The Schwinn High Sierra was a top-of-the-line mountain bike back in its day. Today, if you can find one, it makes for a perfect touring bike, commuter bike, or gravel bike. Since buying the Schwinn High Sierra, I have converted it into a touring bike and put about 1000 miles on it. When you look at high-end BMX or MTB bikes, it’s pretty clear to see that schwinn bicycles you can get into the thousands of dollars relatively quickly. The thing about Mongoose is that the bikes may not all have the top-of-the-line Shimano or SRAM parts, they are often outfitted with medium-grade components, but the frame construction is superb. As mentioned, the brand has a more specialized approach to the extreme sports side of things.
The Boundary is best for entry-level and casual riders who want a bike with the flexibility to ride on the trail or the street. To tie this together, we would say Schwinn was determined not to fade into oblivion, and the American company would later bounce back in an effort to regain a piece of its once large market pie. As with many other companies that schwinn mountain bike find themselves in such a back-to-the-ropes, Schwinn has tried to pull out all the stops to ensure it delivers competitive products, in every sense of the word. They do design great mountain bikes, and when they get it right, it’s often a box office hit. One thing you will also notice about this brand is that their bikes are priced fairly cheap.
Take a ride with me into the mountain bike models of both Mongoose and Schwinn as we dive deeper into comparing the two brands’ current mountain bike model offerings. Schwinn bikes tend to be more expensive than Huffy bikes. This is because Schwinn bikes are generally made with higher-quality materials and components. In addition, Schwinn bikes often have more advanced features than Huffy bikes, such as suspension systems and disc brakes. As a result, Schwinns became increasingly dated in both styling and technology. By 1957, the Paramount series, once a premier racing bicycle, had atrophied from a lack of attention and modernization.
Unlike the other bikes above, this is a full-suspension mountain bike and not only has front forks but a rear shock. Going downhill is where the Axum’s limitations come into play. The first thing I noticed is just how loud the bike is over rough trails. To be clear, I’m not the type of rider who stops to track down every squeak and click; a little bit of noise is fine. However, this thing sounds like a one-man-band marching down the trail. The brakes squeak, the chain slaps, the fork clunks, and the kickstand wobbles.
The bike’s many features are typically found among higher-priced models. Despite being one of the cheapest mountain bikes on the market, its durability makes it an excellent value. Schwinn mountain bikes come in a variety of models and affordable price points.
If a conservative ride is more your speed, and you don’t ride heavy and hard all the time, then Schwinn will likely appeal to you. I once worked on a Raleigh Laser bike schwinn cruiser bike that came back to the store two weeks later because the frame had ripped apart. Some of the welds had only surface penetration, and the quality control missed it.
It shifts quickly and smoothly, which you need when riding a trail. It is often mistaken that bikes with aluminum frames don’t have the same durability that steel frames possess. An aluminum body generally provides the same strength and performance as a steel body, with the advantage of being 30% lighter. One important thing to consider when mountain bike shopping is value.
The balloon tire popularized by the Schwinns had the same wheel diameter, cross-sectional diameter and carcass construction as the tires used by the Marin County pioneers in the 1970’s. The fat tire gives mountain bikes their comfortable, stable and sure-footed ride. SCHWINN made their contributions to mountain biking long before the mountain bike movement of the past 25 years.
Forks suck, even worse when locked-out, with a nasty clunk. (I usually ride full rigid)
Left the kickstand on, made a ton of noise, but never deployed. One minor bummer is that the informational stickers on the frame don’t peel off cleanly. To get the paper and gummy glue off completely takes some effort.