Customer Reviews

Diamondback Response Sport Mountain Bike (2011 Model, 26-Inch Wheels)

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The bike is a great value. Made of 6061 Aluminum, it is both stronger and lighter than bikes made 10 or 15 years ago. The shifting group on the bike is entry level but more than sufficient for this level of bike. The brakes are wonderful, and the tires, although heavy, are quite acceptable. The front shock is pretty much crap but shouldn't cause you trouble (i.e. it is unlikely to break), only extra effort. Overall, though, it is hard to find as much bike as this at this price level. The big brand names cannot touch this bike at this price.

So, should you buy it?

To answer this question, you have to ask yourself, "What do I want out of riding?" There are many valid answers to this question, so think about it. Are you planning on riding the local gravel trail in town? Are you planning on short trips around with the kids? Would you prefer to ride actually two-track trails with roots, stumps, rocks and sand? Or are you looking to do distance riding with friends?

Answering these questions honestly will go a long way toward deciding whether this bike is for you. So what is this bike best used for? This bike is almost exclusively for riding gravel trails around town with the occasional off-road or two track. It is NOT meant for riding around town and definitely not for distance riding. Similarly, it shouldn't be bought if you plan on riding technical trails with drops and steep climbs.

Let me back up my unfounded statements. Gravel trails are easy to ride and you could easily get away with a touring bike (defined as thinner tires and a more upright, laid back riding style). But every so often, you will hit a patch that could puncture your tire and/or tube on a touring bike. The Kenda tires and soft shock will keep that from happening on the Response. Similarly, the low gear ratios on this bike will make riding up hills much easier, as long as the path is not too rough. If you are doing steep inclines on a bumpy road, the crap shock that comes with this bike will feel like a pogo-stick, causing the front tire to lose grip with the road/trail. This will most likely end with you walking the bike up. But in well maintained trails, you should excel.

If you are riding around town, you'll see lots of surburbanites riding their Treks and Specialized mountain bikes. You would fit right in with this bike. However, you would be better served by a touring (sometimes called "hybrid") bike. Something like this: Diamondback Edgewood Men's Comfort Hybrid Bike (700c Wheels)

I know, it is not as cool looking. And looks should factor in since you want to feel good when riding around town. But that less cool looking will translate into higher speeds, less effort, and more comfort. If, on the other hand, you are planning on riding technical trails, you will need more gear. You could buy a better front fork (at a minimum, something like this: RockShox Tora Coil 302 U-Turn Fork (Black Pl Rim/Disc, 85-130) ) but really, you'd be better off spending more on a lighter, more complete bike. You should expect to spend at least 50% more on an entry level bike for more serious downhill and technical trails. If you are over 5'10", you might even consider a 29-inch mountain bike.

Finally, if you want to do distance riding, the bike is wholly inappropriate. The riding stance and the tire thickness would make this bike (or any mountain bike) a poor choice for anyone other than the most fit athlete out there.

In summary, this is a GREAT value bike, oodles better than anything you find at your local discount market. Moreover, Giant, Specialized, and Trek cannot touch this price point and, although you must compromise on weight, front fork, and grouping, you will get a whole lot of bike for a low price.

By the way, yes, I both own and ride this bike, along with my Giant TCX Crossbike.

UPDATE: The day I wrote my review, the bike was on sale. Now that the price is back up, I would knock off a 1/2 a star, since the value is diminished. I'm not saying it's not worth Amazon's price, only that if I were you, I would consider waiting for a sale.

The Diamondback Response Sport is a very good value in a hardtail mountain bike as you are getting a relatively high end frame design with mid range components. The modified top tube design is a strengthen design borrowed from higher end Diamondback models and similar to some Specialized bikes.

The only catch is that the shift levers and front caliper are not up to the same quality as the rest of the package. The platform pedals are OK for around town and park trails, but you may want to upgrade them for serious single track riding.

I combined this with a top quality suspension seatpost which I find to be the optimum combination of lighter weight and control with some softening of the roughest bumps. The Diamondback site and some retailers have a more complete description of which frame size is most appropriate for your height. The advantage of buying from Amazon is that you can readily get XS, S or XL frame sizes rather than having to settle for Medium or Large at a local shop or sporting goods box store.

The bike arrives mostly assembled, but plan to spend a full Saturday afternoon to correctly reset the derailer travel limits and align the front caliper if you do not take it to a local shop for a professional tune up.

I just got my D-Back Response Sport 2 days ago. Package arrived 3 days from order using the free shipping, Way to go Amazon!.
Bike was well packaged and was easy to assemble, however the Hayes brake instructions could have been better. Still not that hard to figure out. Only complaint is that the bike came with a Shimano Tourney front derailer and not the listed derailer. It works fine and shifts well so I'm not really dissatisfied. It also came with metal D-back pedals and not the resin pedals some people have replied on before. I'm 270 lbs. and wanted a strong bike, this appears to be just that. Time will tell and I will post follow ups as time goes by.
Seat was a little on the hard side for my big bottom side so i replaced it with a Sunlite Cloud 9 seat that has been a big improvement.

*Note* I got the 18" frame and it is perfect for my 5'10" size.

I used to ride a bike all the time, but that was 10 years ago. I finally went out and bought a new bike and have done brief trail rides with it to test it out. I initially bought the Diamondback Outlook Mountain Bike (26-Inch Wheels) and tried that bike. It was BRUTAL. I immediately called the local bike shop where I bought it and brought it back and exchanged it for a bike that was about 30% more expensive which happened to be the Diamondback Response.

The difference between the outlook and response is like night and day. The seat itself is much more comfortable, the brakes are disc brakes instead of rim brakes, it has adjustable suspension and changing gears using nice levers to push instead of twisting the handlebar.

Overall this bike is just built much better then the Outlook, and it rides so much smoother.

I haven't done major trail riding, just basic so I can't comment on how it holds up but will be hitting trails soon. One friend rides the Nashville Greenway which is a 22 mile ride round-trip and I plan on doing that with him one day over the next few weekends. I'll update this review once I complete that ride, but so far I really like this bike.

I did buy it locally at Dicks Sporting Goods, it was on sale for a slight savings over the current amazon price after taxes. Plus it came fully assembled and tuned up which was nice.

So far, I recommend this based on the limited time I have had on it. Buy it on amazon or locally, you'll probably like it. Just don't get a cheaper bike trying to save money. By the time you upgrade the seat, etc you might as well just step up to this one.

--UPDATE 7/6/2011--

So I have owned this for several weeks now and have ridden over 120 miles on it, typically riding around 20 miles when I go out. The trails I ride are the Greenway's around Nashville so they are for the most part paved trails, however there are parts where it's dirt. The trails have several flat areas and a lot of hills and even some long wooden bridges, boardwalks along the river, etc. It's nice having a bike like this that can handle whatever condition you throw at it. It adjusts to the trail with no thinking. I have never needed to flip the suspension switch on the front wheels as I generally leave it locked. I did a few rides back flip it just to see and it was very springy. I could imagine that would be handy on an off road trail. For pavement it's great being able to lock it. I'm very happy with this bike, have bought 2 water bottle holders and carry 2 bottles, I have the under seat bag to carry a spare tire and the tools needed for emergency repairs, even had an electronic speedometer. Love this bike.

I purchased this bike as a way to transition myself from a road hybrid to a mountain bike. I didn't want to end up with something from WalMart, so I did some shopping on amazon. I purchased the medium size as I am 5'10 with a 32" inseam - I use about half the seat post to get full extension and while standing I still have a good 1-2" of "clearance." The nice size of the bike is another reason I decided to go with a 26" over a 29er, I knew I would go with a hardtail either way.

The bike came well packed with only one small scratch on the frame that is now hidden after a few rides in West Texas. All it took to assemble was mount the front wheel, brake, handlebars, pedals, and seat. Pretty darn easy, especially since this was the first time I'd attempted it. The need for tuning was minimal. Just a tightening of the brakes and seat height set and I was ready.

As far as the components on the bike, they are all medium quality on a high quality frame/suspension. The fork compresses smoothly and predictably while the frame is completely rigid despite the size of the ledge I might be going off of. I was surprised that metal pedals were supplied - nice, solid, and heavy, too! I switched them for some Shimano SPD compatible pedals anyways, but it was a nice little detail. The graphics on the bike are underneath a layer of clear coat, giving the appearance that they are painted on. The shifts are firm and smooth with no jumping and the brakes are solid. The hand grips and seat are relatively firm and the bolt that holds the saddle on is too tight for me to undo by hand to add my ARS saddle, which is the only downside to the half of the bike that was assembled.

As far as riding it on tarmac goes, the tires are loud and the bike is heavy by comparison to my recent hybrid. I've only had it on a paved surface once, just to make sure everything was bolted down and working right.

For off road usage it is fantastic from my beginner perspective. I am extremely glad I spent the extra $100 over the Diamondback Outlook. First and second gear were lower than expected and I pull wheelies up rocky inclines if I lose enough momentum, but there are plenty of gears for me to pedal to 30mph so it's not as if I am limited in my selections. The tires held firm in fast turns in the loose stuff where I was expecting to washout and the brakes kept me from flying down a rocky roller coaster any faster than I wanted to. Once it is ridden where it is supposed to be it came alive and was very flick-able on the back-to-back turns without a hitch. It's light enough to get it up steep hills easily and heavy enough to go down the other side and whatever ledges I knew were coming without me having to think twice. The suspension operates just as I was hoping, like I didn't even know it was there. No jerkiness or delayed rebound, just smooth operation no matter the frequency or intensity of compression strokes it had to do.

For my first mountain bike, I'm thankful I didn't make a choice other than to go with the Diamondback Response Sport.

After a couple of hundred miles, I can say that I really like this bike. The frame is sturdy and light. It was easy to assemble and tune. This bike rides well on the street and on the trail. A great entry level bike.

I like this bike.
I have owned it for just over a month and just logged 150 miles, even wrecked it twice and it works great. I did have to do a setup once it got here(make the derailleurs work accurately, setup the brakes, adjust the front shocks for my weight), but it was minimal. I tackle mostly easy trails but even on the harder ones it preforms. I added a computer for mileage and speedometer, it helps me keep track of time as well. One fault is the seat(as its a bit uncomfortable) , but lucky that is solved with good pair of biking shorts , and the pedals could be a bit better at digging into my shoes.
If this bike was lost I would certainly buy another Diamondback response sport to replace it, with out hesitation.

Lokair

PS I considered full suspension bikes , but as I weigh in at over 230 lbs so the shock just seemed to use up too much of my energy.

The Diamondback Response Sport is an excellent first MTB. It has most of the components needed to with stand the abuse on off road trails. But so many hours on the trails the bike needed a professional Tune-up. Then after several more hours on the trails and jumps and hard crashes the front forks did hold up but isn't tough enough to with stand the the abuse of the jumps. I will have to upgrade the spinner edge forks. The seat post is okay unfortunately the seat isn't clamped on tight, that will be another upgrade. The disk brakes are great had no problems and I love the trigger shifters. I also upgraded the plastic peddles to Metal..you tend to run into stumps branches and trees. Overall I like the bike for the Money but now I know I have to upgrade the forks and the seat post if I want to continue riding safely on the trails.

I have been riding and working on bikes for years and ordered this bike thinking I would be upgrading parts right away since I am somewhat picky about my parts.. Well I was way wrong.. this bike is awesome.. technology with bikes has come a long way. Once this bike is put together and tuned properly ( I was able to do myself) The bike rides very smooth and shifts accurate. The fork is very plush and the whole bike feels and rides solid and quiet.. The price has just been reduced so buy while you still can as the '12 models will be out soon im sure.. Diamondback has the best bang for your buck with bikes and The Response sport is no Wal-mart bike. This bike is very worthy of any future upgrades, but it rides / operates so nice Im just going to wear things out and replace as needed.. The disc brakes are very strong. The Shimano Acera rear derailleur works better than the sram x? that comes on the Diamondback overdrive 29er (another bike I bought off amazon, but i never was comfortable with since im a shorter guy).
I know there are better bikes and parts out there, but for the average rider who rides a few times a week on normal trails ect this bike is a great choice...

Of all the brands of bicycles out there, the Diamondback Response Sport is by far the best in it's class and price range. It is not the best bike, and by this I mean that the money you will spend for the best bike will be no where close to what you pay for this one. The bike came well packaged with all the tools necessary for the very little assembly that is required.
I've done some physical comparisons of other bikes and can definetely say that the build quality on the Diamondback is superior, especially the welding quality. I am totally pleased with this purchase. Thanks AMAZON for the alternative shoping as I was unable to secure an extra large size bike at the local stores.