Bike reviews

GMC Topkick Dual-Suspension Mountain Bike

Great bike for most users

I purchased this bike because the price was great and it came with dual suspension and front/rear disc brakes. The only problem with the bike is that beginner tuners will have a hard time getting the brakes right as well as the gearing. I paid a shop to get it all right for me, the bike works perfect now. I've taken this bike on long distances on and off road, down the stairs, up hills. I rode this bike from Long Island to Manhattan with no problems, it's pretty light as well. This bike is the best bang for the buck. It's not no professional bike but it gets the job done. The only other problem with the bike is when your adding serious torque, the bike tends to flex in a way that the front derailleur kind of touches the chain. It's a tiny problem and can be easily overlooked. Also, GMC (or whoever made it) tends to keep the price resonable by adding outdated parts, like the shifter, etc.....that's not a problem for me. New things always cost lots of $$$. My cousin purchased a bike shop recommended bicycle for almost $300 (front suspension only, and V type brakes), I payed $229 for my topkick. Apparently this recommended bike is supposed to be better than the GMC topkick. Turns out that the GMC topkick is lighter than this recommended bike and rides smoother. Once again, I recommended this bike for everyone. Just remember to spend the extra $$$ to get a shop to tune it for you.

Excellent choice for the price

I've had the GMC Topkick for almost a month now, during which I have been using it daily (home-work); it has also been put to the test on a biking trail in a nearby state park. First of all, let me say this: the topkick is a beautiful bike. So if fancy looks is the number one factor for you, stop reading and just buy it. It looks rugged, serious, sporty but with a certain "class." Secondly, the bike is indeed amply endowed with disk brakes and full suspension, things one can find only in high-end models costing over $1,500. On the negative side, this is a heavy bike (did you think they simply "forgot" to mention its weight?). It does not compare to truly lightweight mountain bikes and, although for daily in-city use this is indeed minor, on the trail it can be problematic and make your life quite harder. This is not to say that the bike is unbearably heavy---it still is much lighter than any of my older bikes. Also, the bike comes with no "direct" assembly instructions. However, there are two manuals which more-or-less contain all the necessary instructions scattered among various chapters (e.g., in the how-to-change-a-tire chapter, how-to-install-the-brake chapter, etc.). I do not really consider myself a technically savvy person but I found a way to assemble it by peeking at these (somehow overly technical) instructions within 2 hours, so I guess it's not impossible. As far as the quality of the different parts (brakes, shifting, etc.) is concerned, I am not sure I can express an opinion, as I am no expert. Time will tell; so far so good though. In general I consider my purchase a good one: the bike looks great, does the job and will give you a fun, comfortable ride everywhere. It is not a substitute for a $2,000 bike, but it was never meant to be.

Great Value...Worth the Money!

GMC Topkick Dual-Suspension Mountain Bike Amazon came through again with the best price on the web. It was such a good deal that I bought two! With no sales tax and free two day "Prime" shipping, I figure that I saved $200 over store retail for the pair. Packing was about as good as one would expect. There were a couple of small nicks to the frame but a black Sharpie fixed them to where one does not notice. Other than that there was no damage. As other buyers have stated it is a tad heavy (38 lbs?), but that is a testament to its solid construction. The rims are somewhat narrow but I plan to ride more for pleasure than sport. For those two reasons I rated this bike a four out of five stars. If the manufacturer could change those two features it would be a solid five star mountain bike. I am 6'3" and the frame fits me fine when straddled (it measure 31" at the upper cross bar). I would have liked a higher handlebar height but I can live with it...Thank goodness I have long arms! I looked at a lot of bikes before making a final decision...All were considerably more expensive with the same basic features. If you plan to ride aggressive this may not be the bike for you...But for street and light off roading it is a real bargin at $229.95.

Good bike for the money

Let's put it this way: If you don't know how to tune dérailleurs and brakes, you'd better learn it now or shell out your dough for others to tune. Chances are, you probably need to tune everything. The bike is very easy to put together. I am a total newbie and it only took me 1.5 hour. However, it took me about a week to finally tune the front/rear dérailleurs and disc brake. Of course, I am a newbie and I am learning and tuning at the same time. It can get frustrating and you might not interested in going through the pain. However, when it's all said and done, I have learn and understood and comfortable in bike tuning. For those of you who does not want to DIY, get it to a bike shop. Certainly, if you are very familiar with tuning, usually it can be done in 1-2 hours. With that said, the quality of the bike is acceptable. The disc brake is functional and brake nicely. The rear dérailleur is good quality shimano part and easy to tune. The front dérailleur is kinda cheap and flimsy and I had a hard to tune it properly. The shifting, in general, louder than average and not very smooth. With tuning, I eliminated under shift, gear skipping, hesitation, and some cage rubbing. I even have to lube the dérailleur to make the spring return mechanism work properly. The brake cable could use some lubrication. To top these all off, the bike is about 40-50lbs and it is heavy. I weight 150+lb and this thing is almost 1/3 of me. However, the beefy weight does come with a benefit: The aluminum frame is very sturdy and strong. It will last a long time with proper maintenance. However, with that weight, I would not recommend taking it to the "mountain" perform stunt and get crazy. I will stick to the pavement. The suspension fork is functional and good. The rear suspension is very stiff and I don't feel it smooths out the ride that much. I am trying to save $$ here and quite frankly, I get what I paid for. This bike is not really good, but not bad at all. If you just need a bike to get around town and not into the whole mountain thing and don't mind the weight. By all mean, GET IT. I give it 3-4 STARS.

good bike for the price

This bike seems to be a pretty good buy. The only complaint that i have about it is that i bought it for my father who is very tall and the handle bars are very low and are not adjustable however i did find a handle bar stem riser made by delta along with a delta hi rise stem which raised the handle bars up perfectly and the cables were all long enough so i didn't have to replace those either. It came with just minor assembly required and I only had to make minor adjustments to the brake cables. I read a couple of the other reviews that had said their were scratches on the frame from shipping when they recieved them mine also had a couple of pretty good scratches on the frame too they could definately package it a little better. The fact that i had to buy extra parts to raise the handle bars and the scratches it recieved in shipping are the only two reasons i gave it a 4 star rating instead of a 5. My dad loves it now that the handle bars are higher and rides it every day. I would recommend this bike to anyone who wants an above department store level mountain bike but doesn't really want to or need to pay the big $$$$ for an overpriced specialty store bike.

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