Customer Reviews

Schwinn Coronado Women's Comfort Bike (26-Inch Wheels)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's been about a month since I purchased my Schwinn Coronado and I'm loving it. Due to the high price of gas I'm now riding my new Schwinn Coronado 14 miles back and forth to work on a light gravel bike trail (It's also very comfortable road performing bike). The bike was delivered to me packaged with care and with a total cost of less than $240 for the bike (which included the free shipping) how can you go wrong. So far, so good... I'm a happy Amazon / Schwinn customer.

I ordered the bike on Monday and requested the next day shipping offer, which stated the bike would arrive on Tuesday. It did not. It did come the next day. My husband was out of town, so I set out assemble it by myself. (I am an older lady with no special experience in assembling bicycles.) The bicycle appeared to be in good shape, no bent or scratched items and all the parts were there. However, the white reflector for the front and the red reflector for the back had already been attached and the attachments for both were broken. What took the longest was my digging through my husband's tool box trying to find something that would work since he did not have an allen wrench the right size. The instructions were written for a multitude of bicycles. It was a little confusing which instructions that I should use. It would have been helpful if they had included a sheet on my bike, just saying "This is the bike you have, this is what it has. When assembing the handle bars refer to Handle bar Instructions #1 B. When assembing the front wheel refer to Front Wheel Assembley instructions #3 A, etc." In reality you get an instruction book that says "To assemble the handle bars, do steps 1, 2 and 3. Just as you are processing those instructions, the next line reads "Some models have a so-in-so, in which case you have to do this-and-that." Which makes you have to evaluate your bike to determine just what you have and which instructions to use. This was the case with the handle bars, the seat, and the front wheel. At any rate, after getting it unpacked I was making my first trip arownd the yard in about and hour and a half. It seems very comfortable and was very easy to pedal, even accross the grass. It should be a breeze on a paved bike path, even for a little old lady who has not ridden a bicycle in over 40 years.

I found the bike easy to assemble, although the instructions were generic to various Schwinns. I had to provide the Allen wrenches necessary for the assembly. The brakes needed adjusting, but I was able to do that myself without much trouble at all. An attractive, comfortable bike that is a good weight and has handlebars that allow for a little more upright riding, more comfortable for the back. Only complaint is the comfort seat, which is not as comfy as the one on my husband's Schwinn.

Frame & wheels are alum. Spokes are steel (not stainless as on more expensive bikes). Keep it dry & so what! Seat/saddle suspension compliance is 40mm(not tested). Front suspension is very basic, but functional. Handlebar is steel (not stainless) and associated parts allow considerable adjustment. Supplied tires are 26 x 1.95", knobby MTB tread; I replaced with 26x1.4" slicks for street-only riding. Color in clear sun is light blue (as in photos), not light green (as in description). Welds look good; overall workmanship looks good (made in Shenzhen, China). Finish on some parts is not as glossy as highest quality parts but has no functional effect.

Includes quick-release seat tube clamp, quick-release front wheel, welded bosses for water bottle & rear rack, provisions to mount fenders (fenders not included). Standover height at the point where top tube joins the curved brace to the seat tube: 23.5" with no rider with supplied tires. Weight: Approx 33lbs. The gearing is somewhat low as this bike is advertised as a mountain bike, not a street bike. However, unless you are riding very level ground you probably won't find this to be a problem.

Some notes for newbies:
1. Read the supplied Owner's Manual completely; it's a decent intro to bikes and as good as is supplied with other modern bikes. You can get more info from books, the Internet, or a local bike shop. Try these sites from among many: [...]; [...]
2. Rolling friction (energy losses) is related to total weight of bike and rider, not the bike alone. More weight deforms the tire more where it meets the ground. Smaller dia tires & higher pressure can reduce losses--but there are tradeoffs.
3. Almost all new bikes use metric hardware; you'll need metric wrenches (hex/Allen and adjustable or metric open/box), Philips screwdriver, and pliers to assemble & adjust the bike. Also, cables stretch, brake pads wear, etc.--therefore readjustment is needed from time to time for all bikes. Don't neglect cleanliness and lubrication. A new bike is unlikely to be fully adjusted just after assembly from the box.
4. Most riders will not be able to stand when positioned atop a correctly adjusted seat. Seats should be adjusted in relation to the pedals, not the ground! (See the Internet sites noted for tips on adjusting seats.) When you must stand, slide forward off the seat or completely dismount.
5. Don't forget to record your bike's serial number from the underside of the pedals-cranks assembly.
6. Security: Any bike can be stolen, in pieces if the thief wants it badly enough. A strong lock system is a deterrent, not absolute protection.

Update: Left pedal bearing failed in less than 10 miles. Otherwise, all okay.

I've been enjoying this bike for about a month now. Well-made, light-weight and comfortable - great for the price I paid of 219.99 + free shipping. The assembly was not too bad considering I've never assembled or worked on a bike before. I was able to adjust the brakes and shifting fairly easily as well. The bike is also pretty to look at! I did end up changing the seat to something a bit more comfortable. But my daughter was happy to have the seat for her Schwinn.

Bought the woman's Schwinn Coronado for my wife. Checked on all sorts of comfort bikes (lots of brands, wide price range), and read lots of reviews (both good and suspect). The Schwinn seemed to be a safe reliable way to go, and my wife didn't want to spend a lot ... thank you, very much. And Amazon's pricing beat out others selling the identical bike. Didn't want a cruiser ... wanted the ability to change gears to ease that occasional ride up an incline ... besides, cruisers are trendy, and they seem overpriced to meet that trend.

Frame size fits my wife ... she's average height ... seems like lots of bikes are meant only for women 5'7" and taller. Quality, fit and finish seem more than reasonable for the price. Even though the assembly instructions are a bit cryptic, the bike was pretty easy to put together ... took me about an hour, not including the time it takes to unwrap and untape everything from a tightly packed box -- and most of that time was adjusting the brakes to engage evenly under even application, front and back. She likes it. I like that she likes it. I think we did OK on this one. Would I recommend it? Yup!!

I give 5 stars for the bicycle, which turned out to be very good. I would give 2 stars if I was factoring in the instructions, which were very frustrating. It took over an hour to complete the assembly which should have taken 15 minutes if the instructions were better written.

We already had an identical Schwinn bike for my wife when we decided to purchase another one for my 10 year old daughter for her birthday, who was already riding Mom's bike. We ordered this one on line thinking I would just put it together and away she would go. The two main problems we ran into were: the bike would not shift properly and the rear wheel "ticking" noise (when you are coasting on the bike) was unbelievably loud. It was so loud that my daughter was embaressed to ride the bike and was saying she wanted a new wheel. To address the shifting issue, I read through the manual and watched youtube videos to learn how to adjust the gears. The manual is pretty useless, its generic for a bunch of different bikes. The Schwinn website is of little help too. The bottom line is that it takes some level of talent and skill to properly adjust the gears, that I don't have. So I took it to a bike shop and had the gears adjusted for $20. I also had the bike shop look at the rear wheel and they indicated Shimano no longer made the "silent hub" for that bike. So I had them swap the rear wheel with the one on my wife's bike, which was very quiet ($10). I did contact the manufacturer and the seller - and they tried to be helpful, but you need a bike mechanic to address these issues. I later realized I could have purchased the equivalent bike from my local bike shop, not a big box sell everything store but a bike only shop, for about $30 to $40 more. But they would have assembled the bike and adjusted it properly, I would have had someone to take the bike to and explain the issues (instead of emails and phone calls) and I would have heard how loud the rear wheel was before purchasing. So for me, my lesson learned is to buy my next bike from my local bike shop.

I bought this bike as a gift for my daughter and she loves it. My son-in-law said it was easy to assemble. Daughter said it is easy to ride.

I hadn't been on a bike for 15 years when I bought the Schwinn Coronado. There are lots of things I enjoy about the bike, and I've had very few difficulties.

Pros:
- Easy assembly. My partner had the bike put together in less than an hour, which I think is very reasonable.

- Comfortable ride. I mainly ride on city bike trails, residential streets, and sidewalks. The bike rides smoothly in all of those situations. I've also taken the bike to rural areas and ridden on highway shoulders without trouble.

- Easy to modify. There's plenty of room on the handlebars for my headlamp and a bike computer. A water bottle cage also easily fit on the frame.

- Great height for tall women! I'm 5'10" and have long legs, and it can be difficult to find a bike that easily accommodates my long legs. The adjustable seat is great and extremely easy to use, and that helps a lot. The range of the pedals is also very reasonable--not too short like many bikes. This does mean that my foot occasionally hits the front tire, but I think that's happened twice in 2 months--and it's never caused a problem.

- Light weight. It's very easy to pick the bike up and carry it on the rare occasions when that's needed.

Cons:
- Difficult to remove the front wheel. I've removed the front wheel a few times now, and each time it takes much longer than it should. Disconnecting the brakes can be tricky, and the brakes always need to be re-adjusted when the front wheel is put back on. I've stopped traveling with the bike because it's too much of a hassle to take it apart and put it back together again.

- Leaky valves. The wheels on this bike are your standard factory wheels with plastic valves. Those valves leak, so I have to refill the tires every couple of weeks. It's pretty annoying, but easily fixed.

- Tricky gear shifting. I like that there are many gears, but I can only get three or four to work effectively. When I try the other gears, I get a horrible loud clicking noise and it sounds like the bike is about to fall apart into 20 pieces. I generally don't need to change gears, as I live in a very flat area, but I'll need to take it to a bike shop to have some adjustments made.

- Seat takes some getting used to. Like a foam bed, it takes about a month to break in the seat. It eventually softens up, though.

- Water bottle cage has limited space. Once the cage is installed, you need a pretty skinny water bottle. The bars on the body aren't round, and there's less space for the top of a water bottle as a result. I initially bought a taller 20 oz bottle, but it didn't fit at all. A 16 oz bottle fits better, but it's still a squeeze.