Yes, the person buying this would be much better off with a rigid frame and better components
Preach-It on
Yes. It does not get worse than that junk.
austinmiles on
Yes. They are worthless.
Most scenarios don’t call for a suspension. And most of the cheap bikes with a suspension are using them as a marketing gimmick. Suspensions on bikes are sophisticated and the ones on cheap bikes don’t do what they are meant to do which is absorb big bumps or drops.
Unless you are riding actual trails, you don’t need a full suspension and even if you are riding trails, buy a used hardtail bike of a reputable brand and ride it to its limit.
If you are just commuting or trying to get into better shape, buy a used hybrid bike or city bike or something.
Potential_Aardvark59 on
Would make a decent anchor…
Pattern_Is_Movement on
Yes, I would take a 45lb Schwinn Varsity over one of these.
There is zero reason for these to exist apart from to manipulate people into wasting money. Buying a used bike for the same price is what you do when you are broke. The only issue going down that path, building up a $20 frame at the local bike coop, where you learn to adjust and rebuild BB bearings. Is you find a huge appreciation for older bike parts, and how massively undervalued they are for how good they are. Leading to not really caring about wireless shifters and spaghetti shaped carbon frames, that keep inventing problems to fix that don’t exist.
…instead you end up with 10 bicycles, and displaying unusual bike parts on your shelves in your dining room. Like my cable actuated bell designed to be fork mounted where the wheel spins it to make it ring, or a NOS 75 year old fillet brazed mini rack that still has the tag on it.
shokenore on
Yes.
Speaking from experience.
The one we bought from Amazon had disc brakes and you could literally see the forks twisting under braking.
Thankfully returning it was easy enough.
PobBrobert on
They’re definitely the furthest from their higher end counterparts in terms of performance and capability. A cheap hybrid bike can still ride on the road, but a cheap full suspension bike like that is downright dangerous to take on the single track or other technical terrain where you’d ride a full squish MTB
drewbaccaAWD on
Worst bikes ever made? Definitely in the top three.
ReallyFineWhine on
This is called a BSO, a bicycle shaped object.
Ticonderoga_Dixon on
Yeah, they are made to be aesthetically attractive the the uninformed moms and dads try to get their kid on a mtb. It sucks, but it’s more dangerous and cost more to get it rideable than spending 5-1000 bucks on a hardtail that is safe and maintainable
undeniablydull on
I mean, I’d still rather daily drive this than a old penny farthing, but it is still pretty awful
mcg00b on
Just.. don’t. You could get something worth the money second hand, but this is bullshit.
not_cozmo on
I came home to one of these leaned against my shop. I found out my neighbors gave it to me because “I like bikes” in like “thanks, where’s the dumpster”
Prestigious-Fig-5513 on
I’d spend 2x or more in the used market for a better bike, even though used suspension parts might need overhauling or replacement.
I have a nishiki hard tail bought for about $30 less in 2018 at another sporting goods store and ride it only on roads, I have about 4k miles on it. It’s about 32lbs and the frame is, I think, hi ten steel (it’s magnetic and heavy).
I found
The bad 1 the brake pads were spent in under 1k miles, 2 the rear axle was bent in under 2k which ruined the hub and bearings necessitating a new rear wheel (guess I could have replaced only the hub and axle), 3 the wheels were difficult to keep true until they were additionally tensioned from repeated truings, 4 the cup and cone bottom bracket is difficult to keep clean and properly adjusted, 5 the no name v brakes arms have significant flex which make them only a little better than cantis, 6 the foam in the seat at my sit bones lost noticeable loft after 2k miles, 7 the suspension fork can’t be disassembled and it began to lock up due to drying grease after 2k miles so I now lift the seals and drip in a few drops of oil to both legs every few hundred miles when it starts to stick again, 8 the paint chips very easily so I’ve added a layer of thick tape on the chain stay under the chain and add some nail polish to other chips.
The good. The front wheel, headset, Shimano tourney derailleurs, and the grip shifters work well still.
Moral of the story is if you like to wrench on bikes and don’t mind replacing parts, go for it, it can be a leaning experience.
All that said, a $170 bike that takes work and parts is better than no bike.
14 Comments
Yes, the person buying this would be much better off with a rigid frame and better components
Yes. It does not get worse than that junk.
Yes. They are worthless.
Most scenarios don’t call for a suspension. And most of the cheap bikes with a suspension are using them as a marketing gimmick. Suspensions on bikes are sophisticated and the ones on cheap bikes don’t do what they are meant to do which is absorb big bumps or drops.
Unless you are riding actual trails, you don’t need a full suspension and even if you are riding trails, buy a used hardtail bike of a reputable brand and ride it to its limit.
If you are just commuting or trying to get into better shape, buy a used hybrid bike or city bike or something.
Would make a decent anchor…
Yes, I would take a 45lb Schwinn Varsity over one of these.
There is zero reason for these to exist apart from to manipulate people into wasting money. Buying a used bike for the same price is what you do when you are broke. The only issue going down that path, building up a $20 frame at the local bike coop, where you learn to adjust and rebuild BB bearings. Is you find a huge appreciation for older bike parts, and how massively undervalued they are for how good they are. Leading to not really caring about wireless shifters and spaghetti shaped carbon frames, that keep inventing problems to fix that don’t exist.
…instead you end up with 10 bicycles, and displaying unusual bike parts on your shelves in your dining room. Like my cable actuated bell designed to be fork mounted where the wheel spins it to make it ring, or a NOS 75 year old fillet brazed mini rack that still has the tag on it.
Yes.
Speaking from experience.
The one we bought from Amazon had disc brakes and you could literally see the forks twisting under braking.
Thankfully returning it was easy enough.
They’re definitely the furthest from their higher end counterparts in terms of performance and capability. A cheap hybrid bike can still ride on the road, but a cheap full suspension bike like that is downright dangerous to take on the single track or other technical terrain where you’d ride a full squish MTB
Worst bikes ever made? Definitely in the top three.
This is called a BSO, a bicycle shaped object.
Yeah, they are made to be aesthetically attractive the the uninformed moms and dads try to get their kid on a mtb. It sucks, but it’s more dangerous and cost more to get it rideable than spending 5-1000 bucks on a hardtail that is safe and maintainable
I mean, I’d still rather daily drive this than a old penny farthing, but it is still pretty awful
Just.. don’t. You could get something worth the money second hand, but this is bullshit.
I came home to one of these leaned against my shop. I found out my neighbors gave it to me because “I like bikes” in like “thanks, where’s the dumpster”
I’d spend 2x or more in the used market for a better bike, even though used suspension parts might need overhauling or replacement.
I have a nishiki hard tail bought for about $30 less in 2018 at another sporting goods store and ride it only on roads, I have about 4k miles on it. It’s about 32lbs and the frame is, I think, hi ten steel (it’s magnetic and heavy).
I found
The bad 1 the brake pads were spent in under 1k miles, 2 the rear axle was bent in under 2k which ruined the hub and bearings necessitating a new rear wheel (guess I could have replaced only the hub and axle), 3 the wheels were difficult to keep true until they were additionally tensioned from repeated truings, 4 the cup and cone bottom bracket is difficult to keep clean and properly adjusted, 5 the no name v brakes arms have significant flex which make them only a little better than cantis, 6 the foam in the seat at my sit bones lost noticeable loft after 2k miles, 7 the suspension fork can’t be disassembled and it began to lock up due to drying grease after 2k miles so I now lift the seals and drip in a few drops of oil to both legs every few hundred miles when it starts to stick again, 8 the paint chips very easily so I’ve added a layer of thick tape on the chain stay under the chain and add some nail polish to other chips.
The good. The front wheel, headset, Shimano tourney derailleurs, and the grip shifters work well still.
Moral of the story is if you like to wrench on bikes and don’t mind replacing parts, go for it, it can be a leaning experience.
All that said, a $170 bike that takes work and parts is better than no bike.