Point of peace blog

Alright…but could be better. I would have to say that this bike is mediocre. It is a great value for a road bike, but I have had some difficulty with Diamondback Jr Viper BMX Bike since I have bought it. The front tire has gone flat twice because the insert in the rim punctured the tube twice. This was a manufacturers error. Other than that the two rides that i have had the bike on it rides very smoothly, shifts nicely and rides well. I have the 58 cm frame and am 5′11″, which might have been a little big but it works well. For a sale price of 250 bucks, you can’t go wrong. Just a few mechanical updates and it will be a great bike.

Careful. I would just say be very careful with this bike. Growing up on Schwinn I loved the product in the late 90’s and owned a full suspension Homegrown. For those out to get a great deal this is the bike for you. Just don’t expect it to last much more than 500miles. Now if you are serious about riding that will be about 2 weeks. You do get what you pay for and the problem you are going to run into is obsolete chain store parts. There is a reason a good road bike costs upwards of 3k. I didn’t even think they made a 7 speed bicycle anymore. I know just this year I had a very hard hard time finding an 8 speed cassette replacement. I don’t work for a shop but when I saw this pop up on daily deals I just has to say buyer beware. I would be afraid to ride this even if it was assembled at a good bike shop.

Excellent, worth considering. I bought this bike to replace an old mountain bike that I rode just to make sure I could make a habit out of riding. This is my first road bike, and I was concerned about having my big body on such narrow tires at 120psi. I bought the 58cm, and I am 6′2 or 6′3 with a 34in inseam.. bike fits excellent, almost like I measured for it. After assembling I spent some time with adjustments and tweaking, oh and immediately flipped over head peice to raise the handlebars. Oh, and took the clips off the pedals.

I have spent some time tweeking and I still dont like how the rear and front derailers are acting. I blame my lack of experience though, not the bike. Although I did have to move the shifter for the front derailer, and now I cannot get it to tighten and hold securely… will probably try something serious, like glue or epoxy, as rubber does not seem to work. also when sprinting the handlebars occasionally make a creaking sound, but probably due to being aluminum, and not actually indicating probable structural failure. And fixed one flat, it was my fault though as I moved valve stem too much causing rubber to tear. The rim tape appeared good and thick, if people are having issues its cheap to replace, but I have not had a problem.

I’ve had this bike for almost 3 weeks, and as of today I’ve put a total of 270 miles on it. I love it. I did put on a new seat though, but never even tried the other one, I just had a better one on a different bike. the seat appeared to be well padded and ergonomical though. I now go 6mph faster than I did on my old bike without even trying, but being on a bike like this gives you more motivation (you gotta look like you know how to ride when you’re on a nice looking road bike), so my rides to school and to work are much faster. I can easily put on 20miles in one day. I’ve had it up to 27mph, thats downhill and with a breeze, but not trying very hard. its pretty easy to hold 19-21mph on a smooth flat surface. Everyone thinks I paid double what I spent on this, which is good, other than my refusal to show my girlfriend the receipt. And I have ridden on some rough streets, and a mile down a deep graveled country road, and the bike seems to be holding up well. I am planning on tearing it apart sometime soon to make sure nothing is wearing badly.

All in all, this was a good purchase for the price. If you’re trying to decide whether to buy this, I’d recommend it.

Update (11/09/08)- Something in the pedals of this bike broke during normal use on 9-9-08. Amazon told me I had to go through Schwinn for a resolution. Schwinn was going to send me parts for it. Two months and 5 calls to Schwinn later I never did get the parts. I was then told there was nothing they could do about my busted new bike. Had to call Amazon, a week of phone calls and emails and they finally let me return this. This bike lasted 1 month and 9 days, and had 332miles on it. I loved it otherwise, just didnt hold up. Not sure if I will get another one..

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