Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful.
By RenDev
I bought this as a Christmas gift. If you're at all handy and have a couple of wrenches (including Allen), assembling it is easy. Seems to be well designed and well made. I was skeptical about ordering a bike and having it shipped, but it arrived in perfect shape thanks to Amazon and UPS. Not a tear in the box or scratch on the bike.
Back to assembly, the frame, rear wheel, chain, and shifters are done out of the box. The handlebar must be installed, which is especially easy since the shifters are already on and (very) well adjusted with no tweaking required. Besides that, install the front wheel, hook up the brake cables and adjust, install the seat and pedals--and you're good to go.
Frame and welds are very well done. The included Shimano components are pretty good, though of course not top of the line at this price.
So far so good,right? Here are the downsides. While Diamonback did well sourcing the Shimano components, others are medioc re, such as the wheel bearings, pedals, crankset bearings, and shock absorbing fork. Diamondback could have included better versions of these and still make a good profit. The 'meh' components should be fine for casual use but I don't think they'll last if you're hard on the bike. (If that's your intent, you're probably already checking out more expensive bikes.)
Other downside? It's a bit porky weight-wise. My 10-year-old, larger-framed Specialized HardRock is comparably equipped with better components but feels about 5 lbs lighter.
Is the Diamondback made in China? Yes.
If you want a good bike at a decent price--that's better than most of the junk at Walmart, you'll likely be pleased with the Sorrento.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
By Chico Muerto
I got this bike to tow my kid around on a bike trailer, and not have to use my full suspension bike, which is overkill. Overall, it was easy to assemble. The shifters worked perfectly as is, and the brakes definitely needed adjustments. Make sure you tighten the 2 stem screws so the handlebar doesn't move. I didn't look at the assembly instructions beforehand, checked it afterwards to make sure I didn't miss anything. The frame, brakes, and deraillers all look good and adequate for my use. A few things need to be improved, first the front forks. They say they have 60 mm( 2.36 inches) travel, but I have yet to see them move more than a half inch. Maybe over time they will soften up, since you cannot adjust these shocks. Got rid of the pedals, they are worthless. They barely turned, rode the bike once, and got better ones. Much easier to pedal. For the price, I think this a good deal!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
By Shashank Dabral
This is a good mountain bike and was available in 'Sports Authority' for around 250 USD. Not only is it much cheaper, you also get an assembled and tuned bike, so there's definitely lesser work required there.
This isn't the top end of the biking pyramid but perhaps one of the best ones out there under the $250 price range. This bike is more suited for a mix of gentle unpaved and paved trails along with some city riding rather than full fledged hard core mountain biking. I prefer this over a hybrid bike since the bigger tires are more resilient (towards damage) and provide some amount of shock absorbing capacity. I also wouldn't want to risk a hybrid on unpaved trails and the country side.
A brief summary of my opinion follows:
a) The seat: It's really hard and it's impossible to ride this bike for more than a few minutes without a good seat cover or a replacement seat. I prefer using one of those gel based seat covers.
b) Brakes: There are no disc brakes on this bike but the standard brakes are adequate. They do tend to make a little bit of a squeaky sound after getting wet. I think it can be fixed by oiling the brakes.
c) Shock absorbers. They are rather basic and not the best in the category. I ride mostly paved trails and even in those I can sometimes feel a jarring shock when there is gap between 2 concrete blocks in the trail. This is one of the areas where this bike can improve on, however at the price range, I wouldn't complain too much.
d) Drive train: Standard shimano 21 gears. The gear transition is smooth although I do have a problem of the chain slipping from the sprocket when I move the front derailleurs. I think it's more of a tuning issue rather than a flaw with the bike. I did take it back to 'Sports Authority' for a re-tuneup, however it never really solved the problem.
e) Construction quality: Overall the bike has good and sturdy construction. I did end up wi th a nasty fall once, however there wasn't much damage on the bike. I could still ride it back home, though the rear derailleurs got slightly bent; Nothing which the service guys at 'Sports Authority' were not able to easily fix.
I use the following accessories for a better riding experience:
a) McDavid Hexpad Knee Or Elbow: It's a good knee pad, provides both support and protection against falls. I wish I had one on before I had the nasty fall.
b) Finish Line DRY Teflon Bicycle Chain Lube, 4-Ounce Drip Squeeze Bottle: A good chain lube for keeping the bike in shape.
c) Bell Dawn Patrol LED Headlight: A good and versatile headlight for basic night driving.
d) Schwinn Thrasher Adult Micro Bicycle black/grey Helmet (Adult): Probably the most important accessory, I wouldn't advice anyone to go out of the house without this.
e) Profile Design Boxer Bar End: Great handle bar ends, makes it much easier to ride with out the excessive strain on your back.
f) Bicycle Bike Cycling Roswheel Frame Pannier Bag Front Tube Bag Phone Cell 100g Silver: A good bag which attaches to the frame. Comes in handy for storing a wallet, energy bars and most importantly a smartphone for tracking your progress.
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