Customer Reviews

Columbia Trailhead Disc Men's Mountain Bike

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

In contrast to the other review I've seen, this bike was not difficult at all to setup. The only tools you need are a set of metric allen wrenches (to attach the front disc brake and handle bars) a pair of pliers (to tighten on the pedals) and a phillips OR flathead screwdriver (to tighten the reflectors). In total, it took about a half-hour to setup and that includes taking off all the protective cardboard and plastic. The only somewhat confusing part of the setup is adjusting the front disc brake, but there ARE instructions for this included with the bike and all you need is a 5 mm allen wrench.

One of the things I like most about this bike is that it has a front suspension with an adjustable load, so if you are heavy or light, you can make it suit your needs. The disc brakes work very well! I purchased the 21.5" version and would add that it is very big for a bike. I'm 6'3" and it fits me perfectly . . . but don't get the 21.5" unless you are at least 6' tall.

The only complaint I have is with the shipping, which left the box pretty beat up. There was no damage to the bike save a few very light scratches. It's a good thing it is packed so well by Columbia.

In all, this is a fantastic value with great features for a great price.

I just picked this bike up last week for $150 from Amazon and I love it. The box/bike arrived overnight with fast & free Supersaver shipping and the box condition was perfect. The only downside was no instruction booklet, so I printed out the reviews of this bike and highlighted all of the technical advice from previous reviews which helped tremendously. I will also add some and clarify ones that were previously posted.

1) To mount the handlebar stem, look at the stub on the top of the fork. Remove the little rubber nipple (yes, I said nipple) and use a 5mm wrench to remove the bolt, then take off the plastic cap and cardboard sleeve. Mount the handlebar stem so that it points up and away from the seat area of the bike. Use a 6mm allan wrench to tighten down the stem. Put the black cover, 5mm bolt and nipple back on.

2) To mount the handlebars, hold up the handlebar near the stem and ensure that the front brake cable is not running between the front forks. If it is, rotate the forks until the cable is freed. Mount the handle bar with a 6mm allan wrench ( you may need to adjust the front reflector out of the way for this) and remember that the shifters are mounted below the brakes.

3) To mount the front brake: place the front wheel flat on the ground with the 6 bolt holes facing up. Place the black space on the wheel with the "lip" side of the space facing up. Place the silver brake disc on top of the space so that the arrow on the disc is pointing in a COUNTER clockwise position. Use the 6 bolts to attach them, while tightening them in an offset/star pattern.

4) To mount the wheel: flip the bike upside down and place the front wheel into the fork slots. If you never installed a quick release system before (like me), closely examine the rear wheel's quick release system and mimic it for the front.

5) With the bike still upside down, install the pedals and make sure that you know that the left pedal has reverse threads (not tighty righty that you know and love). Also make sure that the chain is attached to the sprockets before flipping the bike back over.

6) Install the seat/rear reflector, inflate the tires and inspect the bike.

You may need to make small adjustments to the brakes and/or the shifter linkage, but there is documentation for the brakes that comes with the bike and you should hopefully be able to tweak the shifter with an allan wrench and some patience.

This bike shipped rather quickly. Came in great condition unlike other reviewers. Assembly took about 45 minutes. Installing the front disc brake took me 3 tries before getting it right. Make sure you put the spacer first and then the disc. Overall the bike is great and looks really nice. I changed the tires to some 1.5 city slicks to use with my bell mag trainer. Only adjustment I made was for the deraillure. It was a little off but after adjusting it everything is perfect. You will not go wrong with this purchase. Just read the other reviews for tips on how to put it together since there is no instructions.

Rides well, shifts great, feels awesome. Didn't come w/ instructions, so read up on the rest of the reviews for some helpful information.

Since it didn't come with any installation instructions, here are some of the procedures that I encountered last night.

1. Make sure the handle bar is angled up and away from the seat. Loosen the break levers and rotate them 180 degrees. The shifters go below the handle bar.

2. To mount the handlebar, you need to remove the rubber cover off the allen nut (where it has the columbia logo). then unscrew the nut, remove the cardboard piece, and mount the handlebar.

3. To mount the disc brake, make sure you put the mounting bracket on first with the grooved side pointing out, then screw it on. Turn the bike upside down to mount the front tire.

Does not come with a kickstand, so you might want to pick one up. Maybe even a bottle holder too!

I have had this bike for about 2 weeks and use it everyday. At the time it was on sale for $179 so I'm not sure why Amazon have pushed the price up to $250 - although for this price it might not be such a bargain and I would investigate other bikes.

Assembly is straight forward as long as you have metric hex keys and decent pliers to tighten the pedals. Instructions were easy to follow, but not too clear when fitting the front disk and spacer (easy to figure out though). Adjustment of the disk brakes is simple enough.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that it had a rear disk brake and that both wheels were quick-release. Adjustable shocks work very well and are essential if you are cycling regularly - shocks that are too soft will waste your energy.

The bits I wasn't so impressed with. The box was a little beat-up on delivery and one part of the frame (the thick tube) had scuffs and chips all along it - I couldn't be bothered to send it back though as I figured I would eventually incurr that kind of damage anyway. My front reflector was also missing it's retainer.

There were no instructions on how to adjust the deraileur or sprocket guide - both were not properly adjusted and so the chain skips gears unexpectedly. Very annoying - so unless you know what you are doing, budget for a adjustment at your local bike store.

Overall, I gave the bike 4 stars. I do think it is a very good and capable bike and would have given it 5 stars if it weren't for the condition on delivery and lack of detailed instructions regarding the gearing. The brakes are superb, the aluminum frame is light, adjustable shocks have a good range and it is a very good looking bike. I am 5ft7" and the 19.5 inch frame is perfect.

At $179 it is an absolute steal, but at $250 I would take a look at others bikes before making a decision.

I purchased this for my tall 6'5" husband (large frame). The bike is an exceptional buy, easy to put together, and with free shipping, no tax, you cannot beat the price!!!! Great quality, all the "go fasters", disc brakes, it has everything you would want and then some! He's very happy with it.

This is a good bike but poorly assembled before they shipped it out.

The handle bar, which is shipped separately from the bike, was totally reversed assembled. This caused me almost 10 minutes frustration before I realized it and get it assembled right.
The rear deraileuer was not lined up with the front chainraings and the small red plastic pulley is kind of too tight to spin freely, especially backwards. When I ride downslope, if I don't crank forward, my chain would fall off the sprocket!!Don't have time to fix this problem yet but this is a prove of poor mechnical assembling done before they shipped it to customers.
Another highlight point is the pre-installed rear disk break. When I spin the rear wheel, I can clearly hear the scratch sound between disk and break pads. I have to use another 30 minutes to adjust the cable and break assembly to make them working properly.
The front wheel came separately and need to be installed after you get the front break assembled and installed which means extra work.
The installation of crank arms with pads is fairly easy since they are clear lablled.
Therefore, I don't suggest this item to those who are not a mechnical type of person because you may need to use longer time than you expected to get it work properly. Remeber, this bike came without any assembling instructions in the package. Better to get one fro local store which you can test ride before you buy.

However, this item was shipped to me much faster than I expected by Amzon, which is good for me to enjoy the autumn cycling.

This review is for the 19.5 inch frame. I am 6'0" tall, and weigh 200 pounds. I have owned this bike for about 1 month, and have put approximately 20 singletrack miles on it. I am an experienced mountain biker, but my mechanical skills are beginner level. This is the first bike I have ever assembled.

As mentioned in other reviews for this bike, there are virtually no assembly or maintenance manuals included in the box. The back wheel, rear disc brake, chain, and front chainrings (with bash-guard) are already assembled. The front end of the bike will need assembled. I did have some minor problems crop up assembling the bike, but I think if I were to assemble another one of these bikes, it would only take 15-30 minutes, now that I know what I'm doing. There are great instructions already provided in other reviews, so I won't duplicate them here.

I'm lucky to live a half-mile from 7 miles of tight, winding singletrack, with some moderately technical features. I am quite happy with the handling and braking performance of this bike. However, as mentioned in another review, the factory gearing of this bike does not lend itself well to prolonged or steep climbing. Even in the lowest, easiest gear, I found it impossible to completely climb a hill that I have no trouble climbing with a different bike. I have a 34 tooth 'megarange' freewheel on order that will hopefully fix this problem (about $25 shipped). Notice I said "freewheel"...this bike does NOT use the more modern "cassette sprocket" gearing for the rear end. I wanted to upgrade from 21 speed (3 front, 7 rear), to 28 speed (3 front, 9 rear), but found it would not be economical to do the upgrade because the bike uses a freewheel.

Brakes: (Hayes mechanical discs - OEM of their MX2 series) They stop the bike perfectly well, but the front one is screaming like a banshee when used. Very embarrassing! I've tried adjusting it, I've tried cleaning the rotor with alcohol. Not sure what else to do here. I may end up upgrading the front brake if it doesn't quiet down soon. Speaking of rotors - the bolts that hold the rotors on did NOT use a Torx T-25 as stated in the brake instructions, they used a hex, or Allen key, instead. Not a big deal, just wondering why the instructions (or bolts) are wrong.

Tires: Kenda Klaw XT - I am happy with these, as well. Good grip, and shed mud pretty well. When I ordered the bike, I expected that I'd need to put better tires on the bike, and now that I've ridden these, I see no need to!

The Dérailleurs: (this is what moves the chain during shifting) - cheap, cheap, cheap. I see the front one available for less than $5 on a popular bike website. I actually plan to remove the front one, and just use the 7 gears in back (this suits me well where I ride). Cheap or not, both dérailleurs are probably just fine for the average, non-demanding recreational biker.

Seat: It felt really, really hard first time out, but I'm getting used to it now. Not the worst I've ever had, though. I'll probably keep it. I'm getting good leg extension from the seat post, by the way. Many are too short for my comfort. The seat post is 27.2 mm diameter.

Overall: I think this bike is a great value (when the price is right). I paid $129 (delivered), and would still have been delighted getting this bike for up to about $200-225.

The bike was shipped fast and the box arrived in excellent condition.
Assembly was fairly easy although I managed to make a couple of easily correctable mistakes. Just take your time with it.

Once assembled the bike shifted and braked perfectly with no adjustment. Lucky me. The SRAM TRX trigger shifters are really nice and the budget Shimano Tourney rear derailleur works suprisingly well. The Hayes disc brakes have killer stopping power as expected.

The front RST omni suspension fork is more than adequate for some light duty trail riding. Also, it's nice that there are two water bottle mounts on the frame.

After riding about twenty five miles of trails, the biggest problem with the bike is the poor ground clearance with the pedals often catching on roots or on the ground in rough sections of the trail when the bike is ridden aggressively. Also, The rear 14-28 freewheel on the bike is not very well suited for steep trail climbs. If you're a serious trail rider consider swapping it out for a 13-34 megarange freewheel easily found for around twenty dollars. Climbs will be much easier with the 34 tooth low "granny" gear.

However, that being said, it's still an absolute steal for 169.99. Nothing comes close for the price. It makes an excellent entry level hardtail for the beginning mountain biker.

This was a steal for $129. If you were lucky enough to get it for this price with free shipping. The rear derailer is a bit weak with too much flex. The fork is too soft for a 200 pounder (I bought the 21.5 inch). Otherwise it's a great bike with good quality components. Plan to spend some time adjusting everything because the pre-assembly is terrible and you do need to adjust everything. Riding it out of the box with minimum assembly would be a big mistake. The hayes brakes and shimano drivetrain produce a smooth ride. This bike would probably not handle huge jumps or anything. The 21.5 frame is huge and at six feet it might actually be too big. Even at the $159 price you can't go wrong as long as you can adjust it or know someone who can.