Customer Reviews

Diamondback Viper BMX Bike (20-Inch Wheels)

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

 

 

I have been racing BMX for over 10 years. Trust me it is a very good bike. There is only one problem though... NOTHING. My favorite part about this bike is that it is really light and easy to handle. Its really good bike for anyone that wants to race BMX or go freestyle, its also a great bike for just riding around. Its just not that comfortable for going on long bike rides. Normally it comes in a 24" rims. Like i said i have used this bike so much that i am accually on my 3rd bike. I would highly recommened getting this bike.

I thought this bike was made for Freestyle BMX but it is a racing bike!(oops) It is considerably lighter than other bikes though, but it wasn't really made for street or vert. It rides better on dirt with the tires and all. Other than that I really love this bike! The brakes work extremely well and is fun to ride. I don't race but I know it is very fast.(Diamondback makes great bikes!) :^)

I am a young bmx rider starting just with doing some dirt jumps here and there and this bike works PERFECT very light not as heavy as some other diamondnack bikes. I have tons of fun riding it.!!!!!!!

Im a starting racer. And i know this bike is better than most bikes out there by diamondback. It is very light, considering your age or how good your skill is. it is VERY fast and has outstanding breaks.

So far my kid loves it he is 4ft 5in 85lbs and he rides it fine. Good to get a bike that every other kid on the block doesn't have the same thing that they got from Target or Wal-Mart. Rides good has freewill and looks good.

I was very impressed with the value of this bike. Great quality for the money. And unlike most bikes in this price point, it's weight is reasonable and does not appear to be made from depleted Uranium harvested from deep in the industrial bowels of the former Soviet Union. It's fast and looks like it will last a long time.

The rear (and only) brake is hard to adjust, and I believe that a secondary coaster brake would be good to have. I've tried adjusting the brake, but the owner's manual that's included doesn't address. One pad keeps touching the wheel after you actuate the brake.

The chainset could be a bit more "higher end"- its looks are not on par with the rest of the bike. And while I realize kickstands aren't cool, they do help keep kids from destroying their bikes by throwing them down.

well let me start off with the few problems i had. and those were if u didnt fill the tires up good enough u will pop them jumping becuz within a half hour of riding i was jumping and there goes my back tire but other than that its a great bike very light and i would highly recomend this bike

Just received the bike for my 8-year old son. This is an initial, "out of the box" review.

FIrst, Amazon is amazing at beating their promised delivery. I did super saver and didn't expect to see the bike for 2 weeks. I received it in 3 days.
2nd, the bike was nicely packaged, and looks amazing. Now realize some assembly is required. To read some bike reviews (not for this one per se) you would think that it was a major mechanical undertaking. Diamondback provides the tools you need (except Philips screw driver to adjust or remove the chain guard). Assembly consists of attaching the front wheel, attaching the seat, attaching the handle bars, and attaching the pedals. The hardest part (not too hard) is to attach the brake cable to the lever. Of course the bike then needs to be adjusted for the rider. Instructions are provided and are sufficient. Not too hard, everything fits and the bike is operational in 15 minutes, more or less. The bike is pretty light, as promised.

Now for what is missing... I was surprised that there is only one brake- a hand brake for the rear tire. Admittedly, I have looked at a lot of bikes over the past few days and most had 2 hand brakes for tricks, etc. So even reading the reviews that said "this is a racing bike" did not clue me in that there is only the one brake. Second, and it has been mentioned, we are used to using a kick stand. I was surprised that one was not included. I get the cool factor, but we use them to park our bikes in the garage. No stunt pegs. Not a problem for us and evident from the photos, but an item that is common on comparable bikes.

So from a value perspective I am not sure how good a deal this is compared to an equal (or lower) priced bike at Walmart that has all of these missing things. Weight is a tradeoff and so maybe that is a fair trade. One thing is the mechanics of the bike are pretty tight. It took a lot of effort to pedal a demo ride around the driveway. I will look into loosening/tuning the mechanics, but as tight as it is out of the box, the bike is slower that several heavier and cheaper challengers. I know the bike gurus would scoff "well of course you need to tune a new bike", but I say not for a $160 kids bike, especially if the typical buyer will have to take it to a shop and have it tuned for $40 or $50.

So final tally:

***** Shipping and packing
***** Overall look
***** Ease of assembly
***** Weight
* Missing features
* Tuning out of the box
* Overall comparative value

*** Final Score

I bought this bike a couple weeks ago. It seemed real sturdy, good quality, well built. Unfortunately I got hit by a car trying to cross an 8 lane highway. The bike didn't protect me at all, I'm in the hospital right now. Not only that, but the bike wasn't all that sturdy after all. It was all bent up and mangled after only a 50mph impact.

So all in all, it's a good bike for basic and light usage. But if you plan to ride on busy roads or highways, then this isn't the bike for you.