Archive for January, 2010
“Hey, nice bike!”. I bought this bike for my lady for a 1 year anniversary gift; as an entry level road bike. I’m an avid cyclist/urban commuter, but being that she only rode a MTB at the time, I didn’t want to commit to any road specific bike over $500 since she may not like the skinny tires and crouched stance. I stumbled upon the Schwinn Prelude, liked the price, and went for it.
She rode Schwinn Prelude Mens Road Bike for about 3 months before we replaced it with a Schwinn Super Sport. The reason for replacing it was because of the geometry and sizing, which would be my only beef with this bike, along with no rack mounts as said before. My lady is about 5′9″, but has long’ish arms and legs – and in this case, a properly fitted bike would be the correct way to go as opposed to trying to fit on a “one-size-fits-all”. Even after replacing the bars with MTB/hybrid flat bars, it still caused her pain in her neck and wrists.
She’s very happy with her current bike and instead of selling this bike, I took it (which fits me just fine) and converted it to a second urban/commuter bike, adding fenders, platform pedals and a singlespeed conversion (there is no conversion kit for the type of freewheel cassette that comes on the bike, so I had to use a little ingenuity to make it work). I kept the flat MTB bars and it works just great for me – in the asphalt jungle, sometimes bunnyhopping a curb is necessary! The freewheel is a nice break from my fixed gear bike that I mostly use.
I would definetely recommend this bike to anyone in the upper 5′ to lower 6′ height range: the parts are of very good quality and the frame is solid and light. However, I would also advise that any buyer should SIT on the bike and make sure it fits properly. Even after making bar and seat height adjustments, the frame just may not be right for you.
Good starter bike with gears. We bought this as the first bike for my 7-yr old daughter. It was not packaged well — the paint was chipped and the rear tire had a flat. Putting Pacific Evolution Mountain Bike together was easy – every thing is pre-assembled except handle, pedals, seat and front tire. It took 30 mins to do including adjusting the breaks (I didn’t bother adjusting the gears as she will be using it as a single speed bike for the first couple of months while she learns). Fixing the flat meant a trip to the k-mart. I couldn’t easily find the dimensions of this bike in the description or else where — as a reference, I needed to set the seat to its lowest point for my 53″ daughter. She has been using this for the last 1 week and it seems to be holding up well so far to a few crashes – including running into a wall when she forgot to use the brakes. I am hopeful that it will hold up for another 2 years until she outgrows it.
It is what Pacific Grays Peak Mens Dual-Suspension Mountain Bike is….. A cheap bike. Let me just say I have taken this bike out on 15 rides the first was a fairly light bike trail and it did ok. The 10+ rides after the first, consisted of street riding and bike trail riding. It handled fair for that. Took it out to the local nature preserve and by the time I was through I wanted to through it into the gulley. This bike is not made to handle offroad. It’s definiteley not designed with street in mind either. So that brings me to the conclussion that this is a complete waste of time and money.
I did not buy this bike, I earned it through a program for selling insurance and bought it with my earned miles. I am no pro but I do know how to work on a bike. There is no reason to buy this bike. The suspension bottoms out on 70%-90% of the terrain you will find, even on fire roads. The brakes are no good. I adjusted them as I would any other bike and they worked for about 5 minutes before going back to exactly how they were before I adjusted. It was at the worst time too. Going down a steep hill hit the brakes full and took about 10-20 seconds before I slowed down to a speed where I could put my foot down. Next is the pedal, I have logged over 5,000 miles on previous bikes owned and the pedal broke off within 20 miles on this bike.
Being that this bike is equipped with a dual suspension you would think you can take it into some tough terrain. That is not the case. The only place I would ride this is on the street but then again that is not recommended because the brakes are very sketchy. It looks good but clearly this bike blows. I’m going to sell mine on craigslist for $20! Poor guy that buys it is going to save $80 just to pay hundreds in health insurance cost.
TO THE GUY THAT SAYS A FEW MINOR ADJUSTMENTS AND ITS GOOD: NO NO NO! You either work for Grays Peak or you have yet to take this on a hill. It falls apart, it breaks, it looks good, and the brakes do not work.
Great *ROAD* bike for the Price. Ordered the Katana from Amazon about a month ago. Since then, I’ve put 20 miles on Diamondback Jr Viper BMX Bike riding through hard sand/gravel on the C&C Canal path by Georgetown, Maryland. Half way through, it started to rain, and we were pedaling in wet weather. Obviously the bike stood up well, even in those rough sandy conditions where it wasn’t designed for. After that, I used a high-pressure hose to spray off all the sand/gravel that got caught in it. Then after drying and oiling it up properly (brakes, chain, etc.), it works like a charm now on the city roads, where it was designed to be.
All said, this bike comes from amazon pretty much pre-assembled. It helps a lot to assemble it with someone who’s done it before, but I managed to do it alone, without ever assembling a bike before. All you really need is: 1) an adjustable hex wrench for the pedals, and for taking the back tires off. 2) allen wrench set for putting the handle bars on, and readjusting the brakes/gears.
The good thing about the cantilever breaks is that they’re very easy to adjust to the right tension with one person, one hand holding the cable, and one hand tightening the screw. (Read the instruction manual to set this up the right way so you get it right on the first try).
Then, after adding some chain oil (Finish Line, Wet Lubricant) to the chains, and some brake cable lube (Tri-flo mineral oil or White Lightening wax lube), your bike will run very smoothly.
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Almost Good Enough. I have ridden this bike for more than a year. It was my primary car. It has not fallen apart as some have said it would. It is also not the fastest ride on the block. I commute 5 miles daily and a longer 13 mile ride about once a week. It is good in that it is a bicycle that works. The main problems I have encountered are, where to mount the lights, (grip shifters sit in the exact spot that the headlight should), and how do you attach a cargo rack? The ring that tightens down the seat post is the only place to attach the rack, which makes it extreemely dificult to tighten the seat post. Also, the allen bolts used to tighten the seat post are fairly soft. I would prefer other shifters so that I have the bar space to work with for lights and a speedometer. As it is I have an extension bar attached to the headset for my peripherals. I have saved enough in gas that it has paid for itself already. Please note that part of the problems with this bike stem from the use of non standard parts. Because the seat post and down tube are so large, I cannot put on a quick release ring. Because the Aero rims are drilled for Schraeder valves, it is very difficult to replace the tubes. (if there is one thing you will need to replace on any bike, it is the tubes)Also, you will need to replace the brake pads as soon as you can.