Stowabike 26" Folding Dual Suspension Mountain Bike 18 Speed Shimano Bicycle

Stowabike 26" Folding Dual Suspension Mountain Bike 18 Speed Shimano Bicycle

CUSTOMER REVIEW



After a few days, I'm perfectly happy with this bike. I was hesitant to choose this one over the other 26" folding bikes because it lacked any reviews, so here is my review :)



The Good: It's a perfectly functional folding bike with 18 speeds and full-size wheels. It was the only option at the time that had full size wheels and more than 6 speeds, in this price range ($200 shipped), so that is a definite plus. It also has rear shocks which is nice, though I don't know if I'll make any use of them. I consider myself to be a novice at bicycles, but everything was pretty self-explanatory and I made it work with no trouble, which is important because the instructions were minimal; the only things you need to assemble are to attach the front wheel, the seat post, the handlebars post, and the pedals (to their arms), which were all simple. All my accessories from my old bike fit onto this one just fine too (luggage rack, fender, seat).



The Bad: The manual is sparse, and what illustrations it has are clearly for a different bike. Expect to use your noggin when assembling this. One part of the bike was damaged, probably during shipping. It was the lip of the part where the handlebar unit slides into the frame, and the damage made attaching the handlebars impossible. Fortunately it was just the collar that was damaged, not the frame itself, and my local used bike store had a bin full of them, and I was able to get a matching replacement at no cost (shout out: recycled cycles on boat st, seattle). Now everything works fine. The wheels are not quick-release, which surprised me, but the seat and folding mechanism are.



Edit: 6 months later, I still use this bike as my daily commuter. The mechanics of the bike are solidly "average." I expected a budget unit and that's what it is. It's not going to win any races. After 6 months, I needed to take it in for repairs. They trued the wheels, replaced the brake pads (which was necessary after riding on slightly off-center wheels for 6 months) and brake cables, and did something about the crank axle and steering tube. In the 5th month or so, it started to get this feeling like the pedals might fall off any minute. After these repairs, it feels like day 1 again, but not like a really "good" bike. I agree with Brian's review, you will want to adjust _everything_ on this bike out of the box, so be prepared for that.