Review of Schwinn Ridge AL Men's Mountain Bike (26-Inch Wheels)

Schwinn Ridge AL Men's Mountain Bike (26-Inch Wheels)
By: Pacific Cycle Average Rating: 3.5 Total Reviews: 28
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A Schwinn for my Son

On: 2009-11-29

My son is a teen and hard on his bikes so I decided to get him a bike that got me through my teen years- a Schwinn. The Schwinn was moderately priced--not the low end models that you see in chain stores.

It was easy to put together out of the box but I could not get the geers to work, shift into higher or lower geers and not rub against the derailer. I contacted Schwinn and they tried to walk me through the manual to adjust and set the geers.

I decided to take it to a local bike store who was unable to adjust the geers either as per the manual and they ended up replacing the very cheap, flimsy derailer that came with the bike with a solid steel one. Now the bike is great... looks great and rides great.

One key part needed to be upgraded to make this a sturdy bike. Too bad Schwinn didnt think of this previously as I am sure other customers complained.

I like most of this bike.

On: 2009-10-03

I have had this bike about two months. I have rode it about 200 miles so far. I paid around $210 with Free shipping. I think that was a good deal and I dont regret buying the bike at all. I recently took up riding a bike again in order to get some needed exercise. It has been 10 years since I have had a bike. I am pretty good with a wrench and mechanically minded. I had very little trouble putting the bicycle together and adjusting the derailers and brakes. I have only one complaint (well maybe two related) the rear cassette was lose and required about $40.00 worth of specialty tools in order to tighten it. I did find out that riding the bike a few miles naturally tightened it up from the force of the pedals on the chain, at least thats what I believe happened. In the course of messing around with the back wheel I learned that it was a very low end component. I have no doubt that I will need to buy a better rear wheel some time in the future as I am a heavy guy and I dont think it will survive long under my weight.

Overall this is a nice bike for around $200. The components are low-end but, so is the price. It is also a very nice looking bike. I have not found a bike that I like better near this price.

NOT FOR TALL PEOPLE!!!

On: 2009-08-09

You know what I hate about this world? Contrary to popular belief, shorter people always receive the advantages in life. Be it when it comes to buying a nice pair of jeans, a nice suit, or, as I have come to find with this bike, buying a nice bike, the world is made for short people. In fact, as Ive gotten older, and reached my max height of 62 - which, I really dont even consider THAT tall - Ive actually began to understand the pain that left handed people experience in life - living in a world thats not made for them.

So look, I bought the 26" model. Generally speaking, this is a nice mountain bike. I live in Queens, NY, and enjoy riding the off-trails that encompass Forest Park. The bike handles all of the bumps and grinds of off-road riding. So if youre 5 foot something, and you are interested in purchasing this bike, my recommendation to you is to buy this bike. Because again, it handles itself well, and its a sharp looking bike if Ive failed to mention. If, however, you find yourself to be a "TALL" person, stay the hell away from this bike, as you will be just as disappointed as you are everytime that youre in Macys and you cant find a pair of jeans with a 34 length to save your life.

For the life of me, I cannot straighten my legs out while I pedal on this bike; in fact, the only way that I can attain even a halfway comfortable pedal stroke, is to raise the seat almost to the height of an oak tree. Sadly for me though, you cannot raise the handle bars - AT ALL - on this bike, so that when I raise the seat high enough to get a comfortable pedal, I go home after every ride with a sore back, and sore wrists from having to support all of my weight thats leaning over the handle bars.

So yet again tall people, weve lost another one. If youre 6 foot something, dont even bother reading anymore reviews concerning this bike.

Mark, your review describes this bike very well

On: 2009-06-24

You are so right! I thought a $200 bike would last me more than a month! In less than a month I had trouble with the Front derailleur and my rear axle! Im so pissed because like you said, I would have to spend half as much to get it working good!

Schwinn Quality = Bad Quality

Casual bike boinker/rider

On: 2009-06-19

We felt that these bikes (wife and I each have one) were worthy of some upgrades. I installed Shimano disc brakes front and rear on Deore hubs using the original rims (that were still new but may go ahead and change them ITNF. These two bikes are now noticed by some real purists. (Where did you get THAT?) Anyhow, we have the no squeal and the sure stopping of disc brakes and the true custom lacing (that it didnt have out of the box). I had to braze caliper mounts to the lower legs and make 7075 al. adapter brackets for the rear but we now have very, very nice bikes that are worthy of the nicely and well constructed aluminum frames. If you can finish building these bikes using quality parts they are a bargain - similar to many Asian products and automobiles....So, we spent about $500 for the two bikes and a thousand dollars making something out of them since I had no spoke making tools. Good buy basically? I must still say yes.... we liked the bikes very much - before the upgrades.

Decent bike for the price

On: 2009-06-07

I ordered this bike for my husband in May, and got it for 238.60, which included shipping. I ordered the Navy bike, and was surprised to find that it included the water bottle and cage, which was not in the photo. The instructions for assembling werent the best, since they covered other models besides this one ("if your bike has blah blah blah...") Since I am not that familiar with all of the terminology of bicycles I found it difficult to know whether or not the bike had the feature being described. But, we were able to assemble it ourselves with not a lot of trouble. We are still adjusting the brakes, but hes given it a test ride and overall we are happy with the purchase.

NOT BAD

On: 2009-04-11

I have had the bike for three weeks now. The gearing has fallen apart already cost me 35.00 to get fixed and only beacause i did the work myself. But otherwise a good beginner bike.

Schwinn Bicycle Review

On: 2009-03-26

I purchased the bike for my sons 13th birthday. It was easy to assemble and my son is very happy with the bikes performance. The price was reasonable and meets his and my expectations.

Great bike

On: 2009-02-17

First, let me just say that I am a female! I bought this bike because it was cheaper than the female version plus I feel that mens bikes are usually better built than womens, but that is my own opinion. This bike also is small/short for a mens bike. It has substantially sized tires but the overall frame and handlebars are more narrow and smaller than my boyfriends Trek bike. The top bar also slopes more than most mens bikes. It is very lightweight, and easy to carry up the flight of stairs to my second story apartment. If you are looking for a more compact, sturdy, budget-friendly bike, this is the one for you!! Dont be scared away, ladies!! :)

Great bike

On: 2009-02-10

Very solid and light. Great bike for the price. I got this and the female version for my girlfriend and she loves hers too. Needs a little adjusting out of the box (brakes and derailleurs) so if you dont know how take it to a local shop. I love working on bikes so it was nothing for me. If you take time to read up on how to do it... it becomes very simple after playing around with it for some time. I suggest a home workstand if you plan on working on it by yourself exclusively.

Oh yeah! NOT gripshift as stated! Rapid-fire shifters but, Im ok with that... theyre actually more acurate. Just not as quick on the hand shifter.

It is a bike!

On: 2009-02-03

Ive recently taken up biking; now my style of biking is along the pathways or on the side of a road. Im not doing any mountain biking, or anything serious.

For what I need, its perfect. The seat is comfortable to an extent. The bike is lightweight, and with the rear seats folded down, fits in the back of my Honda Accord Coupe for when Im taking it to the trails.

I do have one complaint in the gears. For whatever reason, Im not able to keep the bike in 1st gear. It will not shift down into first gear. If I put it in first gear manually by moving the chain, itll go right back into 2nd.

The water bottle and its cage were worthless. I replaced them with the stuff from Klean Kanteen, which have worked out quite well.

All in all though, I needed an affordable bike, and Im pretty satisfied with what I got.

Schwinn Ridge AL

On: 2009-01-17

I just received my bike. I was pleasantly surprised to see it had trigger shifters not grip. The bike is amazingly light! Even with out of tuning the bike yet it handles great! The ergonomics of this bike are very comfortable for me... hard to find when you are taller. The risers allow me to grip the handles without having to be bent over.

Good bike for the money - helps to be mechanically minded when buying online

On: 2009-01-17

I purchased this bike along with the womens version for Christmas. Had no problems with assembly, but it did take an hour or two. Based on online reviews, I thought it would need a full front and rear derailleur adjustment, but only some minor barrel adjustment was needed on both. So far, my husband and I have only been on one moderate trail, and there were no problems with his, but a small plastic retainer on my bike popped out on the derailleur. Reassembly without some very special pretensioning tools was not an option, and it was too late to return to Amazon. After a quick and easy call, Schwinn/Pacific Cycles is sending a derailleur at no cost. While I will have no problem attaching a derailleur, others may have to take it to a bike shop and pay for service, whereas if they had purchased the bike at a good bike shop, the part would have been replaced at no cost AND installed for free. I found you couldnt beat the price, even if I do love the local bike shop.

Other than the problem mentioned above, we have both been very pleased. Smooth shifting after light adjusting, light frame, almost everything came preassembled.

VERY misleading product information...

On: 2008-09-20

Pros: Well, it IS a bike (thus two stars rather than one). It has two wheels, pedals, handlebars, and something to sit on. I have no doubt that an individual could ride it - eventually. Then again...

Cons: I will begin with the obvious. This bike does not - I repeat, DOES NOT - come equipped with SRAM MRX Pro twist shifters, as is CLEARLY stated in the item description. In fact, the bike I received was equipped with VERY cheap Shimano EZ-Fire trigger shifters. This is important because my decision to invest in this bike was based upon two factors: it is relatively inexpensive as compared to other front-suspension 26" mens mountain bikes; and it was supposed to be equipped with twist shifters. My intent is to use this bike for commuting during the winter in upstate NY. As you might guess, it gets VERY cold here, and I will require fairly heavy mittens to avoid frostbite. Trigger shifters dont work so well with heavy mittens.

Now on to the rest...

The first indication of the low quality of this bike is the rear skewer. It does NOT have a quick release skewer on the real wheel, an immediate and obvious indication of low quality in a bicycle.

The rear tire is factory mounted on the rim backwards - meaning that the deep lug off-road treads are facing in the incorrect direction for maximum traction.

The handlebars seem to be of a non-standard diameter over much of their length. The only standard is where they are clamped into the stem. There is a section of about two inches width in the direct center of the bars that is a standard 25.4mm diameter so that they can be clamped in place. This section tapers to a smaller diameter on each side of the center section; however, the tapers are not spaced equally on each side. The overall effect of this is that (1) if you intend to attach an accessory item, such as a light, bell, or other safety equipment, the standard sized clamp that is supplied with your accessory will NOT fit correctly on these handlebars; and (2) any item, such as the mounting bracket for my Topeak Tour Guide handlebar bag, that is supposed to be mounted and CENTERED on the front of the handlebars cannot POSSIBLY be centered because the dissimilar tapers push the mounting clamps to one side or the other of center.

The shifters appear to be plastic junk. Not only that, they appear to be permanently attached to the brake levers rather than separate, so that if you choose to replace the shifters with the SRAMs that were SUPPOSED to come with the bike, you also have to buy replacement brake levers. BTW, the SRAM MRX Pros arent available in the U.S. - if you want em, you have to buy em from England!

The saddle is the most uncomfortable piece of trash Ive encountered on a bike.

Ditto for the handlebar grips. Theyre simply horrible.

Additional thoughts: Getting right to the point, this bike is yet another cheaply manufactured made-in-China piece of trash. Basically this is an $80 bike with a $200 price tag because it includes a water bottle and cage, an aluminum frame, and a kick-stand. To be honest, it is quite light - altogether only about twice the weight of one of my loaded panniers. The water bottle is cheap and is simply a waste in the winter of upstate NY; and the cage itself is again very cheaply made and does NOT lock the bottle in - one good bump and the bottle will pop out and be gone. And how well the kick stand (and the aluminum frame it is attached to) hold up has yet to be determined. In general the kick stand will not be used with my panniers attached, since the higher center of gravity will then cause the bike to fall over anyway. Based upon the poor quality Ive encountered so far, I doubt this bike will make it through one complete season without a major overhaul of the bottom bracket, rear axle, or front suspension - and more likely all three!

The bottom line: In order to make this bike work for my purposes, and GET THE COMPONENTS that I was SUPPOSED to get on it, I will likely have to spend half as much as the bike cost. If youre looking for a relatively inexpensive beater that is unlikely to attract the attention of thieves due to its low quality, this is the one for you. If youre looking for a good commuter that will last, keep looking. And dont even THINK of taking this thing off-road - you will undoubtedly end up carrying it home on your back.

Good Bike

On: 2008-05-19

Well, so far (now that its warmed up a bit here in Denver), I am using this as a commuter work bike. So far, no issues at all. Will keep a eye on it as I go, but gear systems seem to work well. Bike was VERY easy to put together. I purchased a hand held tire pump as well, so I will keep a eye on this to see how it performs over the summer.

Great Bike...Great Price!

On: 2007-12-28

My wife and I purchased this bike and the "womens versions" of this bike together as a Christmas gift to one another. First, I am 37 years-old and disabled. I needed a bike that is light, yet strong enough to handle my 250lb + frame. Well, this bike is light due to all the aluminum parts that make up the bike and it is the aluminum that gives the bike it strength as well. The bike was a breeze to unpack and set up. Once again, I am disabled, I do not have the strength to manipulate cumbersome items... and this truly was not a cumbersome task! One hour tops from UPS Truck to being able to ride it up my street and back. During the easy and very short set up process, I had time to admire the welds and other artisanship details... I found no flaws. The bike was put together well at the factory. There were no scratches from the assembly line. The welds appear uniform (which is an excellent sign of a good weld). If I have one complaint, it would be the seat... Oh my gosh, that seat! Like I said earlier, I am 37 years old and 250lb +, the seat on this bike is not meant for a large buttock as mine! I think a vertical "Wiffle Ball Bat" would have been more comfortable than this wedge of a seat. I was one bump away from a Proctologist appointment! I am going to remove the seat and install one of those "farm tracker seats"... you know, the ones with the giant coil springs under the copious amount of foam covered in heavy duty all weather fake leather covering! Yea, the Schwinn seat has to go!

mt. bike

On: 2007-08-23

You cant go wrong for the price. I bought two of these bikes, one for me & one for my husband. I find the information that Amazon puts in the ad to be insufficient but overall they are good bikes for the money. They are rather small bikes but lucky for me we are short.

Good Bike

On: 2007-02-21

This is a good bike for the price of $179.99 with free shipping. The frame is sturdy and the bike overall is well built. The gears were not changing properly and skipped at times which resulted in bike being taken to local shop for a tune-up. Also had the brakes adjusted as part of the tune-up. Bike is much better now and provides a nice ride. The seat was quite hard, but a gel seat cover made things much better. I feel the bike is an excellent entry level bike and fits my need for occasional use.

Nice bike for the money!

On: 2007-01-10

Well, I could have spent a lot more money to get a bike with a lightweight aluminum frame, sharp looking finish, front suspension and reasonably good components. My 13 year loves the bike. He uses it mostly for street use and those occasional short cuts along the side of the road. Assembly was fairly easy. I took my time and READ the instructions. I did think that the front and rear axles were over tightened and one of the tires needed adjustment. That can get expensive to have fixed at a local bike shop. Then again, most local bike shops are looking for you to spend over $300 on a similar quality bike.

Missing Parts

On: 2006-11-29

I was missing the "Seat" and "Seat Post" parts when I received the package. I dont understand how a significant part like a seat could be missing from the box. Im still waiting for the manufacturer Pacific Cycle to get back to me if they can send me a replacement part. Very disappointed with this bike.

Lots of bike for the buck!!!

On: 2006-04-13

I purchased mine 07/15/05. From the day I received it, ahh the smell of new tires!!, Ive been riding this bike through the woods on and off trails (even though this bike is not rated for off road!) and on pot-holed city streets, with no noticeable problems, except for a punctured tube.(Unlike other reviewer, my bike came with an Omni front fork assembly, but I notice the pix on product page doesnt show one, I guess I got lucky!!!) Ive performed minor adjustments on cables which after a few days of riding is normal. Ive been riding bikes for over 40 years, primarily on a Peugeot UO-8, which I still use after 33 years, but I wanted a bike that was more suitable to run off road and this Chinese Schwinn filled the bill at about half the price of a T*** 3700, which was my next choice if this Schwinn was a bummer. The only problem I had, but adjusted to, was the seat, and I really dont know why, since the Peugeot that Ive ridden forever, has a hard leather, non-padded/springed seat, and it has never worked me over! No other complaints from me, will forward some pix later. Well, Ive got to get back to the trails!
See ya

Not as described

On: 2006-03-03

This is a pretty good bike except fot the fact that the front fork is listed as being the "omni" front fork which has adjustable tension. The bike i recieved came with the "suntour" fork which is non-adjustable. If i were to shop for another bike i would first go to sears, target, or walmart to make sure that the bike i buy has exactly what it advertises.

A great bike at a reasonable price

On: 2005-10-26

I was told by a bike colletor friend you must spend more than $300 to get a reasonablly good bike. But this Schwinn certainly has exceeded my expectation for what half of that money can buy you.

Twice as much bike for the money! No problems!

On: 2005-10-24

Maybe I got a good one, considering some of the other reviews, or maybe someone didnt understand the instructions for the limited assembly and adjustments necessary for this bike. I purchased mine 07/15/05. From the day I received it, ahh the smell of new tires!!, Ive been riding this bike through the woods on and off trails (even though this bike is not rated for off road!) and on pot-holed city streets, with no noticeable problems, except for a punctured tube. Ive performed minor adjustments on cables which after a few days of riding is normal. Ive been riding bikes for over 40 years, primarily on a Peugeot UO-8, which I still use after 33 years, but I wanted a bike that was more suitable to run off road and this Chinese Schwinn filled the bill at about half the price of a T*** 3700, which was my next choice if this Schwinn was a bummer. The only problem I had, but adjusted to, was the seat, and I really dont know why, since the Peugeot that Ive ridden forever, has a hard leather, non-padded/springed seat, and it has never worked me over! No other complaints from me, will forward some pix later. Well, Ive got to get back to the trails!
See ya

Please shop at a Bike Shop!

On: 2005-10-03

Please go shopping in a bike shop. I bought on Amazon thinking to save some money. In the end, it is costing me money. Bikes are amazingly complicated machines and difficult to assemble. I failed to tighten the petal sufficiently and it fell off in a week, having ruined a piece of the bike. Price at a bike shop to get it all fixed up--55 dollars. So please, spend the little extra at a bike shop and save yourself both money and frustration. You will be thankful you did.

Cheap gooseneck, otherwise a great bike

On: 2005-09-29

Only problem I have with this bike is that it does not have a conventional gooseneck. I often have to tighten it to keep the fork from flopping around.

Extremely disappointed - low quality

On: 2005-09-11

My wife and I ordered matching pairs of the Schwinn Ridge AL Moutain bikes on Sunday, August 28th. (You can read my wifes review for the Schwinn Womens Ridge AL Mountain Bike) We received the bikes on Friday, September 2nd. I assembled the bikes as soon as they arrived carefully following the instruction to ensure that everything was assembled correctly. Right out of the box we had problems with the bikes. My bike had a ripped seat and my wifes bike had a wobbly wheel. I called Schwinn and they sent out replacement parts with no hassle.

We purchased these bikes to use as commuter bikes as well as weekend rides around our town. We began riding to and from our workplace the day after we received the bikes. There were minor clicks and clacks coming from the bikes, but I expected this from a cheaper bike. There was a strange popping noise that seemed to come from the right pedal when the pedal reached a certain spot in the stroke. Other than this, the bikes seemed to be adequate to commute back and forth.

Four days after riding the bikes regularly, we began to have problems. The drive train on my wifes bike began to make some rather loud and bad sounding clicking noises. Also, the left pedal on my bike wedged itself crooked in the crank arm. We couldnt immediately identify what was wrong with my wifes bike, but I knew that something was very wrong with the pedal on my bike. I called Schwinn the next day and they sent me a new crankset, but I would have had to take the bike to a bike shop to have the part replaced. I planned to continue riding until my new crankset arrived, but I only rode for two days until the pedal came out of the crank arm ripping out all of the threads in the crank arm with it. My bike was completely unrideable, so while my bike was out of commission, my wife continued to ride to work.

This morning, 9 days after our first ride on our bikes, my wife returned from her morning ride and told me that something was very wrong with her bike and that the back wheel was not spinning properly and that something was wrong with the chain. Upon closer inspection I discovered that her freewheel was loose on the bike, another repair that would have to be made at the bike shop. Before sinking any money in repairs on these obviously low quality bikes, we have decided to return the bikes to Amazon for a refund. We will be purchasing some higher quality bikes that will not leave us in the road like the Schwinn Ride ALs did. When we first purchased the bikes, we believed they would be decent because of the Schwinn name but we were very wrong.

I would not recommend these bikes to anyone who plans to ride the bike on a regular basis (more than 5 miles a week) or any off road riding. We rode about 10 miles a day and neither of our bikes lasted more than 90 miles. They may be fine for kids who would only ride the bike a few miles a week at most. The bikes are also definitely not suited for off road riding.

Can't go wrong with Schwinn

On: 2005-08-25

For the price you pay, Schwinn makes some of the best bikes available. Here for under 200 dollars you get a great mountain bike. It runs well, is high quality, and is a great value.

Youd probably be better off getting this then a higher-priced bike from some other brand.

Love it but one minor complaint (Still love it though)

On: 2005-08-10

This is a very smooth-riding bike with a look and feel of quality. Its frame is much lighter than a steel bike, making a noticeable improvement in performance. I often load my bike heavily using a rear rack and baskets, so I was specifically looking for a bike with front suspension only. Even with only the front suspension fork, it smooths out bumps nicely. Shifting is really smooth and reliable. It has quick-release front wheel and seat. My only criticism is the front wheel is positioned so that when turning sharply it hits ones feet! At first I repeatedly almost fell because of turning too sharply while pedaling and my feet hitting the tire. I am more used to it now and have learned to stop pedaling and watch my feet position while making sharp turns. But to me it is a silly design flaw. This is the only reason I gave this bike 4 stars instead of 5. Let me add, the process of ordering it through Amazon went perfectly. It came in a huge box. It needed minor assembly which was very easy.