Schwinn Protocol Mountain Bike, 21-Speed, Full Suspension

Parfaits

I have been riding this bike almost every day since I got it. So, the first thing you should know is – it is a great bike. The second thing you should know – don’t believe anyone who says it is easy to assemble. It might take you twenty minutes just to find the directions. SO, I paid a bike tech to put it together. It would have taken me a LOT of time to assemble this bike. Finally, I ride this mostly in my neighborhood and on bike trails in Delaware where I live. It’s flat here and some of the trails I ride were at one time railroad tracks. So, I have no idea how good this bike is on hills. There just are not very many hills here. Someone who lives in the Rockies might have a completely different experience with this bike.

‘My first bike’ and was little confuse for me to install this bike, the fork was backward and needed to see youtube video. The front wheel for the disc brake making some noise, trying to figure out how to fix. I guess this type of bicycle is for experienced bikers.

My son rides his bike to yeshiva and back every day. Its three and a half miles one way and he loves this bike. It is everything he wished for in speed, comfort, changing speeds, etc. He attached his bike rack to the back and hangs his saddlebags to transport his things. He comes home happy and in record time… riding through New York City traffic! Thank you

Overall, this bike is a great bike. THIS IS NOT A TRAIL BIKE AS ADVERTISED. IT IS XC. What this means is that the bike has less than or equal to 120mm of travel in both front and rear.

ADDITION: Tires: The stock tires, as usual, are made with a hard compound, are heavy, and don’t have very good grip at all. I think the blocks are too short for my style and type of riding. I like a lot of grip, cause I like to go fast.

(09-06-18)Edit: I planted a Continental Trail King 2.4 on the rear, and now have no more issues with the back end breaking loose. Of course, now I have some severe understeer from the imbalanced traction. If you’re changing one out for a better rubber, you might as well do both so you dont get the understeer. (PS: the tires they put on these cheap bikes is just one corner they cut for cost reduction. In other words, they suck so bad, they suck more than a supermassive black hole)

Rear shock: I am still peeved by the highly over-weighted spring on the rear shock, which seems to have been installed for the sole purpose of filling in that gap. Do yourself a favor and replace that 1000lb/in spring (good for extreme downhilling only [10-20′ jumps and drops]) with a 650lb/in or lower.

Fork: The stock 85mm travel fork, while strong and able, is not designed for the type of riding I do and bottoms out a lot, so I will be replacing it with a 120mm travel fork (please make this bike with a tapered headset so we have more upgrade options) cause that’s the max I can get with a straight steerer AND a 9mm QR. This should allow me to ride the trails I want to, without having to buy a whole other bike while this one still has a whole load of potential.

Edit: I now have a SR Suntour Epixon 120mm travel fork installed, and WOW. This bike has become far more aggressive, and handles everything I’m throwing at it so far. The slackness in the front end makes it a much more enjoyable ride on the steeps, and because the fork is air sprung, the bike now has a really nice plush feel to it. Steering has greatly improved, and I can now rail those corners.

Shifters: There is no reason to put Tourney derailleurs on a bike with ACERA shifters. Like, seriously Pacific Cycle, match drivetrain component names for best results. It will take away frustration for everyone involved because 1) the customer has no issues with adjusting shifting systems, or with using them and 2) YOU won’t have to deal with complaints about the system not working or being too hard to adjust.

Edit: I decided to get a one finger brake lever on the left side so I could ditch the combo shifter and cable. The cockpit looks better, and I had enough space to put a remote lockout on the bar.

Brakes: Original :The brakes are low end. They do what they’re supposed to, but they don’t maximize traction as well as they could while on the trails. I DO NOT RECOMMEND KEEPING THESE BRAKES ON A STEEP TRAIL, GOING EITHER UP OR DOWN. They simply won’t keep you stopped (stops rolling on trail, keeps sliding all the way down)

Edit: I adjusted my cable tension so it takes the levers longer to reach the bite point, and they work like a dream now! So easy to modulate, and it seems they have more power available now, and I also find much reduced brake fatigue in my fingers. I will be swapping them out for shimano slx hydros, and the rotors shall be swapped for shimano ice-tech rotors for better cooling and performance.

Edit 2: I got the slx on the rear, and braking has greatly improved. I kept the mechanical on the front for slightly less braking power, preventing excessive brake dive.

Saddle: The seat is on par with price point. Stiff, uncomfortable, in the way. Definitely get a mountain bike specific saddle.

Head angle: In my opinion, this bike could do with a slacker head tube. The angle its at now makes the bike quite unstable in the turns, and when the suspension actuates, the angle gets steeper, making for an even MORE unstable ride.

Edit: I measured the head angle, and it measured at 72 degrees!!! It should be around 68 degrees on any mountain bike with 100mm travel forks. 72 degrees just makes a mountain bike unstable because with slow, short drops, that head angle moves past 80 and makes it very dangerous for beginners. Any braking in that situation could cause the bike to buck its rider, causing injury and possibly death. This bike NEEDS 120mm travel forks or longer, but don’t go past 140mm, or you risk busting the head tube clean off.

ADDITION: Drivetrain: I’m swapping the chainrings for a 1x setup with an oval ring so its easier for me to get up the hills. I have just replaced the stock tourney derailleur (new ones seem to be noise central) with an SRAM X01 DH derailleur on the rear. VOILA, noise gone, and the best part is this: I DIDN’T HAVE TO SHORTEN THE CHAIN!!!! That one component besides the fork is probably the best thing you could put on it to improve your confidence on this bike(you’d be surprised by how much noise holds you back on the trails).

Edit: Unfortunately, the chainrings I discovered were NOT removable. I wound up replacing the entire rear hub for an 8 speed setup, with a wide ratio cassette at 40t-11t. the cranks I replaced with a BSA style 1x crankset, and I installed a 36t oval. Makes a huge difference in the more mellow climbs, but I will be getting a 32t to help with the steep stuff.

Quite good.

Let me tell you about this bike… it’s garbage. After two rides down the country road the pedal started clicking. After about a tenth of a mile into its first trip on a mountain bike trail the rear brakes were not working correctly. The reason: missing and mismatched parts from the factory. The seat is terribly uncomfortable. Oh and the bike came with scratched paint and a busted reflector. After all of this the final blow that has left it permanently decommissioned was when I scuffed a tree branch and a plastic derailleur piece (metal>plastic) bent in and caught up into the chain and the whole derailleur became 1 ball of mess. I contacted Schwinn via customer service email since their phones were unreachable due to “Covid” and recieved no response after several months of waiting. Not sure if they are back to work yet. Maybe they are still scared of “Covid.” Oh and one more thing: the kickstand broke off. In hindsight a garage sale bike would have benefited me more.