Schwinn Katana Road Bike

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  Excellent Value Road Bike, July
28, 2010 By Kenneth R. Shapiro(Cedarhurst, Long Island)  This review is from:Schwinn Katana Road Bike (Sports)

This review is actually for the Schwinn Varsity 700C which I understand is rebranded as the Schwinn Katana 54 on Amazon (katana actually means "small" in hebrew and I suspect it is therefrom derived)
In my younger days I used to ride my bicylce everywhere. Alas, a few decades have passed and renewal of my bicycle riding seemed like an easy and fun way of exercising. I wanted a bicycle with a drop handlebar probably more for sentimental reasons than anything else. I quickly learned a few things; these drop handlebar bicycles are called road bikes and are expensive and seem to built for taller people. I am only 5'7" with an inseam of about 30".
The Schwinn Varsity was really the solution. It is reasonably priced and is a little smaller than most. The seat is adjustable without tools. However, to make it as low as possible, you have to (temporarily) remove the reflector.
I purchased this bike at Walmart which does not seem to stock these and must be ordered. Howver, when purchased on line and sent to a store, Walmart will assemble the bicycle free of charge (at least they did for me in Valley Stream NY).
The bicycle is very light and comfortable. The gears shift smoothly and the brakes are very good. In the beginning I was annoyed with the high position of brake lever and the lack of a side handle, but I have gotten used to it and its OK. There are fittings on the pedals which were very annoying so I removed them.
I have only driven it around 30 miles since I bought it, but so far I have no problems and everything works fine. The bicycle is comfortable for shorter people such as myself but may be too small for tall people (although the seat may be adjusted quite high). I would like to lower the handlebars a few inches to be at the same level as the seat, but I can not figure out how.

 

fantastic bike!, July 20, 2010 By staikyThis review is from:Schwinn Katana Road Bike (Sports) After reading through the specs and reviews for this bike I decided to buy it, especially that I was on a tight budget and the price was so appealing for what was offered. It was delivered by FedEx super fast(I ordered it on Sunday and the package came Wednesday morning) and costed only 28$. Although assembling the bike looked easy I decided to take it to a LBS to get is set up and tuned professionally. I was very happy when I finally got the bike and started riding it. Pedaling this bike feels like pedaling an expensive over a thousand dollar bike.


Here are some minor complaints:
1) definitely not a 19 lb bike like some people commented, but light enough for a racing road bike (but this is expected as the really light aero-frame bikes typically cost over 2000$ even when on sale);
2) the freewheel is making some noise sometimes when I am pedaling on certain gears ... the LBS technician told me that it could be the defective freewheel that makes the noise. It doesn't bother too much, so I decided to leave it on. It costs only 15$-30$ for the new similar kind of freewheel and I will have it replaced in the near future as I plan to upgrade to a 11-28T freewheel.
3) the gear levers are located on the handlebar next to the stem and not on the brake levers, which is a bit inconvenient if you like to switch the gears often. Also this makes it not much room to place a bike computer and a light, but I managed to place both on the handlebar after moving the shifters as far on the sides as I could.
4) brakes are not very good and don't feel secure when you go fast and want to emergency stop. I advise to switch to good brakes for this bike if you plan on riding at high speeds and/or if you plan to bike in the city.
5) the rear wheel tire (when inflated to a standard 100 PSI) comes about a millimeter or 2 away from the frame, which makes it touch the frame if the wheel becomes slightly untrued vertically. This problem can be easily fixed by switching to a different (lower hight) tires (the original tires are pretty high).

other than these I love everything on the bike.

Overall, the small problems 2, 4 and 5 can be solved by upgrading and adjusting some bike components, which will be a tiny fraction of the bike price/value that you will get in the end. When you buy a road bike, you usually pay around 80% of the cost for the frame and the wheels. Both of these are superb on this bike. The other components can be easily replaced if needed. You can find all of them here on Amazon.

I have put almost 400 miles on it since I got it and didn't experienced any problems at all. I suggest to put lime into the
tubes or to buy the tubes, to avoid flat tires often. I am very satisfied with my purchase, and surprised at the price tag for this bike being only 320$, which is like giving it away for free. I owned an 850$ road bike before that I bought on a 60% off sale, and to tell the truth I like this one (Schwinn Katana) better.