Diamondback Bicycles 2014 Calico Women's Dual Sport Bike

Bought this bike for my wife... the bike was packed well, appears to be of high quality, and my wife still loves it after doing a lot of pedaling in the last month.I took one star off, for the assembly instructions... while the bike is for the most part assembled, the instructions for cabling up the disc brakes are vague at best. The good news there is plenty of instructional videos on youtube, and Diamondback has a PDF that can be found online that is a lot clearer (why that wasn't included, I will never know).Overall my wife gives it a thumbs up, and loves the bike.

Just looking at the bike and specs on it, then considering the price - go to your local bike shop and see what bikes they either have on sale or what used bikes they have. Diamondback is just a basic bike. This price is not a decent price for a run-of-the-mill bike. I just know my local bike shops have used Specialized and Trek bikes that will be much higher level, lighter weight, last longer than this bike and will probably be the same price or cheaper.

The star ratings on bikes are a real moving target. It really depends on what you want to spend for how much bike you get. I would rate the Diamondback Calico as an intermediate bike, which I think is the sweet spot in bikes: performs well, reliable, but not so expensive that it's the end of the world if it gets stolen. I've done the Wally World bikes for the kids growing up, but an adult really deserves something a little better. Among intermediate bikes, the Diamondback bikes on Amazon, and Giant bikes from local dealers seem like the best values I could find. And for the standard prices on Amazon, the Giant bikes cost (haggle price) about the same, but they're assembled and tuned, and you don't have to worry about shipping damage.But somehow Amazon had the Medium Calico for $349, and I love assembling bikes (other than truing wheels), so I went for it. So for the price I paid and considering that I love assembling bikes, this is a five star bike for my daughter and me. ( Note that Amazon has two separate listings for the Calico in two colors, and prices between the two colors can vary by several hundred dollars, depending on size). I needn't have worried about the risk of shipping damage. Amazon put a serious box around Diamondback's really serious box, inside of which everything was packed very well. The wheels were true and spoke tension uniform, although the rims were not Wienemans as listed on Diamondback's website. They are nice rims though. The tubes have presta valves, which I suppose is a good thing, except standard air chucks won't work on them, so I added some cheap adapters. Ushoppingcart 5/10/15/20 Converter Presta to Schrader Bicycle Bike Valve Adaptor Tube Pump ToolThe tires are keepers.The Acera derailleurs are low-mid in the Shimano hierarchy and work well enough. I haven't had very good luck with any Shimano shifters: their rapid fire shifters (as on the Calico) tend to puke after several year and their grip shifters have to be adjusted perfectly. I replace Shimano with Sram grip shifters SRAM MRX Comp Bicycle Twist Shifter Setwhich work so much better with no compatibility issues. Both derailleurs were completely out of adjustment on the bike I got. The bike came with all the tools needed for assembly. Most of the bike comes pre-assembled. Total assembly time at a very relaxed pace was about three hours for me, of which about half was spent adjusting derailleurs and brakes. I consider myself a generally handy person, but not a particularly good mechanic. One of the disc brakes had two critical bolts that were crazy loose. I checked all the bolts after that. I don't know enough about disc brakes to comment on their quality, but they look well made and work well.The seat is actually a keeper, unlike many seats on other bikes I've purchased. The pedals are the only parts that actually look cheap: metal, stiff bearings, and at 7 ounces apiece, stupidly heavy. The bike weighs 31 pounds per our bathroom scale, plus or minus a pound. Not bad. The grips are really nice.The 700c wheels make the size medium bike look really short. I measured 42" axle to axle, which is the same as a medium Specialized Rock Hopper (26" wheels, also weighs about 31 pounds) we have. Even though the wheels make the bike look short and the "wheelbase" is apparently about average, the bike is actually 70" long compared to 65" for the Rock Hopper. An ancient 10 speed road bike we have with 27" wheels (almost the same diameter as the 700c's on the Calico) has almost identical dimensions to the Calico. So the 700c wheels make for a longer bike, but boy do they roll better than 26s. I'm not a bike connoisseur, but the Calico rides great for what I can tell. The forks have little "stiction", and seem to be sprung a little softer than the Rock Hopper.So far the Calico is working out great for my daughter.

I first purchased the Diamondback Trace as a surprise gift for my boyfriend. I bought his from Dick's Sporting Goods. The bike specialist there had a lot of experience with many bikes, even Treks, because he has worked at other companies, and one that even sent him to a type of bike "school." He said the only difference between Diamondbacks and Treks are really just the names, and that of all the bikes he owns, he and his wife ride their DB's more than the rest. He even talked me out of other more expensive bikes, so I trusted his judgment. (He also told me never to buy Schwinn.) Dick's stated the Trace was more for roads and light trails, which is what I wanted. And I wanted the female version of the Trace for myself, but they didn't have one in the store except for in purple. Instead, the guy at Dick's told me to look on Amazon for this one and bring it back to him for install, which I did, for a small fee. This is the Calico...Trace's sister bike. It rides like a champ. This is the nicest bike I've ever owned. The frame was perfect right out of the box. It's a very smooth ride, and the bike switches gears easily when riding. We both LOVE our DB's. He did mention to invest in slime tubes if living in an area with a lot of stickers and thistles. He also suggested to bring the bikes back after the first month and every so often afterward for tune-ups. I'm so thankful I listened to him. Best money I've spent in a long time.