No doubt they're less nice than more expensive bikes. But in many cases, it just doesn't matter very much. If you only want to bike a few miles on flat ground

No doubt they're less nice than more expensive bikes. But in many cases, it just doesn't matter very much. If you only want to bike a few miles on flat ground, bop around the neighborhood, don't care so much about speed, etc., a low-cost bike should do fine. American biking culture is traditionally the realm of the hard-core biker who races, tours, or bike-commutes long distances, and who obsesses about his gear, but there are many other sorts of bike cultures in the wider world (and indeed, "other sorts" are probably the vast majority, numerically). In many places, practicality and cost are much more important than optimal efficiency at high speed. With biking becoming more and more mainstream in the U.S., at least in urban areas, American biking culture will probably shift towards a more casual stance too...