Finally, a REAL Mountain Bike for $400
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ต.ค. 2024
- Today, the entry point for going mountain biking just got a little bit lower. The Ozark Trail Ridge, a $398 bicycle sold at Walmart stores, actually seems like it would be worth owning-that is if you’re okay with rebuilding it after you take it home.
My criticism of department store bikes was NEVER that they are cheap, it was always that they are ridiculous. Why does a $150 bicycle have 18 gears and rear suspension? Why not put that money towards better parts and serviceability? I’ll tell you why. The simplest bike with the fewest features looks like a terrible deal to an inexperienced buyer.
But some of us are, in fact, looking for a simple and affordable bike that’s easy to service and possible to upgrade, and the Ozark Trail Ridge was clearly designed with that in mind. Today, I’m going to show you the Ridge and all the reasons it’s the best department store bike in its price range.
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My biggest gripe with department store bikes has always been that they are built to throw away. It is nice to see people are finally getting bikes that industry standard parts can be bolted to as things break or as skills progress.
Also, in the end, it's really just Walmart's attempt to steal market share from bike companies. Capitalism at its worst. There are hidden long term costs, and it doesn't end well for anyone but Walmart (or Amazon).
The $500 Schwinn whatever it was called broke crank bearings, pedals, forks all in the first couple of days. Good thing Walmart will let you return anything because for $350 more you can get a hardtail that doesn’t break
Some of these issues are easy fixes if you know what your doing but for a new rider by the time they get one of these and spend another $200-300 to pay a LBS to go through it and rebuild it correctly, and upgrade things like pedals. Might as well have bought something like a Marlin with a warranty, and dealer support. One of these Ozark's be a good deal if you know what your doing and live in an area with crappy used bike market.
I bought one of those and didn't read the label. The very first trail I took it on completely blew out all major components lol. Then I read the manual and nicely went and returned it.
My walmart Mongoose bike was definitely garbage from the start, and now I can't take it back cause it pretty much fell apart to the point where it probably voids warranty, I'm disappointed and quite upset that I wasted money on it. (Can't even upgrade that much on it either.)
So just for reference. One of the Walmart heirs lives in my town and got really into mountain biking over Covid, he's put a lot of money into buying land and paying for the building of trails and making them publicly accessed and it's been really awesome, but it's become a big passion in his life and he's talked about the accessibility of it and is trying to use and improve the products his stores produce and offer to help the sport grow. Just a bit of background knowledge that I think people don't know about.
So yes, there is an actual growing attention within Walmart and they are trying to do better
That would make a lot of sense. So if we want better stuff at walmart we gotta get the walmart heirs to be into something that they sell
That's cool to get the back story on that. Working in bike shops through high school and college, I always thought Walmart bikes could be better than they were. Like, it shouldn't take that much for the manufacturers to improve them to the point that the high end Walmart bikes were as good as entry level bike shop bikes. Apparently this is what it took to get there.
Yeah, a family member works in the bike industry, and from what I heard from them the Walton family's investments in the trail ecosystem is a big part of why Bentonville has become more of a mountain bike destination. So this checks out that its coming from Walmart and not Target.
Pretty sure it started before covid
Also many don’t realize the the FIRST builders of bentonville trails were waldren’s grandchildren. Establishing a huge link between Walmart and the mtb capitol. With Walmarts recent pledge to get millions outdoors and on trails they’re really trying to hone in on making a cheap setup to give everyone access to a sport normally too costly to start on a whim!
who wants to bet that Seth actually influenced Walmart to produce more capable Mountain bikes
The Walton brothers are hugely into mountain biking and are responsible for everything going on in bentonville, as well as the walmart acquisition of rapha.
Lmao! 🤔 I'm positive of it.
Kev central
Walmart is still trash. I wouldn't trust anybody I cared about on that bike.
@@RealMTBAddictThat was my original thought. BUT, my thoughts have been challenged lately - especially with this Ozark Trail. I looked at this bike several and it looks like a potential.
I got this bike in clearance for $224…
Like Seth mentioned, it wasn’t assembled well, and the one I got was a return…
The derailleur wasn’t adjusted right and it took a bit of tweaking to get it right. I eventually upgraded to a microShift Advent and it has changed the game!
Next upgrades are hydro brakes and probably a dropper post :)
Fun start in mountain biking! Hope that it helps grow the sport!
You got lucky
I feel like a lot of these bikes (the Ozark Trails, the Trouvailles) are often returns when they're on the rack! Walmart's website usually tells me it's not in stock near me, but I've spotted them in-store I think once each, and in the Trouvaille's case it looked like it might have had issues. (I had to return my first one to that store because of issues and I suspect it just got put on the rack rather than repaired.)
I've gambled my luck on getting them shipped every time, since it's free shipping and at the very least I know any assembly issues are just the factory ones. Skip the underpaid middleman for that...
$224?!?!?!?! there are a lot of folks who spend more than that on pedals! 🤪
Walmart has been getting input from another TH-camr who reviews almost just Wal-Mart bikes.
good find, welcome to the sport! Hyrdaulic breaks are a big upgrade, shimanos are good. Also consider some nice tires, it's a massive difference. Basically everything you replace like fork brakes tires pedals all makes a difference, so you can have fun tweaking things overtime as your skills grow.
LTWOO is a company formed by (if I remember correctly) ex-SRAM engineers. Plus, Trace Velo has a lot of history reviewing their products, and it's a big brand here in the PH for a lot of riders. I would trust that derailleur, but would upgrade it anyway down the line.
agreed on the derailleur. I am glad to see 9 speed ... so sick of the MTB trend to 12 speed with it's spindly little chain and big chain angle. I expect 9 speed chain to last longer. Most entry level riders don't understand chain stretch and they'll run it until the casette is also trashed. 9 speed should last longer and be cheaper to replace. I like lots of gears on my road bike but on MTB simplicity takes highest priority.
@@ChrisVideo33 Agreed.
@@ChrisVideo33 i am guilty of that XD
@@ChrisVideo33couldn’t this be remediated by selling bikes with a basic chain wear tool and a warning sticker, or is that asking too much of people?
Francis Cade has done lots of testing and reviews for LTWOO also.
Even after becoming a heavy TH-camr, thank you for reviewing and upgrading entry-level hardtail products like now. Rather than reviewing expensive products, I think the majority of subscribers can relate and enjoy reviewing entry-level products more. I think this is the biggest difference from other channels. Anyway, I will always love your channel. Because my mountain biking life started with you. 😀😁😄
Well said.
You just hit the nail on the head.
Seth is a mountain biker first and always...not a salesman or paid promoter.
and by him sticking to that he has become one of the best salesmen out there for the Mountain Biking community.
While i was always into biking...i was never into it on any serious level. He made a better and more interested biker out of me after i found his channel.
Been following him since his bike light/head light video he made years ago in Florida.
Good luck, be safe and keep on riding.
Same here, Seth!!! My interest in MTB started during COVID, watching your videos while I was building BMX bikes in my living room! 🤣. So then I started selling my expensive “wall hangings” to fund my entry into MTB. Didn’t happen till just a month ago due to some bumps in the road. But here I am! Discovering this whole new world & enjoying it more than I’ve ever enjoyed any other hobby! Thanks to You. 🍻 btw, my entry bike is the awesome Trek Roscoe 7 & I don’t regret it at all. I’m already upgrading some small things on it to make it a little more comfortable like pedals, grips & bars.
It's a Game Changing moment - The fact that conversation is happening, the bike exist and at a very easily accessible store nationwide is the huge win. The chances just dramatically increased that we'll have MORE people (especially younger ones) getting access and interested in playing outdoors on trails means more likelihood we'll all have more trails and bike parks to play on in the future and likely less expensive options to do it!
This. So awesome. The cheap bikes full of features are basically a scam. A throwaway toy. Waste in a race to the bottom in maximizing profit. A company as big as Walmart could do better by looking at what, for example, Decathlon does in Europe. Cheap but basically capable bikes assembled by sufficiently qualified people.
They need to fix the issue of using minimum wage temp labor to build bikes, and actually have a trained bike mechanic come in and build these correctly, and have some kind of in store support for warranty/repairs. But then they would cost as much as an entry level Marlin, etc...
I said the same thing back when I rode bmx and I saw a dk general lee at Walmart, I nabbed one up and it was comparable to the bottom line haro
I worked at a couple of bike shops in northwest Arkansas bentonville area. Walton grandsons are super into MTB. In fact I think they're the money behind a regional bike shop chain called Phat Tire. I worked there like 10 years ago, lol. They are exactly why this is happening. MTB is their passion and it's super cool that they've finally got their own product. The bike is obviously super well thought out. Even to the point of leaving easy and affordable upgrades for the soon-to-be serious MTB rider to do themselves or at LBS. Every bike shop employee probably laughed out loud about the bike assembly problems, I did. Assembling bikes is a common task for a bike shop employee, and there is a bit of an art to it, especially with the derailer. Couldn't help but chuckle about the handle bars, I mean, "come on man!"
I've had LTWOO shifter and derailleur combo on several bikes for 4+ years. They're nothing fancy but very reliable!
Thanks for this comment...been wondering by people that may not be paid influencers....
Ozark trail is becoming a pretty damn good in house brand. They make some fairly decent tents now and other camping supplies. Also noticing more and more including this bike being made in Taiwan instead of China which is always a plus.
It's honestly shocking. Bought an ozark trail mummy sleeping bag for 16 dollars and it's as good as a name brand 90 dollar bag I bought a few years ago. If you're on a budget then Ozark trail really is killing it right now. Also bought one of their cups and it's really really solid for the price.
I think you're right in that Walmart is making something like this because they know a whole category of TH-cam content is dedicated to riding Walmart mountain bikes down trails. Something else to consider is that mountain biking is just that popular now. I've seen friends and acquantainces I never thought would ever get into mountain biking, now hitting local and even traveling to trails. It's mainstream now and that's great.
I'm Swedish, and niche things are usually very hard to find. There aren't nearly as many of us as there are Americans. But we have quite a lot of mountain bike riders. I see MTBs pretty often.
The Blackburn rim brake pads sold at Walmart for $10 are actually quite good, instantly greatly improve cheap bike rim brakes. I'd say better than almost all cable disk brakes even. (Assuming the bike has good rim brake calipers to begin with)
I googled David Weagle and learned a lot , I'm just getting back into keeping up with mountain biking since the 1990s , I'm sure you know that we would never have moved this far ahead with suspension technology if David Weagle had a bigger apartment , he would have a dirt bike ( motorcycle ) instead of a mountain bicycle , but I'm sure you knew that already , I'm studying his designs, thanks to you , good going 👍
I hope the "high end" bike makers take a hint from this kind of thing. The average rider doesn't need a $1500 "entry level" bike for the way they ride to do it safely and enjoyably. We need more quality bikes in the $500 range where average riders who just want to go out for a ride and that's it can do so with safe components and just enjoy it. Bikes have gotten out of hand with the admittedly nice but unnecessary in most cases tech that most riders simply don't need.
This also applies to cars take off the bells and whistles and if we could lose a couple regulations we could probably have a nice commuter car that isn't throw away because it has a $5,000 turbo that makes it unaffordable to fix.. okay back to bikes
Please do a budget bike challenge with second-hand bikes and Aliexpress parts
great idea
That would make for a really nice vid
@@Gerttie82 and it would be accessible to everyone in the world
Just picked up this bike on sale and it's the updated 2024 model with the windowless microshift components, and the narrow wide chainring. And there's actually a clutch on the derailleur. It looks like Walmart listened again
I’m trying to find anyone talking about this! I got the same components with my new ridge as well!
@@QuintonWilson-o5y yeah man im so glad i waited till now to get this bike.
I set it up myself from the box and its amazing!
Can't wait to do some upgrades.
Hope you have fun out there🤙
Me too
Just looked at my walmarts. One had 2, other had 8 well built. Noticed with a 12-2023 build date and up, it loses the gear display on microshift advent shifter, gets front 180mm rotor, clutch on acolyte derailleur, kickstand. Rest seemed the same. On the 2 large frames it did say M.2 Ridge on frame.
Really considering getting one and selling my similar giant revel 29er.
Great interview on GMBN. Did a great job. Thanks for your work Seth!
Ozark Trail has been doing great for budget camping and fishing stuff, no surprises here. Great video!
I ride a near $10k cad Commencal with fox factory suspension and AXS everything...but I'm weirdly obsessed with department store bikes. I bought my first fatbike from Canadian Tire (nice shoutout btw!) because I saw it had potential for upgrading and I didn't want a huge investment to get into fatbikes.
Nice to see they're offering some decent bikes to get people into the sport!
I wouldn't feel comfortable riding something that expensive around. That's a complete, fancy home gym's worth. My bike is the same one I've had since 2011. A 26" Red Wolf City 3-speed bike, whatever that is. It's nice. It's blue. It go bikeage and stuff. :))
Walmart has a lenient 90 day refund policy. Canadian Tire doesn't do any returns or exchanges on bikes, PERIOD. That reason alone should keep everyone away from Canadian Tire.
@@TheBcoolGuywell maybe you dont care about having a home gym. after all thats just a different sporting equipment.
Hey Seth, I just got one of these in size large, manufactured December 2023, and there are some differences in the parts. The front rotor is now 180mm, the drivetrain is now a Microshift Acolyte 9 speed (with Springlock), and the chainring appears to be different as well. That's what I noticed so far. It looks like they are still iterating and improving upon this design. I'm glad I decided to buy new for this one!
I got a Schwin Axum last year and it’s been great. Upgraded handlebars, grips, added a dropper post and new seat. Just waiting for a new job to get a good trail bike but for now it’s been great. I’ve been able to get into the sport and get better without dropping a ton of money, yet😂
I bought this bike ironically after going to Walmart to get groceries 😂 upgraded the hell out of it and this thing is actually quite capable! Can’t wait to see the upgrades Seth does. Hope this turns into another mini series like the Kent did
what did you put on it? I'm gonna get into this sport with the Ozark
I think I’d still rather just go used for money savings but I’ll admit that really doesn’t look bad. Best thing from a box store in about ever for sure.
If your looking, keep your eyes open for clearance deals from the real bike manufacturers, most shops will honor the brands online deals. I bought a brand new giant talon 2 for around $200 more than this bike, which got me a clutched derailer, hydraulic brakes, better tires, a slightly better fork, warranty, and professional assembly. Much better deal than this bike, but I definitely agree that an improvement from the box stores is a good thing 👍
You can get a GT aggressor for $400. Sure it’s a 3x, but tektro cable discs, suntour fork, microshift drivetrain, cassette hub. Throw a dropper on and switch to 1x and it’ll shred.
Ozark trail looks like the welds were put on with a putty knife.
Yeah, I picked up a mint Gary Fisher Paragon hardtail 29er for $500 on the list of Craig. It's an old bike, but every component is at least equal if not better than the Ozark Trail. I still respect Walmart for upping their game though. It's not truly fair to compare new to used stuff, and that's still a great value for $400.
Cycling is so expensive, it is nice to see them not only make this, for whatever reason they did it. Just as importantly, it is so cool that you are putting a spotlight on it. Very cool!
Must be nice to ride a $10K mountain bike!
Truly awesome video as always Seth 👍 its nice to see that big retailers could produce a decent upgradable steed if they wanted to!
biggest upgrade they could make is train the staff to build them correctly and safely.
Deore 11spd is a great drivetrain for these bikes, especially in hilly terrain. Affordable but reliable way to get 11-51t range. Also, MT500 brakes.
sounds like the ozark trail ridge is the way to go!
Thanks for the input TH-cam
youtube with 25 likes is crazy
bro fell off
I actually bought this bike last month and done some upgrades. I will say I love this bike and it's going be a long time riding this bike. I wish I could show a photo on how it looks with my upgrades.
I'm listening, if it wasn't for you Seth, Evans and wolftick. I would have never entered a contest for this kind of bike. I won... Believe or not. 😂. It's coming by Wednesday. Thank you Sir and to the others for the very informative bike channels. Keep up the amazing work you all do.
Best part of the video: Steh's smile right at the end of the video!
This is mountain biking.
Even having access to fantastic, top of the line gear. But ride a good entry level bike and that smirk comes out in the end, and there's nothing one can do about it!
Loved the video Seth! Cheers!
cant u peel off the Ozark trail sticker?
Would love to see a 400$ bike review from an actual bike brand that is available world wide :D
Great vid!
Probably is available worldwide... just with a different name on the downtube.
Ozark isn't a bike brand lol
@@RealMTBAddict he never said it was :D
Norco storm!
Polygon Xtrada
Just FYI when you pick one of these up,pay attention to the hub rubber seals. I found 4 of them at my local walmart that were all missing one on the front and rear hubs. Some were only missing one while others were missing two. On mine you could see the ball bearings on my front hub. Make sure you get this squared away before you leave as it took an act of congress for me to walk out with one.
Cheers,
DMoney
I’d love to see this vs a $400 used bike for comparison.
I personally for my last 2 bikes have gone with used and got something that was maybe 5/6 years old but at 75% off. I wonder if the headaches you deal with thought with a older used bike are worth it
I actually think this thing would be better than a lot of those older, somewhat used & abused bikes
The last two bikes I bought used and paid $100 each. One for me and one for husband.
We bought two used mountain bikes when we got into mountain biking during the pandemic and one has been a total headache and the other a dream. Similar prices and specs at time of purchase. I think buying one of these over a used one is a great recommendation for anyone getting into the sport. If you already are into it, you'd be able to pick a better used bike and make repairs/upgrades but as a new biker that can be overwhelming.
Walmart is trying to keep up with Costco's in-house brand. Costco's Northrock is pretty respectable and fairly priced if you can find one.
Work at WM and this caught my eye as soon as it hit the rack...great value for the coin for newbs just getting off road...Ozark Trail is Walmarts house brand for their sporting goods lines.The Walton boys tried their own high end road bike line which kinda fizzled out,thinking they may be looking at expanding their mtb line. Don't forget Walmart has put a ton into the mtb trails in Bentonville which is where they're based out of...glad to see a good review on this,was hoping you were doing one...
They had a mountain bike line I'm pretty sure with XX1 components a few years back.
@@besomewheredosomething ....They did....full carbon. I think what they learned quickly is that despite them being lower than a similarly priced LBS brand, people wanted at least some level of warranty support. They just don't have the infrastructure to support that level of rider purchase. They are now backing "Allied" brand here in Bentonville, but I don't think they'll ever make their way into Walmart stores.
But it is funny that people wouldn't think Seth has any influence. I know for a fact that he has sat down on more than one occasion with Gary Vernon, who is the trail planner and land acquisition guru who reports directly to Tom and Steuart Walton. So...pretty good chance they are watching Seth...and think highly of him.
I was working in the Bentonville area and was blown away by the excellent trail system for runners & cyclists, locals told me it was all funded by the Walton family. Have to say I was impressed.
Man I’d recognize that Pisgah Forest Wal-Mart back drop from a mile away. 😁
As a former bike shop employee, this bike is great for the price compared to entry level big brand bikes. I think a trek marlin 4 is like $550-600 bucks now?
It’s 800 here
Rockhoppers are £400 in the uk, would go with this all day to these off brands
Seth I appreciate you making videos on budget bikes. I also appreciate you giving your honest opinions on putting upgrades on them. Your channel isn't just for bike snobs. It's for beginners, people on budgets, and so much more. Love ya
I got a Mongoose Durham and I’ve taken it on some pretty good trails. Needs better brakes and tubeless tires but it’s done great so far. I looked at this OT bike too
Saw this bike yesterday at a Walmart…my kid is 12, rides a 24” Haro and is in need of a “full size MTB” this might be the trick. I definitely will “go through it” before he rides
Would love to see what this bike can look like if you do what it's made for - upgrade it! :)
Thanks for the video. Just picked this bike up at my local walmart a few days ago and immediately installed mt200's. For the first time in 7-8 years im getting back on the trails and absolutely loving this bike. I had plans on copying what upgrades you did on the kent trouvaille, but honestly, as it is now will hold me off for a bit. Im very impressed with how much fun ive been having for such a small amount invested.
what are mt200s
@@darealshabibi5926 those are shimano hydraulic brakes
@@darealshabibi5926Shimano MT200s (hydraulic disc brakes)
The trouvaille debuted as a medium and a large was added later. Sadly no small for seth
A couple small corrections since your Trouvaille video! (I've got one since then)
Firstly, the Trouvaille was previously only in Medium (and apparently running a bit small), now it also comes in Large! The Large ones also seem to have gotten a fair bit of upgrades; presumably the Medium ones have as well, but I suspect for at least a little while, if you buy a Medium, it'll be from the old stock.
Trouvaille also now has internal routing for droppers, they put an extra hole up front and then a new routing behind the seat tube. And they've copied the same clear plastic chain protector as the Ozark Trail too, so yeah, they're definitely watching the reviews from folks like you, KevCentral, and the myriad of others who have pointed these flaws out.
Downsides, it's still that same weird seatpost size, so you need to either shim for a smaller post or ream to fit a larger one. They also (like the Ozark) assemble these incorrectly, even from the factory they route the chain wrong through the derailleur. I've bought two Trouvailles, had to return the first because the Medium wasn't quite my size, but also because they both came with wobbly bushings in the fork stanchions; both had the chain routed incorrectly even though my new one is the Large with all those little tweaks. (Suntour warranteed the second wobbly fork, just got the replacement bushings in the mail.)
Do I wish I had the Ozark Trail instead after seeing this video? A little bit, yeah! Seatpost mainly, and the terrible kickstand mount. But I'm also pretty happy with the MicroShift it comes with and the very slightly better fork, so I think they're pretty comparable out-of-the-box, assuming you get the updated Trouvaille. (L-Twoo supposedly makes some very good budget groupsets for road bikes though, even carbon ones, so I'd be curious how their mountain bike one matches up to MicroShift.) Angle grinder will solve the kickstand problem when I'm feeling brave enough, and if/when I go for a dropper, I'll figure something out. Both bikes are great starting platforms and I've been having fun riding the Trouvaille on more relaxed trails in mostly stock setup, even with that slight fork wobble!
I totally agree with everything you said about the Kent trouvaille. I’ve had mine for 9 months now and I’ve made tons of upgrades like hydraulic shimano deores, rev grips, maxxis tires, a new air fork, a dropper post, and I’m planning on putting industry nine hubs on just for the fun of it 😂
@@nicolashecht6237 Very nice! I have a Manitou Markhor ready to install on the bike, already swapped the cranks to IXF (not a particular upgrade, but I don't like the default size being 175mm), and Shimano MT200s also waiting to install (which I'm going to take my time on, because internal routed hydraulics sound a bit more challenging and I want to learn to do it properly the first time).
New hubs would be pretty sweet too, as would a dropper :D But I'm taking it a bit slow, part of my goal with the build is to keep it less than it'd cost me to buy a fully built bike from a shop, and so far I'm juuust under I think! Somewhere in the ballpark of $750-800, of which there's a lot of good bike shop options in that range but I feel like I'd want to replace the stock forks on those anyway, so that was my big decider for getting something with a crappy fork to begin with.
What'd you do for a dropper post, with the weird sizing? Bore it out to 31.6, or shim for a 27.2 post? I was thinking of the bore it out option, but starting to think now I'd rather not take off any metal and just shim for a 27.2, when I get to that point in upgrading it.
I JUST picked up the large Kent Trouvaille a few days ago as well and noticed the changes they made... My intent was to bring it home and try to decide if I want to keep it or opt for something like the Ozark Trail. Because of that, I obviously have to make that decision before beginning any upgrades and I'm a little torn. I like the Trouvaille, but I also like that Ozark Trail. Both technically require most of the same upgrades. I believe I like the look of the Trouvaille better. I also like that powder coat on the OT. I'm also not yet sure if I'll ever try to upgrade to a dropper post, making that sizing less of an issue. So it's a tough choice but I keep leaning towards returning the Kent for the OT and maybe just upgrading the derailleur immediately, followed by maybe the brakes and pedals. My fork on the Trouvaille doesn't feel like a priority, but at the same time, I've only just gotten back into biking and I have a lot of conditioning to do on myself before I'm ready for any trails anyway so both are suitable for the time being just normal biking while my legs burn quick! Trying to plan ahead though, and it's a tough choice!
I think they’ve finally done it. I’ve owned the 2019 Al Comp, 2020 Al Comp, Ardor and Trouvaille. This checks all the boxes. There’s one at my local Walmart I am so tempted to just go get it after watching this. 😂
You already have four of nearly the same bike already.
You should get it if you can.
They just Upgraded it.
I randomly looked at the bikes at Walmart last week and was SHOCKED to see a full carbon frame hardtail mtn bike for sale!! If memory serves me right it was right around $500.
*It's a Hyper brand 29er, XL frame, 1x9 drivetrain, $498*
Wtf?
Mtb is so much essier than mtn bike?
Was it really carbon? Or just a carbon look wrap over an aluminum frame?
Thank you for the review. I bought this bike a week before you made this video. I love this bike. last bike got was a 2004 Specialized Rockhopper that was stolen in 2016. I barely rode it. Now that my kid is getting into biking I bought the Ozark Trail Ridge based on other TH-camrs and their reviews. I already rode it through a park and it rips! I am defiantly upgrading parts/components. Please Berm Peak upgrade this bike so I can follow suit. Thanks for the vids. My kiddo and I watch your stuff all the time and your vids is what got me back into biking/trail riding.🙏
Seth, thank you for making this video. I picked one of these up last Sunday and I'm super happy with it.
I haven't been able to get it out on a trail yet (probably won't do anything to extreme), but I have ridden to work and back the last two days (around a 7 mile round trip).
It's been a few years since I've had a bike and I missed having one, and this bike suits my needs perfectly.
I can't wait to ride it with my son, and get out and explore.
What about the GT Aggressor Pro for 299? I just got one yesterday!
I started riding diamond backs in the 90s and a surly in 99. Later I found myself on a 96 Gary Fisher that I rode for years. It's always been my recommendation for entry level riders to get one of these vintage hard tails for 35 bucks and have a bike shop rebuild it for 200 bucks. With a 500 dollar budget (and a fair amount of luck) you can even find rare/custom hand built bikes from the mid 2000s that turn heads and absolutely SHRED. Learn to do the maintenance and they'll run for an eternity. That said, I'm fascinated by department and sporting goods store bikes and the way that they sort of retrofit bike tech that's 10 years old to produce fairly modern bikes for dirt cheap. It's nice to know that we're actually getting to a place where these cheap bikes are safe to ride and not destined for a landfill the moment they're made.
the frame welds look good. if the alloy is good, than color me impressed
30 seconds into this and this is the most professional shot bike review already, that b roll was sweet!
The only reason they have that label on there is just an fact that they have no trust in their own employees to actually put the bike together properly. Truth
Considering how bike-oriented the various Waltons are I'm not terribly surprised to see that they put this bike out under their own brand. Now if only they'd make a small for the those of us who are vertically challenged.
LTwoo are another company formed by refugees from SRAM, just like Sensah. They've just released the first Chinese electronic road groupset, so keep an eye on them from MTB parts.
FWIW: L Twoo is a company formed when SRAM pulled their production out of Taiwan, and a bunch of Taiwanese SRAM engineers wanted to to keep working in the bike industry.It's pretty competent hardware.
Taiwan tends to make some pretty high quality stuff, especially as compared to mainland China. Sometimes on par with, or just below Japan and/or the US (not that the US makes much of anything nowadays, and there is plenty of crap quality US made stuff as well. But when it _is_ quality, it's quality).
This bike has some serious upgrade potential.
@djbayr9516: That’s what I’m thinking.
Maybe. Better off buying a better frame and building it up yourself.
@@RealMTBAddict I thought of that. But, these days, that’s a more expensive route. Not everyone has big wads of money on hand.
Spending any amount of money on a bike with quick release axles is not smart.
Not really. $400, plus better suspension, plus better shifting, plus better brakes, plus better wheels...you could literally just buy a nicer bike rather than waste money on a Walmart bike that's still worth only pennies when you go to resell it.
This is a bike you get to get your feet wet, not to upgrade.
That Ozark blows away my very first MTB. That was a 1994 $780 Specialized steel Rockhopper. Some crappy Suntour fork, low end Gripshift, acera derailleur, etc etc. This Ozark would’ve been a super bike back then.
It’s cool to see Walmart upping their game a bit. And I do agree that the Ozark Trail is a suitable bike for beginners. However, I think the Canyon Grand Canyon 5 is a really good value as well. They were recently blowing them out for $499. Shimano Deore 12 spd drivetrain w/ clutch. 10-50 cassette, hydraulic disc brakes, shock with lockout. I think on sale it’s much more bike for the money than the Ozark. At full price $699, maybe not though.
More than entertainment, Seth, I am very pleased that a real entry level MTB is avalaible for everybody and, most of all, I truely got impressed with such frame prepared for Dropper Post @31.6 mm. Congrats to the Ozark Team 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
TKS for such great video as an awesome content creator that you become among the years. See ya, blue skies 🤙🏻🍀🚲
The one to beat this bike is the Huffy Scout - it’s darn near perfect and I have a Specialized P3 that I’ve been able to compare it to. The drive frame is Shimano and the frame is aluminum. The form seems to be a spring fork but is amazing!
Is the huffy scout a 1x setup with a tapered head tube in multiple sizes?
That looks like insane value, just saw it for $209 and looking at it the spec looks pretty equal to the bike in this video. Not great but... the price and with a drivetrain upgrade (really just cranks/ring) would be just right for a lot less.
I haven't looked at cheap bikes for many years and all these options are very impressive, it used to be that cheap meant some huge compromise had been made and usually made it not worth it in the long run but there definitely looks like a few options for 'real' bikes these days.
Schwinn makes a decent mountain bike now, the GT Avalanche is alright now, Northrock bikes at Costco, and now Ozark Trail (Walmart) ...
Now either you have to know how to fix all those when you buy them or you should factor in the cost of a trip to the bike shop ...
The Schwinn Auxum even has a tapered head tube.
Supposedly several of the Walton boys got into mtb, and being based in the ozarks in Bentonville with hundreds of mtb trails, partially donated & developed by the Walton's. Now Bentonville is the new mtb mecca. They also make a $3k+ carbon ht under a different name, think starts w/an "A"?
HI seth, my bike is cheap, it came with ltwoo A7 and is 2 years now and working fine... Not for REAL mountain-biking, but I think is great way to start in this sport, you should review some ltwoo parts, they are for road Bikes, gravel and Mountain-bike
it looks almost like a clone of a trek marlin frame.
Also, L-TWOO is one of the secret aliexpress drivetrain manufacturers, and theyre actually pretty good, up there with microshift in some cases. Ex SRAM engineers, if i recall correctly.
My local Walmart has one in my size in stock, I'm giving it a try. My neighbor got the Trouvaille and he destroyed his bottom bracket on jumps already
@Berm Peak Express Can u do a upgrade video for this bike? I'm def looking to get one of these and ill throw some money at it.
I’d like to see you do a review on the GT aggressor pro from Dicks sporting goods. It has mixed reviews in the bike community. It’s been on sale for a while now for 300 bucks.
I need to hurry up and grab one. Before the youtube effect takes place and they sell out everywhere lol. Thats why they are listening. People like Seth say, this is decent but.... People buy them up and then Walmart says " hey lets do those few things, get youtube talking, and sell all those" they are saving money on advertising lol
Hey Seth this is a great bike for the money but I believe the Schween Axum DP is better considering they give u a dropper post though u might want to check it out it’s currently 400dollars
It is baffling to me that they can build a full bike that nice for that much money. I can't even get material to build the frames (just the frames) for that much. Idk how they even make money that way. That Chinese slave labor is a great resource I guess
They have a gravel one now! WE NEED YOUR REVIEW NOW on the ozark trail 700c g 1 explorer!!! 😮
Yeah, im definitely going to be picking this one up. I've been holding off from buying something like this since I'm not an experience bike mechanic, but you best believe the disposal income from my next paycheck is going to this
Saw these today...had a kent travail in the web cart.. locally only had large frame trouvaille 27.5 tyres those frames don't have the top tube seat post gusset.
I'm curious if anyone has told you about the newest version of the Ozark Trail Ridge. I bought two after watching your videos and one was just like the one that you made the video using and the other one... well, wasn't.
I bought one for my wife and one for me, online. One of them shipped assembled from my local walmart while the other one shipped from out of state in a box.
I was pleasantly surprised to find quite a few differences from the videos of yours. I'm going to list some differences I spotted below.
- 180mm Front brakes (instead of the 160mm)
- JAK Front and Rear brakes (previous was Radius)
- Acolyte Derailleur (as oppose to the L-TWOO used before)
- Rear Derailleur has a clutch
- Microshift Advent shifter (previous was L-TWOO)
- No display window showing current gear on shifter
- 30T Narrow Wide chainring (previous was round)
- No plastic ring around the chainring
- Thicker crank arms
- Tires look overall the same but now have Yellow "Kenda" lettering on one side
- Smaller/sleeker dork disc
- Comes with a kickstand (for those that wish to install it)
Also, the owners manual has information for a Small Frame. I'm hoping that means we are pretty close to them releasing the small frame.
I'm going to be returning the now outdated model that I received.
I saw the clutched derailleur on the large in store and that sold me on it. I am extremely pleased someone at Kent and Walmart is listening to riders! This bike is a hell of a deal.
I got this bike and it was good but then after about a month every thang started braking do no recommend
I kind of had the same issue, but knew that I would be upgrading parts. It was actually already kind of tweaked when I bought it, so they clearance priced it down to $224…
I would probably cry if I worked that hard on a bike for Walmart and Berm Peak gave me a thumbs up.
Seriously though, I have a son who want to bike with me but isn't that interested to really get into mountain biking. Just want to be a casual rider. I'm going to go check this out. Thanks Seth.
A great option for the people who just want to dabble in mountain biking. Is that a bad thing though, for the bike economy ecosystem?
This is a great entry bike for parents to buy for their children who outgrow everything in a year.
I keep buying used bikes for my 9yr old
And now we know how Seth pays for that big ass house in the mountains. The second video about a Walmart bike. 🤔🤔
Nice, please do a video for the Northrock XC from Costco! similar price with good brand entry level components
Even better if you find one on clearance from 400 allll the way down to 150 like i did with my ST100. Which is good for me cuz all I wanted was a commuter that can also occasionally light trail. Yes I did see that Ozark at my local WM and thought it looked pretty nice. Glad to see you review it Seth. 😎
I got mine on clearance last month for $224!
The derailleur was wonky and someone had returned it. I tuned the gears and it ran ok… This week I put on a microShift Avent derailleur (with a clutch) and shifter, using the stock LTwoo cassette and it works GREAT! I’m new to mountain biking and glad to see this bike getting some Flex 💪🏽
Thanks Seth!
Ltwoo is a good brand for drivetrain components, and I have the 8 speed A3 on my $190 race bike
Between you and Kev Central have the dept stores stepping their game up. I wonder if they sell a frameset only as a blank canvas.
New to mountain biking and was looking for a budget bike I could learn to work on myself, thank you for the review, I purchase this bike because of your 2 videos. I can't wait for that theoretical raining day where you start upgrading it. I am very interested in which dollar friendly components you will be using.
Wow...... I'm just really amazed that you actually like this bike or any big box bikes. I could see why you liked the Trouvaille, just thought the Ozark wouldn't be a bike you thought was worthy.😂Especially after you and Alex took those Genesis V2100 to Pisga! 😂 I didn't know that you actually visited the bike section at Walmart. 😂 With upgrades, some of those bikes make good XC bikes. I have a fully upgraded Schwinn Boundary, but do not take it on downhill trails. Anyway, big box bikes are getting better IMO. Good video!!
My Boundary makes a killer city bike with air forks and an upgraded rear wheel and cassette. Also switched out bars stem grips pedals tires and installed a sealed bearing headset. Doubles as my winter bike too with studded tires. Not bad!
Walmart is starting to pay attention probably because there headquarters are in Bentonville Arkansas a big area for great mountain bike trails.
I was at Walmart the other day and I was browsing the bike section, I was taken aback because I had seen this bike and another bike which had a functioning dropper post already installed. Walmart is making moves it seems. I’m all for it.
What about this bike Vs Costco mountain bike at about the same price point. What would you recommend?
I was having a conversation with a friend who wanted to come biking with me, but didn't want to spend a ton of money on a mountain bike that wasn't also able to be a 'normal' bike. This seems to fit the bill... glad to see that development happen.
I just picked one of these up at my local Walmart, with the intent of getting back into biking after a couple decades. I hope we see more videos with this bike. Dropper post, air shock upgrade, derailleur. That sort of stuff. Cheers
Everyone starts somewhere, so hats off to Walmart.
super good to see the walmart bikes getting non deadly. is a great option for anyone on a tight budget for shure.
Still riding the frame that came on my 700€ (pretty much the equivalent to a 500$ bike in the US) cheap ass hardtail. Replaced pretty much everything on that bike since then. So a capable upgradable cheap hardtail will always find my appreciation
Made in Taiwan sticker at this price - amazing, no?
I don’t understand I got my specialized rockhopper used but barely used for 400 never had issues
Wow! Your voice brings back soo many memories! On my old account, back in 2020 I used to watch this channel and your main channel every day, and this video just poped into my recommends and I LOVE it. Just subbed to your main channel and this channel! Keep up the good work:)
If only there was a X-Large
Shoutout for mentioning Canadian Tire 🙏🏻