Submitted by
Serch
a Weekend Warrior
from Guadalajara, jalisco, Mexico
Date Reviewed: November 10, 2008
Strengths: Great for a serious entry level bike, nice weight for a double, tough frame, predictable on the trail, great teacher for newcomers. Great value for the money. Once she's upgraded, the performance improves more than the expected.
Weaknesses: upgrades are required quickly.
Bottom Line:
After the first 6 months of riding you'll notice that upgrades are required if you want to improve your riding. Here is a time for you to decide wether you keep her or renew. I decided to keep and upgrade and I don't regret it.
Upgrades: Fox Vanilla RLC 140, Fox RP23 shox, Truvativ parts (stylo cranks, team stem, bar and seat post), Kenda Nevegal 2.1 and Alex XD lite rims w/DT Swiss spokes. Formula Hubs are still great same as the Hayes So1e (still the original pads). That's more than 1,000!!! But the bike performs and looks awesome.
I ride 2-3 tmes a week with an overall 55 miles per week. I tell you, the bike can take almost anything you are able to try. I've done epic XC, DH runs and extended climbs on her. It's not the best of the best in any of these, but let's get true and say this bike is a great learning object without braking the bank.
Once you upgrade and finish the learning process, the bike can take you wherever you wanna go and can stand besides all the "high-cost" rigs on the trail (if you're up to it).
Bike Setup: SrSuntour cranks, X9 rear/deore front, Manitou radium shox, manitou splice 130, alex DP20, WTB Motoraptor, formula hubs, hayes So1e and Forté components (stem, bar and seat post). All of this came stock with my purchase.
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Submitted by
aaron
a Downhiller
from Santa Rosa, Ca, USA
Date Reviewed: January 17, 2008
Strengths: Price is great for someone who is not looking to be a serious rider. Brakes work very well, wheel set is great.
Weaknesses: All pivot points on this bike have sheered off need to change to grade 5 bolts. Fork is horrible. The derailer hanger has issues. I spent 950.00 on bike and have invested another 1200.
Bottom Line:
I threw alot of money in this bike to make it perform the way that I ride, and I could have bought a bike that performed alot better for me if I would have spent the extra money. I have had a schwinn my whole life and this is the first time that I have been dissapointed with their product. The shock is easy to adjust and has lasted me this whole time but I am in the shop weekly for repairs. Dont buy this bike if you weigh over 200 lbs..
Similar Products Used: Yeti, Santa Cruz heckler, Rocky Mountain Slayer 70
Bike Setup: Minute fork, Shimano xt crank, crank brothers pedals, specialized bars, raceface set back seat post. 8" front disc.
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Submitted by
Erik Camacho
a Cross Country Rider
from Bay Area, California
Date Reviewed: September 22, 2007
Strengths: Not too heavy, Strong frame, comfortable, alot of features for the money, 27 speed, disk brakes.
Weaknesses: Frame design (rear suspension linkage), single pivot point. Caused pogo, and loss of chain tension whenever I tried to stand up and pedal. Disk brakes hayes Sole1 need to be manually adjusted. Components entry level.
Bottom Line:
For the dollar amount it sounds like you get a lot for a good price, but like you hear everywhere else you get what you pay for. I quickly out grew this bike and had to upgrade. If you want to seriously ride, you will need a better bike than this. The pogo affect killed me going up hills and I had to increase the PSI in the rear shock to try and compensate. I did not spend the extra money to trun my bike in to a hard tail, so I ended up selling after less than 3 months.
Similar Products Used: Specialized Stump Jumper Comp, Specialized Enduro
Bike Setup: Stock
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Submitted by
Jazlan Yatim
a Weekend Warrior
from Malaysia
Date Reviewed: January 29, 2007
Strengths: Plush suspensions. Stocked with nice parts (especially crank, fork, wheelsets) for price paid, good value for money. Pea soup color looks cool in tropical jungle here in Malaysia. A very good entry level full suspension bike.
Weaknesses: I got one with faulty rear Hayes Sole hydro brakes. After a few rides and attempted repairs, the bike shop replaced the brakes to Shimano Deore hydro brake with a slight top up to the cost. Wellgo pedals was good, but becomes difficult to clip-in on muddy trails. Replaced it with Crankbrothers Candy C.
Bottom Line:
A very nice bike if you want to experience high quality full suspension rides without breaking the bank. I'm just a weekend warrior, so it suits me economically well and provides all the full suspension experience I ever needed. I also love the ISO-Drive rear suspension design, minimum chain growth, and tall bottom bracket, makes me feel confident to ride through the rock gardens. The Schwinn brand has a long history but they need to revitalize their brand again if they want to compete with other younger and hipper brands.
Similar Products Used: A no brand hardtail, no direct comparison
Bike Setup: Stock except Crankbrothers Candy C, Shimano Deore Hydro brakes & levers, upgraded RD to SRAM X-9 (ripped the SRAM X-7 during a ride). Total weight : 33lbs (a bit on the weighty side). I sawed off 1 cm off each side of the handlebar as I found it's too long for me to steer comfortably. I may consider parts with less weight for future upgrades
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Submitted by
Jody
a Cross Country Rider
from Sydney
Date Reviewed: November 27, 2006
Strengths: Half price bargain
Weaknesses: You get what you pay for..........
Bottom Line:
I broke it! The frame cracked at a 24hr race. My fault really cos my fancy new post didn't go as far into the seat tube as the original. Oh well. Rear suspension was great. The rest of the bike was a bit sus. It proves the old adage, you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. I tried to turn it into an enduro/xc bike. I simply wasn't. The Trance is a world away.
Bike Setup: FSA layback post. Tioga tyres. Bontrager race lite lux saddle. Amoeba scud bar and stem. Club roost bar ends. Serfas grips. Shimano pedals.
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Submitted by
Tim
a Weekend Warrior
from Mansfield, TX USA
Date Reviewed: October 5, 2006
Strengths: Can't beat set up and handling for the price paid! GREAT entry level bike. Hayes Sole Hydraulic Breaks - stop effortlessly, smoothly and on a dime!!! Once dialed in they have been flawless. Great suspension and amount of travel. Drive train and swing arm pivot geometry does NOT produce any chain slap during heavy suspension compression.
Weaknesses: Wellgo pedals started to stick after a few rides - Replaced with Crankbrothers Smarties. Swing Arm Pivot - nut repeatedly came loose, eventually became loose enough to cause swing arm to torque under pedal load bending bolt and elongating holes in swing arm. Rear shock is already loosing air. Finish - paint seems to chip easily and some decals have started to lift at their edges, and the Pea Soup Green color … NOT my first choice of paint schemes.
Bottom Line:
This bike is for someone who is interested in trying out mountain biking without breaking the bank or buying a boxstore piece of junk. Someone who wants a decent entry/mid level bike with nice components. Of the 15 guys I regularly ride with, I have the least $$$ in my ride, and have ample suspension for the rough stuff. The front wheel has a tendency to lift during steep technical climbs. The bike is stable on moderate descents, but NOT a downhiller by any means. A heavy bike by today’s standards and comparisons and heaviest of all my riding buddies (I can loose more lead from my butt than I could ever remove from a bike)... but a very ride able bike. Only REAL complaint is the swing arm nut & bolt issue mentioned in weaknesses (though I have not heard of this happening in any other Rocket) and also the Wellgo pedals... they HAVE TO GO!!!!!!
Similar Products Used: Mostly Hardtails, so no direct comparison.
Bike Setup: Stock except for Crankbrother Smarties. Suntour XCR704 front deraileur, SRAM X-9 rear deraileur (a real DREAM), SRAM X-7 dual trigger shifters
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Submitted by
Michael Jones
a Cross Country Rider
from Louisville, KY, USA
Date Reviewed: June 6, 2006
Strengths: Great, reputable components Lightweight aluminum 5" of travel in front, 5.5" of travel in the back SPD Clipless pedals installed - (no extra cost there) Hayes hydraulic disc brakes stop on a dime SRAM shifters shift like magic, quietly
Weaknesses: No setup manual in the box - good thing I knew how to assemble bikes
Bottom Line:
I wanted to try Full Suspension, and didn't want to spend $1000-$2000 or more. Heck, I have been a road rider for 30 years, and might not have liked MTB riding. This bike made it fun and easy - I climb hills like a madman, and I have ridden some tough trails. I am all over the trails here, and have confidence in this bike to get me there and back again.
Now, I really enjoy MTB riding, and have travelled to many trails and enjoyed them.
I think Schwinn got a bad name, making department store bikes, but this bike is a much better quality than those bikes. If you have $1800-$6000, hey, get a Santa Cruz, but I got what I wanted for $719 + $30 S/H = $750. Great components for a great price.
Bike Setup: I only plan to change out two things - the handlebar (for carbon) and the seatpost (for carbon), just to be a little lighter - but I don't really have to
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Submitted by
Robbie Powell
a Downhiller
from Port Elizabeth South Africa
Date Reviewed: July 7, 2005
Strengths: All round mid range trail bike, suitable for all conditions, trail, enduro, D/H and 4 cross. The bike was tested on at the South African National Downhill event. The bike sprinted like a short travel xc bike and handles the big hits with little fuss.
Weaknesses: Hayes SOLE brakes needed to be reset after each DH run.
Bottom Line:
The Rocket Pro sprints like a short travel bike, its light weight chassis and 5 inch travel soak up all but the biggest bumps. The bike behaved predictably in all but the steepest sections where the XC angles of the frame made the bike feel really squirrelly, like the head angle was too steep. This can be attributed to the fact that the bike is designed as a trail bike and not a D/H bike with relaxed angles. Weaving through the trees was a blast, hold the saddle between your legs, get your body weight over the centre of the bike and steer with your hips. The bike carved like it was on rails, with the back wheel only pushing out a little on the offcamber corners. The rear suspension did seem to stiffen up a little when all out sprints were required, calling for some extra body english through some of the sections. On the whole the suspension worked well considering that this is a mid level trail bike. There was no suspension wallow or feedback when putting power to the pedals and the bike was easy to " float" over the really bad sections.
Similar Products Used: Rocket 1, Raleigh RDS 9.0, Haro X3
Bike Setup: Fitted FSA freeride ring and Maxxis Highroller front tyre for the D/H event. Otherwise standard Schwinn Rocket Pro setup. SRAM X7 shifters and rear mech, Hayes SOLE disk brakes, Manitou Axel Elite fork with 120mm travel, Manitou Radium rear shock with 5" travel. Truvative Blase crank with ISIS BB and willgo clipless pedals
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