Customer Reviews

Pacific Exploit Boy's Mountain Bike (20-Inch Wheels)

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

 

 

I bought this bike for my son. I am an extremely experienced cyclist and bike mechanic, so the challenges I overcame with this weren't too serious for me. For example, the bike I received was missing a front axle nut. I replaced the entire axle with a hollow one and a quick release but you could imagine that kind of thing being a pain for a normal person. Some details weren't to my liking and I fixed them. I sawed off a bit off the seat post and a bit off the handlebar ends. This allows the seat post to be set as low as possible for my little rider. I'm no absurd hipster with the handlebar cutting, but having sensible shoulder width bars is always good and these were the normal too-big-for-an-adult mountain bike width. Definitely not ideal for a kid. The wheels were pretty true, but I still felt it necessary to true them up. One of the cable housing routings was about 20% too long and I cut that to the right size. Then it started to look like a bike I'd like to own if I was a kid. One minor problem is that the kickstand is really stiff. Could be worse. At least it's mounted well and it exists at all. On the other hand, the biggest problem with this bike for a young kid is that it is heavy. Very heavy. That frame and those forks are cheap by adding cheap metal. It's a strong bike, but it may be tough for a smaller kid to handle. My kid also had some trouble with the hand strength necessary to pull the brakes. Older kids probably will do fine.

This is a good bike and my 8 year old really likes it. However in hind sight I should have purchased from my local bike shop. Since I am not a bike mechanic and have no interest in becoming one, the money saved by ordering via Amazon was lost in getting the bike 'into production'. First, the bike arrived quickly and was hidden in the garage for assemble on Christmas Eve. That is the first flaw in my plan. Upon opening the box on Christmas Eve I found to my horror that it was missing one of the 'nuts' that holds the front wheel to the spokes. It was definetly not in the place, as the other three bolts were and a through search of the box (ripping it to shreds) did not render the missing bolt.

The instructions were extrremly generic applying to many many different makes and models of bikes and was useless in trying to help me assemble. So, unless you can assemble a bike without any useful instructions and have a shop full of extra bolts, I would avoid this approach.

Via hit and miss I was able to assemble it without and missing bolt and it was ready for Christmas morning. However it cost my $50 to take it to my local bike shop to have the missing bolt applied and to have my improper assembly corrected. Even after that, my son indicates that it shifts out of gear frequently. So I guess I am back to the bike store again.

This is one of those items I think is best left to local retailers who can service and support the products. However, it is a cool bike and he really likes it.

Very good looking bike -- and my son really likes it. But it took a while (and a fair amount of frustration) to put it together... There's got to be a better way.

When we got it the brakes were assembled upside down. The product is good, just expect to correct the assembly.

Purchased this for my grandson. The quality of this bike is sub-par. I was very disappointed with it. Upon arrival it had "scrapes" and dents....the shifting is rough and noisy. Sent this bike back.

we bought this bike and the same day the shiftier broke. the crank arm is to long for the size of bike. with the seat down my kid can just reach the ground but while ridding her knees hit her chest. they need to do more home work before building junk and breaking my kids heart when she cant ride here new bike.

I will update this in a positive way if Amazon makes this right...and soon.

I had this bike overnighted for a gift and, even though the box was fully intact, there was no manual and the frame is scratched. It is not altogether clear how to assemble it and at this point, determine whether anything is missing. This may be a fine bike...but, as of this moment, I am definitely NOT happy.

This is not what I've come to expect from my friends at Amazon.