Most Helpful Customer Reviews
58 of 62 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Value!, January 15, 2007
This review is from: Schwinn Katana Road Bike (Sports)
I got this bicycle for Christmas and was extremely delighted with it. I have been riding bicycles regularly since college (I attended an urban college where everyone rode bikes and few had cars) and put several thousand miles on my last Schwinn. I've owned many bikes and had many of them stolen while secured, so I don't care to throw away nearly a thousand dollars (or several thousand) on a bicycle. I don't comprehend the added value that a several thousand dollar bike would offer.
This bike was fairly easy to assemble but the front brake isn't very intuitive so I took it to a local bike shop for periodic maintenance and adjustment. The Katana is very well engineered, lightweight, and has lots of great extras typical of a bike costing more. It is really gorgeous with the gunmetal and blue finish and the wheels look fantastic. The bike arrived in the box and had no shipping damage at all.
If you want a great quality bike for the price, consider this one seriously. I got the 54cm frame size (most bikes don't have size options) which fits me perfectly (5'10" with 32 inseam).
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great bike, October 24, 2007
This review is from: Schwinn Katana Road Bike (Sports)
I like to run triathlons but am in college and didn't have a lot of money to spend on a bike. I was a little leery at first because as far a road bikes go this is very inexpensive and there were not many specs available. As soon as i got it I replaced the pedals with clipless and installed a set of areo bars. I am 5'7" an have a 31 in inseam and the 54cm model fits me almost perfect.
I bought the bike about 4 months ago and have put over 1000 miles on it and used it in several triathlons. Set up was easy and i was riding the bike in under an hour. It rolls smooth, climbs hills easily, and is stable at high speeds (50+mph) After the initial break in period you may want to take it to a bike shop and have it tuned up to keep everything working smoothly. For the money you can't beat this bike and after a few upgrades it will turn into a real speed machine competitive with bikes costing over $1000 dollars.
Some added specs on the bike are.
53-34t crankset
28-14t casset
24 spoke areo wheel set
lever shifters located next to the stem(not grip shift or integrated with the breaks)
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nice bike for the price!, May 18, 2007
This review is from: Schwinn Katana Road Bike (Sports)
All right, I finally purchased this bike even though I could not find ANY information on it other than on Amazon. It certainly appears that the only place this bike can be purchased is on Amazon (which unfortunately leaves a bit to be desired in the spec information department!).
The bike itself was very easy to assemble, and I've never assembled a bike before. However, it appears that one of the screws that holds the front brake wire onto the front brake lever was lost during shipping. I'll have to purchase a replacement screw but I'm am guessing the cost will be minimal. Overall, the bike took me less than 1/2 hour to assemble.
The components on the bike appear very solid, all Shimano and TruVativ. The brakes and deraileurs needed a little tweaking but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out. The tires are very nice and the spokes are sharp in appearance (the spokes are black, but appeared chrome in the picture). The nozzles for the tires are standard (not those little unscrew-type nozzles that drive me crazy). The pedals are standard and do not support SPD clipless footware. If you want clipless pedals, you'll need to purchase them separate. The seat is very comfortable and angle-adjustable. Shifting is smooth. The graphics and paint are very well-done with no removable decals. The bike does not come with a kick-stand, though one is shown in the picture.
I know a couple of people in the specs section said the bike weighs 22 lbs. I purchased the 54cm model and whether I'm weighing the bike on its own or deducting my weight when holding the bike, I'm coming up with just about 24 lbs. Still not too bad for a lower-priced road bike. I'm planning on replacing the pedals with clipless, which I expect will reduce the weight a bit further.
Shipping was very fast, even with the free shipping. Ordered on Sunday, received on Friday.
The only reason I'm going with four stars instead of five is the missing screw I have to replace.
Overall, I am very happy with this bike and glad I purchased it. It was well worth the $300 I paid for it. The quality of components and light weight rival bikes at twice the price. I'm not sure how Amazon managed to corner the ENTIRE market for this bike but more power to them!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
2115|R11H2136NRG41V;2115|R2WO9V483NWWY7;2115|RTBEVF23DFUKF;
|