Good for learning about bicycles…. … because you have to learn all about them to get Pacific Grays Peak Mens Dual-Suspension Mountain Bike working.
Shipping was fairly fast, taking a couple weeks to get to my semi-minor town.
Firstly I notice the tires were twisted funny on the wheels. Very cheap. I had to adjust the tires to get everything roughly symmetrical while gradually putting air in. This took half an hour.
From here I followed the instructions and put on the front tire, seat and handlebars. No problems here. Took another half hour because I’d never done it before. Well, just be sure to tighten the handlebars REALLY well. I fell the first rut I hit because I lost my steering.
The next unofficial thing needed is truing the wheels while gradually tightening the brakes. The included instructions make no mention of how to do this, and you’ll have to find out via google. I found it’s important to adjust the brakes while truing, or else you’ll go nuts trying to figure out why the brakes don’t work right. I lost probably 3 hours on this.
Next goes on to derailleur adjustment… this is where my nightmare truly began. The instructions tell you what to do, but leave out a critical step: NOTICE THE ORIENTATION OF THE ADJUSTMENT WIRES AND FLIP THEM AROUND AS NECESSARY TO MAKE SHIFTING EASIER!! I found I couldn’t operate the front shifter at all with all the strength I had. Then I just unbolted the adjustment wire and spun it around the other way on the bolt. Suddenly shifting took less than half the oomph of before! Too bad the derailleur actually BENT in this experience. I torqued the shifter so hard it ripped and bent a metal part. I emailled the company and they got me a new one in a couple weeks.
Then I realized I couldn’t install the new derailleur without using a chain tool to temporarily break the chain — a tool I did not have. So I ordered a $20 tool to do the job. That was another week of delay. I think I spent upwards of 8 hours just on the derailleurs.
So over approximately 5 weeks and 12 hours of active effort, I now have a finished bicycle I don’t really trust so much. If I hit a bump or shift gears fast, the chain pops right off. But hey, at least it was cheap and looks nice. I do like the shock system too — it is a fairly cushioned ride.
Great price but falls apart.. If you want a cheap bike to just get you around every once and awhile this is a good bike. When it comes you must assemble the front wheel, handle bars, pedals and seat, and pump up the bike tires. The assembly was fairly easy but the brakes on the bike and wheel alignment are very off. The tires are fairly crooked and the brakes are very difficult to adjust, even the bike shop couldn’t do it. The handle bar comes loose in two areas and I’m afraid one time I’ll pull the handle bar out when driving in the street. It’s not a bad bike to get you somewhere for cheap.
It is what it is….. A cheap bike. Let me just say I have taken this bike out on 15 rides the first was a fairly light bike trail and it did ok. The 10+ rides after the first, consisted of street riding and bike trail riding. It handled fair for that. Took it out to the local nature preserve and by the time I was through I wanted to through it into the gulley. This bike is not made to handle offroad. It’s definiteley not designed with street in mind either. So that brings me to the conclussion that this is a complete waste of time and money.
I did not buy this bike, I earned it through a program for selling insurance and bought it with my earned miles. I am no pro but I do know how to work on a bike. There is no reason to buy this bike. The suspension bottoms out on 70%-90% of the terrain you will find, even on fire roads. The brakes are no good. I adjusted them as I would any other bike and they worked for about 5 minutes before going back to exactly how they were before I adjusted. It was at the worst time too. Going down a steep hill hit the brakes full and took about 10-20 seconds before I slowed down to a speed where I could put my foot down. Next is the pedal, I have logged over 5,000 miles on previous bikes owned and the pedal broke off within 20 miles on this bike.
Being that this bike is equipped with a dual suspension you would think you can take it into some tough terrain. That is not the case. The only place I would ride this is on the street but then again that is not recommended because the brakes are very sketchy. It looks good but clearly this bike blows. I’m going to sell mine on craigslist for $20! Poor guy that buys it is going to save $80 just to pay hundreds in health insurance cost.
TO THE GUY THAT SAYS A FEW MINOR ADJUSTMENTS AND ITS GOOD: NO NO NO! You either work for Grays Peak or you have yet to take this on a hill. It falls apart, it breaks, it looks good, and the brakes do not work.