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(More customer reviews)At last I have come through the gauntlet of mountain bike buying, much scarred, but also much wiser!
I will try to briefly explain why I consider the Schwinn Rocket is a victory for me, and hopefully save other people much grief in choosing a "good" bike.
My experience in mountain bikes goes back to the early days of mountain bikes, but is based more realistically in the biking needs of four growing boys, and their middle aged parents. Like most I have largely purchased off-the-shelf box store bikes. Like most I have had more negative than positive experiences. I attempted over the years to upgrade to better bikes from the box store, but with little real world improvement. I have used bikes on the higher end, but cannot hope to buy such bikes for six people. What I wanted was a bike that would cost no more than twice what the box store offered. For this money I wanted a bike that offered at least twice the quality and reliability as well. What I found was the Schwinn Rocket! Here is a comparison with "better quality" box store bikes and the Schwinn Rocket: WHEELS: Please, go with alloy! Steel wheels are heavy and rust practically over night. Some box store bikes have alloy wheels. Schwinn wins here with double wall rims. This is very important since it is very easy to bend rims on the trail or even on a rough road commute. FRAME: Aluminum is a must! I have box store bikes with aluminum frames, and they are worth it for their lite weight. Schwinn wins again! The quality is immediately apparent coming right out of the box. Paint is very nice for the price category and someone obviously cared to take the time to put the stickers on neatly (not to mention it isn't overloaded with useless gaudy stickers). The Iso Drive frame is definitely superior to other suspensions I have tried. Importantly there is no bobbing over ripple surfaces. Four inches of suspension travel doesn't hurt a bit either! GEARS: Everyone is putting Shimano stickers on their bikes these days. CAUTION! Base grade Shimano derailleurs are better than anything else the box store offers, but they often combine them with lame shifting systems. The Rocket uses better grade Shimano components and their click shifter has put the joy back into riding again. It operates smoothly and is precise, no guessing about what gear you stumbled into, or the subsequent noises that come from gears that have not shifted properly or are in need of constant adjustment. A VERY NICE shift/gear system alone makes this bike a winner for the price. BRAKES: I hadn't given much thought about brakes as they have seldom been a problem for me. When I started using the Shimano breaks on the Rocket that all changed! I had previously considered disc brakes, but now I say, "Who needs them!?" Well, actually they would be an improvement in adverse weather conditions, but for most of us the Shimano self-aligning breaks will more than meet the need. SEAT: While the Rocket's seat still leaves a lot to be desired, it is an obvious improvement over most seats on the box store bikes. I purchased a Lycra Gel Seat by Ergo and couldn't be happier! So, we have: Nice quality, descent engineering, attention to detail. This bike will make a fine recreational, commuter and light/medium trail bike. All in all the Rocket is not for the serious off-road racing aficionado, but for the average person looking for the most bang out of their hard-earned buck the Rocket is the way to go!
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