Right away I noticed the dropper post remote wasn’t working. It turns out the cable and housing weren’t long enough. So, I installed a fresh cable and longer housing and also flipped the direction of the cable so it could be clamped at the lever instead of using the included barrel nut at the post. It’s a pleasant surprise to find the bike not only ships with a one-by-style schwinn mountain bicycles dropper remote, but that the cable can be pinched at the lever for easier installation. 1949-Schwinn first started becoming mainstream with the Black Phantom, Tank Cruiser, which could be recognized by its balloon tires. Schwinn’s complacency resulted in them being forced to file for bankruptcy in 1993, and in 2001, Pacific Cycle purchased the Schwinn brand.
The 21-speed rear derailleur helps you shift gears as soon as necessary, and the front suspension fork offers a smooth ride, even over bumpy surfaces. The Schwinn Mountain Bike Protocol 1.0 also features front and mongoose excursion rear mechanical disc brakes, providing crisp all-condition stopping, ensuring your safety while enjoying your ride. The light and strong alloy rims support knobby mountain tires for durable everyday riding.
I noticed you did not install the “required” reflectors, so why not remove the kickstand and save a little weight and reduce one of the noise makers? Also, not sure they make them for this application, but I have had good luck with discobrakes brake pads working better with mechanical disk brakes as a cheap upgrade. Of course I have pushed the bike through some rocky, rooty trails at speed, and no, it hasn’t fallen apart.
The company’s wide range of mountain bikes is designed with every type of cyclist in mind. Twenty-niner wheels, one-by drivetrains, and dropper posts were once just for in-the-know riders. Now, the entry-level and budget-friendly Schwinn Axum delivers all of this, plus a surprise or two beyond the official spec sheet.
Another great feature of the Schwinn Mountain Bike S29 Men’s is the 21-speed shifters with derailleurs. These allow you to choose from a wide range of gears, so you can easily adjust your speed and power to match the terrain. The elliptical chainrings are designed to make it easier to peddle in a higher gear so you can supply more power to the rear wheel and ride more efficiently. Due to the elliptical shape, the radius of the Biopace chainrings changes as you peddle. This effectively changes the gear ratio as you peddle. When the smaller radius section engages with the chain, pedaling becomes easier.
The Chromoly steel frame, in particular, is of excellent quality. Besides the suspension types mentioned, each bike is tailor-fitted with features, such as frame sizes, wheel diameters, and brake style. Schwinn mountain bikes are probably some of the best entry-level bikes.
There’s also a nut or something inside my test frame that rattles and rolls like a penny in a jar whenever the bike is moved. Everything on the bike appears to be secure, so perhaps it’s just an extra part or some welding slag that ended up inside the frame. My test bike arrived in a shipping box almost fully assembled. I only needed to attach the front wheel and handlebars, and screw on a set of pedals. This can be a deterrent for some consumers, but it is important to remember that you get what you pay for. Schwinn bikes are a quality product that is worth the investment.
Nishiki and Schwinn offer two very different approaches. Nishiki bikes tend to have more basic suspension systems, often with a single shock absorber in the rear. This can make it harder for taller or shorter riders to find a Schwinn bike that’s the right fit.
Newer riders, and those who stick to the bike’s intended purpose may not run into this, but faster, more experienced riders will definitely find that the bike is scary loud. Even with the seat post pulled to its minimum insertion point, the saddle is too low for my tastes, so I would suggest taking the 6’2″ maximum rider height as a hard limit. The seat height issue could be solved with a longer post, and I would look for a dropper with more than the included 125mm of travel. The 720mm-wide handlebars also make for a tight fit for taller riders. Schwinn bikes are of higher quality and made to last longer than Walmart bikes.
I have interviewed multiple tire and rim manufacturers, and they’re all stoked about the benefits they find with tubeless setups. So, while you can use a tube in modern tires, their design intent is tubeless-first. As you mentioned, the choice to tube that tubeless-first tire or not is all yours.