If you were a big box brand and wanted to launch a mountain bike line, you’d be hard pressed to find a better testing grounds and culture than Bentonville, which is Walmart’s backyard.
And if you wanted to get more people on bikes, which also happens to be one of their corporate missions this year, offering a lineup of reasonably good MTBs ranging from $198 to $398 would be a good start.
The new Ozark Trail mountain bikes will come in three wheel sizes: 24″, 27.5″ and 29″. They have lighter aluminum frames, and the 24″ Youth Glide models (not shown) have 1×8 drivetrains and retail for $198.
The larger two get tapered headtubes with 100mm SR Suntour suspension forks, mechanical disc brakes, Shimano and MicroSHIFT drivetrains, and even partial internal routing. Thankfully, there’s not a front derailleur in sight.
“We have developed a bike for the weekend warrior that is ready to hit the trails,” said Maddy Johnson, associate merchant for adult bikes at Walmart U.S. “Many of the bikes in this sport come with a high price point. We wanted to offer our customers a more affordable option while maintaining the quality and versatility that the sport requires, and I think we’ve done that with the Ozark Trail bike!”
The geometry and 1x drivetrain’s gearing are more for the casual trail wanderer, and the bikes get reflectors and a kickstand, making them ready for riding around town or from trail to ice cream shop or school, too.
The Glide is the 27.5″ bike and is aimed at mid-sized riders. The longer chainstays should keep handling neutral and smaller 8-speed cassette and larger chainring make it more suitable to the flowing singletrack winding its way through Bentonville’s downtown. MSRP is $298.
The 29er gets tighter chainstays, a smaller chainring, wider range cassette, and sleeker frame with lower standover height. Additional cable ports could even make it dropper post compatible, and it gets an extra bottle cage mount on the downtube. If you’re definitely hitting all the trails, this one’s the more mountain bikey of the bunch, and it carries the top price of $398.
Clearly not designed for the average Bikerumor reader, but we’re stoked to see higher quality frames and components (and no front derailleurs!!!) offered on affordable bikes that, just as with many of us, can be the gateway drug to more mountain biking.
The bikes join Walmart’s existing outdoor gear housebrand Ozark Trail, which includes helmets, hydration packs, tool kits, and more. Available now in store and online.
