Customer Reviews

Diamondback Trace Comp Dual Sport Bike (2011 Model, 700c Wheels)

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

 

 

I used to ride bmx and mt bikes in the 80s and 90s, took a long break and now in my 40's, wanted to get back into bicycling again. Didn't want a roadbike because on occasions, I still would rather jump curbs or ride over obstacles rather than around it. I like the hardcore high tech mountain bikes available these days but not committed to spend that much money and wanted something that's good on the road as well. Looked at hybrids and wasn't too impressed with the inexpensive ones and couldn't justify spending too much with the well known popular brands.

Then comes Diamondback's "Dual Sport" Trace which fits everything I need plus the latest suspension fork, and disc brakes at a reasonable price, that can be ridden on the streets but can go on light trails. Tough enough for urban streets with potholes, curbs, stairs, and still manageable on hardpack or paved trails.

Now the suspension fork isn't the latest state of the art product but it makes the ride very smooth and comfortable. Mine doesn't have the "lock out" but Im fine setting the "preload" to max which I weigh 190lbs and handles the stairs, curbs , when I want to take shortcuts on my path. On extreme downhills, it can have a bit of a pogo effect but on moderate ones, it still offer control and confidence.

This is the first time Ive had disc brakes on a bicycle and LOVE IT that it's hard for me to think of going back to traditional types. It's so easy to modulate the brakes right from the start where the other kinds, I had to customize the settings.

The frame and components are a bit on the heavy side, but it's just fine for my type of recreational, leisure paced, but on occasion want to be "young and daring". Besides, I can easily upgrade the parts in the future as needed but as a re-entry bike, this is just fine.

Otherwise, I can't stop riding the DB Trace and find excuses just to go for a quick ride.

The DB Trace makes riding a bicycle easy and fun again.

I bought the 20" frame model and I'm loving this bike. For the price it's hard to beat for a hybrid or a dual sport as Diamondback wants to call it.

I've had in the past mostly cheap beater road bikes, but this time around I didn't want to shop on price alone. I looked online at quite a few bikes, some even better then this one though for more money. I did look at big box stores and a couple of local bikes shops too.
When I saw Amazon had this bike, a hybrid, 700c wheels with disc brakes I thought it was a misprint since two other places online were selling the same bike for $100 more + shipping.
Granted it has been 10+ years since I had a bike to ride and I really missed not having one. I plan on riding this to work and back in a few weeks once my body, mind and accessories are all in place. It sucks riding with stuff in your pockets. In the mean time I'm riding for the joy of riding and get my legs back up to speed.

When it comes to the components, I've seen better and worst in this price range, but for me I wouldn't know the difference. I can always upgrade should I find a reason to do so.
The lock out on the fork is pretty cool. I switched it off on a bumpy dirt road and it felt like a road bike on a dirt road. Yikes! Turn the suspension back on.
The disc brakes are so worthwhile besides looking cool. So smooth to slow down or stop and to my surprise, no noise like I have read about.

There are always cons to anything even on a $5k bike. I'm still trying to decide if I like the grips. The hex wrenches that come with the bike don't fit everything on the bike that you might want to tweak. Darn! I thought I could get away without buying a tool set. Oh well. I thought the white color would be a con, but I'm growing to really like the color. I bought a white water bottle cage on Amazon to keep the white frame theme going strong, though the seat bag and rear rack (also from Amazon)is black to balance the black fork. One can only do so much white. There are two eyelets for mounting goodies and the disc brakes are out of the way so one can basically get any rack to fit. Cool.

The rapid-fire shifters are better then those old stem shifters by a long shot even though I still forget which button does what, but I'm still in my first week.

So far I'm really impressed with the bike and can't wait until my lights get here so I can ride it more often.

The Diamonback Trace is a good bike for the price. Components work well bike is good for around city and in the forest. The 20inch frame is large I'm 5'10" and like a big frame. This bike is at the upper limit on frame size for me. One word of caution... you may loose out on the value if you do not have some bike repair skills. I needed to adjust brakes and deraileurs... no big deal...but I also had to true the rear wheel which was about 0.5" out of plane. All in all I'm happy with the bike.

Overall I love this bike and it provided much more value for the money than I could find at the local bicycle shops. This bike comes with presta valves, so I strongly recommend adding a presta-to-schrader valve adapter ($2) if your gauges/pumps are standard. I ordered the XL (22") frame and assembled it weighs 36 lbs (on my bathroom scale) but feels much lighter. I am 6'3" and lanky and the frame fits perfectly. The bike came slightly less assembled than I was led to believe by the other reviews and the online Diamondback assembly video. Assembly was easy and pretty well documented and adjusting/tuning the bike was easy and also covered in the included documentation. I would say anyone with average mechanical aptitude and the ability to follow instructions should have no problems with assembly. All parts were in good order and wheels spun true from the get go with no noise or vibrations. The front brake rotor and caliper came in a bag and needed to be installed. The rear brake and front derailer needed a bit of adjustment (slack in both cables). The rear derailer was perfect out of the box (probably luck). The fork lockout and preload controls work as promised. The bike has standard location mounting holes for attaching standard accessories. The Topeak pocket rocket air pump (not incluced) fits perfectly and will inflate the presta valves in an emergency...or if you have no other presta pump like me, but it will take hundreds of strokes. Also the cateye 3-led front/rear light with computer was a great deal for this bike and includes odometer/speedometer/calorie burn etc options. The bike is geared nicely at the high end to be able to cruise at over 20 mph. The lower gears go unused here (no hills) so I have no feedback on how it would work for mountain cycling. I have yet to find a proper kickstand, but otherwise this bike has fully met my expectations for a bicycle in the $450-%650 price range.

This bike is perfect for what I use it for, which is commuting to work with a section of trails. (about 80% on road and 20% off road) I use it 2-3 times per week and so far it has proven to be a quality bike without paying an extra 2 to 3 hundred dollars more on a bike with similar features and a "better name brand".

I bought this bike in March and ride it on rough streets and easy trails. It is an excellent bike for this purpose and I am very pleased with it's comfort and performance. I use it on a daily basis to commute, grocery shop, etc., and it carries large heavy loads well. I have encountered two problems that are related to less than stellar manufacturing, in my humble opinion. I have full gunk strip and slime heavy duty inner tubes. I got a flat 2 weeks ago and discovered it was caused by metal shaving in the rim where the valve stem was drilled out. I took the tire off the other rim and the same issue was present. A significant amount of metal shavings were between the rim and the rim strip. The flat was cause by the metal shavings wearing a hole on the inside of the tube near the valve stem. Pretty shoddy work at the factory. The second issue that has come up is a sticky rear hub, I took it to the shop where I bought it and they squirted lubricant in the hub which fixed it for about 2 days, Now it is worse than before. I have yet to get to the bottom of this problem. A hub should not be an issue on a bike that is 5 months old.

I got this bike a little over a week ago and I have had nothing but problems. When I first got the bike I took it to get tuned before I rode it just to make sure everything was perfect. By this time I have taken it to several bike shops to attempt to fix the various problems. The breaks are the biggest problem and even after riding for well over the burn in period they make such horrible noises, grinding and screeching. The gears make quite a bit of noise on every rotation of the right pedal and although I have made some adjustments and made it slightly better it is still there. The front break disk is slightly warped and has been since I got the bike which makes a small noise while I ride. Other than the problems I have been having I do love the bike which is why it is not a 1 star, I just wish it didn't sound and feel like a junker. I will be taking it to another shop today to see if they can fix it otherwise I will be returning it.