Don't ever buy a bike from Candian Tire !!

[Scottie]

I bought a bike about a week ago a $300 bike so I thought it would be good I took it for a ride last night and the gears 5-8 10-13 and 20-24 or something like skip really bad I took it back this morning and the guy he will give it a tune up, I went back picked my bike up and was trying it out in the parking lot and the same thing was happening, I took it back in and told him he checked it again said it was fine, so I say there is something wrong with it, I went to try to get a refund they wouldn't give me one, I almost punched the manager out and they called they cops on me, the manager tried the bike and got the bike guy to try it and they both said they felt it but it was normal, I left damn it half my gears don't work properly what a waste never going to buy a bike from them again, and the cops will proply show up at my door later.:evil:

[TenzoR]

if only you searched through the forum :o

[sixer]

I've been happy with my 2 bikes from CT. Needed some adjustments, took both back and they took care of no problem.

[devastata]

Why wouldnt they refund it??

Do you not have 30 days to bring it back?

[phyrefly]

Adjust it yourself? Some rear derailleurs even have tension knobs so you don't have to get any tools out.

[deep]

Who is the manufacturer? I had a problem with a Raleigh bike from CT, and went to Raleigh head office here in Mississauga...they set me up with all new parts, for which I am deeply grateful.

[Spor 13]

My friend used to assemble bikes at CT and liked doing it since he was a bike rider himself, but he saw some other employees just do a half-assed job. You get paid like $15/bike assembled. Add into the equation teenage kids trying to make as much as possible and problems are bound to happen.

[3weddings]

I am pretty sure it's posted in the bike area, NO REFUNDS on Bikes (at least at our local store)

I would contact the manufacturer to see if they can help.

I have the Tora from last year and am pretty pleased with it....but then again it was likely assembled by someone who knew what they were doing.

[Scottie]

It's a Shwinn Hydra Bike, the gears 1-4 work greta just form 5- 8 feel like crap.

[7Stryder7]

same thing happened to me;
$300 bike, and i had problems switching gears 2-3;
I had a one year warranty but i ended up not going back to fix it cause i was lazy;
kind of regret it now :)

[Cream Puff]

oh shoot, my bike's from canadian tire ! but i havnt used it for like...5-6 yrs

[simondaman]

I bought a tora last year from Canadian tire. Lawrence Square to be exact. Well a lot of the gears got stuck, the wheel was not perfectly true, and someone didn't tighten the bolts, because i was able to bend the handle bar out. I went back next day and got a refund . . . i think the key is to go back right away or else they'll think your trying to scam them. I was told you have 7 or 14 (don't remember) to exchange your bike if it doesn't "fit" you well.

[captainmorgan]

What do you expect when you buy a bike from CT??? They sell crap bikes
You should buy from a bike shop if as the CT guys wouldnt have much idea fixing bikes.

[Kasakato]

A couple years back I bought a bike from CT and had a problem with the rim breaks rubbing. Not knowing any better at the time I bought it back and a "tech" came to fix it. Instead of centering the pads and truing the wheel, he tightened/loosened the spokes to make the rim curve around the brake pads. I have no idea how he got it to work, but it did...until I took it out for a ride. His "fix" drove the spoke past the rim tape, and into the tube. Im sure you can figure out what happened next.

[period3]

Compare your $300 CT bike to a $300 Trek 7000 or something similar, and they'll probably be about the same. In fact, the specs on your hydra are better than my GF's Trek 7000.

It looks like a fine bike, it just needs proper adjustment and evidently the CT staff is too clueless to do it properly. Fixing shifting problems is usually very easy to do. See http://www.parktool.com and click their 'repair help' link. They give very detailed instructions on how to do it.

A good local bike store will almost always be preferable to a department store because they will set you up with a good bike and make sure it's tuned properly. For $320 or so, that Trek 7000 came with 3 years of unlimited tune ups, no questions asked. If you're comfortable doing your own wrenching though, I don't really see the difference between a low-end bike-store brand (trek, giant, etc.) and some high-end dept. store bikes.


I bought a bike about a week ago a $300 bike so I thought it would be good I took it for a ride last night and the gears 5-8 10-13 and 20-24 or something like skip really bad I took it back this morning and the guy he will give it a tune up, I went back picked my bike up and was trying it out in the parking lot and the same thing was happening, I took it back in and told him he checked it again said it was fine, so I say there is something wrong with it, I went to try to get a refund they wouldn't give me one, I almost punched the manager out and they called they cops on me, the manager tried the bike and got the bike guy to try it and they both said they felt it but it was normal, I left damn it half my gears don't work properly what a waste never going to buy a bike from them again, and the cops will proply show up at my door later.:evil:

[Rx-87]

I can't believe u blew $300 + on CT.... just a rule of thumb department store bikes are BAD... and spending $300 on something that may LOOK good... is not what you get.

Gear problems with low-end derailleurs are a common issue. You really can't expect a "100% shifting-accuracy". As well it has to be combined with a "decent shifter" itself. Even high-end derailleurs and high-end shifters need proper adjust every so often.

But CT' bikes just come with bad parts

[Kasakato]

Compare your $300 CT bike to a $300 Trek 7000 or something similar, and they'll probably be about the same. In fact, the specs on your hydra are better than my GF's Trek 7000.

It looks like a fine bike, it just needs proper adjustment and evidently the CT staff is too clueless to do it properly. Fixing shifting problems is usually very easy to do. See http://www.parktool.com and click their 'repair help' link. They give very detailed instructions on how to do it.

A good local bike store will almost always be preferable to a department store because they will set you up with a good bike and make sure it's tuned properly. For $320 or so, that Trek 7000 came with 3 years of unlimited tune ups, no questions asked. If you're comfortable doing your own wrenching though, I don't really see the difference between a low-end bike-store brand (trek, giant, etc.) and some high-end dept. store bikes.
Your average $300 CT bike may have decent specs, however there is simply too much throw into the bike to be of any value. For example, a majority will have "dual suspension." The forks and shocks on a DS $300 bike will be garbage, its simply impossible to make a quality DS bike at this price.