Good bike for the price, with quality in the right places. 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.

However, I was disappointed to see that the frame does not have threaded holes (braze-ons) for mounting a cargo rack or fenders. Also, the stock saddle looks a little slim for some riders; but is easily replaced (I recommend a Terry Liberator or Velo Plush). Conclusion: This is a capable road bike, worthy of upgrades. The lack of rack and fender mount points limits its usefulness for commuting (though handlebar bags and seatpost-mounted pannier racks are decent options). I estimate that the Prelude will comfortably fit riders from 5′ 10″ to about 6′ 2″ (I only saw one size offered). If you are in that height range, looking for a great deal on an entry-level road bike, give this one a try. By not having the overpriced Shimano STI shifters, you’ll save hundreds of dollars, and you’ll hardly miss them.

Great bike for the price. I received the bike today and wasn’t sure what to expect from a $235 road bike. I was pleasantly surprised. The bike has an appealing look with its blue and silver paint job. These colors don’t combine to have the most expensive look to them but Schwinn Prelude Road Bike looks better in reality than the pictures on the internet which I didn’t think were to bad in the first place.

The bike was a good size for me and I am 5″11. The parts that were already assembled needed tweaking, tightening and checking. The additional parts like the front wheel, front caliper, handlebars and shifters you will have to install. This is easily done by following the easily explained steps in the manual. Getting the wheels to turn smoothly without catching the break pads is what took most of the time setting up the bike.

When I was assembling the bike I found the positioning of the shifters to be inconvenient, they just take up too much room on the handlebars and would require a whole body straightening movement to get to them from the normal riding position. The shifters are attractive with there thumb up and down plastic control switches; they also shift smoothly; these are not the worst Shimano have to offer. The aluminum band that ties them on to the handlebars looks cheap. The other cheap looking parts of the bike are the pedals and the seat is cheap. It has little to offer in padding and I will upgrade that this month.

For now the Schwinn is the most reasonable bike on the market. In a year or two if I get into road biking more I could see myself upgrading because there is a noticeable weight difference between this bike at 25lbs and a $700 Trek 1000 which I just know by lifting it is lighter. However, this bike is 3 times cheaper and all I need to get myself fit.

schwinn prelude: decent bike – stellar price. First off I do not give this bike a 5 star rating based on how wonderful it is. You need to spend Several thousand dollars for that bike. This gets a 5 star rating because it is not several thousand dollars yet it is an acceptable entry level road bike.

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 bought mine directly from Target (on sale!) so I could get an idea of the size rather than buy on line. I noticed another reviewer said a person 5′ 10 – 6′2″ would be comfortable. I somewhat agree with the top end but I am 5′ 7 3/4″ and am comfortable on it. The seat post could still be dropped an other inch and a half but I would say that I am about as short as you could be to have the right body to bike geometry. Someone 5′6″ could ride it but I would not recommend it. I would say the same for someone 6′2″.

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.

It has only had one problem since I bought it – the crank bearings began to click. This probably is a result of pulling 100 pounds regularly.

These bikes have a LIFETIME warrantee on parts!!! – I called the 800 number in the owners manual. They sent me a new bearing set and I installed them. The down side of this is that if you don’t have the tools you are in need of paying upwards to $50 for this repair.

If I continue to ride it next year I would upgrade the apt yet clunky bottom of the line shimano derailleurs. I would probably also get a lighter seat and possibly seat post or pedals.

EDIT

I have had it a year and 4 months now. I have decided that though it is rideable at 5′8″ it is too big for me. I also have become too competitive in triathlons to ride a low end bike. I have upgraded to the Schwinn Prologue (about 4 times as much $$$). The Prelude has given me no mechanical problems after releasing it from trailer pulling duty. It has a little less than 1000 miles on it. I did 2 triathlons on it 13th overall / 190 in my first and 2nd overall / 104 and in the next -both were age group wins. So you do not need a $4000 bike to compete.

EDIT 2 I have had this for 1 year and 11 months. Because I bought the new bike I haven’t put a lot more miles on this, but it has continued to do well with no further problems. I also realized the stem has a height adjustment. After moving the handlebars down and moving the seat forward this thing really fits my 5′8″ frame well. I put some new tires on it because I was upgrading my other bikes. The 700×23 schwalbe tires are a big improvement. I also replaced the rim strips with cloth because the cheap rubber protectors were shot allowing the rim to puncture the under side of the tubes.

Related reviews :
Hello Bike Schwinn Mens Road Prelude

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