Customer Reviews

Pacific Havoc Men's 26-Inch Dual Suspension Mountain Bike

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

 

 

I have had two of these bikes (Pacific Cycle Havoc Men's 26-Inch Dual Suspension). The first was returned defective after the rear tire separated from the rim and blew out (fortunately I wasn't on the bike when the tire blew, having noticed that the tire looked odd and brakes rubbed, so no one was hurt). The second bike I still own.

Construction-this appears to be a solid bike. It's certainly not light (I had to carry it a ways after the tire failure).

Suspension-I like the suspension, but had not ridden a bike with a spring suspension before, so my experience is limited. After I go over a bump, the suspension bounces me up and down a bit.

Ride-the bike moves smoothly and the 18 speeds seem to be enough. The right shifter has 6 numbered spots and works well since I adjusted the rear derailleur a bit closer to the wheel. The left shifter just has areas marked H, M, and L, and once in a while I have to adjust it after shifting with the right.

Manual-the manual has lots of information on assembly/adjustment, and is easy to read. A single manual applies to many models so it took me a while to figure out which section about the brakes applied to my bike. Manuals are available online.

Support-I called their support and waited on hold for a few minutes, then spoke to a person who communicated well and seemed to know what they were doing.

The only problems I have had are the flat tire mentioned above, and one problem with the chain--I was shifting upward with the left shifter and the chain came off the gear. I was able to get it back on fairly easily.

Edit--I had problems with the rear tire and with shifting on the second bike, so ended up returning it as well.

Im no expert in the field of bikes but after receiving the Pacific Havoc and spending approximately 3 hours to get it working well, i realised that these kinds of dual suspension mountain bikes just arent worth it.

Just get a regular mountain bike without the suspensions because that will be a lot easier to assemble and use.
If you intend to go on trails, then a regular mountain bike withouth all the suspensions everywhere will definitely do the job well. On the other hand, if you are hard pressed about suspension, just get a mountain bike with suspension on the front tire fork. you really DONT need it anywhere else.

With that said, onto the bike. It took me a rather long time to get it completely assembled and in good working order (3 hours). That was partially because the manual can be somewhat vague at times and for someone who hasnt put a bike together before ("minor assembly") it can become quite frustrating especially when you get to tweaking the gears, brakes and stuff. Oh joy.

The frame will probably last longer than you will, definitely. Its built solid and from the look and feel of it, its not going to break anytime soon.

The rear suspension makes this bike very bouncy and that gets very annoying after a while. The tension on the rear suspension spring can be adjusted to make it less or more bouncy but i havent tried it yet. The seat could be a lot more comfortable and a bit bigger, not to mention that after a while, it hurt my...stuff...a bit.

Im 6' 4" with an athletic build and i felt that the handlebars were a little small in length and not as straight as i would have liked.

The Gear shifters do seem to be a little hard to twist when it comes to the end gears.

The cables that take care of the front, back gears and the back brakes (3 in all) are visible on the main horizontal bar on the frame. Its better if they are under the bar and covered rather than over the bar and uncovered.

There is no place to put a water bottle or a hand held pump on the frame because of the frame and the general design of dual suspension mountain bikes.

What i do like about the bike is that it does come with a number of pre placed reflectors that can be easily removed.
The tires also spin VERY smooth...a little too fluid-y for my liking.

The seat can also be easily adjusted and doesnt require a screwdriver.

if i had to buy another bike i would definitely suck it up and go to walmart and sit on a couple of bikes and get the feel of a bike BEFORE i buy it. If i had more money, i would go straight to a bike shop and have them help me pick out a bike.

A FEW DAYS LATER

I have tried near everything to tweak this bike to get it to hit the high gear on the front and the lowest gear ont he back but no amount of tweaking seems to make it work indefinitely.

i would suggest you get it to a bike shop and have them assemble it for you.

If you are buying a bike just to ride down the street , to the grocery store, or for short rides with your kids, this bike STILL would not fit the bill. Taking it out on the trail would be dangerous; the frame is cheap and heavy with sloppy welds, the components are terrible, the cranks are undersized for any adult, and the shocks may as well be pogo sticks.

I do not own this bike, nor have I ridden this one. I saw it in a department store. So how am I qualified to rate this product? In the past I have been employed as a bike assembler. For two separate companies I have assembled and repaired perhaps 15,000 or more bicycles, most of which were the department store variety, I'm sad to say. There are a few that were good buys for the money, most would be a disappointment for anyone who would like to use it for actual trail riding.

A note about Pacific bicycles: This is the company that a few years ago bought Schwinn bicycles, a proud maker of quality products for years before we were born. Soon after they bought Schwinn, quality plummeted, and their reputation will never recover even though they no longer own Schwinn. Pacific also did the same thing with GT bicycles.

I came across this listing purely by chance on a search, and could not get past it without submitting a review. I own two very high end bikes which I've assembled from the frame up and maintained myself. I don't expect everyone to spend the kind of money I have, it is my opinion that this bike, and others in this price range mislead the buyer into thinking that they are mountain bikes. They are not. They have flashy paint jobs and look similar to the quality one would find in a bike shop or sporting goods store.

I hope that someone in the market for a bike will read this review and be dissuaded from purchasing a poor product like this. I know that a bike from a shop will be more money, but the quality will be better, the assembly and set up will be better than a kid from Wal-Mart by far, and they will do their best to fit you to the bike and stand behind the product. By the way, I do not currently work for a bike shop, so this isn't a plug for bike shops in general. Well, that's enough ranting; ride safely.

This bike is easy enough to assemble. Even my wife assembled her own. You'll need the right tools, but a car toolbox should work fine.

The bike is heavy though, as it is steel and not aluminum or fancy carbon fiber. You feel the mass while riding. This bike has proven quite nice for track riding or light dirt roads. I haven't taken it for real mountain biking and considering its weight, I'm not sure i would (40+ lbs).

The suspension feels a bit weird (there is an almost constant bob up and down, but it smoothens the bumps effectively), but it may just be my opinion.

Not the greatest bike around, but the cheap price makes this item easy to get and remorseless to use. Since we got our bikes, we have been more active and that is priceless ;) (or definitely very cheap in this case).

On assembling this product I was faced with the fact that the seat could not fit unto the bike as the shaft to attach it was too small and thus the screw could not be tightened. Further the gear assembly was broken and thus I am stuck with a bike without a seat and unworkable gears. I will have to spend other sums of money to get it workable. Amazon's quality control in the products it sells comes into question.

These bikes have many issues-

1.The seat clamp snaps esily-poor quality-needs a stronger clamp-

2.The tube is too thin/short-should be 2 inch longer

3.The pedals are plastic not steel-slipery-

4.The crank is poor quality-not strong enough-Especially going up hill-

5.The front shocks are poor/cheap-not absorbing anything-

6.Aluminium rims and spokes-not steel

7.Cheap rubber

8.Heavy frame

9.The rear hup is crap and the bearings are going bed after a few months-needs a new wheel-

10.Slippery chain-rusts easily-

11.Plastic guard-not needed-

12.Rear wheel woobles from side to side-

13.The cassette should be chrome not steel-

14.It needs 26 speed for such a heavy frame-

15.U will end up keeping the frame and the rest in the dumpster-

16.The rear derallieur needs to be protected by a steel cage-it bends easily falling off the bike-

17.Korean/Chinese made rubber-expect flats most of the time-

Overall-its always some kind of problems with these bikes :

One particular bike might have steel rims but plastic pedals

Another one might have 21 speed but a short/thin tube-can't extend the legs fully-

One might have disc brakes in the front and a poor crank-