 gears. I thought he must just have not been doing it right, so I tried out the bike and had the same problem. I also noted that the front tire was not aligned right and that the brakes hardly worked.

Now I am sure that most serious bikers buy a bike and can tune it up to get it working perfectly, but that is not my area of expertise and I wasn’t going to spend $40 for a tune up on a brand new $100 bike.

My guess is that the in-store bike assembly at a store like target is not that good, hence why there were so many problems with the bike. I would recommend spending a little extra and getting a bike at a store that specializes in bikes.

as a side note, when I brought this bike it to return it, the clerk asked her manager if they should have the bike fix (after I explained the numerous problems with the bike) the manager said “NO, just put it back on the floor.” so someone else can buy a bike that doesn’t work properly!!! so beware when buying bikes at target. ask if you can test it out in the parking lot first!!