[jjk166]

I don't mean compromising between different use cases, I mean compromising on budget. Different people have different needs. Many people are okay with terrible rims, tires, etc, because they're not expecting to use the bike much. A bike that lasts 90 hours may sound like crap to you, but that's enough for a twenty minute round trip every weekday for a year, which for many people could be perfectly adequate.

The claim that something can be made higher quality for the same price seems highly dubious. Cheap bike makers are throwing on these flashy features instead of making something high quality because it is cheaper to do so. I'm sure walmart would love to sell a bike for the same price that more people wanted, or at least something people liked enough to repurchase. The fact is people looking for high quality bikes aren't looking at walmart, or at the very least would look at reviews prior to their purchase. Those who don't know what they are buying generally don't really care what they are buying - and there's nothing wrong with that.