At the time, Deore was Shimano’s second-best groupset after XT. The groupset shifts well and feels durable, even though it’s over 30 years old. Ignaz Schwinn was born in Hardheim, Baden, Germany, in 1860 and worked on two-wheeled ancestors of the modern bicycle that appeared in 19th century Europe. In 1895, with the financial backing of fellow German American Adolph Frederick William Arnold (a meat packer), he founded Arnold, Schwinn & Company. Schwinn’s new company coincided with a sudden bicycle craze in America. Chicago became the center of the American bicycle industry, with thirty factories turning out thousands of bikes every day.
Unlike many other low to mid-range brands, there are seldom, if ever, what we call bubble gum welds or welds with poor penetration. Each bike uses a triple front chainset and a large cassette on the rear. You won’t struggle with hills as there are many options. It is unwise to run a non tubeless system as tubeless.
Mountain bikes below $1,000 with a suspension fork and between 21 and 24 gears generally weigh between 38 and 41 pounds. The materials used for the frame, fork, and components usually account for most of the weight variation in this price range. As a rule of thumb, more expensive bikes weigh less than budget bikes, thanks to higher-quality components and materials. As mentioned, Mongoose is commonly thought to be the better of the two brands; Mongoose or Schwinn. Although Schwinn makes a decent enough line of low to mid-range mountain bikes, Mongoose’s reputation for high quality and durability precedes them.
I bought a Schwinn High Sierra in 1985 and I still have it. It does make a great touring bike with all the braze ons for racks and stuff, and mine has never left Alaska. To change them to something else would require a different bar, and I like the bar.
On the standard models, you have rim brakes which are going to give you ok stopping power, and on the ALX, you get disc brakes which are much better at stopping and in all conditions. Schwinn High Timber, like the Mesa, is a hardtail mountain bike and comes in many different models. The High Timber comes in two levels of performance – standard and ALX. The standard is basic, and the ALX has upgraded components.
An LED indicator on the downtube shows the amount of remaining power. The frame is aluminum, and it is designed to stay very agile and help the rider with harsh off-road terrain while being robust and lightweight. schwinn hybrid bike When mountain bikes were born, Schwinn thought it was going to be a passing fad and originally did put a mountain bike together, but it wasn’t as good as the competition and didn’t do as well off-road as intended.
The list price is $499, but if you spend the $25 on a REI Membership, then you can get a cash rebate of around $50 on your purchase (which you can use to buy other stuff or just get the cash in-hand). I think the biggest problem with this one though is its weight. This bike weighs right at 40 pounds, which is massive for a mountain bike.
On the plus side, the fork takes some of the sting out of riding bumpy trails, but beyond that, it really doesn’t give the rider much control, especially at speed. Preload is non-existent, the rebound is slow, and beyond the lockout, it’s not adjustable in any way. The one good thing I can say is the fork doesn’t have a harsh bottom out and has a linear feel thanks to its coil spring. With plenty of stiction, I didn’t find a need to use the lockout for climbing or pedaling. The frame does have a tapered head tube, so if buyers happen to find a smoking-good deal on a fork upgrade it should fit.
These days, many riders customize their High Sierra to fit their needs. Replacement parts are cheap and plentiful for vintage mountain bikes. With a few tweaks, the Schwinn High Sierra makes an excellent long distance touring bike or commuter bike. Some riders convert these bikes into drop bar gravel bikes.