WAR85

Is Schwinn a good company or are they all pretty much crappy? I'm looking for a mountain bike, around 500 bucks. Would I be better off lokking at a different brand or is Schwinn ok? I'd be doing mostly trail riding with some small drops and city riding.

Endo

Check out the Gary Fisher Tassajara, the Kona Blast, or the Specialized 04 Rockhopper Comp. They are all about $100 above your price, but a shop will be able to sell them to you for a little bit less. Some Schwinns are ok, but DO NOT buy them from a department store, Wal-Mart, whatever. Make sure to go to a real bike shop and they can gice you suggestions as well.

WAR85

I own a older Gary Fisher Tassajara like a 97 or so. It's in pretty bad shape now, and it's tiime for a newer bike. I'd love to get a Kona, but no dealers here have them. I would buy the Schwinn from a LBS here, if I got one. I could get another Gary Fisher, but the LBS that sells them here are pretty bad as far as service goes.

mindbogger

From what I know, after 2001, Schwinn went down the drain.

Some Schwinns that are high quality include the Homegrown, Moab, and Rocket 88. I wouldn't recommend you buy a Schwinn from a deparment store nowadays.

MadMan2k

I saw a bike I liked a lot at a bike shop the other day, the Trek 4900. It was $420, maybe you should get one of those.

Any opinions on this bike (it seemed nice to me, but I wouldn't really know)


Back on the schwinn topic, those new schwinn sting rays look rather strange, I wonder how much they weigh :/

My mom had a schwinn from about 1965, it still works but it has serious problems with the pedal assembly.

catatonic

one of the guys at the LBS bought a stingray to put a wizzer motor onto.

The back tire is HUMOONGOUS. It's only 20 or 24 inches but it's like 10in wide!

It's not assembled yet...but it's going to be interesting when it's done

iamthetas

the Moab was and still is (IMO) an awesome bike.a frind of mine has one and if I ever get a hardtail thats what I will get.my first bike was a stingray as a kid.weighed as much as I did but lasted a long time

WAR85

So why is the Moab still good and the rest of there line crap? Is there a reason why the Moab is still quality?

seely

If you get a high end Schwinn you get a good bike for your money, not the best frame, but usually highly spec'd components at that pricepoint. I would avoild ANYTHING from Schwinn that costs under $500 though, its the same crap Walmart is pushing out (I know because I build them--the quality on the low end Schwinns is SCARY).

moabrider47

Been gone from the forums for a while, but it feels good to be back.

As you can see from my username, I ride a Moab. It is a 2000 or 2001 (before going down the drain/buy-out) - I'm leaning more towards 2000. I picked it up for about $750 from my LBS. It's a nice frame that came with decent components for the money. I will definitely vouch for the quality of the older Schwinns. The homegrown and the moab from years past were some of the best hardtails I have ridden. My Moab has been upgraded to Thomson post/stem, XTR V's + levers, XT drivetrain, etc and is still going strong. I haven't ridden or seen much of the newer Shwinns from the LBS' or the bike shops, so I can't really commment on them, other than to say that I've heard that even the bike shop models aren't as worthwhile as the previous years.

I think you would be doing great to pick up a used Moab that's a few years old.

-moabrider47

tFUnK

yeah i picked up a 2001 moab frame last year and built it up. pretty light frame, crashed a few times and still holding up. from schwinn i'd only consider the moab or the homegrown.

jeff williams

The old schwinn 'cruiser' is the only frame 1'st U.S mtb guys rode, other frame designs failed. Breeze kept, Ritchey didn't, he designed HT that Specialized\Rocky M went to Japan to 'bot produce.
Other note, pre bmx we jumped 'mustangs' same version of curved frameworks small.

Those OLD rusty ones look real nice, steeel nice. I want one.

H_Roark

A guy I know has a Moab police model that he does about 30 miles a day on. He loves it, and it seems like a pretty good machine to me.

sukispop

I haven't been into mountain biking for years(a little too old, and a lot too fragile!), but I remember back around the years 2000-2001, when the Homegrown line was highly coveted. It was Schwinn's special division where the Homegrown frames were all hand built in the U.S., while all the rest of Schwinn's framebuilding was outsourced to Taiwan---not necessarily a bad thing...but it was back in the days when a frame being handbuilt in the U.S. really meant something special. And the Moab was pretty special too, even though it wasn't a Homegrown...Schwinn really did things right with the Moab. It's really a shame to see how Schwinn went.

If you can find a gently used Homegrown or Moab...or hey, howzabout a gently stroked original Breezer or Ritchey or Ibis steel Mojo(I really lusted after the Mojo)...if you can somehow find one of these rare gems, grab it! The ride one of these will give you will make you realize just how incredible a bike you've gotten your hands on...

BigHit-Maniac

YES

Schwinn sucks the big donkey nads now. They sold out to Pacific Bicycles, and no longer deserve the name Schwinn. It's just a cheapy Pacific with a Schwinn sticker on it. Expect them to be found in Wally-World... and other fine "crap stores" that shouldn't EVER carry bikes. DO NOT spend money on this wastes-of-metal. They'll do nothing but give you headaches, and make you question why you bought them. They suck more than a Shop-Vac, and could probably pull a golfball through a garden hose. I repeat.. DO NOT BUY A WALLY-WORLD SPECIAL .. unless... you decide to go lake jumping with it... and don't care about it.. and want to laugh really hard as it sinks to the bottom.. and makes a home for all the little fishies to live in and around..

Ok.. that's enough for now

FoX Rider

HEY! NOT ALL OF US ARE RICH!!!!!!!








Well, i know i'm deffinalty NOT poor.

seely

Easy killer, the bikeshop line is very different from the Wallyworld line once you move up the price bracket a notch or two... they aren't JUST A Wallyworld brand, and some of their models are downright nice.

sukispop

I agree with what you're saying, Seely...there are still some nice Schwinn models out there--in real bikeshops, that is...

But while respected names like Trek, Fisher, Specialized, and Cannondale(and the other big names too, of course) all offer a broad range of products, going from the very high end(XTR, DuraAce specs) to mid-range(LX/Deore, 105/Tiagra) to entry level(Acera, no-name Shimano stuff, off brand stuff), I can't really think of any other big name bike company that stocks and sells their low-end bikes in Walmart-like stores as Schwinn does.

BigHit-Maniac hits a valid point--Pacific Bicycles, who now owns the Schwinn label, has everything to do with Schwinn having truly department store quality(e.g. ZERO QUALITY) models with the Schwinn badge, selling in Walmarts, KMarts, and other "Marts". The Schwinn label used to stand for U.S. made quality, durability, reliabilty, and performance...My best friend just bought a Schwinn from our local WalMart, thinking that it would be a decent enough quality bike because it proudly carried the Schwinn label(and heritage, so he thought)....I just visited him last week and saw his new Schwinn...I could not believe how junky this bike was...the frame was okay enough...but non-adjustable headstem(fixed height--cannot be raised or lowered), seatpost(no tilt adj.)..."v" style brakes that will not squeeze evenly, regardless of adjustment, brake levers that are spongey and almost non-reactive, components that a Huffy would be ashamed to have...the list goes on and on....the only thing this bike had going for it was its bright paint job...that, and its Schwinn badge, was what sold this bike to my friend. I didn't have the heart to tell him what a piece of crap his bike was, that he paid almost $200 for.

catatonic

almost $200....sh*t...he could have bought a Diamondback Outlook a month ago for about $180....there was a nice sale on them, at least around here.

May not have had the name, but it at least has shimano tourney components and a Suntour suspension fork....may not be the big name parts we all want to use, but they work fine for the cash

Smaug

I LOVE my Trek 4500 hardtail. It's a 2003 model I got new on closeout at my LBS for $400. Does well on trails, but I mostly use it on local streets around town so I got a set of road slicks.

Don't get a Schwinn... there are plenty of other good brands at that price range that will serve you better in the long run.