Less than a decade ago, if you were looking for serious, non-race 24″ cruiser your choices were few and far between.
If you wanted a 24″ bike that would take some abuse, it usually meant you were riding either a Haro Backtrail 24 or the DK General Lee.
Today, you may have noticed (especially if you’re a regular reader of this site) that the choices for non-race 24″ cruisers are a little deeper. And perhaps fittingly, those two old workhorses, the Backtrail and the General Lee were dropped from their respective company’s lineups.
But just like those ol’ Duke Boys in a car chase with Roscoe P. Coltrane, the General Lee was a bike that couldn’t be kept down. It’s resurfaced, albeit in a slightly different incarnation and to some sometimes heated BMX forum discussion in, of all places, Walmart!
Do Bo and Luke Duke know what happened to the General Lee?
Word on the street is that Huffy bought out DK and, in addition to their higher-end bikes and parts, they are offering a small lineup of race and freestyle bikes in Walmart.
This version of the General Lee is hi-ten steel with Chro-mo 3-piece cranks…a far cry of it’s original completely Chro-mo version…but priced accordingly, at $179 (US).
Some people are burning up the forums saying this is a travesty.
I dunno. Remember the Subrosa Salvador 24 from last year? That was a hi-ten bike with chro-mo cranks priced at $404! That to me, was more of an outrage. At least this bike is priced appropriately and sold in a place that makes sense.
Would Uncle Jesse approve?
I can see a Dad picking one of these up, at the same time he’s picking out a first bike for his son or daughter. Who knows, after jumping curb cuts, popping a few wheelies and just having fun on his $179 bike, he’ll decide to upgrade to something a little better at his local bike shop. And there he’ll see a brand he recognizes but be something much better suited to heavy-duty riding.
What do you think about DK bikes showing up at Walmart?
Something good?
Or something bad?
For complete specs, check out Walmart’s page.
For more info on all the Dukes of Hazzard references in this post, click here.
cruiser revolution 
I would’nt buy one but I feel Huffy / Walmart may capitalize on the low end BMX cruiser market (under $200) now that’s marketing.
I think someone has a degree in marketing, and are using it well.
I started riding again when my 14 yr old son came to live w/me, and being so old I can remember almost to the day the BMX was invented, I’ve been trying to find a suitable bike for me, and old semi-pro turned casual rider/ Anything I’ve tried so far has just been too small, or very weak. (Yes, I’m old AND fat, hence the bike riding) Not wanting to join the douche crowd of weekend street riders clogging the neighborhood route to the grocery store.., It’d be nice to find a solid 24″ I don’t have to worry about getting stolen, or massive repair bill when I do break it (which WILL happen)
Tho I think on first arrival I’ll be breaking out the spray paint, and will probably upgrade the wheels after a bit,a good, inexpensive 24″ bmx for a casual rider is an awesome idea, at least from a marketing standpoint, and my perspective.
DWG
I was in walmart last friday to buy a new shovel for some digging at Walnut Creek.As I passed the bike section something caught my eye.They had a 24 inch aluminum four cross bike with front 80mm suspension fork with front and rear v brakes.The name on the bike even said hyper bike comp. and four cross on the top tube.If that was not strange enough they also had a fixed gear at walmart now that says fixie on the top tube.I was cracking up laughing especially when I realized the fixed gear bikes had freewheels.I am not suprised that this happened to dk,they been kinda looking like walmart bikes the past few years anyway.
From the pics this looks exactly like my 2009 Cygnus 24. Same crank, bars, brakes, fork, etc. I have really been impressed with how much abuse the Cygnus has taken. I only wish I had paid $180 for mine.
I want whatever sticker pack comes on the Wal-Mart “Fixie”. That shit is priceless!! I grew up watching the Duke Boys on TV. Was unbelievably stoked the first time I saw the General Lee frame in Road Fools 1. Since then it has been bastardized over and over again. It started as DK’s premiere 100% freestyle frame. Then the frame changed to less quality material, the gusset changed. Then it was a complete bike. Then it was multiple complete bikes. Then it was multiple sizes of complete bikes. Now it is in Wal-Mart. Frankly, not surprised. But to the original General Lee frame that Dave Freimuth rode in RF1, I salute you. You will always be the General Lee frame that the Duke Boys would have rode.
Bobby,my friend in New Orleans has the frame you speak of.I could possibly get it from him,he does not ride anymore.
I have seen the “Fixie” that you are referring to, and even took pics. It actually is a Fixie, it’s just got a flip-flop hub and they seem to have it on the freewheel side in-store expecting whoever buys it to flip it around. It has a full size American freewheel however, most Fixies I’ve seen outside of Wal-Mart have 30mm freewheels. I did notice inconsistency however, some of the fixies had front and rear brakes, and some only had one or the other, but not consistent as to which one it had.
A 2011 Cygnus is about $100 more for a full chromoly frame and fork. I think it’s worth the extra dough if the rider is serious about riding street, trails, or jumps.
i was on the fence about it but i think its good now . some kids ccant afford a nice bike and this can atleast get them started and see if its even for them. Same with dad. when i started riding again, i had to pedal around town to get used to the bike itself before i stepped up to the jumps and bunnyhoping. maybe a $179 dollar cruiser will help pops get adjusted to riding a bike again before jumping up to the more expensive ,better quality bike.
Ok so I will be the first to admit that I purchased one of these walmart general lees! I already have a S&M next generation Holmes but its a 20inch and I havent really rode in a few years. So being a little older I decided I should buy a cruiser but I really didnt want to drop $500 on a bike I might not use. I saw the 24 General on walmart.com and instantly ordered one! I figured at $200 bucks and a DK how could I go wrong for just messing around. The bike came and it looked decent. Rode nice but I heard the rims creaking a little bit right off the bat. It was pretty standard 3 piece crank with unsealed bearings, 36 single wall rims with 14mm rear axle and some cheapie tires. They definetly cut corners to get the price down, but again it was only $200! So I tore up my development jumping curbs and bunny hops everywhere bike was cool. I got bored and drove over to my skate park where I wanted to put the General through the paces…. ohboy. I hit a few quarters and the tires folded like crazy! super garbage and squirmy! I hit a box and flipped a 180 super easy and dropped back in felt ok so I gave her one more go, hit the box flipped a 180 stall and ended up on my back. Thought it was the cheap tires but to my surprise my entire back rim had bent in half! no slight bent but full taco! Cheap cheap cheap rims and tires! Also just 20 mins at the park the cranks started to fall apart and the cups were backing out of the frame! what the hell lol. So a little research I discovered that Huffy has purchased DK bicycles and this is how they managed to get DK into Walmart. Cool bike for the young beginner or dad who might just want to cruise to the mail box but it your going to ride at all… even a little just avoid it!!!! This bikes a death trap lol.
i think its some crap to see dk in walmart. i use to have a dk general lee 24″ that i ordered from dans comp 7 years ago bout the first or second year they came out. to me its upsetting seeing some of the big time brand bikes getting bought out by these companies and then downgrading there quality. member in 2001 when schwinn and gt got bought out.. at lease u can still get a decent quality gt at some bike shops. like the new gt performer 24″ looks awesome.
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