Specifications:
Aluminum road frame and fork
Schwinn road bend bar and stem
Shimano A050 seven-speed shifters
Promax dual-pivot caliper brakes
Alloy road crank
Aero 36 spoke alloy wheels
Radial-laced front toe clips and straps
Assembly required
Customer feedback:
1. The Schwinn Prelude is a lot of bike for $199. The wheel hubs are aluminum (not stamped steel) so the bearings will stay tight and roll smooth with little or no maintenance. The cranks are aluminum, with replaceable chainrings. The rims are aluminum, in the international standard 700c size (not the old 27" size). The frame is aluminum, just like more expensive road bikes. Aluminum parts are lightweight, do not rust and should provide many years of trouble-free service. Those are all "must have" features. The 14-speed (7 x 2) thumb shifters are simple to operate while keeping your hands on the bars. The Shimano Tourney derailleurs should provide years of trouble-free service.
2. At just under 28 pounds it is 10 pounds heavier than a $4000 bike. Of course it is only a pound or 2 heavier than a $500 bike. And I argue that anyone riding an entry level bike has that on their own midsection anyway. If you are new to cycling you can get this and ride for a year before investing the big bucks while you decide if you like cycling and what you like and don't like about a bike. I have put 300 HARD miles on it. I bought it to train for my come back into triathlons (My last tri was in '87) but I have wound up using it as my daily driver pulling my 2 daughters in the bike trailer 280 of the 300 miles. I store it the garage but it has been aloud to get wet frequently on rides. The dérailleurs have begun to rust as a result of wet conditions.
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