Mellat news blog

Excellent bike for the price. I read many reviews about this bike and other bikes. For the price, one couldn’t go wrong. From ordering to assembling the bike, I haven’t had a complaint. I did however, have a missing seat quick release, and when I contacted the CSR, she was most helpful and even got a laugh when I told her the seat wouldn’t stay in place. I have since received the missing part, and am able to ride without the threat of getting literally turned around. With that said, I do have two issues with the bike. First, as previously stated in several reviews, the seat is not comfortable. GET A GEL SEAT, or at least a cover. It is a very nice looking seat, but after the first week of riding 8 miles round trip to work, I was saddle sore. Secondly, the shifting is only so-so. I have had at least two times where the chain wouldn’t go into the gear, and I had to flip gears around. This is a light weight, very smooth bike. I look forward to many more rides on the Volare.

Solid bike for the money. Overall, I am satisfied with the bike. I would also recommend Schwinn Volare 700C Flat Bar Mens Road Bike others. Many of my follow-on comments here appear on other bike reviews, but are worth heeding. To judge how similar you are to me, I was looking for a relatively inexpensive bike that I could use to commute to work when desired (10 miles each way) in the DC metro area. I also wanted a bike for sidewalk/street use to tote my children around (pulling a trailer). The bike works great for those tasks. I am not a fitness nut, and haven’t regularly exercised for a few years due to “life” (job, kids, laziness, etc…) but with a job change wanted to ease into exercising again while minimizing time lost from work or family. My bicycling experience goes no further than my first driver’s license. I wanted to learn the basics in biking (minor maintenance, normal riding, etc…), not train for an iron man.

The little bit of assembly required is simple enough for those that aren’t scared of mechanical objects – but be warned – some patience and learning is required (as with any bike not from a bike shop). I embraced that and have enjoyed the learning. Also be warned that there will be small additional costs which I will detail shortly, but realistically, some are completely unavoidable regardless of bike in this price range. This is because it is an inexpensive bike made with some inexpensive parts. My additional costs included a new bike seat that wasn’t like a wooden board on my behind, different tire inner-tubes, and better rim tape (most of this I never knew existed a short time ago). The new bike seat was a huge difference. The stock rim tape failed early and would not allow the tire’s inner-tubes to get full pressure without catastrophically popping (part of my “learning”). Remember, some of the more benign stock parts are also cheap. Bike seat: <$15. Rim tape from local bike shop: <$3. Inner tubes: ~$5.

The bike is lighter than I imagined and rides great after some tweaking. Then again, within reason, I didn’t need to spend extra dollars here and there to save a few ounces of weight. This was for leisure riding and exercise, afterall. Will the gear shifter and brakes need some tuning? Probably. Either your local bike shop can do it, or hop on the web and find out how to do it yourself. An allen wrench and/or screwdriver is all it takes. After a few rides and some tweaking, everything seems perfect.

For size: I am 5′10″ and I have the seat up fairly high. The bike frame seems to be on the slightly smaller side, but please note that I have no expertise or reference in this regard. That said, I feel like it fits me just fine. Michael Jordan would probably not fit so well.

The bike looks sharp and rides well with just a little bit of effort, and has otherwise been a joy. With gas prices the way they are, honestly, this bike will have paid for itself within a few months – not to mention meeting my goals of bike education and exercise. Will I upgrade? Maybe in a while. But for now, this bike is more than adequate and I am rather happy with the purchase and the time I spend both on it and with it.

Great Bike for $250 (Not so sure anymore). UPDATE 8/16…

I’ve had this bike now for a month or so and have put around 60-70 miles on it and have to say it is really a 3 star, maybe even 2. I have had alot of flats, even after changing the rim tape and putting on new tires. The threads where the pedal connects to the crank stripped out when doing a 30 mile ride, the threads just broke off, which made the pedal wobble and break. I’ve now had to replace the crank which I should get on Monday. It really seems like I’m spending more time working on this bike than I am riding it. I really recommend that you buy a used bike if you’re new to riding and looking to see if your interested or go out and buy a quality bike from your Local Bike Shop as this one really can try your patience with all the repairs you have to do. I haven’t had a ride yet witout a flat.

Anyway, don’t get it get a used one or a really good new one.

Let me start with the Pros:

- Light weight

- 700c Tires (great for road riding)

- Good colors and paint

- Easy to assemble

- Great parts for price range

Cons: Not so many, but I’ve only had the bike a few days and haven’t gone on any long rides yet.

- Very hard seat (Cheap and easy to fix)

- Assembly of drive train not the best. (for leisure riding it’s ok, but I would recommend you either take the bike to a Bike Shop for tuning or learn to do it yourself and tune the deraillers (and brakes) before any long rides) Keep in mind, I mean the assembly as to how they are put on the bike, not the quality of the parts.

Thats really all I’ve noticed so far.

You can use this link if you want to learn how to work on bikes it will help you get this one setup correctly. http://bicycletutor.com

I think this bike is a great $250 bike for beginners to use for commuting or recreational riding. Yes, you can get better, but not in the less than $350 or so range.

I personally bought the bike to begin commuting to work and didn’t want to put out a lot of money until I know for sure I will keep it up, later I can buy a new bike or upgrade the parts as they break. The short rides I’ve taken so far it rode very smooth, stopped very well, and the seat wasn’t too bad for how hard it is.

If you’re in a similar boat as me, then I would buy this one over any other bike in the same range.

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