Submitted by
Ted Jamwell
a Cross Country Rider
from Worcester County, MA, USA Date Reviewed: March 10, 2007
Favorite Trail:
Massabesic/Rockingham, NH
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$525.00
Purchased At:
LBS
Strengths:
Decent suspension design, Low price for full susp. Hayes discs, solid build quality.
Weaknesses:
Throwaway Suntour Crankset, Stock Suntour fork is too softly sprung for anyone aggressive or big.
Similar Products Used:
First Full suspension ride, demo'd Jamis Dakar
Bike Setup:
Stock except for clipless pedals and trusty '02 Marzocchi MXR swapped from other bike.
Bottom Line:
This is a solid entry level full suspension bike. The suspension design works, period. The elitists may turn up their noses at Pacific Schwinns, but if you want to ride and leave money in your pocket, this is a pretty good bike. I'm a big guy. Very big, so the front fork was too softly sprung for me. It actually felt fairly smooth, so if you can live with it, and you're on a budget, keep it 'til it wears out. I had a Marzocchi at home so it went on right away. The RST-22 rear shock is nothing to write home about but it does its job and Schwinn was actually thinking when they installed them. The bigger frames come with higher spring rates than the smaller ones. What a concept! The Hayes brakes work well, the Deore derailleur and Alivio shifters work fine for now.
The Suntour crank is garbage. Riveted chainrings. It's a shame, the name Suntour actually used to stand for something. For about the same cost, Schwinn probably could have put on a Sugino crank and at least had a set with replaceable chainrings. Oh well, when it wears out, I'll throw it away and put a better crank on it. The point is, the frame is worth upgrading the components that you either don't like or wear out.
Bottom line: this is a value oriented bike that works out of the box, and is worth adding a few bucks to, when you wear parts out. With the price paid you'll be ahead of the game anyway compared to some entry level full suspension bikes, and their component spec is not always much better. Assuming you're using it for X/C, some technical stuff, but staying away from big drops, you should be all set. Buy it and still have beer money for the barbeque after the ride.
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Overall Rating:
