General Cycling Discussion - Your Opinions Please

Hi all,

My friend bought this bike as a beginner bike. what do you all think?

Kawasaki Full Suspension Mountain Bike Men

Features

Benefits

• Bike Type: Full Suspension Mountain Bike Front and rear suspension work together to give you a smooth overall ride by absorbing harsh bumps.
• Front Brake: Disc Powerful stopping that is easy to control, with no heat transfer to rims. These brakes will give you great braking even in muddy conditions.
• Rear Brake: Alloy Linear-Pull Brake Designed to give you powerful and reliable braking.
• Fork Type: Suspension This helps to smooth your ride and increase your bike's handling.
• Rear Derailleur: Shimano Gives you smooth and reliable shifting.
• Handle Bars: Riser Raises the handle bar position for more comfort and better control.
• Saddle: Padded Provides you with a soft seat that will allow you to enjoy longer rides in comfort.
• Rims: Aluminum Lightweight wheel material that is very durable.
• Tire Type: Knobby Feature small raised knobs that help the tires grip better in dirt and in mud.
• Pedals: MTB Type Provide a strong and stable platform to ride on.

I know nothing about the bike, but it sounds like a department store type bike that has licensed the Kawasaki name...

The fact that nothing is said about the specific components makes it seem as if they are very low level.

Probably a bike that would be fun, and probably very similar to full suspension mountain bikes I see people pushing up gentle sloped sidewalks around town.

The only point of minor interest is the front disk brake... This is the one piece that sounds different than an X-Mart bike.

Estimated cost (without research) is about $175 (guessing high because of the front disk brake)

Curiosity got the best of me, so I did a search.

I under-estimated based on what I saw as Target's price ($249), but then looked a bit more and did find it online selling for my estimate:

http://www.nextag.com/mountain-bikes-kawasaki/search-html

Not bad for a wild guess...

:D

It is typical of a modern beginers bike but that doesnt make it good.
You dont need full sus unless you are careering down steep mountains and this bike would snap in half at the first big impact.
Cheap suspension is a wanabee feature that adds weight and complication. It also reduces utility by excluding any rear luggage rack fittings.
Your friend is better off with a no sus or front sus MTb style bike that comes with threaded eyelets for rear rack and fenders.
If the bike is for road use rather than trails then an entry level hybrid style with larger wheels will probably be better.

thanks all... My friend is very stubborn and this is his reply to your comments...
personally I would trust group of honda engineers to build me a bike over some college drop outs who decided to start a high end custom bike shop

I told him the car manufactorers are probably catering more to leisure riders and probably would not do any aggressive riding...

Okay.... Tell your friend good luck with that.

thanks all... My friend is very stubborn and this is his reply to your comments...
personally I would trust group of honda engineers to build me a bike over some college drop outs who decided to start a high end custom bike shop

I told him the car manufactorers are probably catering more to leisure riders and probably would not do any aggressive riding...

From your friends response I'd say he has more than a passing idea he screwed up but will not
admit it. Oh well......cut him some slack so he can do better next time 'round.

Well at least he has a bike which is a lot better than not having a bike.
It is a bit late to ask for bike selection advice after he has bough it. Most buyers are understandably defensive about their decisions so lets quit *****ng and ride.

Just curious, do Honda engineers design Kawasakis? I don't ride motorcycles, but I thought these were different companies. :D

Your friend doesn't think that other bikes are engineered by engineers? Of course they are...

Comparing the LBS employee to the engineers is not the right comparison... He should be comparing the LBS employees with the Walmart employees, or the bicycle engineers with the motorcycle engineers.

I wouldn't rub in that he has made a mistake, but if he gets snotty, just ask him why he thinks a motorcycle company can make a better bicycle than a bicycle company... They are totally different machines that just happen to share some technology, like spokes, two wheels and bearings... and even these are implemented differently between motorcycles and bicycles.

And again, Kawasaki is not likely to have anything to do with that bike beyond a marketing agreement to allow the manufacturer to use the name. And if they are actually manufacturing, then how come they don't have a bike in the Tour de France? I don't follow the sport, but I wonder... Are there Kawasaki bicycles in professional mountain bike races?

I do agree with an earlier comment, at least your friend has a bike. Be supportive of his riding, and also if he finds himself losing interest... if that happens, maybe you can help him find a bike he'll be excited about for longer.

Tell your friend he has a bad haircut and his mother dresses him funny... IMHO that is :)