Customer Reviews

Kent Trail Machine Men's Dual Suspension Mountain Bike

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

 

 

I got this bike back in early winter. The "manual" that comes with it is nearly useless and contains little, if any model-specific info. Some assembly is required (front wheel, handlebars, pedals) so if you are not comfortable doing mechanical work on bicycles call a friend who is, or take it to a neighborhood bicycle shop. The linear-pull brakes will also need some adjustment.

I assembled the bike and waited for warmer weather. Spring brought riding weather and out I went. Nice ride. No, it's not a $1000. mountain bike, but if you don't need cutting edge stuff you'll be just as happy as the guy on the $1000. bike. This is a very good value for the price. Previously I only had 10-speed racers but always wanted to try a mountain bike. After 15 years without a bicycle ride (yeah, I'm kinda old, switched to motorcycles for a dozen years or so) I took the plunge with this model. I am 5ft-9in tall and this bike fits me just fine. It's not as light as the more expensive bikes but it's not too heavy either (frame is aluminum). The swing-arm pivot joint is suspiciously large, perhaps to overcome a design weakness, but reassuringly strong-looking. At first I thought I would need a more comfortable seat but tilting it one click forward and raising it a bit did the trick. I can live with it for now. Adjust the seat post so that your knee is almost (but not quite) straight when the pedal is at the bottom of your stroke and the seat should be OK. I still may try a more comfy seat, some day.

The wheels on my bike were not quite true, and the linear-pull brakes wanted more advanced tweaking than I was comfortable doing (the return springs needed to be hand-bent for more tension), so I took mine to the local bicycle shop. Spokes were tensioned, wheels trued (tuned to spin perfectly straight, no wobble), and he adjusted the brakes to near perfection while giving the whole thing the once-over. $36. well spent.

On the road I was smiling. The suspension works pretty well and the bike shifts very nicely with no additional adjustments needed. Twist-click-shift. Brakes are more than adequate when properly adjusted. On pavement the knobby tires will sing to you at full speed and talk to you at slower speeds. If you go off road the knobbies will be welcome but if you ride only on pavement you might be happier with smoother tread tires.

I am delighted with the ability to go off-road and ride over most terrain, it's a blast. And I can now laugh at curbs, potholes, and pebbles that used to make me tremble with fear when riding a 10-speed racer with its skinny, vulnerable tires. I never dreamed of riding a 10-speed racer in the woods but now I look for trails to ride on off road, and this bike handles that just fine.

The poor manual is no biggie really. Even a good one would not help much more, really, since even a good one wouldn't cover everything in detail. Bikes are pretty generic in nature. If you want to do your own maintenance then buy a bicycle book with diagrams in it. A chain is a chain, and there are only a few different types of brakes and shifters. The book will show you how to do everything, but still have an expert tune your wheels for you. It probably will only have to be done once so why bother learning how?

If you want a mountain bike, but do not want the cheap kind (kid's bike, one-piece crank, cheap brakes) or the high-end (read: really expensive) kind, I can recommend this Kent Trail Machine model. I like mine a lot.

I got this bike to see if I could get back in to the good old sport of mountain biking. This bike was a good encouragement...but I had a few problems with it even after getting it tuned twice.

1) The brakes were never tight enough.

2) The chains were slipping off and hitting the wheels.

3) The wheels were out of line.

But all in all, for the price...I can't really complain...but I'll probably get a new bike as soon as this one falls apart even more.

The Bike came in a big cardboard box needs some assemblies. The Bike looks good but the owner's manual is lousy and needs to be improved. Some instructions and pictures in the owner's manual are irrelevant to the real installation. However, it is pretty easy to figure out how to put the modules together. The brake and gear adjustments are the only things that may need you to call the manufacturer, Kent International. Kent International provides nice phone service to help walk you through the assembly. I suggest that they modify the owner's manual with better pictures and clear writing about the installation procedure. Also suggest that they put the owner's manual in PDF in addition to the installation assistance videos on their website for customers to download. Overall, with the price and quality, I am satisfied with the product.

I just got back from the first ride. I took advice from other reviews. The first thing is the rear derailer. I replaced it right away with a lower end yet much better shimano one than it came with. Then there is the seat. It is not horrible, but was not very good either. Not friendly on the man parts if you know what I mean.. This was fixed by a gel seat cover on sale for $10. The front wheel was out of true fairly badly, so another $10 to true it. The back wheel was a tiny bit out of true, but not enough to worry about for now. I can tweak gears and brakes myself so I adjusted and tuned them perfectly, and it is not hard just have patience. The pedals are plastic but for commute riding, so what.. The bike is not light, yet not really heavy either. I road the bike for about 5 miles going around town, up and down hills and curbs, etc. The shifting worked well, and the suspension is adequate for an inexpensive bike. I am very happy for the price. The frame is nice and the components are as to be expected at a price like this. Those of you who wrote terrible reviews must look at the "you get what you pay for" factor. For a little more $ invested I tuned this into a great around town and light to medium trail riding. This is not for the mnt bike guru, but is better than paying way more at a bike shop. I would highly recommend it as long as you or a friend of yours can tinker with bikes a bit.

I found this item very good for the price. The assembly is not so difficult if you are the one from DIY world, and the machine is also well equipped. Before buying, I had worried about the stability of rear part due to the structure of the tail (the way the rear part is connected with the main triangle frame), however, after riding about 50 miles or so, there has been no trouble from that. I am willing to recommend this bike to the one that seek for a cheap and good bike with dual suspension.

After 6 months of use I have no problems with the two bikes that I have. You need to tighten all the nuts and bolts, even the ones that were not involved in the assembly.You need to tune the bike gears and brakes regularly.
I didn't need to buy any additional parts and am happy with the bikes performance.

This is one of the best buys on the market today. I has everything many bikes that cost $600 plus have and some extras.

Great bike! Came pretty much put together. Nothin for me to screw up anyway. Little small for me at 6'1" but put an old seat shaft on it and my handle bar ends and it rides great. Never had a bike with suspension befor, seems great for the money

Bike was easy to assemble with basic tools, minor adjustments to gears and breaks and I was riding it within two hours of shipment arrival. It is a bit heavy, but I live in south florida and there are no real "Mountains" to go mountain biking, so this is the perfect bike here. It is a very good looking bike, and after a month of riding it every other day I am completely satisfied with it.

I am using it from past 45 days,I ride daily 3 miles daily. its working perfect without any issue. initially I had little confusion about the gears due to lack of proper manual. but learn in few days how to use it. found that we need to change the gears by stopping peddling (but no need to stop bicycle). right hand side gear - high-default start from 1, in this gear we can peddle fast but bicycle moves slow - this gear is good for exercise. if you want to move fast then increase the gear. hope this helps.