Submitted by
Jeff
a Weekend Warrior
from Park Forest, IL USA
Date Reviewed: February 26, 2003
Strengths: incredibly stiff, the best geometry in all the land, and light as a piece of paper
Weaknesses: they don't make it anymore
Bottom Line:
the capabilities of a Land Rover with the handling of a Skyline GTR...point the thing wherever you wanna go, and it goes there. It's incredibly light, and it'll take a beating. The only problem is finding the right bb spindle and shell length for it. Everything else has been a dream come true on two wheels. I woudln't trade it for the world
Favorite Trail: Sea Otter XC course, Laguna Seca, CA
Duration Product Used: 1 Year
Price Paid:
$1700.00
Purchased At: Byron's Cycling & Fitness
Similar Products Used: Gary Fisher Joshua z2, Trek 6700
Bike Setup: King headset, King hubs, DT spokes, Sun 0 Degree Lites, Avid Disc up front, SD Ti rear, SD 7 levers, RaceFace crank, bb, ring, bashguard, SRAM X.0 rear der./shifter, ProTaper bar, Thomson post, Schwinn seat, ODI grips, teflon cables, IRC Mythos tires, Rock Shox SID Race fork (for now...Fox Shox Vanilla RL is on backorder)
It took a while to get used to it but I love the bike. It climbs great, desends well and overall is the fastest bike I've ever ridden. I have shaved off more than 5 minutes from my best time with my old stumpjumper in a 7 mile loop. Great bike, if you're looking for a FAST hardtail this is THE ONE!
Strengths: The Frame, The Pedals, The Tires, Just about everything hung on that bike is good.
Weaknesses: Titec Seatpost is needlessly heavy for a normal, non-suspension seatpost (no big deal), and the stock wheels are too heavy for a racer.
Bottom Line:
After racing this bike for a year, and doing better than I ever have before, I am convinced this is the best buy I have made in my biking life. The geometry is great, the frame climbs like no other, and descends fairly well too. The elite has great accelleration, which was shown in my being in the front of the pack almost every start this year. The wonderful frame is hindered a little by the unreasonably heavy wheels, but they are easily forgotten when ridden. Even though I have the Crossmaxes, I train on the stock wheels for resistance. They do hold up well, however, which make them good for a beginning racer. Also, I loved my Hellbent riser, but I took a nasty fall one day and it got way tweaked out, so I got the CT2. Flats make for a better climber, but the Risers are more fun, and comfy. Overall, I reccomend this to ANYONE wanting to get a raceable bike that will last. Those who are looking for a campus bike, or just a recreational bike, I'd stay off this one.
Bike Setup: Stock except for Easton CT2 flatbars, Cane Creek thudbuster seatpost, Mavic Crossmax Wheels.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Michael Poe
a Cross Country Rider
from Jersey City
Date Reviewed: November 3, 2000
Strengths: Wheel set is good. I'm a 250+ lbs and push pedals, wheelsets, and frame to the limits. The bike has held up excellent through its first year. Mavic 222 rims, Michelin Comp S tires (fast rollers), Time pedals, fizik saddle, XTR rear derailleur, great paint scheme (bass boat green), Rock Shox Judy SL fork. Rear disc break mount (not found on the cheeper 99 homegrown.
Weaknesses: Heavy riser handlebar. LX cranks and cassette with XTR Rear derailleur.
Bottom Line:
Great bike, ready to ride any terrain. Excellent value for the money. Many components are still upgradeable without having to break the bank on a new frame.
This is an great bike for someone that has decided to make an off road commitment with thier biking and wants a ready to ride bike with an excellent frame and upgradeable possibilities.
Similar Products Used: Replaced chromoly rigid bike. Other products I considered along with the schwinn homegrown elite was Gary Fisher, GT, and Santa Cruz.
Bike Setup: Replaced riser bar with Easton EA70 flat bar with ends. Upgraded the cranks, rear cassette, brakes and shifters to XT. Similar to the homegrown pro.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Tristan
a Racer
from Winthrop, Maine, USA
Date Reviewed: September 23, 2000
Strengths: The frame is super stiff, great handler, climber. Titec Goodies, TIMES!, No crap components.
Weaknesses: Heavy Wheels (mine weigh ten pounds with the tires off!)
Bottom Line:
My first race on this bike had to be the nicest one I have ever been a part of. The Homegrown could, climb, descend, and go through singletrack and technical with ease. The Super-stiff frame contributes to handling and downhill abilities. In fact, this frame was so stiff, I got a suspension seatpost to ease up on my butt (the thudbuster is the best thing since clipless). My only dislike about the whole bike is that the wheels are way to heavy for a racing bike. I LOVE THIS BIKE!
Bike Setup: Stock execpt front WTB directional tire (wildgripper has too much bite up front).
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
tooharsh
a Weekend Warrior
from Edwardsville Il
Date Reviewed: June 12, 2000
Strengths: Stiff Frame, Cool Paint Job, Good Value.
Weaknesses: LX! I think it would have been nice to be XTR rear, and Full Xt besides that. So that is what I did to mine, I replaced all of the LX with XT. Weight
Bottom Line:
This is the best bike I have ever owned, but now that I look at the 2000 homegrowns, man have they shaved the weight! Maybe I will be able to afford a new one soon, with the new n-lightened tubing.
Weaknesses: The LX cranks, cogs, and BB are a little heavy
Bottom Line:
The sweetest aluminum frame made. I love this thing! It climb like a rabid monkey, and can descend too! I love everything about this bike. I wish they made one with the judy SL with XT and XTR only though.
The ride is as comfortable as steel, the Judy SL was 99's best fork, feels better than sid on the AZ rocks. The Time pedals never fail and there really isn't a pos part on the entire bike. Buy it if you want a bike you can ride anywhere, race, etc.
Bike Setup: stock w/ flatbar, fsa ti bb, xt cassette, XTR/517 wheelset
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
mark mcomie
a Cross Country Rider
from chattanooga, TN
Date Reviewed: March 11, 2000
Strengths: Great ride the cost to value ratio is great! Nice paint! XTR,very light
Weaknesses: the wild gripper tires are pretty week they tend to slip see the poor review they got in mountain bike magazine.
Bottom Line:
great bike I have had it and I ride it alot, it has performed excellent in all conditions. Poeple are always complimenting me on it and it was a great value. I would buy it again. the one thing that seems to maybe be a little weak is the Judy it has had to be rebuilt once already. Maybe I expect to much from it but when everything else is so nice you have to find something.
Strengths: Agile, fast, climber, fantastic descender, nimble,seatstay flex gets translated to rear brakes for superior rear brake performance. Not sketchy on the DH's, allaround excellence, excellent customer service, pro level hardtail for fairly cheap, excellent paint job quality.
Weaknesses: prone to chainsuck (use the Homegrown antichainsuck device and its not an issue)
Bottom Line:
Damien your an a$$. dont mess with these ratings. every aluminum hardtail frame will crack after 2 years if its ridden to its full potential in 2 years. Your just a shop rat who was anti schwinn before you even had a mountain bike. get off your bike now and take a nap.
Submitted by
Damien
a Cross Country Rider
from Chicago IL
Date Reviewed: January 16, 2000
Strengths: This Bike is Pretty good for the money, especially if you get it on sale. The frames come in many sizes from 13-21 I think. The paint job is awsome. The Frame is butted. I realy like the Forged Chainstay Yolk, its beefy and looks cool too. THe bike is very lite too. I like the geometry, it is good because your not too streached over the top tube and the the low degisn lets you lower or raise the seat for different types of riding.
Weaknesses: The headtubes in the 1999 Schwinn product line suck. Schwinn should us a different type of aluminum. Easton 7000 seirs is way better than 6061. The rear stays flex like crazy. Schwinn should call this a soft tail not a hard tail. Ive seen cracked frames.
Bottom Line:
When I first recieved my frame I could insert and remove the headset cups with my hand. The cups were fine but the Headtube had too large of a radius. There was obviousley a prouction problem here. I got a new one from schwinn. This time the headtube was fine, but after a month of riding the headset squeaked like crazy. I took the fork and everything off and the headset cups just fell out. I used an internal vernier caliper to measure the inner diameter of the head tube. To my suprise it had two. The headtube was ovalized. For the year 2000 schwinn has the ICBM. I hope this will make a difference in the headtubes. Also my friend cracked the epicenter seat stays on his right in half. Also Schwinn used an XTR rear deralier on this bike I would rather have an XT rear deralier and have them spend that money on a sealed headset. All in all the frames are very weak. Hopefully for the year 2000 schwinn will get their act back together.
Submitted by
Dan Carlock
a Weekend Warrior
from Phoenix, AZ
Date Reviewed: November 13, 1999
Strengths: Frame stiffness and geometry. Components mix and light weight.
Weaknesses: Tomato motif decals. Pedals
Bottom Line:
Great bike. It’s very light with a stiff frame and good components. It feels strong on the tough mountain trails in Phoenix AZ and is very fast on hard pack. Got a great year-end deal at Valley Cyclery of Scottsdale ($1100, thanks Brad).
Similar Products Used: Specialized Stumpjumper Pro, Cannondale f900, Trek 8000
Bike Setup: stock so far but will change pedals.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Mick Hansman
a Racer
from Chippewa Falls, Wi
Date Reviewed: October 5, 1999
Strengths: Frame stiffness and geometries, time pedals, good component mix.
Weaknesses: Tires, long travel fork(not neeeded in this area and higher center of gravity), seat,
Bottom Line:
Climbs and accelerates very nice. The discounted price of $1100 at the local shop was good, also they changed the bars and the stem at no cost to some thing that fit better, you wouldn't get that at just any bike shop, well they are good friends.
